CROWN OF LIFE EV. LUTHERAN CHURCH
Pastor John C. Schneidervin
4th Sunday After The Epiphany February 2, 2003
Matthew 8:23-27
Weather The Storms Of Life
1. Through Prayer
2. Through Faith
Text: Matthew 8:23-27
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Without
warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over
the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, ³Lord, save us! We¹re going to
drown!²
26 He replied, ³You of little faith, why are you so afraid?² Then he got up
and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, ³What kind of man is this? Even the winds
and the waves obey him!²
Sermon:
When it comes to camping, you take your chances with the weather. Many
members here in past years have forecasted the weather based upon when I
took my weeks of vacation to go camping. When I went camping, they knew it
would rain. When we were having a drought and needed rain, they suggested
our congregation send me out to go camping.
During the 20 years my family went camping for a week at a time, we camped
through the most vicious storms you have ever seen. Severe thunder storms
galore. Tornadoes bouncing around us more times than we would care to
count. Rain storms in Missouri that flooded eastern Kansas and western
Missouri, for which after we returned home from camping I dispensed funds in
behalf of our WELS Committee on Relief to the flood victims. Rain storms
that flooded southeastern Wisconsin and Milwaukee. To this day when my
family is together, we often get around to laughing about our camping
experiences in the storms, which were anything but funny at the time.
Storms are a fact of life. We need to know how to weather the storms, not
only such storms as I just referred to, but also the storms of life.
Serious illness. Disease. Accidents. Catastrophes. Unemployment. Lost
retirement savings. Death. Loneliness. Hardships. Personal problems. To
mention only some. How do you weather the storms of life? This is what I
will talk with you about based on the sermon text. From Jesus and his
disciples we will learn to weather the storms of life through prayer and
faith.
Verses 23, 24 tell us: ³Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed
him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the
waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.²
A good number of Jesus¹ disciples had been fisherman on the Sea of Galilee.
They knew by experience that the Sea of Galilee was notorious for its sudden
storms. The storms unexpectedly swept down over the water from the higher
elevations of the surrounding mountains and cliffs. The storm on this
occasion was especially furious. The high winds whipped up the sea into
vicious waves. The waves swept over the disciples¹ boat, spilling huge
amounts of water into it, threatening to swamp and capsize it and to throw
them into the sea. The disciples were frightened and frantic.
While all this was happening Jesus was sleeping calmly in the back of the
boat. We might wonder how he could sleep so calmly through such a storm
while his disciples were so frightened. Here we see the genuine humanness
and faith of the man Jesus. He got tired physically and needed sleep, just
like we do. He slept so calmly because he knew his heavenly Father was with
him and watching over him. He simply put himself into his Father¹s hands,
unafraid of whatever storm of life might overtake him. If only we remained
so calm and trusted in our heavenly Father¹s providential care through our
storms of life, right?
Verse 25 states: ³The disciples went and woke him, saying, ŒLord, save us!
We¹re going to drown!¹ ² Seeing the danger that they were in, the disciples
turned to Jesus. They pleaded with him to save them from being thrown into
the sea and drowned.
>From the disciples we can learn to turn to Jesus in our storms of life.
What troubles or hardships or dangers have swept down upon us? How are we
weathering them? Are they pleasant? Easy to cope with? No! When the
storms of life are crashing down around our ears, they are frightful and
painful. What do we do then to batten down the hatches? To bail out our
sinking boat? To fight off the wind and the waves of adversity? We need to
do what the disciples did--turn to Jesus. Pray: ³Lord, save me from
drowning. I am about to perish!²
As Jesus was present with his disciples in their storm of life, so he is
with us in our storms of life. He does not forsake us, leaving us to
struggle alone and to drown. He is with us to hear our pleas for his help.
He is there to answer us in the midst of our troubles. Read aloud with me
what he as our Lord tells us in Psalm 50:15: ³Call upon me in the day of
trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.² So in our storms of
life rely on Jesus to carry us through them, and if it is his will, to
deliver us from them by putting an end to them.
This requires faith in him and his promises. This is what the disciples
lacked in their storm of life. They were frightened. They saw themselves
perishing in the sea. Panic stricken they woke up Jesus with their plea to
save them. Verse 26 tells us that Jesus replied, ³You of little faith, why
are you so afraid?² Jesus rebuked their littleness of faith in the face of
danger. They had nothing to fear. Jesus was with them. He would not allow
them to perish. He then acted to still their storm and to calm their fears.
The end of verse 26 states: ³Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the
waves, and it was completely calm.²
Thanks to Jesus the disciples¹ storm of life was over. His almighty,
powerful word was sufficient for the task. His word was authoritative. His
word accomplished what he said and commanded. He who during the six days of
creation said, ³Let there be,² and it was done, commanded the wind and waves
he had created to be still and they hushed.
The power of his almighty word revealed he was much more than a mere man.
He was the Son of God in the flesh. The disciples sensed this. According
to verse 27, ³The men were amazed and asked, ŒWhat kind of man is this?
Even the winds and the waves obey him!¹ ²
How is our faith during our storms of life? In the face of hardships and
troubles and dangers is our faith strong and as firm as a rock? Or, is our
faith no better than the faith of the disciples was? Would Jesus rebuke us
also for the littleness of our faith?² Would he say to us, ³O you of little
faith, why are you so afraid?²
How confident are we when we must undergo surgery? How strong are we when
we have lost our job, have no income, and bills are raining down on us? How
firm are we when our loved one is dying and change and loneliness are
looming before us? Does Jesus have reason to rebuke us? ³O you of little
faith, why are you so afraid?²
What will give us a faith that is confident, strong, and firm is the power
of Jesus¹ word. His word is authoritative. His word accomplishes what he
commands and promises. He can say the word and still our storm of life. He
can deliver us from danger with the power of his word ³Be delivered.²
We will face many storms of life. From many of them Jesus will deliver us
by the power of his word ³Be delivered!² Some storms of life he may choose
to let us suffer for some period of time to mature us spiritually and to
draw us closer to himself. In this latter case, then, he is using our storm
of life for our good in the end.
The greatest danger and the most severe storm we will face is walking
through the valley of the shadow of death. Death seeks us out because we
have sinned against God¹s commandments and the wages of sin is death. When
Death comes looking for us, we by nature are afraid of what is about to
happen to us when we die. Because of Jesus and the powerful, life saving
and giving words he has spoken, however, we have no reason to be spiritually
timid and of little faith. For Jesus with the perfect life he lived for us
and the innocent death he died in our place has already delivered us from
the power of death. Hell cannot claim us. Death and the Grave cannot hold
us. We who put our trust in Jesus and the words of his promises will have
our soul live forever and our body raised from the dead to live eternally.
For through his own death Jesus has freed us from him who holds the power of
death through sin, the devil, and has freed us from the fear of death. As
Hebrews 2:14, 15 assure us: ³Since the children have flesh and blood, he too
shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds
the power of death ‹ that is, the devil ‹ and free those who all their lives
were held in slavery by their fear of death.² Jesus has atoned for our sins
with his holy, precious blood. He has purchased with his blood the full
forgiveness of our sins. He has delivered us from the storm of death and
hell. We have no reason to be afraid.
Since Jesus has delivered us from the most vicious storm to threaten us --
death and hell, we can be sure he will deliver us from the lesser storms of
life that sweep down upon us. Whatever the storm of life may be, weather it
through prayer and faith. Amen.