Matthew 8:23-27
Picture the scene. It’s been a long day, another day with Jesus, not that much different than the other days the disciples spent with Jesus. But that is not to say that it was an ordinary day. It’s been a day remarkably different from the days they spent before they met Jesus. Their days before Jesus were not without excitement and drama, but now! The first time Jesus healed someone, their eyes popped out of their heads in amazement. Now the shock is not quite so great but it still is amazing to see someone come to Jesus unseeing and walk away seeing. How can it be routine to see someone come who has been lame for years and years and walk away on two sound legs? The wonder of what Jesus can do is no longer a surprise, but it is no less a wonder.
So it has been a long day of routine amazement with Jesus. From morning to evening, wherever they went, people came to Jesus wanting his help and he spent the day teaching and healing.
Now Jesus tells the disciples that they will leave Capernaum and cross the Sea of Galilee. What a relief. No more crowds. Peace and solitude. They set off as evening approaches with anticipation of a pleasant sail. It is a beautiful night and the sun sets, reflecting on the waters. The stars come out and they begin to identify their familiar friends in the sky. After a day of healing and teaching, Jesus is tired so he falls asleep in the boat. There is a nice wind and they sail steadily along, hearing the sound of the boat cutting through the water, relaxing. Some of the disciples talk with one another, some doze from their tiredness. All is peaceful.
Then, all of a sudden, a storm sweeps down on the lake and instantly the scene changes from serenity to chaos. The lake that was calm and serene is now whipping up waves that crash into and over the boat. The boat creaks with the pounding of the waves. The sail whips and tears in the wind. The wind howls so they can barely hear one another.
Among the disciples there were some who were experienced sailors: Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. They had sailed on this lake all their life and knew all about storms on the lake. But there was something about this storm that put them in a panic. There was something about this storm that was different from all the storms they had experienced throughout their lives on this lake.
It was a furious storm that came without warning. And in the midst of all this chaos, the howling wind, the waves splashing over the boat, the boat creaking from the pounding it was taking, in the midst of all this, where was Jesus? He was sleeping. Sleeping! How do you sleep in such a storm?
And so the disciples came to him and woke him up. Lord save us! We’re going to drown!”
Jesus woke up, rebuked the disciples You of little faith, why are you afraid? and then rebuked the storm and all was once again at peace. I don’t think there was any more sleeping that night, except maybe for Jesus.
There are just a few verses in Matthew’s Gospel about this incident, but there is an abundance of tension and drama packed into them.
So let’s unpack this drama and see what we can learn from it.
None of us are strangers to storms in our lives. They take many forms. There are financial storms, relational storms, health storms, emotional storms, storms of all kinds. What makes these storms so potent is that they come on us unexpectedly.
Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake
We think we are sailing along and all is going so well and then all of a sudden it hits us. We have no time to prepare for it. We have no time to harden ourselves. At one moment all is well and then we receive a phone call, someone we love has a terminal disease, someone we love has died. All is well and then we receive a phone call and discover that the tumor they took out is malignant. All is well and then an investment fails, a deal falls through, a promise to help with funding is revoked and you are in a serious financial crisis. All is well and then you face an unexpected medical bill, your car is wrecked, your house is robbed and you don’t know how you will be able to survive.
The storms of live often come on us unexpectedly and because of that, they hit us with devastating force.
Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake
What makes the storm so furious, in part, is that there is no time to prepare for it. There is no time to think through options and see how the financial crisis might be weathered. There is no time to grieve and prepare for the death of someone we love. There is no time to deal with our own mortality so that when we receive news we are going to die, we are prepared for it. There is no time to reflect on why someone might have said such a cruel thing to us. It hits us without warning which makes it a furious storm. It shakes us to the core.
Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.
We are shaken by the suddenness and violence of the storm and it overwhelms us. The waves of fear and anxiety and pain and despair sweep over us. Just moments before we had thought we were so strong and capable. We were cutting through the water so swiftly, so surely and suddenly we are not sure we will be able to survive. The shore was just a couple hours away and now it is a shore we may never see. Our confidence is shattered. We feel weak and alone so we look to God and where is he?
But Jesus was sleeping.
It would be one thing if Jesus were awake and said, “Here, let me take the rudder. Everything is going to be OK. James, drag an anchor over the port side, Bartholomew, Matthew and Judas, you move over to the starboard side. Peter and John, pull down the sail. Don’t worry men, I’m in charge here. Everything is going to be OK.”
It would even be good if Jesus just sat up and said, “Don’t worry. I’m here. We’ll be OK.” But Jesus did none of this. He slept.
