I remember my first experience with a hurricane. I had just moved my young wife and two babies to the Gulf Coast and within months warm sea water deep in the subtropics created a funnel of air that rose some 50,000 feet high and produced vast cumulus clouds. The high air currents were distributed the heat and more air from below was drawn into the funnel. The rotation of the earth gave the funnel of air a twist and hurricane Ivan was born. At first the spaghetti plots were all over the place. Some predicted that the storm would be pushed to the south and hit Venezuela, others predicted landfall in the Carolinas. However, it soon became clear that the eye of the storm would pass over my new home.
As the storm crept closer to the coast it increased in intensity. Soon it grew to a category 5 (the highest possible rating given to such storms). Such a rating indicated that Hurricane Ivan would have sustained winds of over 157 MPH. And when I say sustained, I mean sustained. These storms are so large (about 400 miles in diameter) that they often last for 12 hours or longer. These sustained winds can and do push the seawater against the shore, often raising the water level by 20 feet or more. On top of the raised water level, 20-foot waves also form. So, as the storm approaches there is a 40-foot-high wall of water. (imagine a wall of water the height of our sanctuary.)
A mandatory evacuation was issued for my area. Having had no experience with such storms, I asked a friend who as a Coast Guard rescue pilot had a great deal of experience with storms what I should do. I asked him how dangerous the storm really was (I was thinking my family would stay and ride it out). I asked him, “It’s not like we are going to die right?” He said, “you might.” Michelle said, “we’re leaving.” I said, “I’ll pack the car.”
Hurricanes can be distressing, but I have found it is not the storms that rage without, but rather, the storms that rage within that are the most dangerous. Late at night, doubts form deep in our subconscious. The uncertainties of life and the insecurities of self descend upon us with violent results. Soon waves of worry are causing us to toss back and forth upon our mattresses. Our hearts fill with the fear of the unknown and we begin to have a sinking feeling in our stomachs as we imagine our lives are perilously out of control. Yes, it is the storms that rage inside each of us that are the most dangerous.
The damage these internal storms cause can be catastrophic. They can trigger a host of health problems such as dizziness, fatigue, headaches, inability to concentrate, irritability, muscle aches, poor sleep, loss of libido, and forgetfulness. But the biggest problem associated with these internal storms is not the effect they have on you physically, it is what they say about you spiritually. Today Jesus points out that fear is a faith issue. In the midst of life’s storms, Jesus asks His disciples and He asks you and me, “Why are you so afraid?”
It had been a long day for Jesus. Large crowds had begun to follow Him, and He was apparently preaching to them from the boat as he had on other occasions. (Small bays with rising hillsides form several natural amphitheaters on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee.) When evening came Jesus was ready to be alone with His disciples and away from the crowds. The shoreline was packed with people and so He said to His disciples “Let us go over to the other side.”
The high hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee that form natural amphitheaters for teaching also make the Sea subject to sudden and violent storms. Cool dry air crashes 2000 feet from the hills above to the surface of the sea below with violent results. Mark tells us, “37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.” The Sea of Galilee is notorious for its sudden storms but this one seemed special. The sea was angry this day, my friends. The waves beat against the hull causing the fishing vessel to list back and forth dangerously close to capsizing. The boat begins to take on water as the wind whips froth and foam over her bow. Experienced fisherman though they were, the disciples could not control the boat and they feared for their lives.
In contrast to the fear filled disciples Mark tells us “38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.” The disciples do not understand how He could sleep at a time like this. Perhaps there was part of them that wondered about the physical possibility of one sleeping so peacefully in such violent circumstances but more than that they were disturbed by what His slumber insinuated. “The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” You see, there was more than one storm raging. It was not just the Sea of Galilee that was angry that day, the disciples were also angry; they were angry at Jesus. They had seen Jesus cast out demons, cure diseases, and raise the dead. They knew Jesus had the ability to do miraculous things; that He would not do miraculous things for them, as He had done for so many others; that He would just lay there sleeping, doing nothing as they battled the storm, it lead them to conclude only one thing, He did not care; Jesus did not care about them.
