New Year

Now storms can be very frightening things especially if you get caught up in one.  I remember an occasion when Janet and I were on holiday in Majorca.  And one day we fancied booking a trip on one of those flat bottomed boats in which there is a glass floor so that you can watch the fish swimming in the sea beneath you.  So off we went on a nice calm day but however hard I looked I could not see any fish through the glass floor; just murky water.  And it was not long before the sky started darkening and the outlook more menacing and the sea was beginning to get rougher - and rougher.  And we were also beginning to get slightly worried and I could see that the crew were as well.  Clearly things were not going quite according to plan.  And I could see that if water was to get into the bottom of a flat bottomed boat it could easily become unstable and capsize. 

Well there are many great storms that have affected events throughout history and the earliest must surely be the one recorded in the book of Genesis when Noah and his family entered the ark. "....on that day" we read "all the springs of the great deep burst forth and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.  And rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights."  That must have been some storm.  And there are, of course, other storms recorded in Scripture as well.  The one in Jonah springs immediately to mind as does the one in the book of Acts when the Apostle Paul was caught up in a horrific storm in the middle of the Mediterranean.  But it's another storm I want us to look at this morning and it's the very familiar story of the one that terrified the disciples of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee - or Lake Kinerret as it's called today. 

And yes - it's a very familiar story and it's one we were discussing in our house group only a short time ago.  And it's a story in which Christians down through the ages have seen important lessons that can be drawn from it - and these are still very much applicable to all us today.

And reflecting on some of the lessons we can draw from the story it makes me think that it's probably true that none of us escape the storms we encounter at some time or another in our lives; suffering, trouble, bereavement or distress and I could go on.  And as we know these storms can come on us quite unexpectedly with incredible speed.  At one moment the sun is shining and everything in the world seems perfect. And it can be the beginning of a new year, like today full of promise and endless opportunities and possibilities as it stretches out before us and then bang; in comes something like a bolt from the blue.  We are just not expecting it.  Not so long ago everything seemed fine and now it's though the bottom has fallen out of our lives.  Maybe it's an unwelcome medical diagnosis; a redundancy but whatever it may be it rocks our security to the foundations.

 It's a bit like the storm in the story we are looking at this morning.  The disciples set sail on a flat calm sea, maybe there was a clear blue sky and the sun was shining and then suddenly a storm whips up and the disciples are in fear of their lives.  In fact the storm is so bad that these seasoned fishermen are frightened they are going to drown.

As I am sure we know as Christians we are not immune from these storms but the important issue is how we react to them when they come.  I wonder how many times we have heard it said, or even said it ourselves to someone:  "Don't worry - I'm sure everything's going to be fine."  But it doesn't help very much though does it - because often we know that the person saying it doesn't really think that it is going to be alright.

You've probably been in that situation when everything seems to be going wrong and you think: why is this happening to me? -what have I do done to deserve all this? - Lord why are you allowing this to happen?  Why isn't everything working out as it should.  I have served you faithfully down through the years but I did not expect to face rough seas and problems like this.  Well let's look at the story and see what emerges from it.

Sometimes we can be particularly bewildered when things seem to go wrong especially when we are doing exactly what we believe God has called us to do.  Well one thing that's worth taking into account is that the decision to sail the 13 mile journey from Capernaum to the Southern shore of Galilee was not the disciple's idea at all.  In fact, it was Jesus' who suggested it.  It wasn't a case of the disciples saying "O come on -let's go fishing."  It is Jesus who tells them to take the boat and says: "And hang on, I'm coming with you."  It was Jesus who directed them into the situation.  It is Jesus, in fact, who takes them into the storm.  And there is an interesting little comment in the text there.  It says: "leaving the crowd behind, they took him along just as he was."  He didn't say let me go back and get a few things.  He's saying:  "I'm coming with you and let's get going."

So they set sail and are well into their journey; and what happens next?  Well Jesus says he is going to take a nap; he is tired; it has been a pressured day with all the crowds' pressing around him making their demands and he is taking this opportunity to get some sleep in the back of the boat.  But it's not so long before the situation on the lake begins to deteriorate.  The disciples start getting nervous and twitchy as the sky gets darker and the waves become more threatening.  The situation gets worse. Then all hell seems to break loose and the disciples fly into a panic.  But this is no ordinary storm they are encountering - in fact; there are hints in the text that the storm has a satanic origin.

