In our last series, we dealt with questions we’d like to ask God.
For the next few weeks, we’re going to turn that around and look at questions Jesus would ask us. And the first question we’re going to deal with is found in found in Mark 4:35-41 - "Why Are You So Afraid?". (Read text and have opening prayer).
OPEN: Every summer, Hollywood comes out with a series of “Blockbuster” movies that they hope will bring people out to the theatres. This summer, one of THE blockbuster movies dealt with the sea and ocean going ships. Anybody know what that movie was?
“Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest.”
This was the second in a series of 3 dealing with Captain Jack Sparrow and his band of pirates.
In the first movie (from last summer) the evil captain of “The Black Pearl” turned to another character and said: “Arhhh… there be monsters”
Now, that line wasn’t original with the “Pirates of the Caribbean”. It has been around for years. And I had often wondered why any pirate would say something like that.
Then, I ran across an illustration that explained the saying:
In the British Museum in London, there is an old mariner’s chart drawn in 1525 outlining the North American coastline. The cartographer who created the map did so from information gleaned from ocean-going crews of the day. There were notations on where reefs might be, and where the best harbors could be found. But there were certain sections that were relatively blank. And in those sections were notations like the following:
* "Here be giants!"
* "Here be fiery scorpions!"
* "Here be dragons."
In other words: “Here be monsters”
APPLY: Ever since man has gone out on the water in boats, seafarers have always been just a little afraid of the unknown, the unseen and the uncontrollable. And they felt fear.
Have you ever been afraid?
ILLUS: My wife says I have been.
Now I personally I prefer to think of it as healthy respect for gravity. But she says I’m afraid of heights.
Years ago, when Diana and I were dating, I took her to a place called “Fun Spot” in Angola, Indiana. It had a go-kart track, carnival games and various rides. And when I first took her there her favorite ride was… the Ferris wheel.
Now I had ridden a Ferris wheel only once before in my life. I believe it was with my brother Jack (who was 8 years older than I). Now my brother’s idea of fun on the Ferris Wheel was to rock the bucket.
I personally didn’t think it was all that much fun.
In fact it seemed anything but safe.
The only thing between me and the pavement was a flimsy bar that seemed to have no intrinsic purpose other than give you something to hold onto if you fell out.
So, here we were at Fun Spot… and Diana wanted to go up in the Ferris wheel. As scary as that prospect was, I wanted to show that I was a big strong man… but instead I trembled all the time we were up there.
Everybody experiences fear at one time or another in their lives. We like to think of it as normal. Even practical. But here in Mark 4, we find Jesus asking one of the most unusual questions He ever asked His disciples:
"Why are you so afraid?" Mark 4:40
(The Setting) Jesus had spent the day preaching and sharing parables with the crowds that gathered to here Him teach. Evening has come and He tells His disciples to set out in the boat. About half way across the Sea of Galilee, a terrible storm descends upon them. The winds blow, the waves broke upon their ship and they began to take on water. In fact, there’s so much water coming in that the disciples are afraid they might sink. But in the stern of the boat, Jesus is asleep. It’s been a long hard day and virtually nothing seems capable of waking Him. The disciples can’t understand this. In fact, they seem to be a little angry as they shake Him awake and say “Don’t you care that we drown?”
Jesus gets up, calms the sea, and then asks “Why are you so afraid?”
I. Now - what strikes me as so unusual about Jesus’ question is that it would seem the Disciples had every reason to be afraid.
These are experienced sailors, fishermen who made their living on the Sea of Galilee. When these men got scared of a storm while out on the water you can pretty well bet, they had good reason.
But Jesus asked them: “Why are you so afraid?”
Now, this puzzled me… because fear isn’t always a bad thing
For example: As our children grow up, we teach them to fear certain things
“Honey, look both ways as you cross the street”
“Why Mommy?”
“Because a driver might not see you and you’d get hurt.”
What are we trying to teach our children here? Fear. If you’re not careful when you cross the road, you could get hit.
