"Turn to Jesus"
Luke 8:22-25
A Sermon for 8/15/21
Pastor John Bright
If you are a fan of sports movies, you may have already seen the movie entitled, “Greater” that was released in 2016. (link for the trailer)
https://youtu.be/gfmygLVJETU
Now if you are not a football fan than it might not appeal to you… at first. “Greater” tells the true-life story of Bandon Burlsworth, but the movie focuses on the day of his funeral. We see his older brother, Marty, struggling to understand how a 22-year-old who had inspired so many – how could that man have died just 11 days after being chosen in the NFL draft?
Marty is confronted by an odd character in the movie who adds fuel to the fire of Marty’s anger toward God. When I first saw the movie, I pictured this man as the devil. The more I watch that character, it became clear that he is speaking the words of Job’s friends. You see, Marty is just like us when the storms of life come (and they will surely come), we need assurance that can only come from our Father in Heaven.
Today we come to this familiar story found in Matthew, Mark and Luke – the synoptic gospels. We leave the parables behind for the next few chapters in Luke to focus on the true identity of Jesus and witness the awesome power He has on earth as the Only Son of God.
A boat ride and a nap v. 22-23a
Luke 8 “22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. 23 But as they sailed He fell asleep.”
Everything is going along like a normal day for these Disciples of Jesus. Many of them are experienced with boats on the open water having been raised in the family business of fishing. It was not uncommon for there to be storms on the Sea of Galilee. Like any large body of water, the mixing of warm air from the surrounding land with cooler air over the water is the perfect recipe for a storm. It would be easy to imagine all of these commercial fishermen had worked through a storm or two – but this was not going to be a typical storm.
The other fact that makes this event stand out – none of these guys have ever gone fishing with the Messiah in their boat. Do you think that would give them a sense of peace and calm? Probably so – they can see Him in the bow of the boat – Jesus is always pictured as being in the front of the boat and that’s a logical place to take a nap.
I LOVE TO NAP! I can relate to Jesus here in this text. That boat gently rocking would be a great place for a little snooze. Now, one thing that happens to me as I lay down for a nap or at night – I’ll remember something I need to do. One more email to send. A phone call I need to make later but never wrote a note. These are the kinds of things on my to-do-list. Let me set your mind at ease, I’m well aware that my to-do-list is vastly different than any list Jesus had in his mind. Hey – I never have to be the atoning sacrifice for the whole world’s sin – Thank God! I’m just bringing this up because I think when Jesus laid down to take a nap, everybody in the boat is thinking, “It’s going to be ok.”
Then came the storm v. 23b - 24
Luke 8 “23… And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.”
Have you ever been sailing through life on calm seas? Then, one day, you life turned on these words – “And a windstorm came down”. It sounds sudden. It sounds unexpected. That’s what it is like when the storms of life come our way.
These Disciples were not ready for a storm that would cause water to come over the side of the boat. From the point of view of a guy who likes to fish in a small boat – the last thing you ever want to see is water in the boat! There’s nothing good to come from water in the boat! We can all agree, right? So, these guys are probably doing everything they know how to do in a storm. As a last resort, they wake up the napping Jesus.
In our Bibles, it sounds like they are giving Jesus the facts – “We are gong to die.” I believe there is a sub-text here – there is something behind their words that will help us with Jesus’ response in verse 25. I believe they are crying out from a view that they have been forgotten – forsaken – that their lives don’t matter to God above or God in the front of the boat.
It is so easy for us to go to that place. We are so much like those Disciples. We don’t say it out loud, but we think it and hold on to it deep down inside – “Hey God, can’t you see I’m struggling here. I’m really, really hurting. Lord, You can’t want me in this storm. I see other people and they have it so much easier than me. (I bet you know what’s coming next) God, it’s not fair!
No, no it’s not and it never will be… because if it was always fair, we wouldn’t need faith.
Where is your faith? v. 25
Luke 8:25 “ But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”
Jesus responds to them only after showing them that the one who created this world still has power over it – just like when the God who judged the false gods of the Egyptians and brought His people through the Red Sea. This change on the Sea of Galilee was so dramatic and sudden that we read, “and there was a calm.”
Up until this time, the Disciples have seen demons cast out and physical bodies restored. They had heard His teachings and seen Him in conflict with the religious leaders who could not accept those teachings. Now, this is something new so they marveled and wondered. This is a whole new level of miracle. Their faith in Jesus should be same faith Israel was supposed to have for God. That faith was based on what God had done for them in the past.
In 1st Samuel 7, the same God who brought them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land asks the Tribes of Israel to return to Him… again! They have to stop following the false gods and worship only the True God – YAHWEH. They have gathered to make sacrifices and that’s when their enemies, the Philistines, come to attack. The people are afraid (1 Sam. 7:7) but God confused the Philistine army with “great thunderings” and they were defeated. To commemorate God’s victory, the Prophet Samuel set up a stone and called it “The Lord Has Helped Us.” We sing about that rock whenever we sing the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” This is how verse 2 begins – “Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’ll come.” That stone – your Ebenezer – is what God has done in the past to help you get through the storm. When you declare – The Lord Has Helped Me - you declare your faith in what God did for you in the past.
Looks like there was a very steep learning curve for these Disciples. We see them in the boat that day – now a calm day – with more questions than answers. I feel that way sometimes – not sure what God can do in my situation, but God is bigger than any storm that comes my way. God can and God will hear my prayers. That’s part of my faith. I believe that His word promises it:
1 John 5:15 "And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."
Jeremiah 29:12-13 "Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Psalm 66: “19 But certainly God has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!”
I also have faith because I have experienced God’s help in the past. I figure all of you have experienced God answering prayer in your life. It’s not always like that day on the Sea of Galilee, but hopefully, we have learned to turn to Jesus BEFORE the boat is sinking. We can turn to Jesus first thing every day for all the help we are going to need to row our little boats that day. Please don’t wait until there’s water in the boat because that brings with it a sense of desperation.
In the movie “Greater”, Marty is struggling – he is desperate – his boat is definitely taking on water in the storm. The funeral has already started and he is still outside, then he has a moment of clarity, of faith, that we have a limited view. He realizes (much like Job in the Bible) that God has the view from above and we can trust Him. Right up to the end of the movie, there is no clue of the meaning for the title, but then we see Brandon Burlsworth’s tombstone with the epitaph, “Our loss is great, but God is greater.”
That’s a wonderful reminder to those of us who have and who will face the storms of live day after day – “Our storms are great, but God is greater.” He always has been and He always will be. Amen
