The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany - January 30, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany
The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (January 30, 2011)

“THE GREAT STORM”

Readings:

Psalm 96
Jonah 1:1-17
Romans 8:18-23
Matthew 8:23-27

+INI+

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel lesson from the 8th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses,

Matthew 8:23-27 (ESV)

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“There arose a great storm on the sea.”(v. 23)  While a few here may recall being out on a lake, or out on the bay when a quickly moving storm came in, there are indeed but very few here who have been out to sea and seen a really great storm.  Oh yes of course we’ve seen those cruise ships on T.V. being tossed about like a child’s toy in a bathtub, but listen closely as we leave here today and you’ll hear some speak honestly and vividly of rough seas beyond our wildest imaginations.  How can you know what “great storms...swamping waves”(v.24)...and the thought of no one to turn to, what can I do...“Save us Lord; we are perishing.”(v.25) How can you know what this means unless you’ve been there and done that? 

Yet while you may not have experienced those rough waves of storm tossed seas, in another way you may understand.  For, when the storms of life comes thrashing down upon you, to whom do you turn? For Jesus’ disciples there wasn’t much of a choice. They were in a boat in the middle of a sea. The only one they could turn to was Jesus. “But [Jesus] was asleep.”(v.23) And if you think about it, if Jesus is asleep and there’s a storm raging, then you can certainly be at your wits end, because now there is no one to turn to in this time of need.

Isn’t that’s the way it is for us, sometimes? God’s Word teaches us to call upon Him in every hour of need. Or as the Psalmist writes, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”(Ps 50)   And ironically when we hear the Old Testament writing of Jonah, we know that reading so well that we tend not to listen closely to the words. But hear again about Jonah in verse 17 “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”  The timing of great fish near Jonah was not coincidental nor happenstance, “The Lord appointed a great fish....”

The Psalm and Jonah give away the ending to today’s Gospel. But, even though there is a happy ending for the disciples, perhaps you may not feel like you have had a happy ending for every time you’ve called on our heavenly Father in the day of your trouble. Your prayers for deliverance appear to have gone unanswered, at least unanswered as you see it this side of heaven. When shame and vice come screaming into your life, perhaps God gets the blame. After all, isn’t He in the boat with you?

Perhaps in those times of need when you have been tossed about by the things you have faced in your life, in the depth’s of your despair you’ve cried out, “My God, what have I done to deserve all this? Why did God allow this to happen to me? I wish He’d help me out of this one, but the last time I asked, He didn’t come through.” The people on the boat with Jonah asked the same questions. They asked, for whose cause is this trouble upon us? It’s not God’s fault, for here we recall the explanation to the Sixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. The first four words are, “God tempts no one.”(Small Catechism)

But who does and has tempted man since he first walked this earth? It is of course, the devil, the world, and our sinful nature. In our catechism one of Martin Luther’s Christian Questions with their Answers asks “But what should you do if you are not aware of this need [for the Sacrament] and have no hunger and thirst for the Sacrament [that is Holy Communion]?” Another way of asking the question may be, “What should I do if I think God is tempting me and I need help to know whether or not to receive the Lord’s Supper?” Luther pointedly directs you to the answer, he says, “first, touch your body to see if you still have flesh and blood. If you have flesh and blood, then you have human nature. Next, look around and see whether you are still in the world. There is no lack of sin and trouble in the world. Scripture says so. Same for your human nature. "

Scripture says human nature is corrupted with sin. Last of all, if you have a human nature and are in the world, then the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour you.”  Very simply put, if you are alive then how could you ever say you don’t need the comfort of the Lord’s body and blood, given and shed for you?

Yet wondering whether Jesus is in our boat of human life is natural for sinners, or even recovering sinners like us. It’s not as if we should have expected calm seas and sunny skies when we became Christians. Or did we?  We should have heard and we should know that once believe in Jesus Christ and are baptized, a target goes on our back. Satan desires to sift you like wheat. He wants you to believe that while Jesus is in your boat, He’s off napping and not paying attention to you until way in the future on Judgment Day. Satan wants you to think you have a clockmaker God.  A God who started the action of the heavens and the earth, but sits back and watches His creation mess it all up. That is a god won’t get His hands dirty or help us out of our mess.

Repent, These thoughts of an uncaring and distant God are an illusion set forth by the devil himself. Though Jesus may seem to us like He’s sleeping, He’s in total control of our situation. After all, Jesus is both God and man. Jesus is the same Word that brought creation into being and He also controls creation. When all the squalling the disciples made woke Jesus, the first words out of His mouth were, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”(v.26) That was a fair question for the disciples and it is a fair question for you and I. Why are you afraid? Even with a little faith, that little speck of faith could move mountains.

And when the seas laid flat and the raging winds grew calm, the disciples wondered aloud, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”(v. 27) The answer was the same for them as it is for you and me, it is Jesus Christ, who is our port in the storm.

We cannot calm the turbulent waters of our lives by merely willing them to stop nor by ignoring them either. The storms are real, our sins are great, our bodies ache physically and mentally, paying no attention gets us nowhere but in deeper trouble. But do not despair Jesus is not asleep, He can indeed calm all our turbulent waters, and He does so, even when we don’t deserve it. Though the storms would rage, the waters would roar and foam against us, and the winds would knock us down and drag us through the tumult. They don’t succeed, they cannot.  For as  Jesus was in that boat for the disciples, He is incarnate in your life. 

One of Luther’s favorite Psalms, number 46 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”  Jesus Christ stills all your turbulent times by applying His blood and His innocent suffering and death to those who fear from perishing in the storms of their lives.  Jesus has already rescued you from drowning amid the seas of sin and death. Jesus put you safely in the ark of the Church, and that boat that sails through this world and nurtures you with forgiveness and life. You are dry. You are saved. The sea is calm.  You are strengthened by the hearing of the Word, and by receiving the Holy Supper of our Lord that brings salvation to you now and it will also at the hour of your death.

Now look up.  I mean really look up at the ceiling of this church.  Do you see a ceiling or the bottom of the ship, the ark of the church carrying you to the arms of Christ?  Now look forward, do you see prepared a sleepy, time worn tradition called communion, or do you see and will you taste and consume the true body ad blood of Jesus Christ, given and shed for you, just as He said in His own words?

There is a great peace amid these raging waters. And that great peace is found only in Jesus Christ.  Be still. Do not be afraid. The great storm is calmed, Jesus is in the boat for you.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
+SDG+