Back to Home Page

ABOUT US

MINISTRIES

TEACHINGS

NEWS

TEACHINGS TO VALLEY VIEW COMMUNITY CHURCH

The Good News of Jesus

01/18/2009 - Calming the Storms of Life, Mark 4:35-41

About a week or so ago I was having breakfast with my mother and we were reminiscing together. It seems like we do that a lot when we get the chance to just talk. And we were talking about the years when our family was into boating. We bought our first boat when I was four years old. It was a 16 foot outboard that we called "Flash."

We docked it over on the Neshaminy Creek and the first time we went to use it we discovered that the boat had sunk. It was still tied up to the dock only it was underwater. Not the best way to start your family boating experience! Apparently, the drain plug in the back of the boat had come loose and water just poured in and "Flash" went down. But we pulled it up and pumped it out and eventually went on to use it on the Delaware River for a number of years until we got a bigger boat that we docked down on the Chesapeake Bay.

And when we started boating on the bay we soon discovered that storms called "squalls" would come up quickly and sometimes they could be very frightening. And mom and I both remember a storm that came up when we were crossing the bay in our 27 foot cabin cruiser. I think I was about seven or eight years old at the time, but I have vivid memories of the wind blowing, the rain pouring down, the waves crashing over the bow and every time we went up and came down there was a load crack and it felt like the boat was going to explode right out from underneath us.

I can still see my dad dripping wet, holding onto the wheel, trying to see where we were going, but you couldn't see anything. And on top of that all four of us, my mom, dad, brother and I were sea sick. It was awful! And mom said the other day, "Bruce, I thought we were goners. I didn't think we were going to make it!"

And we didn't make it, at least not back to our marina. We made it over to another harbor and tied up there. And when we got off the boat we were cold and wet, sick and tired and never so happy to be on solid ground. It was a harrowing experience. And on that day my mom said she was done with boating. But my dad wasn't. His solution to situation was to buy a bigger boat the next year!

I've been thinking a lot about that experience this week because today we find Jesus caught in a squall with his disciples who thought they were going down too. But he took them through it because he had lessons for them to learn just like he has lessons for us to learn in the raging storms of life.

This morning we continue our series in the gospel of Mark with a look at Mark 4:35-41. Last week, Scott Berkhimer did an excellent job explaining some very difficult parables that Jesus told about the kingdom of God and how it works. Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, a tiny little seed that grows and eventually becomes the largest bush in the garden.

And certainly now, with the hindsight of two thousand years, we can see how that seed that started with Jesus and spread to the Twelve and then to the Seventy and then to the hundred and twenty that were gathered in the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit to come and then to the three thousand that believed and were baptized after Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and then to a movement that included Gentiles as well as Jews that literally turned the Roman world upside down and today circles the globe with billions who claim to follow Christ and one day will include members of every tribe and language and people and nation in numbers too many to count. That's a big bush! And all that truth is stuffed into the little parable of the mustard seed.

Jesus used parables to sift the crowd and to teach his followers about who he was and what his mission was here on this earth. But he also used life experience to teach as well. He wanted his followers then and he wants his followers now to learn lessons of faith through the storms that come into our lives.

Look at Mark 4:35, That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

Now this is the same day that Jesus had been teaching down by the lake. We're told in the beginning of the chapter that the crowd was so large that he had to get into a boat and create some space between himself and the mob of people that wanted to hear him and wanted to be healed by him. So he had been mixing it up with people all day long and now he's tired and ready to leave the crowd behind.

So as night falls he says to the Twelve, "Hop in and let's go over to the other side of the lake." Now if you remember, the Sea of Galilee is shaped like a harp. In fact, in Hebrew it's called the Sea of Chinnereth which means "Harp Sea." It's about 14 miles long and 7 miles across at its widest point. They were on the north western shore of the sea probably around Capernaum and now Jesus wants them to head over to the eastern shore.

Now I think this was good news for the disciples because they were tired too and this would give them a chance to serve Jesus. That phrase they took him along literally means they took him under their care. They were fisherman. Jesus was a carpenter. This was their element. They may not have understood all the parables Jesus taught, but they understood sailing and this was a way they could serve Jesus.

Peter and Andrew, James and John had grown up on that lake and probably knew every inch of it. And so they set Jesus up in the back of the boat on the captain's cushion and encourage him to take a break after a long, hard day. "Relax, Jesus. We'll take it from here. You're the teacher. We're sailors. That's what we do. Take a rest. No worries. We'll get you there." And they felt good about that until …

Look at verse 37, A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

The Sea of Galilee is a beautiful body of water, just like the Chesapeake Bay, but it can turn violent very quickly. The lake is 600 feet below sea level that's more than twice as deep as Death Valley which is the lowest place in our country. And surrounding the sea are hills and not too far off to the north is Mt. Hermon which is 9,000 feet high and snow capped year round. And when the conditions are right cold air can come rushing off that mountain and create a down draft that collides with the warmer air over the sea and causes fierce storms with waves eight to ten feet high. It can also happen with wind that comes from the west off the Mediterranean Sea.

Peter and the boys knew about these storms. They had seen storms like this before. They may have even been in storms like this before, but never with the Messiah in the back seat of their boat! They had some precious cargo on board. We know now that Jesus can to die on a cross and not to drown in a lake, but they didn't know that yet. And this storm seemed extra ferocious, extra lethal, almost demonic with waves breaking over the boat so that it was about to sink.

Think of it. It's night time. It's dark. They're drenched. They can't see where they're going. They're rowing. They're bailing. They're yelling at each other. They're crying out to God. And they're thinking, "We're goners. We're not going to make it. We're going down!"

