
I remember as a kid buying my first pair of Air Jordan basketball shoes. The “jumpman” is all the rage in the Sooner nation today, but back then, Jordan was just a rookie playing for a mediocre Chicago Bulls team fighting to make the playoffs. As a 12 year old, though, I didn’t care. I thought that if those red, white, and black basketball shoes could help him fly through the air of the Boston Garden, surely they could help me dominate on the playground.
Interestingly enough, I bought the shoes, but still could not dunk (shocking, I know, to those of you who know me.) So I moved on to imitating other traits of his “Airness,” even sticking my tongue out as I played. Sadly, all this got me was a lifelong scar down the middle of my tongue when I accidentally bit through it after taking a charge in a pickup game. One scar, no 60 point stat sheets.
I even wore Jordan’s #23 on my middle school basketball team, but still was not a step quicker! As a middle schooler I was learning a valuable lesson . . . the key to Jordan’s success was not the shoes (“You money, its gotta be the shoes!), the tongue, or the number . . . it was Him! I could not secure his power apart from his presence.
Now, I say all this because as I look at Matthew 15:32 – 16:12, I see the disciples struggling with a similar issue. Jesus’ disciples desperately wanted Jesus’ power, but they were tempted to look for it in a number of things or locations, instead of in Him. As they did so, they missed the obvious point. They could not secure His power apart from His presence. No matter where they went, no matter how much they had or didn’t have, they would always have what they needed IN HIM.
This Sunday at Wildwood, we will conclude our “Sink or Stand” sermon series by looking at Jesus’ feeding the 4,000. We can’t wait to gather for worship, celebrate the Lord’s supper, and look into this section of God’s Word together. See you then in our 9:45 or 11:00 services.