June 21 What do you do
when you’re not sure?
The psalm says,
The Lord, He who keeps watch over
But in today’s gospel, Jesus is
asleep.
It’s a story about a group of terrified
people out in a small boat in the midst of a perfect storm. The disciples are understandably afraid,
because the boat is already being swamped by the
waves. And
where is Jesus? He is asleep, curled up
on a cushion in the boat. The contrast
of the terrified disciples and the peacefully sleeping Jesus is remarkable.
They wake Jesus demanding Teacher do you not care
that we are perishing?
Maybe you’ve said something
like that. “Lord don’t you see what I’m
going through? Why haven’t
you come to my aid? Don’t you care that
I am perishing under this heavy burden?”
Jesus arises, rebukes the wind and the waves. Then he turns and rebukes them. Why are you afraid? Have
you still no faith?
Is faith having the same sort of serenity as Jesus
in the storm?
Perhaps.
Or maybe faith is somehow letting Jesus sleep
on the cushion in the same boat, trusting that if he is with us we’ll make it
through? In other
words, having seen the truth – the way – then hanging onto that truth – His way
– without further assurance.
The test of faith is the ability to trust God even
when life is at its worst – to trust God’s promise, even when it seems he’s silent – even asleep.
As they say at Al-Anon meetings, "Serenity is
not freedom from the storm, but the calm within it."
Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?
That’s Jesus question to his disciples – and to us –
even to you. What do you do when you’re not sure?
There’s a lot not to be sure about.
If you saved for you retirement, you’ve
probably seen the value of those savings decrease substantially. It’s disorientating.
Which way are things going? What’s next?
It could create a feeling of hopelessness – or at
least a lack of confidence. But we’re all in it together.
How much worse to be stricken
by a private calamity? – One you must bear alone?
No one knows how sick I really am?
Or how the loss of a friend or loved
one has devastated me?
Maybe some of you have felt that way?
What do you do?
Do you still have faith?
Let me tell you a story. If you recognize it, you can tell me the name
of the movie it’s from after the service.
A small cargo ship was caught
in a storm and sank. But
one sailor had found a life boat and rigged a sail. After the storm had blown away, he looked up
at the stars in the night sky. He used
his nautical knowledge, read the stars and plotted a course toward land. The
next night the clouds had rolled in and he could no longer see the stars. He thought he was on the right course, but
then he began to have his doubts. Had he really plotted the right course? Was he still on it, headed
toward land, or was he hopelessly lost? Alone in that little boat, there
was no way to know.
What do you do when you’re
not sure? Do you still have faith?
Faith is the assurance of things
hoped for,
the
conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
He had once seen the truth – the way – and now he
had to hold on to it without further assurance. Maybe you know that kind of
crisis of faith – having to continue to hold onto the truth without further
assurance.
Being a father takes that kind of faith. It requires faith because you can’t always be sure what is right in a particular
situation. But
despite uncertainty, you have to do something even if you’re not sure. So you have to hold
onto truth without further assurance.
What truth? Jesus said our relationship with
God is like that of a father and his child - a metaphor that works both ways.
So what characterizes that relationship? Love - an unselfish
love. Love is patient; love is kind... that does not rejoice in
wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. it bears all
things, believes, hopes, endures...
I don't know about you, but
I have found, down through the decades, that God has been there for me,
often with forgiveness, and just as often with tough love.
"Fathers, do not provoke your
children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the
Lord" Ephesians
6:4
Being there, tough love, guidance, forgiveness: all important aspects of what makes a father.
We are here to worship Christ the Lord. We come to listen to him speaking to us
through his word – the scripture that we might receive enlightenment and
meaning. We hope to be comforted and
uplifted by the hymns and prayers – to feel His presence and a sense of
peace. We seek all of that and a host of
other things we think we need and deserve.
And of course sometimes when we are at
worship we really do receive peace and meaning, comfort and a host of divine
gifts.
But not always. Sometimes God does not come to us, even when
we come to him in worship. Maybe the
spirit does not always open our ears, and remains silent rather than speaks. If
God’s grace were automatic, predictable, on demand, then it wouldn’t
be called amazing grace…
Are you willing to worship, to love and serve God as
he is rather than as we would have God be?
I wonder if sometimes our worship is an attempt on
our part to get what we want, rather than God? How much of our prayer is our attempt to
present the Lord with the errands that we need running this week rather than an
open attempt to simply be with Christ?
But what if prayer is not when we tell
God what we need Him to do, but rather when we lay our lives open to the
presence of the living God. A living God
is not one who always reacts as we expect.
Can we have faith in a God that is that great?
They took Jesus with them just as he was.
10:46
What is that supposed to mean?
Might it mean that they took him as he was, rather
than who they were determined for him to be?
Are we, his disciples of today, willing to sail with Jesus “just as he
was”? The storms terrify us, for we are
fragile creatures. And
why is Jesus curled up asleep? We are
traveling over dark turbulent waters – we have deep questions. We’re here to
worship God. Are we willing to take
Jesus “just as he is” rather than as we would like him to be?
The good news is that Jesus really is the Son of God
which means, among other things, that he will be “just as he is’ rather than
how we would like him to be.
And that is part of the adventure of being
a Christian, part of the drama of Sunday worship. All those times we come seeking peace, or
answers or something we think we’ve got to have, and instead are we are met by
the living, free God, who may call us to serve or challenge us to change.
And that’s when we are apt to join his
first disciples in awe, exclaiming Who then is this?
One ancient symbol of the church is that small boat
with the cross as its mast. We,
as members of His church, are those who are in the boat with Jesus. Yes, sometimes Jesus leads our boat onto
calm, peaceful waters. And other times, in love, he invites us to sail with him
into the storm.
Sometimes faith means that we believe Jesus is the
solution to our problems. And other times faith means we are willing to love and obey
Jesus even when he brings us problems we would not have if we hadn’t met him.
The disciples in today’s gospel are
clearly confused by Jesus. But they stay in the boat with Jesus. And we are here with
Jesus in that boat called the church.
Having seen His truth – His
way – we hold onto it and continue to follow without further assurance. Even when we’re not sure of the “why’s” and “wherefore’s” of God’s action – or inaction – we
know His unfailing love is in and behind his action.
We trust in not merely the presence of Jesus who
shares our predicament amid the storms of life, but also in the power of Jesus
who can calm the storms.
Remember
the times that the Lord has got you through
difficult situations in the past. And never give up hope, for the Lord can make a way out of
no way. Christ has promised that he will always be with us and he is stronger than all the storms of life – and so we are people who hope.