April 23 Where is Your Faith? Luke 8:22-25
A couple of insights about faith
Faith counts on something being true even when it doesn’t appear to be so.
Hebrews 11:1
Everyone has faith.
The question of faith:
Where is your faith in the ordinary routines of life? v.22
If faith is not built in the routines, it’s not strong in the storms.
Hebrews 11:6, Colossians 3:6-7
Where is your faith in the storms of life? Vv.23-25a
Is your faith in the One whose name the waves and wind still know? v.25b
Mark and Sherry Van Minsel story—(what did they think when the sliding glass door exploded?)
Turn to Luke 8:22-25
This morning we continue the series entitled, “Cross-Examined.” We chose this series title because on His way to the cross, Jesus made a series of claims and asked a series of questions that set Him apart and above every other religious leader and every other human being.
Last week we examined Jesus claim that He was the Resurrection and the Life. Like an astute attorney, Jesus asked a very personal and critical question: Do you believe this? Do you believe that I am the Resurrection and the Life? How you answer that question will determine where you spend eternity after you die.
Now this morning we examine this well-known story of Jesus and His disciples in a boat, in a storm. Let’s read it together. Luke 8:22-25 (On screen)
Jesus asks this haunting question of His disciples: Where is your faith? Let’s talk a little bit about faith. What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.”
A couple of insights about faith (build with Everyone has faith)
Faith counts on something being true even when it doesn’t appear to be so. “Faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” There is the physical world and there is the spiritual world. Sometimes they are in tension so that we are called on to believe something that is not seen or felt. Amplified Bible puts it this way, “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” I have faith that because I surrendered my life to Christ, that Christ is in me and I’m in Christ, that I’m saved, that I am accepted and adopted by God. My faith is in Jesus and what He did on the cross. And even though I can’t see it or sense it always, I take it by faith that it is as real and certain as the fact that I’m standing here.
“If it can be verified, we don’t need faith…Faith is for that which lies on the other side of reason. Faith is what makes life bearable with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys.” Madeline L’Engle
Everyone has faith. The issue is what do or where do you place your faith. I can place my faith in my physical senses (touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight). I can place my faith in my emotions. Or I can place my faith in the God who created me and His inspired, divine word.
This of course was the issue with the disciples. They were experiencing sensory overload and it revealed just where their faith was.
The question of faith:
Where is your faith in the ordinary routines of life? v.22 (on screen)
Being on the lake was an ordinary routine. These were fishermen. These guys spent a lot of time on the lake. It was no big deal. Gary Smith story: unloaded (updown, back forth), then took off, came back, forgot plug. Got trailer, up down/back forth, loaded. Couldn’t get it out of the lake; too full of water. Finally with some help got it out. No, these disciples were well versed in the ways of the boat and the water. This was routine for them. So they were counting on their own skill and experience as they sailed that day.
Hebrews 11:6 “Now without faith it is impossible to please God.” See, If we’re not careful, we can walk through the routines without faith. We get up, drive to work, do our jobs, come home, interact with the family, pay the bills, go to bed. Problem is: If faith is not built in the routines, it’s not strong in the storms.
I try to encourage you often to develop the disciplines of the Spirit-controlled life: daily time with Him early in the morning. Mark 1:35…if the Son of God needed prayer time early in the morning, so do we! Daily time that includes prayer, Bible study, Bible memory, journaling, and of course witnessing.
I love Colossians 3:6-7 in the Living Bible “And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him.”
When I first started training for triathlons about a decade ago, the part that was overwhelming to me was the swimming. The idea of swimming 400 yards in the open water was daunting. I wasn’t afraid of the water, I just wasn’t trained for the test. So, started a regular swimming routine in the pool at LAF, and gradually my skill and endurance prepared me for the test.
This is how faith is built: one day at a time, one prayer at a time, one memorized verse at a time, one journal entry at a time, one witness at a time.
I can’t tell you how many times someone has sought prayer and counsel from me who has gotten into a storm: crumbling marriage, wayward child, life-threatening disease, loss of a loved one—and they are absolutely swamped. Why? They weren’t trained for the test.
Where is your faith in the storms of life? Vv.23-25a (on screen)
The disciples had a test that day and it revealed where their faith was—or more importantly, where their faith wasn’t.
Like the disciples, we say we have faith, that we trust Him, but when the storms of life swamp us, we demonstrate that our faith is weak and powerless.
You know what the storms of life do for us? They reveal where we’ve been placing our faith. If we go through financial failure, that will test where our faith has been: in financial success or Jesus. If we get a ominous report from our physician, that will test where our faith has been: in our health or in Jesus. When we lose a loved one, that will test where our faith has been: in having that person around or having Jesus around.
Now I’m not saying that these tests are easy or simple. In fact, they can be very painful. But the person whose faith is in Jesus meets these tests with hope and courage and faith. Faith that the promises of God are true. Faith that He will be with us in the storms. Faith that He will use this for His glory and our good. Faith that this will all be worth it all when we see Jesus.
Is your faith in the One whose name the waves and wind still know? v.25b (on screen)
The disciples were blown away by the power and authority of Jesus. What’s curious to me, is that already they had listened to Him teach the great lessons that we call the Sermon on the Mount. Already they had seen him multiply loaves and fishes. Already they had witness Him heal the sick and even bring life into a dead body. But when it came to their OWN test, they failed the test.
What is it about us that we keep demanding Jesus to prove Himself? Why is it that we can’t allow His power and faithfulness in the past to qualm our fears about the present and future?
I love this declaration of the disciples: Even the waves and wind obey Him!
Are you in a storm this morning? If not, you will be! Being a Christ-follwoer does not exempt us from the storms and tragedies of life. What it does is prepare us for the test and by His grace gain victory over the test.
After he gave his life to Christ, blues singer Thomas A. Dorsey (born in 1899), known as “Georgia Tom,” became one of the best-known leaders in gospel music of his time, writing about three hundred gospel songs and directing choirs in Chicago for over fifty years.
Dorsey’s most influential song came to him in the middle of the night in the midst of great sorrow. He was invited to sing at a series of revival meetings in St. Louis, but was reluctant to go because his wife was due to bear their first child. She persuaded him to go and he did. During the first night of the meetings, a telegram was brought to him while he was on stage. It told the tragic news that his wife had died while giving birth to their son. He drove back to Chicago and within a few hours, his infant son died. He buried his wife and son in the same casket.
In the midst of his despair, he visited a friend. After walking and talking, Dorsey sat down and improvised on the piano, composing the melody for “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”
Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, help me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the Light.
Take my hand, previous Lord,
Lead me home.
When my way grows drear,
Precious Lord, linger near—
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call
Hold my hand lest I fall—
Take my hand, Precious Lord,
Lead me home.
When darkness appears,
And night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand,
Guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.
If you are in a storm this morning, let me remind you that the waves and winds still know His name and respond to His voice. (pray, Band vamps “It is Well)
