The Force or the Faith

Series on Luke

III The Initiation

D The Activities of His Ministry Revealing that the Kingdom Is:

9 Force

Text: 8:22-25

Introduction

In this story we see a tremendous display of the force of the kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus manifests tremendous power here in subduing the forces of nature. The “Star Wars” films have acquainted us with an alleged impersonal force in the universe. Their password is, “May the force be with you.” Most of us would be enthralled at the prospect of tapping into the force like Luke Skywalker and thus controlling the environment around us so that we could defeat every enemy and escape every life threatening situation. It is the stuff of which dreams are made, but the force which our Lord displays here is the real force and not a dream. It is the power and glory of the living God who is in the boat with his disciples. It is not impersonal. It cannot be tapped at our will. It is subject to His will and his plan. There is a popular tract which begins with the statement, “God has a wonderful plan for your life.” I believe this. How can anyone doubt that God who spared not his only son but delivered him up for us all does not have a wonderful plan for their lives. But if we conclude that therefore life is not dangerous or that we like Luke Skywalker can just sail through every trial by simply tapping into the force then we are sadly mistaken. I see here that God has a plan for our lives, and it is a perilous plan, a patient plan and a peaceful plan.

I A Perilous Plan

First of all I want you to observe that Jesus says let’s cross the lake in verse 22, One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. The waters were calm. the prospects pleasant the disciples were willing, as we all are in safe times, and yet I believe that Jesus knew what was going to happen. and what was going to happen was bad enough that it scared experienced, courageous, and competent fisherman in verses 23 and 24, As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” You see the Sea of Galilee being some 600 feet below sea level and being surrounded by hills and mountains is a place where the cold winds blowing through the valleys strike the heavy atmosphere over the water and cause sudden and violent storms. These men were fishermen. They had been subjected to these storms their whole lives and they had survived, yet this storm brought a total collapse in their confidence it was a panic, a stampede, a rout. The Scripture says they were in great danger. They cried out in fear, “We’re going to drown.” Here they are in the middle of a storm that they cannot handle. The truth is obvious. Deciding to follow Jesus is no guarantee whatsoever that you will not encounter problems with which you cannot cope. In fact, so far as I can see, it is a certainty that these men were going to be confronted with just such a problem. God’s plan is perilous for those who trust Him. Some of us have relatives, friends, or loved ones who have believed in Jesus and soon after they believed in Jesus they have encountered great problems, privation, and persecution. It’s a perilous plan.

II A Patient Plan

I call it also a patient plan and by patient I mean God is patient when often we are not. Jesus is sleeping in the midst of a storm so bad the experience fishermen are sure they are going to die. Jesus is not awakened by the storm. the question arises is God asleep? It is a question people in trouble are often tempted to ask. In fact in Psalm 121:3 and 4 the Psalmist anticipates the question and says, He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. If you look at our story from Luke the disciples cried out, “Master we’re going to drown.” Matthew adds that they also said, “Lord, save us.” But Mark is most interesting because he tells us they also said to Jesus,”Don’t you care if we drown?” This sentiment is preserved by the hymn writer of “Master the Tempest Is Raging,” when she poignantly wrote “Carest thou not that we perish, how canst thou lie asleep when each moment so madly is threatening a grave in the angry deep?” So is God asleep? Does God care? These are questions the Bible puts before us because we ask them and this story answers it with a resounding no, God is not asleep and yes, he does care. This we read in verses 24 and 25, He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Now the patience of God is manifested also in the fact that His salvation is worked out in history over millennia, and the drama of redemption is that the salvation of God’s people is on a boat in a storm in the middle of the sea of Galilee. Dare I suggest to you that when Jesus rebukes the wind and waves, and indeed according to Mark says to them “Be muzzled” He implies a personality behind this desperate situation. Satan would sink them all in the bottom of the sea. You may remember that when God gave Satan the authority to afflict Job we are told in Job 1 that all his children were gathered at their oldest brother’s house and a mighty wind swept in from the desert and caused the house to collapse and kill them all. Is this the same wind? I think it is. However, Jesus knows that the words God spoke through Isaiah, When you pass through the waters i will be with you and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you, were written for all of us, but especially for Him who is the captain of our salvation, so He sleeps. We on the other hand are like the disciples. We lose our sense of mission and we lose our sense of spiritual destiny in Christ because we become so distracted by the cares of this world, the home, the car, the job. and the relationships. When we get in a mess we are unable to see that God’s patient purpose is being worked out. His promises do not sustain us because we are out of focus. That’s why Jesus says to them, “Where is your faith? Do you still have no faith?”

III A Peaceful Plan

Most of us would be happiest if before the boat launched out Jesus blessed the water so it would remain calm. If we have to go through the storm our second choice would be able to see Jesus in the boat and wake him so he can stand up in our rocking bark and command the wind to stop and the waves to be quiet. But as Jesus said to Thomas after his resurrection, You have seen and believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. The real peace in God’s plan does not come from avoiding the trouble or from a visual sighting of the Lord, it comes from knowing who is in charge of your life. As the hymn writer put it, “Whether the wrath of the storm tossed see, or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey thy will peace be still, peace be still.” Peace comes from knowing God and knowing him better and better. The question of the disciples is, “Who is this?” Here as in other places in the New Testament the question is not immediately answered. The Holy Spirit’s intention is that you should answer it. Have you done that in your life? Have you said He is the Lord of all creation who came down to save us by his atoning death? How can we possibly think that we will endure the storms and trials of life if we are not growing? If we study the Scriptures and faithfully worship and grow in grace we will not fear the trials as much as we fear being cut off from the one who says, “Peace be still.” Then with a sense of mission and of spiritual destiny we will know who is in charge.