What storm?

Mark 4:35-41

          The 79^th annual Academy awards begins tonight at 8pm.  “Babel,” “The Departed,” “Letters from Iwo Jima,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” and “The Queen” are in the running for best picture, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling, Peter O'Toole, Will Smith and Forest Whitaker for best actor, and Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, and Kate Winslet for best actress.  And what do the winners get?  Recognition, a couple of seconds to say, “thank you” to their mom and friends, and a little statuette, 13½ inches tall, weighing 8½ pounds, plated with 24-karat gold.  The statuette depicts a knight holding a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film that has five spokes.  Think about what that symbolizes!  A knight going out on a crusade with or on a reel of film. Interesting.

          I confess that I have seen none of these movies, and probably will not see any of them, and if I watch anything tonight it will be for the purpose of seeing who is dressed in what and how they talk after they receive their award.

          One of the things that makes movies interesting is how they can provide insight into a little slice of real life.  We watch a movie and see ourselves; we watch a movie and get a clearer insight into the stage on which we live and act. And I wonder if God is into passing out Oscars for the best dramatic picture of life.  We are looking at quite a striking slice of Jesus’ life today.  It might be up for an Oscar nomination.  This event is a beautifully clear demonstration of some of the crucial issues in life.

          The narrative in Mark 4 shows us how close life becomes to a stage with actors, actresses, scenes, agents, actions, and purposes.  I want us to view this little story today as a candidate for an Oscar.

I.  God painted the scenery on the stage.  A boat, a lake an evening.  Mark 4:35 begins, On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 

          I think that there are at least two basic parts to the scenery:

          A.  Boats on a lake in the evening.  Getting on to a boat was probably the only way to get free from the huge crowds surrounding Jesus.  There was no exit available by land, the crowd seemed to just hang around Jesus.  Notice that the disciples didn’t dismiss the multitude, they didn’t feed them and send them away, they just left!  It looks like the disciples got the boat ready and then just took Jesus “as He was,” probably in the middle of healing another person.  He may have still been reaching out to minister to someone as they carried Him off!  That might have been the only way out.

          But notice that they didn’t get out alone.  Other boats accompanied them.  Archaeologists have discovered what they think is a boat from the first century that could have been used for a fishing vessel.  It’s a little over 26 feet long and could have carried 13 men.  And it is even possible that some of the other disciples were on the other boats.

          The picture is of a group of people on several boats out on the lake Galilee in the evening semi-darkness.  Galilee is seven miles wide.  The disciples probably aren’t crossing the middle of it, but their journey is several miles and will take several hours.

          But then the scenery changes.  It says in verse 37: “a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.”

          B.  A storm suddenly hits.  With everyone assembled on this lake-stage, cruising peacefully out into the sunset, God changes the scenery and brings on a furious storm.  Matthew calls it a “great tempest,” a “mega seismos.”  You know the word “seismos,” that’s our word for earthquake.  It was a mega-shaking storm.  Luke calls it a “windstorm” that comes down upon the lake.  Mark adds the word, “great windstorm.”  Whatever it was it was something these fishermen had rarely if ever seen, because they came to the conclusion that they were going to go down.

          Let me say a word about this “stage,” Galilee.  What do you know about the sea of Galilee?  Do you know that there are only two states in the USA with spots below sea level?  We have states that are extremely elevated.  Colorado, for example is so high that it’s lowest point is 3320 feet above sea level.  That’s in Yuma county on the Arikaree River.  This means that Colorado’s lowest elevation is higher than Maryland’s highest elevation.  Many states have sea level as their lowest point.  New Orleans is 8 feet below sea level, or at least was.  But the lowest point in the USA is called “Bad Water” in Death Valley, California which is 282 feet below sea level.  That’s a long way down.

          Compare that to the Sea of Galilee, which is 400 feet lower than “Bad Water” in Death Valley – 680 feet below sea level.  Because it is so low, the ground around it is extremely fertile, the climate is beautiful, and the winds can be disastrous.  A peaceful calm can rapidly be transformed into a violent storm.  A storm in March 1992 sent waves 10 feet high crashing into downtown Tiberias and causing significant damage.  

          Dr. Don DeYoung from Creation Research Society says that the sudden storms result from differences in temperatures between the seacoast and the mountains. The hills on the east side reach 2000 feet high. They are a source of cool, dry air.  Since the sea is so low, the climate around it is warm, moist air.  When the two collide they provide strong winds that come down from the hills and funnel right into the center of the lake.

