Luke 8.22-25
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’
I remember many years ago visiting my grandma at the weekends. We’d watch films all afternoon and eat copious amounts of cheese on toast and wash it down with lots of Vimto. I thought at the time that she had bought the Vimto because she knew that we were coming to visit.
It was then I found out that the was in fact for her and she couldn’t drink cold water. The reason was this, when she was a little girl, she was swimming, and almost drowned; from then on, if cold water touched her lips it would make her shiver. Hence the Vimto, to give it a nice flavour, so it wouldn’t bring back memories of almost dying. The mental scars her experience created stayed with her for her whole life.
It sounds obvious to say, but water is dangerous; you can’t breathe under water. You have to learn to swim, if you don’t and you get stuck in water, and there’s is nobody to help you, you will drown.
In ancient times it was a common belief that large bodies of water, Like the sea of Galilee, were home to evil spirits who sometimes whipped up storms against unsuspecting sailors bringing about their end. In Galilee in particular the weather can change in minutes from cloudless skies to rain storms. I know, I’ve seen it happen.
In the ancient world too there was an added fear, for water represents chaos in the biblical narrative. In the Genesis story we have the allegorical creation of the world where the Spirit of God hovers over the waters. Those waters weren’t a calm peaceful lake, they were a raging storm which God tempers and brings order to to bring about his creation.
Why were the disciples terrified in this passage? They were terrified because Jesus did what God did, he calms the storm, he brings order from chaos. They are afraid because they know they are in the divine presence. The disciples knew the stories of their ancestors, they lived and breathed them, they know to come face to face with God is to die.
We see this in many Old Testament stories. People comes into contact with God and they are terrified that they will die. In the book of Exodus we have this verse where The LORD says, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!’ And elsewhere in the Old Testament When a couple sees the LORD the husband says to the wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.”
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but the image of Aslan the lion comes to mind; fierce, noble, proud, totally uncompromising. The Lion represents the total goodness of God. But lions are dangerous, they have teeth. To look into its eyes is to look into the eyes of a being that knows nothing but goodness, and with the desire to destroy all the evil in the world. And yet that God, though terrifying at times is somehow a friend. He is somehow a person, he has somehow become human out of his love for us.
Now, In the scriptures God is portrayed in many different ways. Sometimes as a warrior king, sometimes as a husband, sometimes as a mother hen, sometimes he is quite angry and vengeful.
Some of these images may say more about the people at the time then God himself, but the Christian looks at all these interpretations of the character of God through the lens of the person of Jesus Christ, through the character of Jesus Christ.
‘Master, we are perishing!’ the disciples shout. You can hear the fear in the words, you can hear the doubt, where are you Lord? Why aren’t you helping us? There’s something really dangerous happening here! They obviously don’t think that Jesus cares.
And after rebuking the wind and the waves, Jesus turns to his disciples and says, ‘Where is your faith?’
Why did you not think that I would save you from the evil of the storm?
Why did you not think that I would help you through the dangers, why did you think I wouldn’t help. Why did you lack faith in me and my goodness and my care for you.
When problems come, do we assume that Jesus is napping in the back of the boat, not caring about us.It can be easy to think this. Particularly when times are tough, and God feels so far away. But I believe that it is in those moments that God is closest to us. We see this ultimately in the cross, which shows us just how far God will go to save us. How much he is willing to go through for us. How the visage of the stern lion is torn away and we are left with the eyes of the man Jesus who suffers, because he loves us.
I would like to end on that wonderful poem, footprints in the sand. I’m sure many of you know it. May this be a comfort to you if things are tough now or for when they get tough. Have faith that God will carry you through it to the other side. Read the poem slowly, take each sentence in, and know that you are loved and cherished by the living God
“One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. "Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you Never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."”
“He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you Never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."”
Amen
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