RIDING THE WAVES OF LIFE
I once heard a minister use a memorable phrase in his prayer and it stays with me: it was "our short and uncertain earthly life and pilgrimage". Life is uncertain. This is true for the Christian as well, as we don’t live in some magic or charmed circle just because we’re believers. The story of ’Jesus calms the storm’ found in Mark 4:35-41 i very much to the point and I’m giving it an alternative title of ’Riding the Waves of Life’.
The writers of the Gospels had a gift in communicating their message in word-pictures. They or their close friends had followed Jesus on His itineraries between Galilee and Jerusalem and remembered the many interesting events. When they came to commit them to writing for the benefit of the next generation they were inspired to select those that would be helpful in making it clear why Jesus had come to be the Saviour of the world and what it would mean to His followers. These stories are still full of meaning for us almost 2,000 years on.
The gospel story came very relevant one summer’s day. My wife and I, together with friends, enjoyed a holiday near Looe in Cornwall. The weather was perfect for a quiet stroll around the picturesque harbour and what could be better than a boat trip around Looe Island a mile out from the shore. There was a pleasant breeze coming in with the tide but the sea appeared fairly calm as the little motor boat passed the harbour light. But it soon changed! As we approached the island the boat, open to the elements, began to pitch and roll alarmingly, at least to us landlubbers. We had crossed the flow of the tide and the direction of the wind, causing sheets of spray to come over the sides. It wasn’t until we rounded the windward side of the island that the calmer water was reached and only then the shrieks of the surprised passengers subsided. Life has many surprises for each one of us.
This little incident recalled to me the story told by three of the Gospel writers of a sudden storm on the Sea of Galilee. It was so severe that it imperilled the lives of the disciples, several of whom were experienced fishermen. Jesus was also on board but after an exhausting day of ministry he had relaxed and fallen fast asleep. The story is a parable of life’s sudden surprises, often unpredictable and unwelcome. No one is immune from them. They come whether we are in the faith or not.
The world in which we live is one of tremendous contrasts and contradictions. No wonder we’re baffled by it! For every step forward in peace there seems to be a terrorist round the bend. The astonishing beauty of nature is set against the ugliness of war, disease and famine. The same sky that one day is a painted picture of the colours of the sunset is the scene of a destructive hurricane. It’s a fair question to ask God ’Why?’ Mankind is clearly the culprit for some of life’s misfortunes, brought about by our own bad choices, neglect, greed and irresponsible behaviour. But beyond this there are circumstances not in our control, leaving us helpless.
The drama reveals that Jesus was so human that He was sufficiently exhausted to fall sound asleep in the midst of a storm. And He was so divine that even winds and waves responded to His rebuke. The elements recognised His true identity, although the disciples were puzzled. The story is full of little details and human interest, the hallmark of an eyewitness account. Yes, it really happened! Mark even tells that there were other boats in the little flotilla crossing the lake although they have no other part in the story.
It’s a striking parable of the Christian life. The story shows that when God invites us on a journey we must obey the call for He has a purpose in it for us. In a nutshell the story is to tell us the practical implications of Jesus as our Saviour: From what does He save us? Why, from evil and harm! But is it physical or spiritual or both? In what sense does He save us from them? Are we exempted from the storms of life? If not, how do we cope with them? This incident in the earthly ministry Of Jesus will help us to find answers to these questions.
The story of the stilling of the storm is rich in meaning in helping us to make sense of this life with Jesus as our Saviour and Companion. Here we meet the unpredictable and learn how to cope with it. Those who have witnessed a storm on the Sea of Galilee tell how the geography contributes to its violence. The inland lake is over 600 feet below sea level and surrounded by hills and mountains. Particularly in the evening, winds are funnelled down the sides of the slopes on to the lake. Without a moment’s warning, the wind whips up a sudden storm which, equally suddenly, may calm down. What can we learn from this life-parable? Surely it’s that:
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A ROLLER-COASTER EXPERIENCE!
Have you ever heard someone giving their testimony of how wonderful the Christian life is, with no problems and difficulties, saying "Come to Jesus and all will be well. Now you’re a Christian, health and wealth can and should be yours, and if they’re not, the fault lies with you and not God." Well, they can’t be living on the same planet as most of us! This view is unbiblical and dangerous, as is the ’prosperity gospel’ which encourages and promises a life of continual success, excitement and growth. This can only lead to frustration and despair when it fails to meet expectations.