          That’s apparently what happened on this quiet evening.  The sudden storm started beating on the boats sending waves crashing over the top so that it was filling with water, as Mark says, “already.”  Matthew says it was “covered” with the waves.  Luke mentions that it was getting swamped, and adds that they were in nautical jeopardy. 

          Has anyone noticed how a sudden storm can attack, not only on the sea of Galilee, but in life?  After you set the stage for a quiet evening or morning, suddenly, without warning, a storm hits?  Our brother, Rick Kellner went out on Valentine’s day, driving out of his driveway and down the street, and a little boy on a sled hit him, went under his truck, broke quite a few bones, and Rick’s life has been a hurricane for the past 10 days.  The latest information is that the boy, who has been in intensive care, should recover with no permanent damage.  Praise to God!  But it didn’t look that way for the first 48 or 72 hours.  And Rick said that he was asking serious questions for the first couple of days.  It makes one realize that – Life is the ultimate stage!

          It’s the “ultimate stage,” not in the sense that we are all up there acting, but in the sense that it’s the location for our acts, it’s where we make choices, where we do things that we consider to be “life,” where we express ourselves, and accomplish what we view as important.

          And God changes that stage on which life is being lived.  He’ll bring in a storm and our options suddenly change, and our view of life is modified, and we wonder, “what’s going on?”

II.  The Actors on stage (disciples) inserted the dialog.  38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

          A.  There was a huge contrast between the disciples and their teacher.  He was asleep on “the” pillow, a piece of coarse leather where the steersman would sit.  Or it could have been a low bench.  It was nothing soft like a pillow, just a place to prop His head.  Was He posing asleep, quietly opening one eye to see how the disciples were handling the storm?  I don’t think so.  I don’t think He needed to worry about that, since it was all in the hands of His capable Father.  He was, simply, worn out.  The fact that He could sleep in a hurricane simply demonstrated the 100% physical effort He gave every day, and how absolutely tired He became at the end of the day.  He slept so soundly that all the noise, and banging, and swinging, and jerking, and water, didn’t disturb Him.

          You know how people get when things go wrong.  You know what people do when intensity builds and emotions take over their actions.  They start yelling.  “Peter get that sail down; don’t let that rope on the foksal get loose.  Get back!  Watch it!”  Everybody is shouting directions.  And they are probably using strong language at each other.  Remember Peter cursing at Jesus’ trial.  And the noise of the great storm, the waves and wind beating on the boat.  Water everywhere flying. And don’t think that water flying is like rain drops dancing on one’s head. 

          Robb Warren was showing us a piece of rescue equipment about 2' by 2' by 2' fastened down on the deck of a 110' Coast Guard ship.  Its bolted to the deck with large bolts, right in front of the superstructure for the bridge.  It’s probably 20-25' back from the bow of the boat.  In one storm that Robb experienced, a large wave came over the bow, tore that piece of equipment away and swept it into the sea.

          Don’t get the idea that water and air are always gentle.  Don’t walk out in a windstorm or a hurricane because it is nice to be out and feel the rushing breeze.  That “nice” wind could carry something like a piece of wood that could hit you in the head and kill you.

          About 15 years ago there was a storm that roared into Lynchburg and traveled right up the main drag which was route 460.  It lasted about 5 minutes, did considerable damage, and took down a great quantity of trees.  We lived about three blocks north of 460 and I had taken some of our children about 2 blocks south of 460 to go with others on a trip.  As I dropped the kids off we remarked at how dark the sky was.  I drove back two blocks and the storm hit, right as I came to 460.  I stopped the car because I couldn’t see a thing even with the wipers at full speed, and laid down over on the other seat with the engine still running.  I heard the roaring and wailing and ripping of the wind; the car was rocking back and forth, and after a minute or two I raised my head just to see what was going on, with the idea of rolling down the window to see better!  When I saw what was hitting my driver’s side window I instantly realized that I could be easily killed by some little piece of wood carried by the wind, and ducked down again quickly and stayed down until the wind ceased.  And by God’s Grace, nothing like that hit and damaged the car, even though I think I was in the middle of the storm.

          Now think about the fact that Christ was in the middle of all that noise and shaking, asleep!  The yelling, the banging, the emergency of it all, seasoned sailors scared out of their wits, and He is asleep!  Amazing.

          What does it take to have that kind of confidence in the Father?  To know that God is in such total control of the backdrop of our lives that we can sleep?  Obviously Jesus knew His Father was with Him.  He knew that it was the will of His Father for Him to sleep, and was leaving the rest of the details to Him.

