I must admit that I struggled immensely with this sermon. I had a couple of lines that came to me last week, but nothing substantial. I prayed but stayed waiting. Finally, one night I was lying in bed unable to sleep. I had so much anxiety that I just couldn’t rest. The last couple of weeks have been brutal for many of us. Fear, anger, hurt, and many more emotions have tormented us. We all have these storms, but with the climate now, it feels like it is all encompassing. So, I lay in bed and turned to prayer. I prayed over our church, loved ones, and how I could possibly minister to these people when I felt like I was drowning myself. That’s when God led me to two stories about storms in the Gospel. Let’s look at them now.
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And waking up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
-Mark 4:38-40
Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
-Matthew 14:22-33
Let’s compare these two stories. What are their similarities?
- Both involve boats
- Symbolism of boats in the Bible represents the church and vessels of salvation, with vessels meaning receptive persons. Boats, representing the church/believers, have safe passage through the storms of life, with Christ as the pilot.
- Both left a crowd
- Both involved desciples
- Both had a storm
- Storms in the Bible symbolize the power of God in hardships and strength and resilience in the face of trials.
- Both showed Jesus’ followers being afraid
- Both showed Jesus’ divinity
- Both had the disciples in awe of Jesus’ power
- Fear, biblically, means to be in awe of, especially with the statement “to fear the Lord.”
What stands out?
- Matthew 14:28-30
- Peter believed in Jesus so much that he knew that if Christ, the Savior, commanded Peter, he could walk on the water despite the storm.
- However, when Peter stopped focusing on and trusting in Jesus, he became distracted by the storm. He started to sink.
- Mark 4:38
- The disciples were terrified and cried out to Jesus, who was sleeping during the storm, or rather He LOOKED like He was asleep. They said, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?!”
When Jesus was called upon, he calmed the storms, he didn’t let Peter nor the rest of his followers drown. He made the impossible POSSIBLE.
- He walked on water!
- He told the storm to be silent and it obeyed!
Connection to Now
Both stories give us insight into Jesus and how he works in the “storms” of our lives. Even if it seems that Jesus is absent or “asleep” in our lives, he is still there. Just like on the boat, he will come to our rescue. He will bring us through to the other side. Do you have faith?
The other aspect to these stories tells us how to respond to the storms in our lives.
- Call upon Jesus. Cry out to him!
- Believe that he will deliver you through.
- Don’t become overtaken or distracted by what the enemy tries to stir up.
- Even if we do lose focus, God will pull us out of it. That’s why He established His church: to create communities to weather storms together! Even Jesus wasn’t on mission alone! That’s KINGDOM BUILDING!
- He will make a way through the trials when it seems as if all hope is lost.
- Don’t give up!
- Keep fighting!
- Don’t drown in the storm!
The title of the original message was “Don’t drown in the eye of the storm.” The eye of a storm is defined as a region of mostly calm weather at the center of a tropical cyclone. Sometimes, we become so crippled by the fear of the storm on the horizon that we freeze because of it. We are paralyzed in the calm BEFORE the storm! Fear can be helpful; it can keep us alive, and it helps us detect danger. It can also stop us from LIVING, from pushing forward, from moving on, from FIGHTING THROUGH.
Keep this in mind
Jesus doesn’t always remove our trials, we see this throughout the Bible. He gives people PEACE, STRENGTH, and MOTIVATION to withstand all that may come their way.
As we com to the end of this sermon blog I want you to keep these points with you:
- You are not alone.
- You have your church community and God on your side.
- Jesus will pull you through.
- Don’t let fear consume you; don’t drown. Keep moving, keep living, and don’t give up.
Amen?
Be blessed,
Pastor Alex