No, Jesus doesn’t promise a trouble-free life. It’s not that tribulation may come, nor even that it will come, but that it must come. Jesus told His followers, "The Son of Man must suffer ... If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:22,23). So trouble isn’t merely a ’possibility’. It’s part and parcel of our Christian pilgrimage. It’s something we must learn to confront. When the storms of life come, it’s easy for a person’s Christian commitment to waver and to accuse God of being the cause of all the troubles. The story of the storm on Galilee was preserved to tell the disciples of Jesus, of whatever generation, whether if the 1st or 21st century, that being with Jesus won’t guarantee a life of plain sailing, free from trials and tribulations.
Christians are as vulnerable as anyone else and are not isolated from the fragility of nature, illness, whether physical or mental, and sudden bereavement. Certainly, there’s no automatic immunity for the believer. Some of these unpleasant things happen to Christians of great faith. I don’t understand why they happen but I know that they do. Often, in the goodness and providence of God we are spared, but we can’t take it for granted. Notice it was Jesus who said, "Let’s go over to the other side of the lake." He could have gone by land but chose to go by water. In doing so, he was inviting the disciples to follow Him, to take the risk "of those who go down to the sea in ships." We, as modern day disciples must follow where He leads, even into dangers and difficulties - there’s no land bridge into heaven; the sea of life must be crossed.
It’s well known that the Hebrew race weren’t lovers of the sea, which represented to the Jews the forces of chaos. To some of us who have had bad experiences at sea it’s of comfort to read in Revelation that in heaven there’s no more sea! Jesus and the disciples were at the end of a busy day and looking forward to some rest when they encountered the unexpected hazard of the storm. The word in the original translated "storm" generally means "an earthquake" - some mighty force that had stirred up the placid lake into a violent frenzy. We’re told "they were in great danger." A commentator suggests that the storm was an attack of the powers of darkness to snuff out Jesus before His life’s work was done. Who knows? It certainly indicates an occurrence out of the ordinary and it was in these circumstances that:
JESUS IS PRESENT AND IN COMMAND OF THE SITUATION
The disciples were on a steep learning curve as to the reality of Jesus. He had generally held back from demonstrating His divine nature and power because He had yet to come to the crux of His mission in the Cross and Resurrection which were to be the grounds for believing faith. But here was an opportunity for them and us to take a step forward in the life of faith. This incident is evidence that Jesus has power over the forces of nature. This shouldn’t surprise us when we remember what Scripture tells us. The opening verses of John’s Gospel states: "Through him all things were made" (1:3); He is the Creator God. The apostle Paul confirms Christ’s supremacy in creation: "For by him all things were created ... by him and for him ... and in him all things hold together" (Col 1:15-17).
Nature miracles are wonderful but they are the exception rather than the rule. We might wonder why? Some people have intellectual difficulties with miracles. It’s true that the laws of physics are God’s usual way of working. Their consistency speaks of His faithfulness but there’s no reason at all why He can’t accelerate the natural forces for His own specific purposes. A Christian minister who is also a scientist gives an explanation that gives me satisfaction. "If the order in the Universe is a reflection of God’s faithfulness in creation, then miracles could be seen as special acts of grace when God supersedes His normal ways of working." He goes on to say, I suspect with tongue in cheek: "If God did too many miracles then the world would become totally unpredictable; if he did no miracles it would be extremely boring."
It’s worth remembering that God doesn’t always meet our needs through a miracle. The story of the stilling of the storm is only an example of how He can work out solutions to the needs of His people. It’s true that this one had the happiest of endings but if we read the account of the Early Church we find cases where the divine answer wasn’t miraculous. Some of the choicest of saints were recorded as being ill and they stayed ill. Some were imprisoned and executed for the sake of the Gospel. And there’s the famous account of a great storm that raged for fourteen days and ended with Paul being shipwrecked.
Jesus may not give the kind of victory we expect. But He will always overcome trouble in some way if we ask Him. His answer in trying circumstances may be relief; but it may equally be endurance. His answer in illness may be health; but it may be courage instead. He may plan a rescue from the jaws of death, or permit bereavement and give new hope with it. He calls on us to trust in His providential grace and find, as the apostle Paul did, that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Rom 8:37).
No doubt Jesus was tired after a long day of ministry to the "large crowd" so that "as they sailed he fell asleep." The disciples were spellbound as Jesus showed He was master of the situation. He was so much in control that even at the height of the storm He could be in peaceful sleep. Contrast the panic shown by the disciples, even though some of them were experienced fishermen. The awe of the disciples was beyond words. "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" Some have wondered whether the recorded words of Jesus, "Peace be still," although addressed to the waves, could also have been directed to the frantic disciples. Jesus, the God of Creation, could calm the elements and equally able to bring peace to the troubled passengers on the boat.
