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{God’s Word For Life}
Welcome
Welcome to New Life Rector this morning!
This is God’s Word for Life!
Next Sunday: Taylor Pollard preaching!
Text
Title: “Calming the Storm”
Intro
Man is obsessed with control.
But there’s one sure thing we have not figured out to control: the elements.
We’ve figured out our heat and AC.
But when storms come, we don’t have any control at all.
Just ask Florida.
Or if you go down to the Gulf Coast, you can still see (if you look hard) the effects of Katrina, and other hurricanes and storms.
Tornadoes...
There was once a Youth Rally in Corning, AR in which a deluge came down so strong that the power went out during service.
Kept having church!
But, friend, I want to tell you in the Spirit: there are some things you are not going to be able to control!
The Day Jesus Proved His Deity
There was a particular day of Jesus’ life in the Gospels that I’m not sure there is another day in Scripture in which His full itinerary of the day is described as thoroughly.
And that’s the day leading up to Him calming the stormy sea.
This day was so full that it ended with Jesus falling into a deep, deep sleep on a pillow that the disciples laid under His head.
It’s the only account we’re given at all of Jesus sleeping.
On that day, needy men and women surrounded Him, touched Him, begged Him, and brought their children to Him.
He pulled demons completely out of men’s lives.
And for His troubles, He was accused of doing it all by the power of the devil.
He blessed people who were broken.
He cleansed a leper.
He healed Peter’s mother-in-law.
He healed a paralytic.
Listened to a centurion.
And healed the centurion’s servant.
And still yet, He climbed up a small mountain and commissioned His twelve disciples.
He spent the day in a sea of people - one request after another.
Pushed and pulled in every direction.
Testing His physical endurance.
At one point, the crowds were so full and drew in so close that Jesus was backed onto the shore of the Galilee, right up to the edge of the water.
He was now out of space, but He still needed to teach.
And so He had to get into a boat and push off a little from the shore to create some separation between Himself and the people.
Once he was done teaching there and it was evening, He found that His work still wasn’t done!
His disciples were confused by His parables, so they asked Him to teach it again, but this time with explanation.
We’re really, really talking about a full day, here!
Even the Wind and Sea Obey Him
And we know that Jesus would rise up out of sleep and calm a storm.
But… before we get there, we should consider the sea for a minute.
What does this sea represent?
For ancient Israelites, the sea represents chaos, a place under the control of forces that come against God.
Now, we know that the sea and all things in nature are truly under God’s authority.
But, the Israelites tended to fear the sea and avoid it as much as possible.
In some ways, the sea seemed to resist the orderliness of God’s Creation.
In the beginning, the sea had to be divided in order for the rest of Creation to unfold.
The beast in Revelation is said to rise up out of the sea, as if to say that the beast is empowered by Satan to bring chaos.
When John heard the voice of Jesus, John compared His voice to the “voice… of many waters” (Revelation 1:15).
After hearing that voice, John fell at Christ’s feet “as dead,” Scripture says.
And listen to this: when John got ready to tell us what kind of peace is in Heaven, he wrote that a sea like glass surrounds God’s throne.
In other words, there is no chaos or disorder or disharmony where God rules n His fulness.
And so, if your are experiencing some chaotic waters today, perhaps the first response you should have is to make absolute certain that He is still Lord of your life - in every way!
Now, this sea that Jesus and His disciples were sailing on was not symbolic.
It was the Sea of Galilee.
And it was basically (from all I can tell) a modest lake.
But although it was a lake, there were very cool winds that would roll in from Mt. Hermon and clash with the dry, warmer winds that came from the desert.
And what happens when cool winds and warm winds meet?
In Arkansas, that means get ahold of Ryan Vaughn - something’s about to go down outside!
For them, it was a violent windstorm.
Now, they had surely seen the signs.
Fishermen knew when and when not to sail.
But Jesus asked them to sail anyway.
And they must have believed they would be okay; Jesus knew things they didn’t.
But then, this storm arose.
And it tossed their small ship around a bit.
And they thought that their seconds were numbered.
One disciple went over and pulled in the sails.
Another one used buckets to throw out the water coming in.
Others grabbed an oar and tried to keep the boat pointed against the waves.
They could try to shout at each other, but the thunder, wind, and rain drowned them out.
Think of the streaks of lightning that formed.
The sea pulling an oar right out of someone’s tight grip.
And then, one disciple decides to go and see how the Master was handling all of this.
And when he found Him, He was still asleep, almost comatose.
The disciple crawled over the things in the boat, grabbed Jesus, and shook Him…
And from somewhere deep in dreams, Jesus awakened.
His eyelids flew open, and the disciples saw the lightning etched on His pupils!
He lifted His head off the pillow and stood to His feet.
They had just given up hope on being saved by their own skill.
And now they looked back at jesus as the wind whipped through His hair and pulled at His wet robe.
More flashes of lightning streaked through the sky.
AND THEN… OUT OF HIS MOUTH CAME JUST THREE WORDS:
“PEACE BE STILL!”
And it was!
Let me ask you something: When are you going to realize that the storm you’re in can’t be calmed by your doing?
You need to give up hope on your own power and let God tell the storm and the winds what to do!
These disciples… they had seen leprosy disappear from sick bodies.
They’d seen demons leech out of men’s souls at just Jesus’ command…
But… who controls the wind???
Where is the switch in nature that turns off a storm?
And who has access to it?
Anyone can tell the wind to be at peace.
Did you know that many years earlier from this, Xerxes the son of Darius, emperor of Persia, rebuked the sea.
And He gave it 300 lashes.
He also inserted molten swords into the water as punishment for not listening to his demand for a smooth voyage… but the wind doesn’t listen - not even to emperors!
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