And this is the problem for us. When a storm hits us, suddenly, without warning and the fury of the storm sends us into a panic, we look to God and he is silent. We pray and hear nothing. Where is God? We sink deeper and deeper into the storm afraid we will be overcome and when we cry out for help to God, there is no answer. We pray and pray but the answer we are seeking does not come. The illness that invaded our body continues to advance, taking over more and more ground. Why doesn’t God do something about it? We cut back on our budget and tighten our belt and the financial situation just gets worse. Why doesn’t God provide for us what we need? We keep on loving our spouse but receive nothing in return. We forgive the person who hurt us but he keeps on with his abusive behavior. Why doesn’t God take control and do something?
The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
God is not indifferent. God is not asleep.
Psalm 121
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
While it appears God is asleep, he is not. He is ever watchful. There is never a moment when we are out of his sight. There is never a moment when we are outside of his protection. When we despair because it appears that God has not answered our plea for help and the storm in our life is sending waves over us, we are still safe because he is in the boat with us. He is not distant, unable to help us in our time of need.
We are always safe when Jesus is in the boat with us.
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Little faith. How did Jesus know they had so little faith?
Just at the beginning of this chapter in Matthew, a centurion came to Jesus to ask that Jesus heal his servant
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”
7 Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
What was it about the centurion that caused Jesus to praise his faith and what was there about the disciples that caused Jesus to rebuke them for their little faith?
Notice that the centurion did not come to Jesus running and yelling, “Jesus! Come quick! My servant is going to die! You’ve got to help me! Run! There may just be time! Hurry!” He said simply, “I know you can do this. I trust you.”
There was not a lot of room in the boat for the disciples to run around, but they were in a panic. It is not that they were without faith. Jesus did not say, “You of no faith, why are you so afraid?” He said, “You of little faith.”
They had enough faith that they knew that asking Jesus for help was their best option and for having little faith, they did the right thing with it. When a storm hits us, we don’t have to have enough faith to know how it is going to work out but we have to use the little faith we have to ask for help. Help me Jesus!
What were the other options for the disciples in the boat? If they had had a lot of faith, what would they have done differently?
They could also have gone to sleep, like Jesus and trusted that he would take care of things. Somehow, I don’t think Jesus would have appreciated that response. Instead of “You of little faith,” he might have said, “You who are so stupid.”
But what should they have done? The problem was that they slipped into a panic. They were not trusting that Jesus would take care of them.
When we are in a storm, it is slipping into panic that creates problems for us. We run around, pulling at our hair, throwing away the reasoning power God gave to us and we begin to make foolish decisions. We begin to act impulsively without thinking through the consequences.
We’re stuck in this country and can’t get a visa and begin to think we may never leave this place where we cannot make a living. And so someone comes along and says that if we make a hotel reservation in Canada, that will help us get a visa for that country. Or we get a tourist visa to France and then decide to ignore the promises that were made when getting the visa and remain illegally in France.
We are in a financial storm and someone comes along with a scheme to make some quick money and so we give the little we have only to lose it to the person who was taking advantage of our desperation.
When we panic, we only make the storm more furious.
“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Why are you so afraid? Don’t you know that the safest place for the disciples to have been was in the boat with him? Would the disciples have been safer on the shore during the storm? There was no better place for them to have been than with Jesus in the boat. There is never any better place for us to be than in the boat with Jesus.
Our problem is that we cry out to God “Help me get out of this mess I’m in!” and what we should be crying out is, “Help me God to stay close to Jesus!” The focus needs to be on being with Jesus, not getting out of the storm.
Let me explain this. I do not mean to say that we should do nothing. I think Jesus would have been upset with the disciples if they had just sat down and done nothing. Someone was at the rudder. Someone else was watching the sail. The rest were bailing water. To do nothing is not at all what I’m talking about. If you are in a health storm, go to the doctor. Take the medicine you are told to take. Have the operation you need to have.
If you are in a relational storm, seek reconciliation. Forgive and seek forgiveness. Talk and try to resolve the differences. Act out love and forgiveness in the relationship that is a storm.
If you are in a financial storm, cut back on expenses. Seek other sources of income. Send out resumes looking for new work. Brainstorm about how to get by with less income.
We need to work, but when I say we need to focus on Jesus, not the storm, what I am talking about is the emotions that we have in the midst of the storm.
