Turn To Jesus Series

"Turn to Jesus"

Luke 8:22-25

A Sermon for 8/15/21

Pastor John Bright

If you are a fan of sports movies, you may have already seen the movie entitled, “Greater” that was released in 2016. (link for the trailer)

https://youtu.be/gfmygLVJETU

Now if you are not a football fan than it might not appeal to you… at first. “Greater” tells the true-life story of Bandon Burlsworth, but the movie focuses on the day of his funeral. We see his older brother, Marty, struggling to understand how a 22-year-old who had inspired so many – how could that man have died just 11 days after being chosen in the NFL draft?

Marty is confronted by an odd character in the movie who adds fuel to the fire of Marty’s anger toward God. When I first saw the movie, I pictured this man as the devil. The more I watch that character, it became clear that he is speaking the words of Job’s friends. You see, Marty is just like us when the storms of life come (and they will surely come), we need assurance that can only come from our Father in Heaven.

Today we come to this familiar story found in Matthew, Mark and Luke – the synoptic gospels. We leave the parables behind for the next few chapters in Luke to focus on the true identity of Jesus and witness the awesome power He has on earth as the Only Son of God.

A boat ride and a nap v. 22-23a

Luke 8 “22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. 23 But as they sailed He fell asleep.”

Everything is going along like a normal day for these Disciples of Jesus. Many of them are experienced with boats on the open water having been raised in the family business of fishing. It was not uncommon for there to be storms on the Sea of Galilee. Like any large body of water, the mixing of warm air from the surrounding land with cooler air over the water is the perfect recipe for a storm. It would be easy to imagine all of these commercial fishermen had worked through a storm or two – but this was not going to be a typical storm.

The other fact that makes this event stand out – none of these guys have ever gone fishing with the Messiah in their boat. Do you think that would give them a sense of peace and calm? Probably so – they can see Him in the bow of the boat – Jesus is always pictured as being in the front of the boat and that’s a logical place to take a nap.

I LOVE TO NAP! I can relate to Jesus here in this text. That boat gently rocking would be a great place for a little snooze. Now, one thing that happens to me as I lay down for a nap or at night – I’ll remember something I need to do. One more email to send. A phone call I need to make later but never wrote a note. These are the kinds of things on my to-do-list. Let me set your mind at ease, I’m well aware that my to-do-list is vastly different than any list Jesus had in his mind. Hey – I never have to be the atoning sacrifice for the whole world’s sin – Thank God! I’m just bringing this up because I think when Jesus laid down to take a nap, everybody in the boat is thinking, “It’s going to be ok.”

Then came the storm v. 23b - 24

Luke 8 “23… And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.”

Have you ever been sailing through life on calm seas? Then, one day, you life turned on these words – “And a windstorm came down”. It sounds sudden. It sounds unexpected. That’s what it is like when the storms of life come our way.

These Disciples were not ready for a storm that would cause water to come over the side of the boat. From the point of view of a guy who likes to fish in a small boat – the last thing you ever want to see is water in the boat! There’s nothing good to come from water in the boat! We can all agree, right? So, these guys are probably doing everything they know how to do in a storm. As a last resort, they wake up the napping Jesus.