“Honey, don’t go swimming alone”
“Why Daddy?”
“Because you might drown.”
What am I trying to teach my child? Fear.
“Don’t stick that pin in the electric socket!”
Usually we don’t get to “Why” on this one… we just scream it as we yank them away from the wall.
Fear is a practical response to the dangers of life and there’s nothing wrong with it.
And not only is fear practical on occasion - God even commands us to be afraid of at least one thing… Him.
Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge”
Proverbs 10:27 tells us “The fear of the LORD adds length to life”
And, of course, in the New Testament Peter tells us
“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God” 1 Peter 2:17
Now there are some who have been uncomfortable with the idea of “fearing God” and have tried to take the edge off this concept by saying “Fearing God” really means “to respect Him”
Do not be deceived… that’s not what it means.
ILLUS: I received a lesson on this distinction early in my ministry.
In my first church, there was a deacon stepping out on his wife. I had begun the process of discipline, when a board meeting was called, and I was told – in no uncertain terms – that I was not to continue with the discipline process. I wasn’t to mention it again, privately or from the pulpit.
At that meeting, the sinful deacon was seated off to one side, quietly taking in the conversation. It wasn’t until later that I began to put together what I believe happened.
I believe that deacon was there at the board meeting for one specific purpose: to put the board on notice that if they were to allow me to hold him responsible for his sin, he’d sue the church.
If that was true, those board members “respected God”… but they feared the man. And their fear of the errant deacon led them to disobey God.
Fearing God does NOT mean “respect Him.”
It means = don’t mess with Him.
It’s the Biblical equivalent to: “Don’t stick that pin in the electrical socket!”
Fear isn’t always a bad thing…
II. So why was Jesus rebuking His disciples for being afraid?
I don’t believe He was.
I know, I know… that’s what it looks like He was doing. But it only looks that way if you were to overlook one little word: “SO”
Mark 4:40 says: "Why are you SO afraid?"
From the very start of my preparation for this sermon I was troubled by Jesus’ question. It didn’t seem reasonable to say these fishermen shouldn’t have been afraid of the storm. They had spent their lives on the Sea of Galilee, and I’m convinced they knew of other fishermen who had gone out on that Sea and not returned. Other storms like this one had claimed the lives of more than one fisherman. And now, they’re in the midst of a terrible storm and their boat is in danger of being swamped. They had reason to be concerned.
But it wasn’t their fear Jesus was rebuking. It was the way they were reacting to this fear.
"Why are you SO afraid?" Mark 4:40
That little word “SO” is from the Greek “Houto” which means “in this way” or “in this manner”
So, literally, Jesus was saying “Why have you become afraid in this manner”
Or another way of saying it would be: Why are you reacting to this situation this way?
Well, how had they reacted to this situation?
1. They panicked
2. AND they became angry
“Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’” Mark 4:38
Why were the disciples asking Jesus this question?
Well, some have speculated that the disciples expected Jesus to calm the storm. But, I don’t think that ever entered their minds.
Mark 4:41 tells us that once Jesus does calm the storm:
“They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’”
NO… they didn’t expect Jesus to calm the storm!
They were angry with Him that He wasn’t up and as worried about the situation as they were.
They’re so mad at Jesus they literally shout at Him: “DON’T YOU CARE!”
ILLUS: I have been around people who’ve encountered their own “storms” of life, and I’ve seen them react just like this. They’ll have someone try to calm them and give them encouragement and they get angry and frustrated with the person who’s trying to comfort them.
Why were the disciples so angry at Jesus? What made them so ready to lash out at Him?
It was their lack of faith
Jesus said: "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4:40
ILLUS: Now this event was early in Jesus ministry. It hadn’t been long before this that Jesus had selected these very men to be His disciples.
But they had seen His power.
They had watched as He healed large numbers of sick people.
In fact, Mark goes into great detail about specific lepers and paralytics and demoniacs that Jesus had touched and healed.
In addition, Mark tells us that these very disciples had been given the ability to cast out demons.