          In contrast, the disciples had Jesus in the boat with them, and couldn’t sleep.  They probably didn’t even think of sleeping.  How do you respond to the storms of life – like Jesus or like the disciples? 

          Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live like the disciples did and have Jesus in the boat with us?  It would be nice, and yet, even with Jesus in the boat, the disciples lived as if He was absent! 

          We have the blessing of the Holy Spirit living in us.  In fact the apostle Paul says that if you don’t have the Holy Spirit living in you, it is an indication that you are not a child of God.  Romans 8:8 says it this way: “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”

          Wherever you go on the stage which is your life, you have the Holy Spirit with you.  You say, “but I sinned and grieved Him, and that’s why He won’t help me.”  OK, then confess your sin, forsake your sin.  He’s there, He’s not going to leave you.  And He’s there to help you.  You say, “maybe He’s too busy doing other things to help me.”  Why do you think He is dwelling in you?  The very fact that He is taking the time to live with you indicates that He wants to help.  “Well why doesn’t He hurry up and help?”  That’s an interesting question.  Why doesn’t He “hurry up and help?”  The answer to that question brings us back to Mark 4: why didn’t Jesus hurry up and help the disciples?

          The answer to that question is so critical: God’s help is always connected to our perception of our need.  If you don’t think you need help; God doesn’t supply it.  Now, it is very true that God is helping us every moment in hundreds of ways that we are unaware of.  He supplies the right mix of 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, etc., and moisture, and hundreds of other things we are unaware of.  But on the stage, where I am making choices in my life, the ultimate question that keeps coming up is, “how badly do you need God?”  How badly I need God is always an issue of faith.  Do you believe that He is here?  Do you believe that He knows about your need?  Do you believe that He is able to meet your need?  Do you believe that He wants to meet your need?  If so, faith said, “turn to Him, call on Him, seek Him, wake Him up, like the disciples did.

          My encouragement today is to ask for help.  Don’t just continue going through the motions as if the boat is not sinking.  Don’t follow the disciples and continue doing it on your own. 

          B.  The dialog is short - And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"   Matthew says, 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"  Luke says, 24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"

          All three of them indicate that these seasoned sailors have come to the conclusion that they are perishing.  The question, “do you not care that we are perishing?” indicates they were confident that the situation was out of control; there was no hope.  Notice that the dialog focused on the teacher’s lack of concern: “Don’t you care?”  “Aren’t you going to worry with us?”  Don’t You even care about the ones You have chosen to walk with You and help You?”  My guess is that the disciples didn’t come to Jesus until the last moment because they figured that He knew so little about sailing.  He was a carpenter; they (at least 5 of them) were the fishermen.  They were the professionals who knew the waters, they had been in storms on this lake many times.  And the only reason they awoke Jesus was because they had exhausted their sailing ability and were certain that the next stop was Davy Jones’s locker.

          Have you ever noticed our tendency to do the same thing?  Work it out in your own strength and ability and only turn to God as the ship of your effort starts to sink.  And isn’t it true that the question we so approach God with is, “Don’t you care?”  “My life is going down the tubes, and You are up there sleeping.  What gives?”

          I’ve done this so often in the past.  Go to Jesus as the last resource, when you are confident that you are going down.  And you find that He is sleeping!  You have been working diligently to bail out the boat and He is sleeping!  Why?  Maybe it’s because I haven’t given Him anything to do.  I haven’t been interested in His help.  I haven’t asked for wisdom or direction.  And He is simply waiting for me to get to the end of myself and come to Him.

          I don’t know if there was anything similar to the disciples’ dialog in the movie, “The Perfect Storm,” but there could have been.  I’m sure you heard the story of the best_selling book that was turned into a movie with the same name, featuring, as the most dramatic character, the weather.  The storm was a huge whirlpool of wind and water 2,000 miles wide that reached from Jamaica to the coast of Labrador.  The satellite images had “almost a mystical beauty," weather forecasters said.  It was a combination of a low_pressure system from the Great Lakes, that met and combined with an icy cold high_pressure system coming down from Canada.  That stormy combination met and joined hurricane Grace blowing in from the south.  The result was the “perfect storm.”

