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Even When Going Through Storms
(Luke 8:22-25)
Jaelee Bae
11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?” 12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.
“One day Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’” (v.22)
This is the third time I have come to Your Church. The first two times was when I was attending Tokyo Union Theological Seminary with Mari. Mari and I have been good friends during our time at the seminary and still are today, to which I am always grateful.
The Lord Jesus is with us in this boat called Your Church. And He has entrusted the boat to all of you. You will drive the boat and evangelize the world. You will preach the gospel and spread the Kingdom of God. You will go out to the places where there are people who do not yet know God and preach the word of God to them. You will continue your journey from the Morino area of Machida City to faraway places. To do this, you must cross the lake that separates where you are now from the outside of the church. You must cross the lake to the other side. No matter how wide or long the lake is, no matter how hard the gusts of wind blow down, you must cross it and go to the other side. That is the mission we have been given.
At that time, the other shore across the lake was the region of the Gerasa people. A land inhabited by non-Jews. The Lord Jesus went with his disciples to a place where there were people who did not yet know God. He wanted to evangelize there. If that is the case, where is the region of Gerasa that we are going to cross now?
Naturally, as we sail forward into the Gerasa region we are crossing, there are times when sudden events occur. We encounter various violent gusts of wind. Sometimes it seems as if we are in the middle of a lake with violent gusts of wind. Sometimes we feel as if the boat we are on is about to be swallowed by the waves. Sometimes we feel as if Jesus, who is with us, is asleep. Sometimes we are afraid and keep calling out to the sleeping Jesus, “Jesus, Jesus, help me.” But we can’t get off here. We must go through the gusty winds with everyone else in this boat called Your Church that Jesus has entrusted to you.
Not only here in the Morino area of Machida City, but you will continue the boat trip of mission to wherever you go. Just as the Lord Jesus continued His journey through towns and villages, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and preaching the gospel (8:1), His disciples and the churches of the world have also continued their journey. And Your Church will continue this missionary journey as well. Everyone in Your Church must encourage one another as we go forward. We will continue to go further and further, with the help of the Holy Spirit, until the Lord Jesus comes again.
However, the disciples, as well as the church, which had begun such a missionary journey, were soon plagued by a terrible storm, and came to face great difficulties. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew down on the lake, covering them with water and often preventing them from moving forward, almost sinking the boat.
The lake the disciples were about to cross, which is thought to be Lake Galilee (You may want to open your Bible to map #6 in the back of the Bible to understand), was known at the time for its unpredictable weather that often changed abruptly. Because it was surrounded by steep hills, the winds that blew down from above were easily generated. The storms created by this wind created waves on the lake that violently rocked the small boats. This was not an uncommon sight on this lake.
But it is strange when you think about it. Among the disciples, there were at least four fishermen: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They must have been on their boats almost every day as fishermen before. And they had probably experienced gusts of wind like this many times. So, they must have known from experience how to deal with them. They were experienced fishermen who had made this lake their workplace. And yet, in the reality, they were panicked and fussing as if they were encountering a gust of wind on the lake for the first time. And though they were seasoned fishermen, they were about to sink the boat that had been entrusted to them.
Such things may suddenly happen in our churches and in our lives. We may be in a situation where we are the best at what we do, or where we have been steadily building our business for many years, and then suddenly a storm hits us.
While the disciples were desperately rowing their boats in the storm and raking out the water, the Lord Jesus continued to sleep. He was indeed in the same boat with the disciples and was with them. He was very busy preaching every day. He was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, and comforting the grieving. We can assume that he was so tired that he fell asleep during the short boat trip. Here we can see the human side of Jesus, who became a human being just like us. But there was something different about Him. In the midst of this storm, He slept in peace, trusting in God the Father. It was not because He trusted in God alone. He also trusted in his disciples. He was at ease because he trusted and entrusted his disciples.
Yet we do not trust the Lord Jesus, even though He is with us. We sometimes fear and panic as if He is not alive.
As each of us tries to walk in the world with faith, and as the church tries to witness in the world, there are always storms that arise, and there are experiences that are like water being poured over our heads. There are times when the boat of life is tossed about and we feel as if we are sinking into the depths of despair. There are many things that are beyond our control and beyond our human power, and we sometimes feel anxious and upset, as if our faith has been blown away somewhere. We may think, “I believe, I pray, but why doesn’t God calm the storm, why doesn’t God blow away the storm?” and we question, “Is God really there?” When we are confronted with the reality that the storm is not subsiding, we doubt, wondering if the Lord Jesus is asleep, or if God is asleep, or if He is not really there, and that is why He is not saving us.
When I was in junior high school, I made a promise to God in prayer. It was a promise to “go to Japan and spread the gospel.” It took a long way, but I decided to keep my promise to God and came to Japan in 2004. I believed that this was God’s leading, and since I came to Japan, I thought that the boat I was on would go forward smoothly and without any problems. But I was wrong. Suddenly I was hit by storm after storm, covered by water, and in danger of being swept away. I have had various struggles, wondering if I could really go on like this.
It has been the same since I became a pastor. Sudden storms come in many forms. Last year I suddenly had a headache and had a hard time sleeping at night. It got so bad that I went to the hospital for tests and was told it was a migraine. The doctor told me that migraines can be caused either by constitution or by climate, but in my case, I had migraines from both causes. One month later, I had acute pancreatitis, and another month after that, my thyroid gland was swollen, so I went to the hospital for tests and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s disease). At that time, I wondered what was happening to me. What should I do? I even wondered if I should go back to Korea. I wondered if the Lord Jesus was asleep.
