Frankenstorm

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?” (Matthew 8:23-27)
II. Explanation
A. 23-24 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.
1. Where do storms come from? – list of 28 verses
a. Psalm 147: 8 God is the One who covers the heavens with clouds and sends rain to the earth.
b. Ps. 47:18b He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
c. Ps. 148: 8 says that the clouds and the stormy wind obeys His command.
d. Ps. 89:9 "You rule over the surging sea."
2. Experienced sailors: This must have been a BAD storm!
3. Scurrying around trying to deal with the storm. At some point, you’ve done all you can do and it obviously isn’t enough.
B. 25-26a 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?”
1. They were doing what every one of us would do in the situation. When is the time to fear if it's not when you think you are going to die?
2. And yet Jesus rebukes them strongly.
3. And He rebukes them before He rebukes the storm.
4. Jesus had two complaints against His disciples:
a. Why are you so afraid? — the disciples definitely panicked
b. “you men of little faith”
(1) They did have a little faith - in that they did come to Jesus to ask for help.
(2) But their faith was little: 5 evidences of the disciples' littleness of faith:
(a) went to Jesus last, not first
(b) went to Jesus in a panic instead of humbly
(c) acted as if Jesus didn't know about their problem
(d) acted as if Jesus didn't have their best interest in mind – “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)
(e) were surprised that Jesus could help them
C. 26b Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
1. God is gracious. He did not say to them, “Forget it! If your faith is small, then I'm not going to help you. You can get out of this mess yourselves. Of course, I'm in no danger because I can walk on the water.”
2. He calmed the storm, He didn't refuse in spite of their tiny faith - but never without a challenge.
3. Thus Jesus builds their faith through trials, through showing Himself to them, through teaching them, through rebuking them. But He keeps working on them, patiently but persistently. And that's the same way He works with us, isn't it?
III. Application
A. As we go along in our lives, many storms arise, often without warning, and often way beyond us.
1. It’s tempting to spend our life trying to avoid storms. To cry out: "Be still my circumstances!" but never "Be still my soul!" To focus on changing what's going on out there and never what is going on in here.
2. But storms are inevitable. Everyone must go through storms. The question is: how are we going to handle ourselves in the storms? Are the storms without always going to cause storms within? Can we be at peace inside while there is unrest all around us?
3. The storms are the exams of life. They expose what’s inside us.
B. Sometimes we do the same things that the disciples did: littleness of faith:
1. go to Jesus last, not first
2. go to Jesus in a panic instead of humbly
3. act as if Jesus doesn't know about my problem
4. act as if Jesus doesn't have my best interest in mind
5. in difficult times don't remember that God is in control
6. We panic/fear/worry/get anxious.
7. We get depressed/give up/self-pity.
8. We get angry/bitter/violent/accusatory
C. We need to remember that the Lord is with us – this is what the disciples almost forgot.
1. The key is to recognize Jesus in the situation. This is what the disciples left out of the picture.
2. The thing we’ve got to do is to see Jesus in the boat instead of inventing alternative realities: fantasies.
D. Sometimes Jesus is asleep: seems non-engaged, uninvolved, incidental, easy to forget about.
1. Easy to count him out. Easy to not factor Him in.
2. That sleeping Jesus, that seemingly irrelevant Jesus, is actually much more powerful, and much more dangerous, than the greatest storm.
3. The superiority of His power is often hidden. His interest in us is often hidden. His readiness to help is often hidden.
4. He’s promised it — over and over again. But He asks us to trust Him – that He’ll do what He said.
5. He rebukes the disciples because they believed the impression they got from what they saw, instead of believing what He told them.
6. He didn’t look powerful, sleeping there in the boat.
E. Another thing about Jesus’ sleep
1. He never panics. He is never afraid of the storm. He is never intimidated by dangers.
2. Ways we get concerned about our loved ones — often more than they are.
3. Was His sleep indicative of disinterest? of a lack of concern?
F. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
1. Now the disciples are impressed by the right thing!!
2. Instead of standing in awe before the storm, they are standing in awe before Jesus.
3. That’s the goal: for Jesus to get bigger and bigger in our view of the world, so that the storms get smaller and smaller.
4. With Jesus in the picture, this world isn’t such a terrible place to be, and its troubles can be faced.
5. Without Jesus, well, it’s no wonder people get depressed and panicky and bitter.