November 13, 2013
Jesus, the Disciples, and the Storm
Mark 4:35-41
I Learning Through the Storm 4:35-38
II Learning Through the Calm 4: 39-41
Ira Sankey was a song-writer/song leader, who partnered, his life and work, with the great D.L Moody—they were the George Beverly Shea/Billy Graham, of the 19th century….
There is a story, that’s told about him, which is a beautiful example, of God’s great power, to protect His children.
It was Christmas Eve, 1875, and the Civil War had been over for about 10 years…Sankey, was traveling by steamship, up the Delaware River. It was a beautiful starlit evening, and many passengers were up on deck, encouraging Ira to sing for them. They had found him, leaning against one of the ship’s great smokestacks, gazing at the stars, and praying, so it didn’t take much to get him to consent. He meant to sing a Christmas Carol. But before he could even wrap his mind around which song to sing and how to start it, he felt compelled to begin singing, “Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us”.
There was a deep stillness, as his rich baritone voice, floated across the quiet river. When he had finished singing, a man stepped out of the shadows and asked him a strange question---“Did you ever serve in the Union Army?”
“Yes,” Ira answered him,” in the spring of 1860.”
“Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright moonlit night in 1862?”
“Yes, I was,” Ira answered him, with surprise.
“Yes, I was,” Ira answered him, with surprise.
“So was I, the man said, but I was serving in the Confederate Army.
And “I saw you….” I saw you standing at your post, and I raised my musket and took aim…”
I was standing in the shadows, completely concealed, while the full light of the moon, was falling on you. And just as I had you in my sights, just like a few minutes ago, you raised your eyes to heaven, and began to sing. I thought to myself, I’ll let him sing his song to the end, and then I can shoot him, before he has a chance to move.
But the song that you sang then, was the song that you sang just now…I heard the words perfectly…’Blessed Jesus, thou hast bought us, thine we are, We are thine, thou dost defend us, be the guardian of our way, keep thy flock from sin, defend us, seek us when we go astray.’
“Those words so stirred my heart, and filled it with such wonderful memories of my childhood, and my God-fearing mother, because she had sung that song to me, many, many times.
When you finished singing, it was impossible for me to bring my self to raise my gun again----I thought to myself, ‘the Lord, who has been able to save that man from certain death, must surely be a great and mighty God---so I turned and walked back to camp….”
Totally oblivious to any danger, Ira Sankey was spared certain death---and it was no coincidence----it was God’s sovereign power, which led him to sing that particular song that night during the war, the exact familiar song that would evoke tender memories in the heart of his enemy, and stay his hand. And then, it was the same God, who brought them together again, on that boat, and prompted Ira, to sing the song yet another time, to reveal to both men, that He was still in control There are many lessons in this passage, and one of them is, that God protects His own, and not one of us will live 1 minute longer or die, 1 minute sooner, than our time….Another one is that the Lord is taking care of us, all the time, whether we see Him or not----we have to live our lives, in faith, trusting His unseen hand…
What a comfort this story should be to all of us----the keeping power of the Lord Jesus, over God’s children, is a life-changing certainty, which we all need to believe and understand.
That’s what the calming of the Galilean storm is all about… the Lord was trying to get His disciples to understand and to believe and to make a part of their lives, the truth, that they could trust Him to be in control of all things.
This passage that we’re studying today, is one that the Church loves, because it gives us a glimpse of the kind of power, which Jesus has at His disposal, and, of how He’s willing to use that power, to take care of us!!!
I Learning Through the Storm 4:35-38
It had been a strenuous day in Jesus’ already taxing life------it had begun with the blasphemous accusations by the Pharisee’s that he was being controlled by Satan,; then His mother and brothers had interfered with His ministry by trying to get Him to go back to Nazareth, with them, because they thought he’d lost His mind; Then, He, left the crowded house and went down to the water’s edge and taught the great throng of people, in parables, from a boat, with the hot sun beating down. And then finally, with the approach of evening, Jesus, who must have been exhausted, by that time, told the disciples that He wanted them all, to go across to the other side of the lake, Him included. Before they got underway, Jesus laid down in the stern of the boat to rest, and the fishermen among the disciples, hoisted the sail and began the
5-6 mile trip across the lake. Sailing with them, was a flotilla of other small boats----and since evening and night were the prime fishing times, there might have been as many as 300 other boats on the lake with them. It must have been a beautiful sight, as all the boats moved slowly across the calm sea, in the dusky twilight, under the rising moon and stars-----when suddenly, without warning, they were blasted with a terrible storm!!!
The Sea of Galilee is 628 feet below sea level and is surrounded by mountains gouged with deep ravines. The ravines serve as gigantic funnels to focus whirling winds down onto the lake without notice---v. 37 says, that “a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.” Matthew, in his gospel, uses the Greek word, seismos, which is the word earthquake, to describe the storm----it was as though the lake was literally, being shaken.
In religious paintings, that depict this scene----you can see great walls of water rising on either side of the boat, giving the impression, that at any moment, the boat and its passengers were destined for a watery grave.
