"Even The Wind And The Sea Obey"

By Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

(Mark 4:35-41)

[35] On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." [36] And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. [37] A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. [38] But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" [39] He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. [40] He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" [41] And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

(NRSV)

INTRODUCTION:

I read about someone who prayed, "So far today, God, I've done all right. I haven't gossiped, I haven't lost my temper. I haven't been grumpy, nasty or selfish. I'm really glad of that. But, God, in a few minutes I'm going to get out of bed; and from then on, I'm probably going to need a lot of help."

Haven't you ever had one of those kind of days? I think the disciples must have had that kind of morning. Maybe they could hear the storm rumbling even before they ever got out of bed. I don't know. That day they followed Jesus, like all the others, but it had been hectic. Now the people were coming out in droves. It was almost too much to handle. Even Jesus was starting to look tired.

That was when Jesus called them to go on retreat to recoup their energies and to get away from the crowds. So they struck out across the Sea of Galilee by boat. There they were relaxing in the boat, away from the crowds, taking a nice leisurely sail across the lake when all of a sudden a storm blew in, a storm like they hadn't seen in ages. It threatened to swamp the boat and sink all their plans and their dreams. They were terrified. And where was Jesus during all of this? Back on the cushion, asleep.

I. THE STORMS:

We've all had storms swoop in like that. A parent or a child gets deathly ill. There's an accident. We lose our job. We make a major mistake or bad decision. Our lives are turned upside down. Storms happen. Let me tell you about one of the storms in my life.

When I was fourteen I wasn't very bright. One night, my friend Tom and I camped out in his backyard. It was great. We could stay up all night and do what ever we wanted. About midnight, we snuck over to the my house and stole some M-80s out of my Dad's pickup. M-80s are very large firecrackers that were used in groundhog control. They're equivalent to about an eighth of a stick of dynamite and kill by concussion, but we didn't know that, then. Like the song by Sheryl Crow all we wanted to do was have some fun.

With pockets full of M-80s we started roaming the neighborhood looking for a stray cat or dog or maybe even some other kids to scare. It wasn't long before we heard the giggling and laughing of some boys with their girl friends. They were the perfect targets, so we hid behind some bushes in front of a house. We lit a couple of those M-80s and chucked them right in the middle of the group.

When they blew up, it sounded like a couple of hand grenades going off. The sound echoed off all the houses in that part of the subdivision. The girls screamed, the guys hollered and lights all over started coming on. I had this sinking feeling in my stomach.

I told you I wasn't too bright. The bushes we were hiding behind were in direct line of sight from the front door of the house. That sinking feeling hit again when the porch light came on and a huge shadow was cast on the porch. We immediately recognized the guy whose body was filling the door frame. He made John Moon look like a little boy. He had just graduated from high school and had been the State's Heavy Weight Wrestling Champion. He looked like the Incredible Hulk. And when he hollered out, "What the devil are you guys doing?" we knew we were dead.

By this time, the other teenagers had seen us. They weren't too pleased either. We stood there for a minute, scared to death, with thoughts of death and dismemberment running through our brains. We looked at each other and in a split second decided there was only one thing we could do: WE RAN. We took off like there was no tomorrow. But so did the Hulk with the others right behind him. We ran, but every time we looked back, the Hulk was right behind us.

The others gave up, but not him. He just kept coming like the Terminator. We jumped over fences, swung around trees, and finally decided to split up and head in two different directions. I did the most sensible thing I could think of, I ran off into the shadows, hid behind some bushes, checked to see if anybody had seen me, then I slid under an old car parked on the lawn with weeds growing up all around. I hid where I could see if anybody was coming and still have time to get away.

Tom kept trying to get away from the Hulk. Meanwhile, under the car, I prayed for the very first time in my life. I'd never really gone to church. I had gone to Vacation Bible School and to Youth Group once or twice, so I knew at least what prayer was. Although I wasn't religious, that night I developed a strong case of fear faith. Hiding under that car, afraid for my life; afraid that Tom would get caught and beat to a pulp; afraid that my Dad would find out and beat me to a pulp; I prayed.

I prayed one of those desperation prayers. Up to that point in my life, that was the worst storm I had ever faced. The waves of fear were crashing around me. I could hear the thunder of everyone's anger. So, I promised God that I'd do anything God wanted. I'd go to church every Sunday; I'd read the Bible, and if that wasn't enough I'd become a preacher, a priest, a Nun, I didn't care. I would do anything God wanted, just so we didn't get caught.

I don't know how long I laid under that car and prayed but I finally came out. I crawled and snuck through every dark spot in the neighborhood trying to get home. I worried about what I was going to tell Tom's parents. I worried about what I was going to tell MY parents. I hoped the police weren't waiting to arrest me. When I finally wormed my way back to the tent, there was Tom, sitting on his cot quietly eating potato chips like nothing had happened.

Tom said he tried all the tricks he could think of but he couldn't shake the Hulk. Finally he decided to try and swing in front of the next parked car that he saw and cut back across the street and into the shadows of some back yards. However, when he tried to run past the car, he couldn't, it was keeping pace with him. When he looked at the car he got real scared, because it happened to be a Police car. So Tom stopped.

About that time the Hulk caught up and was getting ready to grab him but the officer got out of the car and started asking questions. The Hulk said Tom had been throwing fireworks at him. Tom lied and denied it. An argument broke out and to settle it the officer decided to frisk Tom. Tom stood there with his pockets full of M-80s. Whether it was the work of God answering a desperation prayer or just the kind-heartedness of a young police officer, I'll never know. But the officer didn't find anything. The officer said it must have been the other kid who was throwing firecrackers.

Tom, too stunned to know what to say, agreed. The officer gave them each a ride home. I told Tom how I got back and how scared I had been. I never told him about that prayer. I remember just sitting there in silence, eating potato chips. When the adrenaline and disbelief wore off, we both went to bed. And within a day or two we forgot the whole incident.

I didn't remember that incident or the promise I had made while hiding under that car until the night I was Ordained Deacon. When Bishop Robert Goodrich placed his hand on my head and said, "Take thou authority to preach the Word of God" the whole incident came flooding back. It was sort of like God saying, "Gotcha."

The whole point of that story and of the parable is that storms happen. Sometimes they are brought on by our stupidity. Sometimes they are caused by bad decisions. Sometimes they are caused by someone else. And sometimes they just happen. But no matter what storms come up in our life, we can call upon Jesus.

II. CALL ON JESUS:

A. We can call upon Jesus because He's in the boat with us, by choice and by design. He's in the same boat. He knows the storms we face because he walked where we walk. The disciples didn't have to radio for help. The didn't have to call the Coast Guard. The one who could rescue them was right there.

Later, Jesus would tell the disciples what some of you wrote on the building last week, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Not just on Christmas and Easter but ALWAYS even in the midst of a storm.

B. We can call upon Jesus because, that cushion He was sleeping on? It was the Captain's seat. Not only is Jesus with us, but He is in the Captain's seat. And if He's in the captain's seat then that means He's in control. And if Jesus is in control there is absolutely nothing to fear. For as this story teaches us, even the wind and the sea obey Jesus.

CONCLUSION:

We all need as much help as we can get just to get through life. The challenge is to trust the one who is in the Captain's seat, the one who stilled the storm. Let Him bring peace during the storms in your life. Trust the Captain and He will get you safely to the other side.