Jesus in the Storm

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:14] Speaker B: Hey, good morning and happy New Year. Thanks so much for watching service online with us. My name is Tina. I'm on staff at our west campus and I'd love to meet you in person right here at our Jerky road locations. So Sunday, 9:30 and 11:00am if you're new and looking to get connected, head to our ChristchurchOhio.org website. Check out our events tab. You can fill out one of our connect cards. We'd love to meet you and help you get involved in the church this morning. We have a very special message. Dave Gardner, he is one of the leaders here at the church. He's an awesome teacher and he is going to be bringing an awesome message for you this morning. So I hope David to see you soon and I hope you enjoy the service. [00:01:02] Speaker A: Why would I worry when giants come calling my name? My God is so much bigger than troubles I face. Why would I hunger for power or riches or. Oh my God so much better than all of these things so I won't be shaken I won't be good My God is faithful his promise is true so I speak to the mountain. My enemies scatter cuz they know the battle is done. My God strong the victory is already won yeah he died and rose up on the third day. My God is greater. No I won't be shaken no I won't be move My God is faithful and his promises too so I speak to the mountain always time for you My God is bigger, greater, stronger greater than you. There's no mountain to hide no valley to love there's no fear that I have he doesn't already know there's no problem to be there's no weapon too strong There is nothing for God that's impossible. There's no king that I He doesn't already know there's no problem to there's no one to There is nothing good that's impossible. I won't be we can no I won't be My God is faithful his promise is true so I speak to the mountains oh it's time to do My God is better stronger, greater greater better stronger greater bigger better stronger greater bigger better stronger greater greater better stronger greater than you. [00:05:35] Speaker C: Well, good morning and Merry Christmas. My wife said if I got Ooh, there I am. That is we are live we are ready to go. My wife said if I got nervous, I should just picture everyone in their Christmas pajamas. She said that before we knew that it was going to be Christmas Pajama Sunday. So some of you are making it easy. Some of you are making it a little more challenging. But we came here on Christmas Sunday three years ago. We came to the church Christmas Sunday, three years ago. We were not in this building. Next year at Christmas, Lord willing, am I allowed to do this? Lord willing, we will not be in this building. We find ourselves. Yes. Amen. [00:06:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:06:26] Speaker C: We find ourselves on a journey of faith. And I have no doubt that if you were to ask Chet and Tina and the other leaders and the Dream Team if they have any fear, if they have any nervousness, if they have any anxiety, they would say no. Of course they would say yes. There's going to be an element of fear and uncertainty when we're on a journey like this. But this Christmas Sunday is actually where I met Chet for the first time. And as soon as I saw him, I thought, this guy looks good. Like, he looks good, right? And I thought, you know, I wonder if we have the same hairstylist. And it turns out we don't. But our hairstylists were trained in the same styles and in the same school of thought anyway. But all joking aside, when we came here on Christmas Sunday three years ago, we came here deeply hurt and deeply wounded. We were spinning from a prolonged period of time where we asked the question, does Jesus even love us? Does Jesus love, even care? And that is a place that I found myself four times in my life where I asked the question, God, how could you let this happen? God, how could I go through this in my life? Has anyone else ever experienced a moment like that or going through a moment like that? Now, as Chet would say, it looks like we got a few honest people. So spoiler right off the bat, he does, right? We know that God loves us. We know that he cares. I was a pastor at the time. I had just finished my last ministry as we came to the church, and I was still asking those questions and wondering. And I could tell you the answers. I could look to Scripture and I could say, it says, I will never leave you or forsake you. I knew that. I knew it to be true. But there were still times in my life when it did not seem to be the case. Well, this morning, we're going to look to the life of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. Mark is one of the four ancient biographies we have of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And we're going to look at Jesus with a mind toward the question, who is this Jesus? Who is this Jesus? So we're going to read together Mark, chapter four, verses 35 to 41. Let's go ahead and Read together. On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, he being Jesus, let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was, and other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. He said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? This is God's word, and it's given to us for our good. Let's pray. Lord, it is so good to know you. And it is so good to be known by you. We thank you, Lord, for your love, for your acceptance, for your pursuit of us. And we pray, Lord, that we might be able to see you a bit more clearly today than we could yesterday and help the realization of who you are to move our hearts, to move our lives more closely to you, more in line with who you have called us to be. We love you and we praise you. We ask in Jesus name, Amen. So Jesus begins with an unusual command. He says, let's go to the other