Storms usually arise unexpectedly; suddenly and without warning----they change our direction, often in a whirlwind of uncertainty, and they overrun all our barriers, and they strip us of any human security, which we thought would protect us. We suddenly, are faced with, allowing the storm to drown us, or allowing the storm to turn us toward Jesus---I choose Jesus!!!
The disciples had no way of knowing, in that terrible moment, that that terrifying storm was going to be God’s vehicle, for teaching them about Him and His power in their lives. The storm, even though, they couldn’t imagine it, was an absolute essential experience, for their spiritual development. Without difficulties, trials, stresses, and even failures, we would never grow to become, what God intends for us to become. Storms are a part of the process. There are a lot of people who believe that every thing that happens to them, good and hard, especially the hard things, are what mature them, and build their faith, and help them to trust the Lord more and more. I am one of those people who believe that…the truth is----there is not one thing that comes our way, that hasn’t first been filtered, through the nail-scarred hands of Jesus------ so how can they not grow us spiritually…
without struggles and adversities, we would be insufferable, shallow, self-centered, proud, fragile and empty people. Ruth Bell Graham once wrote a poem that expresses this …”Dear God, let me soar in the face of the wind: up, up like the lark---so posed and so sure, through cold or the storm, with wings to endure. Let the silver rain wash the dust from my wings. Let me soar as the lark soars; let me sing as the lark sings sings; let the wind lift me….let it buffet and drive me, but God, let it lift me too.”
The storm raged, unabated, with howling wind and crashing waves, and Jesus slept through it all….this picture of Him gives us a remarkable insight, into Him being fully God and fully man---- we are able to see His omnipotence, which makes Him God, and His total weariness ,which makes Him man…
The disciples thought that Jesus was unaware of their plight, but what they didn’t know yet, was that Jesus always lived with a conscious awareness, dependence and obedience to and on, God the Father----He knew that He could totally surrender to sleep, because He could completely trust God to take care of Him, and wake Him up, if and when, He had a task for Him to do…Their perception of the Lord’s apparent obliviousness, to their misery, is a picture of how we often feel, as we weather life’s storms…too often we make the mistake of thinking and feeling like we’re all alone, that Jesus doesn’t care about, what’s happening to us, or how we’re feeling…That’s such wrong-thinking, though---God knows every wave that crashes over us; He knows the rate of our hearts and the rate of our respirations; He has them every one, counted and measured out…He knows what it takes to get our attention; He knows how much we can handle; He knows our innermost thoughts; He knows our emotional barometer and He knows all our hopes and our dreams.
God’s eye never left that little boat and His hand never faltered---He had everything under control---He always does----life and death----God never relinquishes control….—We live in a world that is damaged by sin , where satan tries to shut us down whenever he can----a world that is plagued by horrible weather, and by broken people, committing broken acts of violence, and by illness, physical and emotional and spiritual, that ravage our bodies to the point of death-----but God is still in control----there is nothing that satan, or the sin in this world can do, that God doesn’t allow----and if doesn’t prevent it. He’s allowing it for a reason—which He will reveal, all in good time…
Jesus led them into that storm, clearly and purposefully -----and the blessing is, that He went with them----He didn’t let them go alone---He never does…and----- then, when the time was right, He led them out again.
A friend sent me this poem not very long ago….“I came to the swift raging river; and the roar held the echo of fear; ‘Dear Lord, give me wings to fly over if you are, as promised, quite near.” But He said, ’Trust the grace I am giving, all pervasive, sufficient for you; Take my hand----we will face this together, my plan is—not over---but through!”
II. Learning Through the Calm 4:39-41
“Years ago, a farmer owned land along the northern Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged along the coast, wreaking havoc on the buildings and the crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer.
“Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.
“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows.”
“Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.”
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work.
Then one night, the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters.
He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!”
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.
Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarps.; the cows were all in the barn; the chickens were in their coops; the doors were barred; the shutters were tightly secured; everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.
Then, the farmer understood what his hired hand meant, about sleeping when the wind blows….. so he returned to bed, and slept, through the rest of the storm, too.”
When we are prepared spiritually, physically and mentally, we have nothing to fear, when the storms come and the winds blow. Jesus was able to sleep in that storm because He knew that God had everything under control----We, as believers, should secure ourselves, against the storms of life, by grounding ourselves, in the truth of God’s word. We don’t need to understand the storm---we just need to trust God and hold His hand, while we wait the storm out.
Evidently the disciples were frantic, when they woke Jesus up, rebuking Him, for not caring if they drowned…they were mad, and their anger was born out of fear…But Jesus ,was as calm as a cucumber----Mark says He got up and rebuked the wind and told the waves to be still----and immediately there was silence----with not even a hint of wind or a wave------The truth of Jesus’ power was there for all to see, although it took some more time and miracles, and His death and resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, for them to process it.
All power in heaven and earth belongs to Jesus---Paul said in Colossians 1:16, “For by Him, all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities.”
