Saint Luke's Lutheran Church

The Gospel story we just read is a classic. The stories of Jesus' disciples caught in a storm and paintings depicting this story are familiar to many of us. This story does not only report an incident that happened a long time ago on the Sea of Galilee, but it offers a powerful metaphor of life to which we can all relate. Our lives are very much like a voyage across open waters. Sometimes there are periods of calm, when there is smooth sailing. Sometimes there are times of storm and turbulence, when we feel battered and swamped by powerful forces over which we have no control. A story like this begs not so much to be "preached" as to be told. So this morning I invite you to hear this story and to learn the life lessons that it offers us today.

Please take our your bulletins and look at the lesson which is printed on the back of the insert. It had been a busy day for Jesus. Like many people in Michigan during the summer, Jesus liked to go to the beach. On this particular day he had retreated to the shores of Lake Galilee to get away for a while, to rest and relax. But the crowds would not leave him alone. They followed him to the beach - hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people - all crowding around Jesus in order to hear what he had to say and wanting to see what miracle he might do. The beach was so crowded that Jesus had to get into a boat and push off a way from shore in order to teach from the bow of the boat. .

At the end of that day, Jesus was tired - worn out by the pressures of teaching people who just didn't seem to understand. So as the sun was setting over the western hills, Jesus says to his disciples (verse 35): "Let's go over to the other side." Crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat in the middle of the night was Jesus' idea. It reminds us that Jesus never played it safe, and that he does not call his disciples to play it safe either. Following Jesus is always an adventure - an adventure that will take us into the eye of the storm, an adventure that will require courage and faith, an adventure that will teach us more about ourselves and about our God than we sometimes even want to know.

Notice that Jesus is in the boat with his disciples. He does not send his disciples out alone. He goes with them. This reminds us that God does not cut us loose in this world. God does not send us out to face the conflicts and chaos and storms of life by ourselves. God goes with us. This is the message of the incarnation: Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being. In this Jesus, God entered into our world - God got into our boat - to face every kind of storm that we face. This Jesus is still right here - in the boat with us. We are not alone.

Notice too that sailing with Jesus does not mean we will escape the storms. Verse 37: "A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped." Because of the geography of Galilee, violent storms like this can come up suddenly and without warning. Most of Jesus' disciples are seasoned fishermen, who had lived their whole life on the Sea of Galilee and made a living from its waters. They knew how to handle a boat in rough waters. They had weathered dozens of storms. But this storm left them scared spitless.

While the disciples are frantically trying to keep their boat headed into the wind and waves, Jesus is lying down in the back of the boat asleep. While his disciples are fighting for their lives, Jesus seems totally oblivious to the danger. Some of you may know what that's like. When you wake up in the middle of the night because it is storming outside or you hear an unusual noise that makes you afraid, it can be rather irritating to have someone next to you peacefully sleeping through it all. So the disciples did what most of us would do - they wake Jesus up and accuse him of not caring.

Sometimes we wonder the very same thing. Sometimes, when we are being battered and buffeted by the storms of life, it seems that God is not paying attention to us. Sometimes when we are overwhelmed by the difficulties, it seems that God isn't doing anything to help. And we ask, "God, don't you care?"

I'm not sure what these disciples expected Jesus to do. They don't seem to have expected Jesus to do what he did. Maybe they thought he ought to be helping them row the boat or bail out the water. But when they woke Jesus up, they got the answer to their question. Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves: "Quiet! Be still!" and he calmed the storm. Jesus not only cares, he also acts. Jesus also cares about us - every one of us. This does not mean that Jesus always acts on our behalf in the ways that we expect or desire, but he will act. We only have to look at what Jesus did in giving his life on the cross to see how much Jesus cares, how far Jesus is willing to go in order to save us. When we look at the cross, there can be no question about Jesus' love. There can be no question that Jesus will do whatever it takes to save us.

Still, like these first disciples, there are times when we give in to our fears, times when we question God's love for us, and times when we worry about what will happen. Like these first disciples, our faith can falter. Our lack of faith, however, does not override God's love for us or keep Jesus from acting on our behalf. Jesus does not desert those who dare to sail with him, even when their faith is weak - even when they do not understand. In stead, Jesus acts to calm our fears as well as our storms and in the process he strengthens our faith.

By stilling the storm, Jesus answered his disciples' first question. They asked, "Don't you care?" And the answer they got was an unqualified, "Yes!" That answer, and the way in which it was delivered, raised another question in their minds: "Who is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him?" This question is on explicitly answered in this story. But it is answered later in the Gospel of Mark. It is answered by Peter in chapter 8 when Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was. Peter speaks for them all when he says, "You are the Christ, the Messiah." It is answered at the end of Mark's gospel by the centurion at the foot of the cross who declares, "Surely this man was the Son of God."

Without getting this explicit answer, the disciples still know enough to react appropriately. In verse 41 we read that they were "afraid." This is a different kind of fear than they had in the midst of the storm. This is a fear that comes not from terror, but from awe. The story ends in wonder and awe as these disciples find themselves in the presence of a power greater than even the wind and the waves, and they sense that they are standing in the presence of God.

There are times in our lives when we too will experience the presence of God. There are times when we too will experience the love of God. There are times when we too will experience the care of God. There is no better way for us to respond than the way these disciples did - with wonder, awe, and praise. Well, this God is right here, right now. This God offers us his love in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. This God offers us his care in the healing power of oil and prayer. This God offers us his presence in the water and word of baptism. Now is the time for us to stand in the fear of the Lord. And now is the time for us to worship this God of power and of love. (Please sand and sing the Doxology.) Amen.