side. And this is an unusual command for a number of reasons. First, it's an unusual command because it's evening. They do not have headlights. They do not have gps, they do not have street lamps, nothing like that. Of course they don't have headlights. They're in a boat, no street lights there. But this isn't traveling in the evening. This isn't traveling at night like it is for us today. This would have been a difficult journey for them to make in the evening on open water. And also, do you guys really want to start a trip in the evening? Is that a time when you should be saying, hey, let's pack up, let's hit the oars and let's go to the other side? No. This is a time for them to shut down and rest. They don't have lights. They don't have the ability to turn the inside. This is beautiful, by the way. Right. Like the change in the aesthetic, it's wonderful. But they don't have the ability to create daylight inside like we do today. So nighttime would have been a time to rest, because you can't watch tv, you can't read your books, you can't do anything like that. So it's an unusual command. Also, they are currently in the city of Capernaum, and as we all know, with our ancient Near Eastern geography expertise, so they're in the. In the city of Capernaum. It is a Jewish city in Jewish territory. The other side is going to take them outside of Jewish territory. That means it's not a place that good Jewish people would have frequented. So they would have been taking them on a journey to somewhere unfamiliar. Even the four professional fishermen who were apostles, actual apostles, even the four professional fishermen who were actual the closest friends and followers of Jesus, they would have been unfamiliar with the area and the territory where they were going. So it's interesting to invite them into the relative unknown, outside their normal experiences and certainly outside their comfort zone. And it's also important to know that Jesus has just been teaching a huge crowd, a crowd so huge he had to go into a boat to get a little space from it so he could actually speak and preach to the entire crowd. So he's created space. But the crowd wasn't invited. Only a small group of people were invited to take this journey with them. And I want us to keep that picture in mind. I want us to keep the picture of a small group traveling with Jesus and growing and learning more about him. So keep that picture in mind. Another thing that made this a dicey proposition is just some basic geography of the land. The Sea of Galilee is 700ft below sea level. It's the lowest freshwater lake in the world. The surrounding mountains would have been 2,000ft above sea level. So you have cooler air hitting warmer water. Boom. A recipe for storms, a recipe for rough weather. Not the kind of place you want to be at night, right? So we think about Lake Erie, right? For very different reasons. The weather on Lake Erie can be very unpredictable. Lake Erie is really shallow, so when winds hit it, the waves kick up really fast. It makes sailing and boating on Lake Erie a little bit dicey. So we have predictably unpredictable weather at night in unfamiliar territory. And even the professional fisherman would have experience with rough weather, would not have wanted to be out there. So the stage is set for Jesus to do something, to teach something amazing to his followers about himself and about faith. So the stage is set, and we read in verse 37, and a great windstorm arose and waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was all ready, filling. Now we have reliable translations of the Bible in our own language. And I rarely reference the language that it was originally written in. I don't find that to be particularly helpful. Except in this case. We get the word great that's used here in verse 37. We get this word great. And this word is actually megas M E G A S where we get the word mega, right? We get the word mega, as in, this is not a regular storm. This is a mega storm, a great storm. It's on a scope and scale that transcends nature. It's on a scope and scale that's going to transcend human experience. Even the professional fishermen are panicking because the storm is beyond their ability to handle. As the boat gets swamped, we see the word mega used elsewhere in scripture. This megas word, this great word, you know, we're just coming off the Christmas season. Matthew, chapter 2, verse 10. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with mega joy. Cheta just has just preached about, you know, the wise men, the magi that were coming. They had been looking for a sign. They had been studying the stars for a sign that the one who was to be born king was here studying, studying, waiting, waiting. There's the sign. And they rejoice with mega joy. Their joy transcended the normal joyful experiences that we have in Life. Matthew chapter 4, verse 16 is a prophecy of the Messiah's coming, a prophecy of Jesus coming. He said the people who were sitting in darkness saw a mega light. They saw a mega light. God's people for 400 years were waiting for a sign. They were waiting for something to shine into the darkness, to hear that God still loved them and God cared. And then into that 400 years of darkness, here comes the light. Not just the light, the mega light, the light that shines light on them and brings them from death to life. This is the mega light that they saw. And so we have a megastorm, a supernatural storm that transcends the human experience and human ability. It's swamping the boat and striking fear into the hearts of even seasoned fishermen. Some high drama here. And we read verse 38. But he, Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing in the midst of the storm? Jesus is asleep in the back. You know, we sing the song, jesus, take the wheel, right? What happens if Jesus is