The whole situation has become quite scary; the boat is being pounded by towering waves which are breaking over the sides until it is just about swamped and ready to sink.  And yet whilst all this is happening and everyone is frightened to death to everyone's astonishment Jesus is quite oblivious to it all and remains calmly fast asleep. 

And you know - I find it's quite easy to sympathise with these poor guys struggling with the boat. - I am sure if I had been there I would have acted in exactly the same way.  Because when we are frightened we don't always act in a calm and dignified way.  And there are times when things do seem as though they are falling apart and we go to pieces.

And I wonder if we can identify with what happens next?  The disciples begin to turn on Jesus.  They wake him up and listen to what they say:  "Don't you care?"  That must have really hurt Jesus.  But I wonder whether we have ever come to that point where we have thought something similar: "Lord, don't you care?"  And it's when we get to that point that we have not really learnt the lesson that arises from this story.  I am not suggesting for one moment it's an easy one.  But Jesus is the one who sets the example.  He is able to put everything into the Father's hands and to be at peace while the storm rages all around.  And what's quite striking is that Jesus is able to remain at peace in spite of all the pressures of the day; and all that he knows lies ahead of him leading to the cross.

So why is it that we sometimes have to go through these storms and crises that threaten to turn our lives upside down?  I suppose the answer is we don't really know because we don't normally see the bigger picture.  Yes - God does care and sometimes he does still the storm as he does with the disciples on the Sea of Galilee but often, in working out his purposes in our lives, it means us having to go through the storm. But even in the midst of the storm, however ferocious it may be, we need to remember that Christ is still there in the boat with us. 

And it's only as we learn to let our roots go deep into God and be secure him that we are able to cope when the storms come.  Listen to what it says in Psalm 46:  "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear ... though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging" - and then in verse 10: "Be still and know that I am God."  It doesn't say the waters abate or anything like that.  It talks about being still in the knowledge that God is there with us in the midst of the swirling waters.  

 And I wonder do we take time each day to be still before God, listening to him and learning what it means to be secure in him?  It requires a measure of self discipline, I know but it stands us in good stead when the storm comes.  It's in the time of calm that we need to work on building our relationship with the Lord Jesus so that we can be secure and have a safe anchor when we feel in danger of being swept away when the storm comes.

As far as the disciples are concerned Jesus does, as we have seen, still the storm on this occasion - but was it necessary I wonder?  Surely his very presence in the boat was all that was needed for them to survive.  And that's the lesson we need to learn too.  We see in the passage that Jesus rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith.  But it wasn't so much a lack of faith that he could still the storm.  It was their lack of faith in him.  It was the fact that he was with them and yet they panicked.  And that was what he rebuked them for.

So Yes - Jesus does care but what he cares most about is the attitude of heart of those who follow him.  He stills the storm but look what he says to his disciples in verse 40: "Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?"  Yes he is concerned about all that happens to us but what concerns him most is our heart relationship to him whatever the problem.  Do we have that deep down assurance in our hearts that he is there with us even in the storm?  Do we believe his promise that he will never leave us or forsake us; that he is with us always?  Yes - we affirm our belief in God each week as we recite the creed together but the real question is - Do we believe God?  And it's how we answer that question that makes such an enormous difference.

Jesus never said it would be easy, in fact quite the opposite. We are as likely to hit difficult times as much as anyone else.  But even in these times, in the midst of the storm many dear saints of God have been able to glorify the Lord in a wonderful way and experience real peace knowing he has been there with them in the midst of the storm.

It's so tempting in our western culture for us to put our security in the things around us. We want for nothing; if we need something we can trip along to the supermarket or ring up whoever.  But it's when these things are stripped away from us and we are left with nothing; it's then that we realise our true security is in the Lord Jesus Christ.  One Christian minister who was working in Burundi around the time when atrocities engulfed that country and its neighbour Rwanda in 1994 says this: "I only knew that Jesus was all I needed when He was all I had left."  Yes - our true security lies in knowing that Jesus is in the boat with us however attractive and appealing any other way may seem.  We are far safer with God than anywhere else without him for he is the one who is our rock and salvation - a refuge in the time or trouble.  So let us never forget as we go into this New Year that our security is in Him and in Him alone and nothing else. 

Philip Newell
Licensed Reader

Sermon preached at St Laurence's on Sunday morning 1st January 2012