We need not to panic and in order not to panic, we need to focus on Jesus. Bail water but look at Jesus and be reassured. If Jesus is in the boat with you, you are OK. Everything will be all right. Keep steering into the waves so you don’t get broadsided by a wave and capsize the boat, but keep an eye on Jesus and know that it will be OK.
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will get through the storm and afterwards, when we have seen the storm through the eyes of Jesus, it will not be as bad as it appeared to be at the time. We will get through the storm. The storm will pass and it will be completely calm.
Your financial storm will not overcome you. Your fears will not overwhelm you. The storm will pass.
When a storm comes, if Jesus is in the boat with you, then you have no reason to fear. Even if the boat capsizes and you drown, if Jesus is with you, you will be OK. There is no reason to fear. Being in the boat with Jesus is what matters.
So the big question is this: Are you in the boat with Jesus? Are you walking with him? Are you sailing with him? Are you living a live of obedience?
Jonah was in a boat in a storm but he had every reason to panic because he was rebelling against God. He was running away from what God wanted him to do. In his disobedience, he left on a ship in the opposite direction from where God wanted him to go and he was caught in a storm.
If you have chosen to do what God does not want you to do, than take no assurance from this story in Matthew. When we walk into disobedience, we walk away from God and when the storm comes, Jesus is not in the boat and we have every reason to panic.
Paul was in a storm. He set out for Rome and was caught in a hurricane in the Mediterranean Sea. For fourteen days they were beaten by the power of the wind and sea. But Paul did not panic. Paul knew that God had told him to go to Rome and he was being obedient to what God had told him to do. And so because Jesus was in the boat with Paul he was able to offer words of reassurance to the crew.
Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.
Are you in the boat with Jesus? When you face a storm, make that your focus. If you are living a life of obedience and serving God with all your heart, soul and mind, then be at peace. You are OK. Everything will be all right.
In your bulletins there is a picture of a man and his wife. The man’s name was Zewar Mohamad Ismaeel and he was a Kurdish convert to Christianity in Iraqi Kurdistan. On Monday, February 24, 2003, he was martyred.
He was shot dead in the city of Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan and leaves behind him his wife and five children.
When Zewar first became a Christian, his family went to a local Muslim mullah to ask what to do, since he had left Islam. The mullah declared him an apostate and recommended he be killed.
Zewar refused offers to remain in hiding after subsequent attempts on his life. “With Jesus on my side, I have nothing to fear,” he said. “Even when they kill me, I will never deny Christ.”
Upon his conversion some of his relatives captured him and took him out to a remote place, where they gave him the choice of either renouncing his faith or being killed. The Lord delivered him and thus began a long story of persecution and converts due to his powerful witness for Jesus.
More recently, in 2001 when he was arrested again after policemen found three Bibles in his car, at the police station he was told that he would be killed if he did not return to Islam. However, he was released some two weeks later. When he returned home, his father was waiting there to shoot him on the spot. The Lord delivered him one more time.
About June last year, after 2 weeks in jail, he lost his job and through friends, got a car to work it as a taxi.
On Monday the 24th, a “client” showed up and after drinking the tea that Zewar offered him, and after Zewar refused to deny Jesus the Christ, Zewar was shot 28 times as the client emptied his machine gun and shouted “Allah u Akbar!” Prophet Mohammed had told him in a dream to kill Zewar, he said.
Last report is that the church is strengthened. The widow, who herself had her hand broken two months ago when she refused to deny Jesus, cannot go back to her tribe since she is now a Christian. She has been handed down to her new family, the Christian Church.
Zewar and his family found themselves in a storm. It was a furious storm that beat on their boat. Waves swept in over the sides of the boat. The wind was howling but Zewar was safe because he was in the boat with Jesus.
That day in his car when he had tea with the man who murdered him, he was safe because Jesus was in the car with him. Zewar was living with Jesus, walking with Jesus and so he was safe with Jesus. He was murdered and his wife and children will face difficulties but he is safe now with Jesus where every tear has been wiped from his eyes, where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain.
And his wife is still safe with Jesus and God will take care of her because he is still in the boat with her and her children.
Are you facing this morning a storm in your life? If you are living a life of disobedience, then panic. But if you are walking with Jesus, seeking to live a life of obedience to God, then don’t panic. Hold on to Jesus. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Know that it will be OK. Everything will be alright. Even if the boat capsizes you will be safe because Jesus is in the boat with you.
If you panic because of a storm that comes into your life, remember these words of Jesus and let them bring reassurance. You of little faith, why are you so afraid? Hear these words and be reassured. It will be OK. Everything will be alright because Jesus is in the boat with you.
