MUB
JUNE 5, 2005
LUKE 8;22
One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let’s go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we’re going to drown!"
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25"Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."
THE PERFECT STORM
A FEW YEARS BACK THERE WAS A MOVIE CALLED THE PERFECT STORM. THE STORY LINE WAS THAT A FISHING CAPTAIN AND HIS CREW WENT INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN IN SEARCH OF THAT ONE CATCH THAT WAS GOING TO MAKE THEM ALL RICH. WHILE THEY ARE IN SEARCH OF THAT CATCH, A STORM IS BREWING, ALL THE CONDITIONS WERE PERFECTLY WRONG, AND THIS STORM ENDS UP DESTROYING THE SHIP AND THE CREW. IN LIFE, WE SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE WE ARE IN THE SAME SITUATION. ALL THE CONDITIONS ARE WRONG, THE STORM IS BREWING AROUND US, AND WE ARE GOING TO SUFFER. THIS MORNING, WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT A STORM IN JESUS LIFE.
THIS STORY IS RECORDED IN MATTHEW, MARK AND LUKE. IF YOU WERE TO READ THE PASSAGES JUST BEFORE, YOU WOULD HAVE FOUND THAT JESUS HAD BEEN VERY BUSY IN MINISTRY. HE HAS TAUGHT ON THE PARABLES, HE HAS HAD A DISCUSSION WITH HIS MOTHER AND HIS EARTHLY BROTHERS. HE IS WORE OUT. EXHAUSTION HAS SET IN. HE IS TIRED. HE NEEDS TO REST.
SOMETIMES IN LIFE, YOU NEED TO REST. GEN 2;2 SAYS By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. WHEN GOD FINISHED CREATING, HE TOOK A DAY OFF. HE KICKED BACK IN HIS HEAVENLY RECLINER AND RESTED. AND, GET THIS, IN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, GOD COMMANDS REST. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, WHY DID GOD MAKE THIS COMMAND? WHAT WAS HIS PURPOSE IN THIS? FIRST, HE MADE THIS COMMAND BECAUSE HE HAD ALREADY SET THE EXAMPLE. SECOND, HE GAVE THIS COMMAND, BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT THERE WOULD BE PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE WORKAHOLIC’S. YOU KNOW SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE, SOME OF YOU ARE THOSE PEOPLE. SOME OF YOU APPROACH LIFE LIKE THIS, IF I HAVE A DAY OFF, I CAN GO AND GET ANOTHER JOB AND MAKE SOME MORE MONEY. HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED THOSE PEOPLE WHEN THEY ARE FORCED TO REST. THEY SET AND THEY SQUIRM, AND THEY TAP THEIR TOES, AND THEY CANT KEEP THEIR HANDS STILL, AND THEY ARE ABOUT TO DIE A MILLION DEATHS BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO SET STILL AND REST. IS GOD SAYING NOT TO WORK? OF COURSE NOT, B/C IN COUNTLESS OTHER PLACES HE TELLS US TO WORK. BUT, WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT IN ORDER FOR US TO FUNCTION PROPERLY, WE NEED BALANCE, AND THAT INCLUDES THE PROPER REST. SO, JESUS HAS DONE HIS WORK, AND NOW HE IS IN A BOAT CROSSING THE WATER, AND HE RESTS.
HIS REST HAS BROUGHT HIM TO PLACE OF DEEP SLEEP. THERE IS SOMETHING VERY SOOTHING ABOUT BEING ON A BOAT IN QUIET WATER. HE FINDS A CUSHION AND LEANS BACK AND FALLS ASLEEP. SOME OF YOU, HAVE MASTERED THIS ART OF SLEEPING. YOU CAN SLEEP ANYWHERE, EVEN IN THESE UNCOMFORTABLE PEWS. AS HE SLEEPS, THE WEATHER TAKES A SUDDEN CHANGE. WHEN THEY LEFT, THE WATER WAS CALM, BUT SUDDENLY, A MIGHTY STORM HAS COME UP. OFTEN OUR LIVES ARE LIKE THAT. WE START OUT IN CALM WATERS, BUT THEN THE STORMS COME. THEY CAN BE FIERCE. THEY MAY BE STORMS IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS. THE PERFECT HUSBAND HAS HIDDEN IMPERFECTIONS THAT YOU DIDN’T SEE BEFORE. THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE HAS AN UGLY SIDE. THE CHILDREN WHO COULD DO NO WRONG, CAN SUDDENLY DO NO RIGHT. OR THE STORMS MIGHT BE IN THE AREA OF FINANCE. YOU HAVE OVEREXTENDED, YOU BOUGHT SOMETHING YOU DIDN’T REALLY NEED, AND NOW THE BILL IS DUE. THE JOB THAT WAS PROVIDING THE INCOME YOU NEEDED, HAS NOW CUT YOUR HOURS. PERHAPS THE STORM IS IN THE SPIRITUAL AREA OF YOUR LIFE. YOU HAVE PRAYED, AND GOD HAS NOT ANSWERED YOUR PRAYER IN THE WAY THAT YOU WANT. YOU SAID, I WANT TO GET SERIOUS WITH YOU GOD, BUT YOU DIDN’T REALIZE THAT SERIOUS REALLY MEANT STEPPING OUT IN FAITH. THE STORMS IN LIFE CAN BE TOUGH, THEY CAN CHALLENGE US. THEY ROCK OUR BOAT.