Meanwhile where's Jesus? Look at verse 38, Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. It's actually the cushion in Greek because there was usually only one cushion in the boat that was used by the oarsman in the back and that's what Jesus is resting on. He's got the pillow. That's how they're taking care of him.

But how can Jesus be sleeping through a hurricane? I mean he's got to be soaked like the rest of them! Doesn't he hear the noise of the wind or feel the rain on his face or the cold waves slapping up against his body?

He's either faking it or he's completely wiped out from a full day of teaching and healing and dealing with the crowds. I believe this is a picture of Jesus' humanity. There's something very vulnerable about this image of Jesus sleeping through a storm. Jesus knows what it feels like to be exhausted, but all that's about to change.

The disciples get as far as they can go without Jesus. But if he doesn't wake up now they're going under. They're going to drown. And so someone yells, "Jesus, get up! Wake up! We need help!"

Look at verse 38 again, The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

How's that for putting Jesus on a guilt trip? "Don't you care that we drown? We're fighting for our lives out here and you're asleep! Wake up and at least get scared like the rest of us!" I think Jesus had to bite his tongue on that one.

Look at verse 39, He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

This is a miracle here. Jesus confronts the wind and the waves with the same language that he uses to confront demons. Literally he says, "Be quiet! Be muzzled!" And the wind and the waves shut up! They obey his command immediately. The wind dies down and the sea becomes completely calm, not in a few hours like it would take naturally, but in a few moments supernaturally. The clouds clear away. The moon comes out and the stars shine bright in the sky.

And then he turns to his disciples who are sitting there drenched and exhausted and in shock and says in verse 40,"Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" ⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

This was a major faith lesson for the disciples and they needed to experience a storm with Jesus to take their faith to the next level. The Sea of Galilee is not that big. They could have walked around the lake to get to the other side. Jesus didn't need to suggest that they cross the lake in a boat.

Or he could have set it up another way. They could have watched the storm from the beach and Jesus could have spoken these same words from the safety of the shore and they would have ooooed and ahhhed, but it wouldn't have the same impact.

Jesus didn't teach them about faith with a lecture and a power point presentation. He taught them to have faith through a life threatening experience. They needed to go out in the boat and go through a storm together. They needed to come to the end of their rope, especially in the one area where they felt completely competent, to realize that they could trust him.

And the whole thing left them terrified to imagine who this carpenter turned teacher might be because they knew what the Scripture said. There's a passage in Psalm 107:23-30 that reads, Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. ²⁴They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. ²⁵For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. ²⁶They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. ²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits' end. ²⁸Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. ²⁹He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. ³⁰They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.

Jesus just did what in their Jewish minds they knew only God himself could do. He stilled the storm to a whisper, the waves of the sea were hushed. And they were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him! And when they land on the other side they're going to find out the answer to that question.

But this is not just a story to show us that Jesus has power over creation, although he certainly does. The apostle Paul will write later in Colossians 1 that Jesus created all things. He is before all things. And in him all things hold together. And they were learning that.

This is story that I believe teaches us that storms will come into our lives. Life with Jesus is not smooth sailing. They can come up quick. And they come up hard. And they can come up out of the blue like a squall on a lake. And they come up not necessarily because we've done something wrong. The disciples weren't doing anything wrong here. They were following Jesus' command to go to the other side of the lake. They wanted him to rest in the back of the boat. They wanted to serve him by doing what they did best. They wanted to take care of him on that cruise. They were doing what Jesus said to do.

This is not a Jonah situation here. They were not running away from God. Sometimes storms come into our lives because we are doing things that we know God doesn't approve of and we get ourselves in big trouble. And when those storms happen they are storms of discipline, storms of correction. And usually we know when we're in one of those. Certainly Jonah knew. He was asleep too when the storm first hit. And when the crew woke him up he knew right away that it was all his fault because he was running away from God, but the disciples weren't. They were following Jesus when the storm hit.

A few weeks ago we heard about storms that came out of the blue this past year and hit some of us in the Valley View community. And I know there are many more of you who could stand up here and talk about the storms that have come into your lives. And the truth is we have to go through storms to develop our faith. There is no other way. I don't like storms. I like smooth sailing and bright sunny days. But as someone once said, "All sunshine makes a desert." And it does. Into every life a little rain must fall and sometimes it's a lot a rain … all at once.

And when storms hit I think our knee jerk reaction is to respond the same way these disciples responded. We're not going to bother Jesus. We're going to get through the storm ourselves. It's not a big deal, at least not in the beginning. And so we row and we bail and try to get ourselves out of it. But when we find it's not that easy we start to wonder, "Okay, Jesus where are you? I need your help! Wake up! How can you be asleep when I'm going through this struggle?" And often it does feel, at least at first, that Jesus is asleep and is not aware of what we're going through.

And like the disciples in our frustration we say, "Jesus, don't you care that I'm about to drown?" Of course, he cares. He cares more than anybody. He loves you more than anybody. He knows every hair on our head and everything that's going in our lives and he's in the boat with us.

And he also knows when to stand up and muzzle the wind and call off the waves and say "enough" because he will not put us through more than we can handle, although sometimes I think he overestimates us! But eventually he will still the storm and give us peace. No storm lasts forever.

And all the while he's trying to teach us to trust him. Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? Fear and faith are polar opposites in Scripture. In fact, the command "do not be afraid" is the most repeated command in the Bible because God knows how prone we are to fear. All we like sheep have gone astray. And we are like sheep. We're all skittish. But take heart. There is a reason behind the storms. And Jesus is using them in our lives to show us that he can be trusted. Jesus is in the boat and he's aware of what's going on in your life and mine and he wants us to call out to him. And in his time he will stand up and say, "Enough. Be quiet. Be muzzled. Peace be still."

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.