The sermon I am about to deliver is not the sermon I originally prepared. Yes, you heard me right. I prepared two sermons this week after being prompted by my dad. After reading my blog post this week about working in a large cotton patch, dad emailed me and said, "Write a sermon on the hymn ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus." I responded with a few excuses, but he replied in another email that simply said, "Write the sermon." As I looked through the hymn and held it up with our Gospel lesson, I knew the message wasn’t only from my dad–it was also from my Heavenly Father. Unfortunately, I got the message after finishing my first sermon, so I had to pull double duty in a sense this week. I think it was worth it.
What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.
Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry. Everything to God in prayer.
Jesus was asleep in the boat. Think about that for a moment as you consider our Gospel text for today. After a long, hard day of preaching and teaching God’s word and healing the sick and casting out demons, Jesus crashed out. There were two things I learned from this. First, doing God’s work is exhausting. You know this if you have been engaged in doing it. Even being the Son of God couldn’t prevent Jesus from needing rest. As He and His disciples were crossing the lake, Jesus succumbed to his fatigue and slept, and He slept very deeply. Yet, this isn’t the most interesting thing in my book. What is most interesting to me is that Jesus didn’t wake up during the storm, and by all rights, He should have.
I mean, Jesus wasn’t traveling on any sort of luxury yacht or fishing boat that was equipped with stabilizers, GPS and equipment specifically made to help a boat endure a great storm. He was essentially on a 25 to 30 foot long by seven foot at its widest canoe with a sail. Those kind of boats take it on the chin in rough weather. We know the boat was getting swamped. The story tells us this. Water was coming in over the sides, and I’m pretty sure the disciples were busy trying to bail the boat out. They were trying to fight the wind and the waves. The boat was rising and falling and being pushed around by the wind and waves. It would not have been a smooth ride. It would have been jerky and rough and nasty. And still, Jesus slept through it.
He was at peace. He wasn’t worried. He wasn’t anxious. He didn’t even feel the storm. Oh to be at such peace in the midst of a storm. Oh to be in such a place that one can sleep through the turmoil and rage of things that happen which one had no say so in what was happening. Oh to be in such a place of trust that one was not worried about one’s safety, well-being, or very life. Oh to be like Jesus.
But the promise of our faith is that we can have such peace. When Jesus called His followers, He did so in the rabbinic tradition of ancient Judaism. In this tradition, the rabbi chose his followers, his disciples, because he believed they had what it took to not only understand his teaching, not only pass on his teaching, but also to live out his teaching and be just like him. That’s what the ancient Jewish rabbis did when they screened out their disciples. And Jesus did that with those 12 men long ago in Galilee. And He does that today with you and me. He believes we can be like Him and have the peace to endure the storms of life.
And yet, how often do we have that peace? How often do we sense that deep sense of resolve that God is with us, watching over us, and caring for us? How often do we relinquish our control to Him? Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry. Everything to God in prayer. Instead, we become like the disciples on the boat.
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged–take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness–take it to the Lord in prayer.
The disciples became discouraged. They became full of fear. The trials and tribulations of the storm, the raging sea, and the boat being swamped overwhelmed them. They despaired, and perhaps they became a little frustrated and angry. Where was their leader in the midst of this storm? What was their leader doing? Was He up and about giving them encouragement? Was He picking up a bucket and helping to bail out water? Was He using His power–that awesome power that enabled Him to heal the sick and cast out demons to make the disciples’ situation better? No. He wasn’t. Not even close. Jesus didn’t even seem to care. He didn’t seem to worry in the least that their very lives were in danger. Jesus was sleeping.
And what did the disciples do? Did they imitate the non-anxiousness of their leader? Did they trust that Jesus just might have some insight that they didn’t? Did they take their cue from Him, or did their own trials and tribulations overwhelm them?
Well, we know the answer. They woke Jesus up. They confronted Him. Their frustration, anger, and fear spoke loudly. "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
Jesus wakes up. He knows this is a teachable moment. He knows He has an important lesson to teach the disciples about fear and faith and trust, especially in Him. But He also knows it won’t do any good to try and teach them about this in the midst of the storm. He knows their weakness. He knows their fear. He knows they will not hear Him at this juncture. He must be a faithful friend and teacher. A faithful friend knows when to take action and when to teach. Jesus knew He must act first before the disciples can hear what He has to say. He speaks to the wind and the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Can we find a friend as faithful as Jesus? Not likely.
Are we weak and heavy laden? Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.
"Why are you afraid?" Jesus asks. It’s a pertinent question given the rabbinic tradition I spoke of earlier. "If I was calm, why weren’t you? If I was at rest, why were you worried? You’ve seen the acts of God I’ve been doing–you must know I come from God–you know I have power–you know I’ve called you to learn to be like me. This is all part of what it meant for me to tell you, ‘Follow me." You know this. Why are you afraid?"
The disciples know the answer. So does Jesus. "Have you still no faith?"
"Have you still no faith?" That’s the tough one. That’s the question that hits home. Faith is the assurance that there is something to hope for–the confidence that there is something unseen leading, guiding, even pulling us through this life toward a goal. For Christians, that goal is life with God–not only in heaven, but a life with God right here and right now. Faith in God means believing that when we are in His presence, He is our refuge and strength. Faith in God means believing that when our friends despise us and leave us because we don’t fit into their boxes, God cares and is leading us to a better place. Faith in God means believing Jesus is in the boat with us; not separate from us, and that we will reach our destination together–not without storms, but being able to pass through storms and into a place of peace and calm.
Yes, we will have storms to pass through. In our media, political driven world today, we are always being told storms are coming or are here. Stresses and anxieties are shoved at us over and over and over again. The temptation is to allow those things to overwhelm us to become weak and heavy laden–to be encumbered with a load of care. But, if we take it to the Lord in prayer, we will find solace. We will find peace. We will find the dead calm. The storm may be raging, but we will be able to see a destination. We will be able to see the goal. We will know that Christ is with us, and we will know the peace that passes all understanding. Amen
(For those of you who have been following my blog and have taken notice of the ongoing conversation about me burning out, you might be saying right now, "Pastor, heed your own words." Believe me. I am and have been. I’ve been taking a lot to the Lord in prayer, and piece by piece, He is making things clearer to me. Piece by piece I am finding peace and solace. For those of you who have been there and are there, my hope and prayer for you is that you may find it too.)
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