Sunday, August 20, 2017

Is the Master in Your Boat? Fear not! Mark 4:35-41

Is the Master in your boat? Fear not!
Mark 4:35-41
Introduction: The hurricane that moved north through the Atlantic this week made me think of a storm that took a very different course 25 years ago…
…August 24th, 1992. That was when Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida. …when that great storm began to bear down on the cities and towns in its path; and the winds were whipping through the streets, and the trees were snapping, and the lights went out, and people huddled together in any place that appeared safe. After the storm had moved up the coast they interviewed a man who slept through the whole thing. The well-rested man said that when he woke up the worst of it was over. His wife greeted her husband a little sarcastically and it reminded me of Alice Cramdon talking to Ralph on the Honeymooners, “Well, Bob you just slept through the greatest natural disaster to ever hit North America.” And do you know what his reply was? He said, “Well, ‘Shirley girl’, a good conscience makes for a good night’s sleep.” 
We see the psalmist talking about a good night’s sleep, but in Psalm 3 and 4 it seems that the basis is trust in God not necessarily a good conscience (Ps 3:5; 4:8). “I lay down and sleep, I awake, because the Lord sustains me!” Sometimes, when we look at the world, we can lose sleep.  Mark was writing to Christians in Rome who were suffering, under persecution. As He wrote his gospel he included this story about Jesus getting in a boat with His disciples, and teaching them a lesson about faith in the midst of the storm.  John Newton wrote, “’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved…” When we look at the world around us, when we see the violence and the hatred that men bring against men, we can ask with the psalmist, “How long o Lord?” Or even ask as the disciples did in the storm, “Lord, are you sleeping? Don’t you care if we perish?”  Of course we know better. We would never say such a thing, right? 
       At least four of the disciples were fishermen, they knew the lake, they had seen storms. But remember, it was night, no GPS, no communications in the event of an emergency, limited light from the moon and stars… And then what must have seemed like the perfect storm hit… Some of you have been out in rough water… Not me… I got to feeling sea sick just riding a ferry from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island in windy conditions! Remember who is in the boat.
The Maine Idea: In every storm of life we should remember who Jesus is, and trust Him, our King and Lord of all. 
I. Understand the cost of discipleship (35,36): What does it mean to follow Him? It was Jesus who took told the disciples to sail across the lake. They had been obedient to Jesus, they did exactly what he had asked, and they sailed directly into a storm!  Storms don’t necessarily mean we are outside of the will of God!
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."  36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him…
       The scene is clear enough. After a long day of preaching, as evening was falling, Jesus tells the disciples to take them across the lake. It may be that Jesus was in the boat from which He had been teaching, as he gave the instruction. That may be the intent of the phrase “…just as He was…” There were other boats as well that went to accompany them on the short sail across the lake, just a detail that reminds us this was an eyewitness account. The disciples were obedient. They were in the boat on the lake because Jesus had directed them there. Please don’t miss this. Obedience to God does not guarantee that everything is going to go smoothly in life. In fact, it may be that we will do exactly what God wants us to do, and still we’ll sail right into some terrifying storms!  Later in this gospel in fact, in what many consider the key passage in this gospel, Jesus will say,
"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.  36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Mark 8:34-36).
Jesus called them to follow Him, and they came. Now He directs them to take the boat across the lake, and they set out to do so. There is no hint of hesitation, no expression of concern, just obedience. And they encounter a storm. There is no promise of smooth sailing if we follow Him! As I read this story of the disciples in the boat on the stormy sea, I remembered what Peter wrote in his first epistle:
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed… (I Peter 4:12,13).
Why should we be surprised by suffering? Why should the storms we encounter in life catch us off guard? Remember what Jesus endured, willingly, for us! Obedience to God doesn’t guarantee a storm free life. If that is what someone promised you when they shared Christ, they lied! But we can know this: He understands, and He is right there with us. Storms don’t mean that we are outside the will of God. The lesson here: when storms come, and they will, we should remember who Jesus is, and trust Him, our King and Lord of all. 
II. Jesus lead them into the storm to test their faith and grow it. They asked Jesus, “Don’t you care?” Jesus asks them, “Why were you afraid? Have you no faith?” Storms don’t mean that we are necessarily going to sink! We may have no control over what we are passing through but the Lord does!
37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 
       Storms can reveal our need (37). The disciples were probably pretty comfortable on the Sea of Galilee. As we noted, at least four of them, and maybe as many as seven, were experienced fishermen. The topography of the region around the lake no doubt guaranteed that they had been caught in the water during rough weather before. The Sea of Galilee is actually a fresh water lake. It has the lowest elevation for any fresh water lake in the world, nearly 700 feet below sea level! Mountains surrounding the region, including the Golan Heights and Mount Herman, make it very susceptible to sudden, violent down drafts. This one hit quickly, and it was a bad one. The waves were breaking into the boat, it was in danger of being swamped. Where was Jesus?
38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 
        Storms can drive us to Jesus, expressing our doubts and fears (38). If God does not protect us from storms, he will certainly use them to accomplish His good purpose in us. Paul said in Romans 8:28 that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose…” What good can come from trials? Look at Jesus, as He teaches His disciples…
39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  40 He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"