asleep at the wheel? I know. I've felt the way that the apostles have where, you know, we ask the question, God, are you even awake? God, do you even care? And sometimes I felt guilty for asking that question. And sometimes I felt maybe even a little bit of shame for having the sheer audacity to question God and say, God, do you even care about me? It's an uncomfortable place to be in. But Psalm chapter 44, verse 23 says, Awake. Why are you sleeping? O Lord, rouse yourself. Do not reject us forever. This is someone who is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and contributing words that bring those questions, the questions of our heart, directly to God. There is no shame. There is no guilt. There is no discomfort with going to our Creator with the deepest questions of our heart. God created our hearts. He created our lives. He's big enough to handle our questions. He's big enough to handle our doubt, our fear, our anxiety. He is big enough to handle all of it. And he invites those questions to himself. God, are you even awake? The deepest cries of our heart and our very being, we take. We have the privilege and the blessing to be able to take to God and work through them with God. And so that's what the apostles do, even if they don't realize it at this point. They ask Jesus, do you even care? Do you even care? Their question is motivated by fear. And their fear is absolutely understandable as they stare down the barrel of a mega storm. But the fur also indicates a fundamental failure to understand who was in the boat with them. To understand who was in the boat with them. So if we've kicked around church or if we've kicked around Sunday school for any length of time, this is going to be a fairly familiar passage to us. And maybe it's so familiar we overlook things to our detriment. But when we understand that Jesus is the agent of creation, it changes the story significantly. It moves the needle significantly. You see, they view Jesus, the apostles, at this point in time. They view Jesus as a wise and a clever and maybe even a little bit of a rebellious teacher. He's brilliant, he's articulate. And like the prophets of old, he's done some pretty amazing things in their presence so far, but they still didn't grasp who it was that was sleeping in their midst. They view Jesus as a part of creation, just like them. You know, Kristen, my wife Kristen, shared a C.S. lewis quote with me that I believe does a wonderful job of illustrating this point. If there was a controlling power outside the universe, meaning that if there is a God who is in control, it could not show itself as one of the facts inside the universe, no more than the architect of a House could actually be a wall or could be a staircase or a fireplace in that house. That means God, when he shows up, doesn't show up as just a wall in a house. The architect, sustainer, creator, builder of all things doesn't show up as simply a fact creation. So while the apostles on the boat see a great man and a brilliant teacher, they fail to see that Jesus is the very creator and architect and sustainer of all things. It's no wonder then that they're afraid and ask, do you even care? And so the drama continues in verse 39. And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. So my question is, who did Jesus rebuke? That's the wrong question. What did Jesus rebuke? The apostles. Did he rebuke the apostles for their fear? Did he rebuke them for their doubt? No. He rebuked the wind and the waves. And it's at this point that we are tempted to talk about Jesus being with us in the storm. And that is certainly true. Amen. That is certainly true. Beginning to end of Scripture, there is account after account and theme after theme that very clearly shows that Jesus is present with us in the difficult moments of our lives. That's what we celebrated Christmas, right? It's not simply God in the flesh, it's the title Emmanuel, which means God with us. God's very presence in our lives, God with us. The author of Hebrews goes on to tell us that Jesus came to identify with us, that he came to be like us and to be tempted as we were. Isaiah 53 tells us that he took our pain, he took our sorrow, he took our suffering, he carried our weakness. That is what God, the Creator has done. He has stepped down to be with us. So of course Jesus is with us in the storms of life. That is undeniably true. But I think this passage is getting at something a little different and maybe a little bit deeper. In this instance, Jesus, unusual request to travel to the other side specifically brings the apostles directly in the path of this storm. Jesus brings them directly into the path of the storm. This is not a normal trial or a normal difficulty in life that they've been brought into. This is something completely other, completely beyond that Jesus has done in their lives. So Jesus doesn't rebuke them, he rebukes the wind and the waves. Because this account from Jesus life is about who Jesus is. This is about the architect, the designer, creator, sustainable of all things. And he Simply says, in the midst of this storm that is swamping the boat and has the professional fisherman panicking. He simply says, peace, be still. And here we have that word great again, right? There was a great calm. Sure enough, it's that same word again. Mega. There's a mega calm. We go from this mega storm to this mega calm, instantaneous. Now, in a former earlier, fitter life of mine, I was on a wilderness trip in Canada, a legit wilderness trip. And we were three days out from base camp. And being three days out from base camp meant you were three days out from radio contact back to civilization. You had your two sets of clothes that you wore. You had your wet set of clothes that you wore, which hopping in and out of the canoe, that was your wet set. And you had