At that time, I prayed desperately, “Jesus, Jesus, please help me. I am drowning!” The answer to my prayer was that the Lord Jesus is still in my boat and with me at all times. I will continue my boat trip trusting in the Lord Jesus, who also trusts in me.
Yet, even as we walk trusting in God, we must face these trials. So why does God leave us alone in such a difficult situation? When the disciples set sail that day, following the words of the Lord Jesus who said, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake,” they departed without much worry. They had nothing to worry about because the Lord Jesus was with them. They bravely set out to the Gerasa region.
However, when a gust of wind blows down and the water covers the boat, the Lord Jesus is fast asleep. The One we rely on the most is asleep with his eyes closed. When we encounter suffering and troubles, the One we rely on is fast asleep, as if He is not working. When we need to rely on God the most, we lose sight of Him and His heart. We are often caught in such thoughts when we face the storms of life.
What on earth is God doing when we are suffering the most? We cannot feel His eyes on us. We are left all alone on the lake. That was the cry of the disciples, and is it not our cry as well?
In our doubt of God and confusion that God is out of sight, we shake the Lord Jesus and cry out, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” (v. 24) The word “drown” originally means “to die,” “to perish,” or “to be lost.” We must remember that this boat trip was commanded by the Lord in the first place. It is a journey initiated by the will of the Lord Jesus. It is a journey for which the Lord takes responsibility. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus is in the boat with us. He did not stay on the shore and send us off saying, “I will take responsibility, so you go.” He is not separated from us, but is right there, in the same boat with us.
The disciples could not even realize that the Lord Jesus had fallen asleep because He trusted so deeply in God the Father, and that in fact He had been placed under the watchful eye of the One in whom He felt so secure and trusted. They were supposed to be walking in faith, but once the violent storms came crashing down on their lives, they could not hold on to the Word and were almost crushed by the forces of chaos, and they screamed.
At that moment, the Lord Jesus will not leave us out cold, nor will He pretend to be asleep to test us. Rather, He rises and rebukes the wind and the waves. There He acts anew in His Word, bringing calm in the midst of the raging nature.
Even if it means that we have failed to bear the fruit of the seed He has sown, He will give us His Word there once again. He says, “Where is your faith? Stand on the faith that you have and start again.” Even when we fail in our ministries, even when we fail to bear good witness, even when we fail to respond to His will, He gives us His Word once again and makes us stand up again.
The Lord Jesus rises up and rebukes the wind and the waves and calms the storm for our sake. He has compassion on us who are unable to hear and carry out God’s word, whose faith goes somewhere in the midst of trials, and He protects and sustains us by His power.
It is just like what is said in the poem “Footprints.” In the beginning there were two footprints side by side, the Lord Jesus and myself, but in the middle, and in the most difficult and painful time of my life, the footprints have become one. When we lament and complain, “Lord, why did you leave me and forsake me in that most painful time?” the Lord tells us, “I never forsook you, from that place onward I was carrying you on my back as I walked.” When we panic in the midst of trials and think that the Lord has abandoned me and gone away, that He is no longer here, or perhaps He was never here in the first place, He is actually carrying our lives on His back and walking through our lives, even if we don’t realize it or see it. He is walking in our place, carrying all our curses, our doubts, and our cries on His back.
Therefore, the Church and each of us can stand again, supported by this “power to overcome chaos.” In the midst of a world that seems full of storms and the forces of chaos, Jesus leads us out of suffering.
When the disciples experienced this salvation by the Lord Jesus, they were afraid and astonished, saying to each other, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” To live as believers is to live our lives while constantly repeating this question and wonder. We are constantly amazed by the magnitude of the Lord Jesus’ love and the depth of His grace, and we ask ourselves, “Who in the world is this person?” In this walk, we will experience the power of God’s Word. Not by what we do, but by the power of God Himself, we will experience how the Word of God bear fruit. As we repeatedly experience such experiences and surprises, we will become people who truly hear God’s Word as God’s Word, hold on to it firmly, and patiently wait for its fulfillment.
The Lord Jesus always forgives His disciples and us, whose faith seems to have been blown away, and who sometimes even seem to have no faith, and He is working steadily in the storm to save us. Then, after calming the storm, He asks us, “Where is your faith?” in a warm rather than a rebuking tone. Our faith grows as we repeatedly experience such storms and faith. And eventually, our hearts will be built up so that we will not despair and will not lose the light of hope even in the midst of storms.
(Prayer) Lord, please have mercy on us who are weak in perseverance, who cannot continue to abide in the Word that You have entrusted to us. Have mercy on us who stumble and fall in the midst of trials and are quick to grumble and complain to You. Yet, Lord, you do not ignore our cries, but hear them and rise up. You rebuke the winds and waves and make us stand once again in the faith that should have been given to us. Please remind us always that when we face trials and suffering, we can trust in the Lord Jesus who is in the same boat with us, preparing a new life for us to live. We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Summary
The Lord Jesus always forgives His disciples and us, whose faith seems to have been blown away, and who sometimes even seem to have no faith, and He is working steadily in the storm to save us. Then, after calming the storm, He asks us, “Where is your faith?” in a warm rather than a rebuking tone. Our faith grows as we repeatedly experience such storms and faith. And eventually, our hearts will be built up so that we will not despair and will not lose the light of hope even in the midst of storms.