     Storms can grow our faith (39,40). Why are you fearful and faithless?  As we pass through trials, God can use those things to grow our faith. James said,
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing… (James 1:2-4).
Count trials as joy? James said times of testing grow our faith and mature us. Elizabeth Eliot knew something about storms, about trials in life. She said in the midst of a time of crisis, “It is in accepting what God has given that God gives himself.” Or as Chuck Swindoll said, “Nothing touches us that has not first passed through the hands of our loving heavenly Father. Nothing. Peter may have thought back to that stormy evening in the boat when he wrote in I Peter 1:6,7,
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ
To God be the glory! By the way, the question “…don’t you care that we are perishing?” will be answered unambiguously as the story unfolds. One writer expressed the depth of emotion that drives the question…
Their cry is the ultimate cry of fear, of doubt and abandonment, repeated often in the stories of God’s people, as for example in the psalms. Where is God in the midst of my distress? Has God abandoned his people? It is a cry repeated in so many ways in the midst of the terrors and distresses of our world today. If God is so great and powerful a creator, if God really cares about this world, then why do events in the world and in my life go so badly?
Mark’s readers may have asked that question in the midst of the persecution they were experiencing. Does Jesus care? In fact, the answer to that question is tied to another question that Mark has been answering, “Why did He come?” He came because He does care, He came because He loves us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus would later say, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me, and they shall never perish…” The same word is used in both those contexts. The disciples asked, “Lord don’t you care that we are perishing?” He came so that they would not perish. He came to lay down His life for us, to be our substitute, to shed His blood so that we could be reconciled to God. Don’t ever doubt that Jesus cares. Storms will come, they may surprise us when they do, but they don’t surprise the Lord. In every storm of life, we should remember who Jesus is and trust Him, our King and Lord of all. 
III. Jesus is God, He is bigger than any storm we might face (41).  Storms can deepen our knowledge and trust in God. Jesus had asked “Why are you so cowardly? Why do you have such little faith?” Here, the disciples fear of the storm is replaced by awe – reverence – who is this man?
41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?"
       Jesus in His humanity was tired, sleeping through the storm as it raged on the lake. He took on himself a human nature so that He could by His obedience be our substitute. But He never stopped being God. As surely as all things were made by Him and for Him, as He created the universe by the Word of His power, He spoke, and there was a great calm. The disciples believed (or at least hoped!) that He was the messiah, but they still did not understand fully what that meant! They knew the words of the psalmist in passages like Psalm 89:8-9…
8 O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you?  9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
 They knew Psalm 107:23-30, which is almost a poetic description of this event, showing that God alone controls the sea…
23 Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters;  24 they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.  25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.  26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight;  27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end.  28 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  29 He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
Only God controls nature… only He could calm the stormy sea!  The “Great storm” (37) was replaced by a “great calm” (39) and as a result “They feared a great fear…” That is an emphatic way to say that they were terrified! Even more in the realization who this one is, than they were of the storm. They took him in the boat “just as he was…” Their understanding however was limited, incomplete. The storm revealed the Savior, God the Son, was in their boat! How do fallen humans react when they realize they are in the presence of holiness? Remember Manoah and his wife, after they saw the angel of the Lord disappear in the flame of the offering…
Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.  22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God…" (Judges 13:21-22).
Isaiah, after his vision of God on His throne said,
"Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" (Isa 6:5).
John describes his reaction when he got a glimpse of the glorified Christ in Revelation 1:17, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead”  Even Peter, after a miraculous catch of fish, would say, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man…” (Lk 5:8).  Now think of this: Jesus came so that we could be in the presence of God. Not because of what we’ve done, but because of Him!  The veil of the Temple is torn in two, and are invited into the Holy of Holies! In fact, He has promised to be with us… always. We are never alone in the boat!
What is God saying to me in this passage? In every storm of life we should remember who Jesus is, and trust Him, our King and Lord of all. 

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Could it be that you are in the midst of a storm right now? It might be invisible to others, or not. It could be internal, intensely personal, or something others are experiencing with you. As you look through our prayer list, as you pray for our missionaries, you see examples of people passing through storms as we live life in this fallen world.  As we live our lives, as we carry out the mission that He has us in the world to do, we can trust Him, we know He cares. And even the trials will be used for our good, and for His glory! The disciples took Him in the boat, “just as He was,” but they only understood in part who He was. His power over the stormy sea shook them deeply. We have more of the story: we know that He is fully man and fully God. We know that He loves us, He showed that beyond any question by willingly going to the Cross. We know that He defeated death… the resurrection proved it.  And so we can trust Him, and obey Him.  Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33).    
AMEN.

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