How often, I wonder, do we make the same accusation? Life is not always smooth sailing, is it. On any given day, disturbances pop up on your radar: conflicts swirl around you, the expectations others have of you and the expectations you have of yourself beat down upon you, and your to-do list has you feeling swamped. There are days when you can barely keep your head above water. It is on those days that we cannot help but noticing how remarkably silent God is in the midst of our storms. We know that He parted the Red Sea for His chosen people, miraculously preserved them with manna from heaven, and provided them with a land flowing with milk and honey. We know that God has the power and ability to deliver us from our enemies, supply us with groceries, and spoil us with luxuries, and yet so often it seems as if He would rather sleep. It seems as if God does not care about us.
Knowing how dangerous such storms can be, Jesus “39… got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. As the God who laid the earth’s foundation; marked off its dimensions, set its footings, laid its cornerstone, who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb and said, “This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt”[1], Jesus had no difficulty calming the storm that raged on the Sea of Galilee, but it was not just the wind and the waves He rebuked. There was a more dangerous storm that needed to be stilled.
Turning to His fear filled disciples, Jesus asked, 40 “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Jesus rebukes His disciples for being afraid. In the Greek He calls them “cowards”. But why should they be rebuked for their fear? Is fear such a bad thing? I am going to let Revelation 21:8 answer that question. Because in Revelation 21:8 the same word translated here as “fear” is there translated as “coward” and there God says, "8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur." Why is fear such a damnable sin that it should be listed alongside murder, adultery, and idolatry? It is because of what it implies about God. The world we live in and the people who live in it are still under the power and control of our creator. The disciples said what our fear filled hearts are feeling, or rather accusing, “My creator doesn’t care about me!”. How insulting our fear must be to the one who knit us together in our mother’s womb, who gives us each day our daily bread, who commands His angels concerning us to guard us in all our ways. How insulting our fear must be to the one demonstrated His love for us by dying on the cross, who has promised to be with us always till the very end of the age, who at this very moment is preparing a place for us in heaven. Our fear is a result of weak faith; and it insults our God.
Jesus didn’t have to stay in the boat with the disciples. When they accused him of not caring about them, Jesus could have stepped out of the boat and walked on the water to the shore. He did not have to put up with their insults and accusations, but because of His rich love and great mercy, He did. He rebuked their fear, stayed in the boat with them, sailed with them to the shore, and continued to Jerusalem where He would show them and us just how much He cares about all of us.
The years we spent living on the Gulf Coast provided us with a great deal of experience with storms. In fact, the very next year after Hurricane Ivan passed over our house, the eye of Hurricane Katrina, the most destructive hurricane in recorded history, caused an estimated $125 billion dollars in damage. The eye of that storm passed within 75 miles from our house. (we started to think God was trying to tell us something). We decided, perhaps foolishly, to stay for that storm. The wind was incredible. It toppled trees, flattened fences, tore the siding off our house, and turned the church we were building into a pile of sticks. I’ll admit sitting in a house with no power, watching the rain flood our yard as the wind tore shingles off our roof and caused debris to crash into the side of our house was a little nerve-wracking, but knowing that our Savior Jesus was the ruler of those winds and waves did a great deal to calm the storms of fear that threatened to brew inside of us.
We live in a universe that can seem inherently unpredictable, dangerous, and deadly. As a result, storms rage without and storms rage within and late at night, when doubts form deep in our subconscious and the uncertainties of life and the insecurities of self descend upon us with violent results and waves of worry are causing us to toss back and forth upon our mattresses, it is easy for us to feel that Jesus does not care about us. But today our Savior Jesus whom the wind and the waves must obey reassures us we have nothing to fear. No matter how big the storm our God is bigger. Amen
[1] Job 38:11