In Jesus Holy Name August 13, 2023
Text: Matthew 14:32 Pentecost XIV - Redeemer
“Finding Calm in the Storm”
Think of the last storm that raged in your life. It may have been in your family—an illness you never saw coming or a divorce. Maybe it happened where you work—a downsizing that left you jobless and overburdened. Perhaps it happened in your church when people lashed out at others and the ruckus causes storm waves in a church that was calm.
Crisis comes. Storms will come. Your children have been healthy, but then, out of nowhere, one contracts a fever that won't come down; or there's a doctor's visit where he seems concerned and says, "I don't like the looks of this, we need to run a battery of tests. You're going from here to the hospital." Crisis comes. Anxiety will be your companion.
Everyone of us have been tossed and turned by anxiety at some point in our life. Airplanes fall out of the sky. Flights are canceled. You are stranded. Bull markets go bear. Terrorists terrorize. Good people turn bad. The other shoe will drop. Fine print will be found. Misfortune lurks behind every tree. It’s just a matter of time. Anxiety will come.
The angry waves seem endless. But looking back, do you remember when Jesus stepped into your boat?
Adam and Eve faced a crisis when the serpent encouraged them to eat of the forbidden fruit. That day, they made a critical choice and gave in, and the world has paid for their sin ever since. Moses had a time of crisis when the Lord called him away from being a Sinai shepherd. He became the leader of His enslaved people. For the next 40 years Moses proved himself to be courageous when faced with a crisis ... most of the time.
King David was pretty good with any crisis that confronted him on a battlefield, but questionable when it showed up in his bedroom. Crisis comes. His anxiety and fear lead him to have a man murdered on the battlefield.
“Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one.” Fear screams “Get out!” Anxiety ponders, “What if?” (Max Lucado Anxious about Nothing p. 4) In our gospel reading today the disciples experienced anxiety that turned into fear until Jesus visited in the hours of early morning.
Jesus had just finished “feeding the 5000” along the shore of Galilee. The background of the story is very simple. Jesus is on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is late in the day and Jesus has just performed the great miracle of feeding 5000 men, women and children with five loaves and two fish (vv. 14-21). Moses himself, had prophesied that one day the Messiah would renew miracle of serving bread, Jesus just accomplished that task? (Deut. 18:15) It was a sign that the Messiah had arrived. Understandably amazed and enthralled by this miracle, the people want to make him king. (John 6)
Jesus, knowing that their enthusiasm is shallow, refuses them. After
dismissing the crowd, He sends the disciples on ahead to the other side of the lake, telling them that he would meet them later, while He Himself went off to pray.
The Sea of Galilee is just a simple body of water. Yet, on this sea, astounding things happened. Storm clouds can gather in a moments notice. The disciples saw the clouds. They may have been anxious. But they have sailed on this sea for decades.
This storm was different. It seems that the storm began around 8:00 P.M. and continued all night long. Given the fact that the Sea of Galilee is nestled against the mountains, this would not be unusual, except for the fact that most storms come and go rather quickly. This one lasted all night. It whipped up the waves and impeded their progress and their anxiety turns to fear.
The disciples are in the boat struggling against the wind and the rain. 9 p.m. . . . 10 p.m. . . . 11 p.m. . . . 12 Midnight . . . 1 a.m. . . . 2 a.m. . . . 3 a.m. . . . Still the storm continues with no sign of letting up. After eight or nine exhausting hours, the disciples were stuck in the middle of the lake, dirty, drenched, chilled to the bone.
Peter and his fellow storm riders knew they were in trouble. About 4:00 a.m. the unspeakable happened. They spotted someone walking on the water. “‘A ghost!’ They cried out in terror.”
They didn’t expect Jesus to come to them this way. Neither do we. We expect to find Jesus in morning devotionals, church suppers, and meditation. We never expect to see him in a storm. But that’s where Jesus does his best work, for it is in storms that He has our attention. He said. “Take courage. I am here!”
In life, the wind is often contrary. There are times when we are up against it and life is a desperate struggle.
God is all-knowing, which means you are never out of his sight. God is all-present which means you are never out of his reach. God is all-loving and all-powerful, which means you are never out of his care. When Jesus comes to us in our crises and tells us not to be afraid, we can believe Him. Why? Because He has a proven track record of success in dealing with crisis.