All things were created by Him-----every single speck of dust in the universe was created by Him.
And, He is the Sustainer of all things----Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Scientists spend thousands of hours, every year, trying to figure out the mystery of the universe----and Jesus is the answer to all their questions…He is our Creator, our Sustainer and the Savior of our souls.
(When my children were little, they had a tape of scripture, that they loved to listen to, that teaches this truth so well----there were 3 verses and I can’t remember the words to them, but I can remember their intent and the refrain----one was about Daniel in the Lion’s den and the last phrase was, “The God who caused that Lion to roar, had everything under control”. The second verse was about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace----and it ended with, “and the God that caused that fire to burn, had everything under control.” And the 3rd verse was about Jesus calming the storm, and it ended with, ‘and the God that caused that wind to blow, had everything under control.” I’ve never forgotten the simplicity of those words,-----so clear and so right, and so true, that even a child could believe them...)
Believing in God’s sovereignty, helps us to weather the storms of life-----believing in God’s sovereignty, helps us to see joy in the midst of the storm----believing in God’s sovereignty, helps us to appreciate the storms because they grow our faith..
Storms can be emotional, physical or spiritual and while it isn’t easy to weather physical or emotional storms, having to live through a spiritual one, is by far, the most difficult-----and the most dangerous of the 3-----Jesus knew that the disciples’ lack of faith would be their undoing, if they didn’t learn the lesson He was providing for them…So He rebuked them…He asked them why they were afraid, and why, after living with Him for months, that they still had such little faith…
He hadn’t told them that they were going into the middle of the lake to drown, he had told them that He wanted to get in a boat, and go with them to the other side…
When Jesus tells us something, we need to believe it and trust it and cling to it, no matter how long we have to wait to see it come to pass, or how many storms we have to sail through, before we get to the other side…faith and fear cancel each other out-----the absence of fear is faith----and its not just faith in an abstract idea, it is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our lesson commentary, I love what the author said in one of the stories he told, “the boat will not sink, and the storm will not last forever.” We can trust these words, because the God, who created the wind and the rain, has everything under control.
The disciples had lived with Jesus, but they had underestimated Him---they were tongue-tied at His question about their fear-----all of a sudden, they were afraid of Him, not scared of Him, but awed by Him----they had seen Jesus perform many miracles, but nothing had moved them like this one----suddenly, they realized that Jesus of Nazareth, their wonderful friend and their wise teacher, was as far removed from them, as they were, from the furthest star…I believe that deep in their hearts, they knew who He was, even though they couldn’t understand how, He was Who He was….but they couldn’t even begin to fathom how it would end…
William Barclay says that we need to trust Jesus:
*To give us comfort in the storm of sorrow----when sorrow comes and it certainly will, the Lord wraps us in His love, and comforts us with the promise of eternal life…
*To give us confidence in the storms of doubt, tension and uncertainty-----there have been, there are, or there will be, times when we don’t know what to do or which way to go or what to think----but if we will turn to Jesus, and give the problem to Him, He will tell us what to do, or He will tell us to wait----- Panic is a choice and we don’t have to choose it--------the important thing, is for us to take our focus off of the circumstances and put our focus on Jesus--- the circumstances may not change, but our attitudes about the circumstances will change and we will have peace…Jesus isn’t ignorant of our circumstances----He is fully aware of what’s going on with us----and when the time is right---He will speak peace and hope and confidence, into our storms, and we can rest, knowing that He is greater, than anything that we could ever face, including wind, rain, disease, heartache, financial ruin, death and loneliness.
*To give us peace in the storm of anxiety----the chief enemy of peace is worry---worry for ourselves, worry about the unknown future, worry about the ones we love. But Jesus tells us about a Father, whose hand will never cause His child a needless tear, and who will never let them drift beyond the point that He can’t get to them.
The Lord Jesus is clearly capable of delivering us from storms, with just a word----He is the same God who calmed the storm and the same one, who stayed the trigger finger, of Ira Sankey’s would-be killer---He hasn’t changed and we don’t have to worry, He isn’t just in the boat with us, He is the boat ,and He keeps us afloat; and He keeps us safe, as we struggle through the storm----sometimes we may get a little bit wet and sometimes we may get drenched, but we don’t ever have to worry that we’re alone or that we won’t come through…I don’t care what it is we’re facing---nothing is too big, or too wide or too tall or too deep, that the Lord Jesus can’t take care of it.
“Years ago, a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied him, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere., and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another one, while the viewers clapped and cheered.
The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled.
As a judge pulled the cover from one., a hush fell over the crowd.
A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.
The man with the vision uncovered the second painting, himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?
A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold penetrating spray. Stormy gray clouds threatened to explode with lightening, wind and rain. In the midst of the clearly, thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters, as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power.
A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested a peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.
When we keep our focus on Jesus, we can have this exact same peace, in the middle of any storm, because He never promised to take us out of the storm, He promises, that He will be with us through the storm…
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