your camp clothes, which theoretically were supposed to be dry. Everything carried with you. No impact. No impact camping. I do not recommend it. So this third night, we find this wonderful peninsula that stretches out into the lake and there are a series of rocks that trail off. We had a wonderful evening. We got some great fishing done off those rocks. It was just a fantastic night. But you're surrounded by trees. Even though there's open lake, you're surrounded by trees. And all of a sudden it is dark and there is a storm. And the storm hit with fury. There was nothing between us and this insane storm except the thin tent wall. Lightning was popping. It was popping trees around us. And we were actually in our tents trying to hold onto the ground. There was so much wind and there was so much water rushing into the tent from the dry land down to the lake. There was that much water that was coming in, Spoiler. I made it through, so you don't need to worry about that. But even after the rain passed, you could still hear trees cracking. You could still hear waves crashing. You could still see the effects of the storm. They were evident everywhere around you. And it was shocking and it was absolutely terrifying. I don't know that I've ever been that scared in my life. And you know, in our homes or basements or workplaces or shelters or if we're out and about any storm store that we stop at, whatever the case may be, we are separated and we're removed from the intensity of storms. We can step out afterwards. We can see the effects of them everywhere. But we are removed from the direct intensity and the direct impact of the storms. We rarely feel it the way you do in a tent or in a boat. So if you think of the wind dying down on Lake Erie, right It can still take hours for the waves to actually go down. So the wind, even if the wind is gone, you still see the effects of it in the waves kicking and kicking and kicking, sometimes for hours. And some of these storms can release as much energy as a small nuclear blast. And so I want us to kind of shift our thinking since we're removed from nature. I want us to shift our thinking a little bit, to think about someone that you know as a great guy going up to a nuclear blast and very calmly saying, peace, be still. And all of the fire, all of the heat, all of the force, all of the radiation dissipates and disappears immediately. And this is what Jesus has done. This is what Jesus did to that megastorm, that storm that transcended nature. There was no chance that this was anything but absolute divine intervention. This was a miracle. This was Jesus supernatural power over the most dynamic forces in nature and church. This is our savior. This is the man, Jesus Christ. This is God in human flesh. And every bit as importantly, maybe even more importantly, this is God with us. This is the one who came to preach good news. This is the one who conquered sin and the grave. And he is right there in the boat with them. So we read verses 40 and 41, and he said to them, why are you so afraid? Isn't Jesus great at asking silly questions? Why are you so afraid? And then he says, have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? Why are you so afraid? Well, Jesus, while you were taking a nap, we stared down a storm that was swamping us, putting our very lives in danger. And then our teacher, great guy, just spoke a couple words and turned the entire situation all the way around. I think that counts as reason for fear. And so Jesus asks, have you still no faith? Because this isn't a matter of simply a matter of fear or the experiences they're going through. He brings it back to faith. Now, it's not about the amount of faith that they have. And it's really important to understand this because we see people that have unlimited, immovable faith. And we think for some of us, rightly so, that could never be me. Like, I could never get to the point where I go through these circumstances and I just sustain my faith perfectly and firmly intact. But it's not about the amount of their faith, and it's not even about the quality of their faith. It's not the kind of faith that you have to be able to write books about or that you're going to remember throughout history as this great and incredible faith. It's simply about one thing. No matter how great, no matter how small, no matter how good, no matter how weak and anemic, it's about the object of their faith. It's simply about their faith in Jesus. And Jesus is saying, have faith in me. And this is the moment that Jesus moves in the eyes of the apostles from a brave, clever, countercultural, rebellious, powerful teacher, like one of the prophets of the old, to something more. So he calls them into faith. And what is their response to him calling him into faith? It is mega fear. Their response to him calling them into faith is mega fear. They were filled with great fear. It's that same word again. Again, it's mega fear. It's fear that transcends normal fear. It's described. It's fear described the same way as the megastorm and the megacalm. And this is part of the point. This is part of the point. Up until now, Jesus fit neatly, if forcefully into their idea of an incredible human teacher and rab and profit. He fit neatly but forcefully into their ideas. Up until now, they were simply trying to follow him, follow in his footsteps and do everything exactly the way that he did. From the way he dressed to the way he walked to the way he talked, all of his mannerisms. They were trying to be exactly like Jesus. Up until now, they didn't realize that the man they had dedicated their lives to was far more than they could ever grasp. He was God with them. And that's the point of Jesus demonstrating his sovereign power and supernatural, miraculous control over nature. When Jesus shows up in power, it completely