That same power is still available to the "ship" of the church. But it begs the question, "Why doesn’t God always bring calm in the storm of life’s problems? Why does the Lord allow Satan and his agents on earth to do terrible things?" There’s no easy answer to innocent suffering. We might wish that God should use His omnipotence to stamp out evil at source, but God in His wisdom hasn’t chosen that route, but rather through Jesus, to enter into the human situation. At the end of the age, in the Day of the Lord, He will crush it out of hand because of His victory in the Cross but for now He wrestles with it: it’s in our weakness rather than in strength, it’s through men more than miracles. We know the theory but how should we tackle the problem in practice? The simple answer is that:
WE MUST CRY TO GOD FOR HELP
That’s what the disciples did: "They went and woke Jesus, ’Master, Master, we’re going to drown!" They were at their wit’s end, but not at faith’s end. And we have the same Saviour, to turn to when life turns against us. It helps to have a powerful father. I read the story of some small boys playing football but ’big lads’ came along and stole the football. One of the boys went up to these teenagers and said, ’Give our ball back.’ The ’big lads’ declined the invitation. The small boy asked again and the teenagers asked why they thought they should give it back. They were told, ’Because my dad is a policemen and we live in that house just there.’ The ball was given back very quickly. It doesn’t matter who you are, but it matters to whom you are related!
The disciples didn’t stand on ceremony - they were desperate. We have our Heavenly Father to turn to. Like the disciples, we have to recognize our need. His help isn’t automatic and He may wait until we have the humility to realise that we have exhausted our resources. Does pride hold us back if we think we’ve got life’s issues sorted out? The writer of the letter to the Hebrews urged his readers: "Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near ... to the throne of God’s unmerited favour ... and find appropriate ... and well-timed help, coming just when we need it" (Heb 4:16 Amp NT). God doesn’t mind how we ask. Sometimes it will be a shout in the midst of anger and despair. Sometimes it will be in the quiet confident prayer. But it’s only as we confess our need that God in Christ will respond.
The story tells us that Jesus wakes and brings calm in the most dramatic way. He uses the opportunity to teach the disciples what it means to be in relationship with Him. "Where is your faith?" he asks. We all have faith; otherwise life would be impossible. We post our correspondence believing, hopefully, that the letter will be delivered to the right address! What varies is what we put our trust in. It’s possible to put our faith in other things apart from Jesus. Do we trust in our abilities, our church, our money or even our supposed credentials with God? None of these things has power over the wind and waves of life’s turmoil.
A story is told of one of the great historic personalities of the Christian church, Thomas Aquinas. He was being given a tour of the treasures of the Vatican. The person who showed him the treasures proudly said, ’No longer can we say, "Silver and gold have we none"’ Aquinas responded, ’No longer can we say, "Rise up and walk."’ Jesus is asking us as He asked His disciples, "Is your faith and trust located in me or something else?" There’s the implication that if their faith had really been in Jesus they wouldn’t have got so worked up! Jesus wasn’t annoyed with the disciples for having woken Him up but rather because they had disturbed themselves with their fears. The disciples were amazed at what happened when Jesus took charge of the situation but they knew:
A RESPONSE IS REQUIRED TO JESUS’ INTERVENTION
Only three words from the lips of Jesus were required, "Quiet! Be still!" They were enough to bring the raging sea to a dead calm. In response to Jesus asking them about faith, the disciples responded with another question, "Who is this?" He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." This is what Jesus was after. The key words are "Who is this?" They had begun to look beyond the miracle to the miracle worker. The whole purpose of Jesus’ action was to help to establish His identity. Only God possesses power over the elements. The disciples were well aware of the humanity of Jesus. Like them, He was a man, but now they were they were becoming aware of His divinity.
The incident of the stilling of the storm was part of the process of answering the question "Who is this?" The disciples still had much to learn about Jesus and His mission to become the Saviour of the world but it was an important step in their spiritual pilgrimage. The question "Who is this?" was being continually answered by Jesus as He gave them further insights through His words and actions leading up to His Passion and Resurrection. The process of understanding for the disciples of all ages is to lead to a transfer of faith away from self and direct it to the Lord. The purpose of this story for today is for us to think seriously on the question "Who is this?" and to know for ourselves that Jesus is truly God with the power to save, and to trust more and more of our lives to Him. Yes, He is able to help us to "ride the waves of life."