Impetuous Peter… gets out of the boat and begins to walk towards Jesus. Everything goes fine until Peter notices the storm all around him. Remember, the storm has never stopped. During all this commotion, the rain has been coming down in sheets. Behind him the little fishing boat bobs on the roiling waves.
Matthew tells us that “when he saw the wind, he was afraid.” (v. 30). But the wind was there all along. The storm has been raging for hours. It’s not as if it let up when Jesus begins walking on the water. Jesus comes to them in the midst of the storm. According to verse 32, the wind doesn’t die down until Jesus and Peter get in the boat.
In his sermon on this passage, Robert Rayburn defines faith as “concentration on Jesus.” It’s not easy to keep your eyes on Jesus in the middle of the night, when the raging storm of fear threatens to overwhelm you. This text reminds us that not only does Christ control the storm, and not only does He allow the storm, He reveals himself in the midst of the storm.
This is the 2nd time Jesus commanded the wind and waves to be still. After
the first event the disciples asked: “What kind of man is this with us in the boat? Even the wind and waves obey him.” (Matthew 8:27) When both Peter and Jesus step into the boat, when the sea becomes smooth as glass their reaction this time is different. Matthew writes : “Then those who were in the boat worshiped Jesus, saying: “Truly you are the Son of God.”
These were good Jewish boys. They know the commandments. “You shall have not other “gods”. “You shall worship only the true God of heaven and earth. They suddenly fall on their knees and worship Jesus, Yahweh in flesh and bone.
This is why John writes in his gospel: “The ‘Word’, the Intelligent Designer, became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father….”
The miracles of Jesus allow for no middle ground. His miracles are unique. The Miracles of Jesus are so powerful they cannot be dismissed with the wave of a hand. The disciples have seen other miracles but now this miracle is used by the Holy Spirit to lead them to that point in time where they were able to confess Him to be the sinless Son of God. The same remains true today.
People may have read parts of the bible, or remembered stories from S.S., or even watch episodes of “The Chosen” out of curiosity. Your friends may have heard you talk about Jesus, or they may for the first time been told that Easter is not about Easter bunnies and chocolate but the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And somewhere, down the line, at some point, after some experience, the light goes on and they believe that Jesus is their Savior. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Philip Yancy in his book “The Jesus I Never Knew” writes: I have marveled at, and sometimes openly questioned, the self restraint God has shown the self restraint that dark Friday in Jerusalem. With every lash of the whip, every crunch of a fist against flesh, Jesus remained silent. Legions of angels awaited His command. One word, and the ordeal would end.
That was not God’s plan. From the creation of the world and the “Fall” of humanity in a beautiful Garden, God’s eternal plan was to redeem creation. God’s eternal plan was the defeat of Satan who held people in the grip of the fear of death.”
The Apostle Paul tells us that The Son of God became a curse for us …God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us.” (II Cor. 5:21) God abandoned Jesus on the cross, so that we might see the empty tomb, the risen Jesus, and hear the words of the angel: He is not here, He has risen from the dead, just as He promised.” That is the most important miracle in all of history.
When Jesus was on the cross, the two executed thieves present the choice that all history is given to decide about the Man who calmed storms and walked on the water. Is Jesus the miracle worker, a man unable to save Himself from the cross, no of course not. His death and resurrection from the grave are a statement of God’s love for His most precious creation. You and me. A resurrected glorified body is our future reality. The storms of life cannot erase that truth. (Philippians 3:20-21)
Miracles still happen. Coincidences and healings cannot be explained away. Keep your eyes on Jesus, even in the storm. The Holy Spirit will take the “God Stories” you experience to build your faith, and later, when shared, to spark faith in another’s heart.
If the stormy waves of anxiety and fear want to control your day…. Take the advice of the Apostle Paul. “Be anxious for nothing but with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.” “And the peace of God” will calm the storm. Take a moment to count your blessings. What good is still happening in the midst of the storm? Remember that your God is all knowing. He knows your situation.
When you count your blessings, and remember that God loves you, anxiety will grab his bags and slip out the back door of your life. Worry cannot share the same space in a heart filled with gratitude. (Anxious for Nothing, Max Lucado p. 95)