So, if they had seen all this power and healing from Jesus why didn’t they ask Him to help them in this storm?
Well, because they hadn’t learned YET to look to Jesus for their answers.
They hadn’t learned yet to ask Him to help them in the midst of their troubles.
(pause)
III. Now, I don’t think this storm was an accident
I believe that this situation was engineered to teach these men about faith
ILLUS: C.S. Lewis once wrote: “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it?”
I believe this storm was bro’t about by God to see how the disciples would react.
It was designed to see if they really TRUSTED Jesus
It was designed to push them off the cliff of their casual relationship with Jesus
It was designed to educate them something
And I believe that whatever storms we go thru in our lives, God can use those struggles
Ø to educate us
Ø to change us
Ø to challenge us
Ø to strengthen our faith in Jesus
Because it is only in the midst of the storm that we learn how much we really trust Jesus.
It’s easy to believe in Jesus when the skies are clear, and things are going smoothly, but when the storm gather and the winds blow and beat upon our lives… it’s then we have to examine our “Rope” - our Jesus - and see how much we trust Him.
IV. When the disciples were out on the sea of Galilee…
the storm was real
the storm was a true and frightening experience
the storm was a real threat to their lives and their future
And there wasn’t a thing they could do about it.
And that’s why they were so angry. They couldn’t do a thing to change their situation. They couldn’t just simply step out of the boat and walk away from their troubles. They were trapped and helpless.
ILLUS: Whenever I’ve encountered storms in my life there has always been that sense of helplessness. A frustration because there appeared to be nothing I could do to change my situation. It even bordered on anger.
I suspect that many of you have gone thru storms of your own you’ve experienced the same helplessness and frustration.
So we can sympathize with those men in the boat all by themselves.
But those men weren’t in the boat alone. Jesus was there.
In fact, that’s WHY Jesus was there.
HE was there to deal with a storm they couldn’t handle.
For this storm they had Jesus.
ILLUS: Years ago, there was an evangelistic meeting and the speaker was explaining what it means to abide in Christ and to trust Him completely in every trial. Concluding his message, he repeated the same phrase several times:
"Trusting Jesus in your trials means that in every circumstance you can keep on saying, ’For THIS I have Jesus."’
At the end of the meeting, there was a time for testimonies. The young lady who had been at the piano stood up and said, "I have to leave shortly so I’d like to be the first to testify. Just a few minutes ago I was handed this telegram. It reads, ’Mother is very ill; take train home immediately.’
When I saw those words, I knew that tonight’s message was meant just for me. My heart looked up and said, ’ For this I have Jesus.’ and instantly a peace and strength flooded my soul."
After pausing a moment, she continued, "I have never traveled very far alone,
but for this I have Jesus.
and for all the strain and suspense that goes w/ the thought of Mother’s severe illness
I praise God that for this too I have Jesus."
CLOSE: At the beginning of this sermon I told you about an ancient map that is on display at the British Museum in London. Before the map made its way to the British Museum however, it was the prized possession of a British explorer by the name of Sir John Franklin in the 1800’s.
But in spite of its value, Sir John Franklin was offended by the fear that the ancient mariners had. And so he scratched out the inscriptions. And in place of the phrases that had once read:
* "Here be giants!"
* "Here be fiery scorpions!"
* "Here be dragons."
He wrote these words across the map: "HERE IS GOD."
Fear is a very real emotion. It’s often written on the hearts of many in this world. And it’s often even written on OUR hearts.
But when we scratch out that fear and replace that fear with the statement: HERE IS GOD… that’s when our faith grows strongest. That’s when we are best able to tell those around us:
For this we have Jesus.
OTHER SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
There Be Monsters; Mark 4:35-4:41
Don’t Leave Jesus Behind; Matthew 16:13-16:23
What Would You Have Me Do For You? Matthew 20:29-20:34
How Shall You Escape Hell? Matthew 23:15-23:33
If you’d like to HEAR any of these sermons, go to www.churchchrist.net