and totally upsets your life. Jesus has never fit neatly into anyone's life. And if Jesus fits neatly into your life the way a wall or a staircase fits in your house, you kind of miss the point of Christmas. You kind of miss the point of God. With us, you might even say you mega missed the point. And so context matters. This happens the same day that Jesus is teaching on the kingdom of God. We remember that picture of the small group following closely with Jesus. We remember that picture. Jesus had been teaching on the kingdom of God. Like Chet reminded us, the majority of Jesus teaching is on the kingdom of God. Almost like the king wants his people to know what the kingdom is all about, what his kingdom is all about. And earlier in Mark, chapter four, right before Jesus says, let's go to the other side, he says this. And he said, with what? Can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It's like, how can I help you to better understand the kingdom of God? He says this. It is like a grain of mustard seed which when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. Something small becoming something grand. This proverbial teaching from Jesus about a small seed becoming something grand that is available for the birds of the air, that is what Jesus is doing with this small group of people that follow him. Him who in mega fear begin to understand that Jesus is not just like them. He's not just a souped up version of them, that he is the Messiah, he's the Christ, he's the Son of the living God, he's the Savior, he's the Redeemer, he's the King. And that understanding turns their lives upside down. It drives them away from family, away from comfort, away from safety. It drives them away from the pursuit of money and good jobs and good schools. It drives them away from big houses and nice cars. It drives them away from all the things that they once held dear and built their life upon. And it drives them to the kingdom of God with a radical purpose. To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. So the small group of people, they found themselves in the middle of the sea at an intersection. And that intersection is the intersection of fear and faith. And are they going to choose fear or are they going to choose faith? And I have to say that's where I find myself in the story. Time, time and time again, as we look at our lives now, maybe as we look forward to the next year, we go with open eyes, knowing that there will be difficulty, knowing that there will be trial, knowing that we will get tripped up and knowing that we will find ourselves in that exact same intersection. And I wish I could stand up here and say to you that I always choose faith. I wish I could say I always turn away from fear and always move in the direction that Jesus has called us to. But I can't. And you know who else could? Those other apostles. The other apostles couldn't either. If we think about the men who were in the boat with Jesus, we know from their lives that they betrayed, they abandoned, they walked away, they failed, they failed, they failed. And Jesus invitation to choose faith remains even to them in their fear and in Their failure. So when we find ourselves at the intersection of fear and faith, where will we turn? And my prayer is that we will start to see Jesus a bit more clearly. My prayer is that we will start to respond with faith. Even weak little anemic faith is enough when placed in Jesus because He is seated on the throne all authority, and he is still building his kingdom from even a small group of people like us when we see him for who he truly is. Let's pray. Lord God, it is my heart and it is my prayer that we would be able to see you for who you are. Lord, I think of those times in my life when I have come face to face with fear. Fear that is shocking, fear that is overwhelming. Fear that seems to transcend my ability to know and to understand. And I thank you, Lord, that even those times when I chose fear over faith, that you were there to guide me back to you. That you were there to restore my faith with that same invitation. And so this upcoming year, Lord, as we as a church look forward to the next chapter, as we wander in the wilderness for a little while longer, we look forward to the next chapter. Lord. Help us on our journey of faith as individuals and as a church to choose faith. This we pray in the name of Jesus, sovereign over all nature, Creator sustainer of all things, God with us. Amen. [00:38:32] Speaker D: Sarah Every burden Every crown this is my surrender this is my surrender Here is where I lay it down Every lie and every doubt this is my surrender I will make room for you. To do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to I will make room for you for you. [00:39:47] Speaker A: To. [00:39:48] Speaker D: Do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to you. Here is where I lay it down Every burden Every this is my surrender this is my surrender Here is where I lay down every lion Every doubt this is my surrender and I will make room for you. To do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I will make room for you for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I. [00:41:15] Speaker A: Will make room you. [00:41:22] Speaker D: To do whatever you want to to do whatever you. [00:41:27] Speaker C: Want to. [00:41:30] Speaker D: And I will make room for you for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you. [00:41:52] Speaker A: Sa. The world. Shake up the ground for our tradition Break down the up. Shake underground of all my tradition Break down the world all my religion Always better the always better I will be through for you. [00:43:28] Speaker D: To do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I will make room for you for you to do whatever you want to. To do whatever you want to.