THE DISCIPLES IN THE BOAT WITH JESUS, MANY HAD BEEN FISHERMEN, THEY KNEW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE IN A LITTLE BOAT, AND THE WAVES ARE HIGH, AND THE WIND IS STRONG. THE BOAT STARTED TAKING ON WATER, THEY BAILED, BUT MORE WATER WAS COMING IN THAN THEY COULD TOSS OUT. THE BIBLE SAYS THEY WERE IN GREAT DANGER. THEY FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES. THEY BELIEVED THEY WOULD DROWN.
SOMETIMES, OUR FEARS, OUR WORRIES, OUR STORMS, DO THIS SAME THING TO US, THEY MAKE US BELIEVE THAT WE WILL DROWN. THE SMART THING THAT THE DISCIPLES DID, WAS THEY WENT TO JESUS. WHEN YOUR STORMS
MAKE YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU CANT HANDLE IT ANY MORE, GO TO JESUS. TRUST HIM, ASK HIM, BELIEVE THAT HE IS GREATER THAN ANY STORM THAT YOU WILL FACE IN LIFE.
NOW, AN INTERESTING THING HAPPENS IN THIS STORY. THEY COME TO JESUS AND ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL OF MARK, THEY SAY TO JESUS, "DON’T YOU CARE? DON’T YOU KNOW WE ARE ABOUT TO DROWN. WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING WHEN WE ARE DYING?" JESUS DOES CARE. AND HE KNOWS ALL ABOUT YOUR STORMS IN LIFE. AND HE IS NOT ASLEEP.
JESUS KNOWS ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE DISCIPLES WERE ACTING ON LIMITED KNOWLEDGE. JESUS KNOWS THAT HE IS NOT GOING TO DIE IN A SHIPWRECK, THAT WOULD NOT MEET HIS PURPOSE IN COMING TO EARTH TO SAVE US. WHAT JESUS KNOWS IS, NO MATTER HOW BAD THE STORM MIGHT BECOME, IT WOULD NOT TAKE THEIR LIVES B/C HE IS ON BOARD.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT LESSON FOR US, AS LONG AS JESUS IS CAPTAIN OF YOUR BOAT, YOU WONT DROWN IN THE BOAT. DOES THIS MEAN YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DYING PHYSICALLY? AS LONG AS YOU TRUST HIM, AND HAVE BEEN OBEDIENT TO HIM, YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY. IF JESUS IS CAPTAIN OF YOUR LIFE, YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY.
HE SAYS TO THE DISCIPLES, WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? DON’T YOU KNOW THAT I AM ON BOARD. HAVEN’T YOU SEEN THE MIRACLES THAT I HAVE PERFORMED, WHY DO YOU DOUBT. THEN TO CALM THEIR FEARS, HE SPEAKS TO THE WIND AND WATER, PEACE BE STILL. AND IMMEDIATELY ALL WAS CALM.
THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER AND ASK, WHO IS THIS THAT COMMANDS EVEN THE WIND AND WATER AND THEY OBEY HIM. IF JESUS CAN CALM THE STORMS WITH JUST HIS VOICE, IMAGINE WHAT HE CAN DO IN YOUR LIFE.
ARE YOU DEALING WITH STORMS IN YOUR LIFE TODAY? WHY DON’T YOU TRUST THE ONE WHO COMMANDS EVEN THE WIND AND WATER.