          The story line focused on the six_man crew of a 72 foot steel-hulled swordfish boat from Gloucester, Massachusetts, named the Andrea Gail. It was caught in this “perfect storm” on October 30, 1991 where the winds exceeded 100 mph and the waves peaked at 100 feet, some of the highest waves measured anywhere in the world.  Even the New England coast was battered with record wave heights of 30 to 40 feet that destroyed 200 homes.  Nine people died, including the six_man crew of the Andrea Gail.  We are told that a 50 foot wave could have swamped the boat in a couple of seconds.

          What was the dialog like when the fishermen realized that they were going down.  Did they curse?  Or did they pray?  It may have been in different words, but it probably had similar patterns to the disciple’s cry.

III.  Jesus provided the commentary on the drama.  39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

          A.  He first addressed the wind.  Waves grow because they are stirred by the wind.  We are told that a 60 mile an hour wind for 5 hours will generate waves that are 19 feet high.  Jesus first dealt with the wind.  He rebuked it, as if to say, “enough, no more!” 

          B.  He then addressed the sea.  He said, “silent, peace be still.”  “Quiet down” as if He were talking to a monster.  And it says that the sea sank to rest as if it was exhausted by its great work, and there was “great” calm.  Instant great calm.  Previously they had seen a “great” windstorm; now after a rebuke and two words from Jesus, they experience a “great” calm.

          Have you ever experienced that?  You are in the middle of a great storm in your life, and you go to Jesus in panic and He says two words to you which bring upon your life a great calm?  What a wonderful experience.

          C.  He then addressed the fearful disciples.  40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"

          It looks like God created this whole storm for the disciples’ benefit.  He brought this wind in from somewhere, or created it on the spot, these waves, and everything else that was involved, for the express purpose of revealing to the disciples what they were trusting in.  It’s like He gets them on this stage, brings in all the scenery around them, gets everything set up, and then we hear them speak what’s in their hearts.

          And what was in their hearts?  It wasn’t the fear in their hearts as much as it was the lack of faith.  The concern of our Lord was with their faith – or lack thereof.  The ultimate drama on the ultimate stage is your faith!   What kind of faith should they have had?  Well they knew that He had authority over the demons because in chapter one He was ordering demons to shut up and leave.  They knew that He had authority over disease and sickness because He was banning those things from the bodies of their friends and relatives.  They knew that He had authority to forgive sins because He demonstrated that when He forgave the paralyzed man that came through the roof in chapter two.  Couldn’t they have put two and two together and said, “we have seen His power in other areas which have demonstrated that God is with us; He should be able to handle the winds and the seas as well.”

          That is the way God intends we think – to look back on the things that He has done and project from them to the future as to what He can do.  He saved me and protected me.  Doesn’t that suggest that He wants to take care of me?  Doesn’t that suggest that I should be able to trust Him in today’s situation?

          Jesus reasons this way in Matthew 6.  He asks, “Who gave you life and body?”  Did you create it?  No.  Did you buy it?  No.  Is it an accident of evolution?  No.  Someone created you just like you are and gave you to you.  Why?  Why am I me?  With my abilities or disabilities?  Why am I here?  Why am I here at this time?  Why do I have these people around me?  I am on God’s STAGE in Bowie, God’s Performing Arts Center.  

          If God has placed me here, will God supply my needs here?  “Which cost more?  My life and body? Or clothes?  My life and body?  Or food?  Answer?  Obviously creating your body, giving you life, placing you here at this time cost a great deal more than clothes or food.  Can I conclude that the One who gave me my life is also committed to giving me clothes and food?  Here’s Jesus’ conclusion in Matthew 6:30: "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”

          Do you see that how I react to my clothes and food is an act of faith?  God wants us to let Him worry about our clothes, let Him worry about our food, let Him worry about these other minor hurricanes in our life, so that we can be like Jesus and go to sleep in the back of the boat!  You trust Him and you should be able to rest.

          Isaiah records this amazing promise of God in chapter 42: “When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”  Amen?

          Two things I call to your attention in this passage: (1) It says “when” not “if.”  You will go through deep waters and great trouble.  It’s not an option. What you need to know is that God has promised to be with you.  How you respond to the deep waters that are coming depends on whether you know and believe His promise.  (2) Three times it says “through” not “in.”  “Through” means there is another side.  The deep waters are not the end.  And the other side of the storm is calm, peace – always.

          So if you catch any of the Oscars tonight, remember that God may be passing out Oscars too.  He is doing it to those who live on stage in the drama, trusting Him, knowing that He is in the boat with them, turning to Him, listening to Him, obeying Him, and thus able to say with Isaiah, “what storm?”

02/25/07, BBC, am