The Lutheran Hour
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"God’s Voice in the Storm"
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Text: Mark 4:35-41
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Dear Friends in Christ, have you ever had one of those days when things have just simply not come together at all? That day that began with a telephone call in the wee hours of the morning with some member of the family going through some drama that would require a two hour conversation after which it will be six o’clock in the morning and time to get up, shower, and get ready for work. While getting ready for work, you discern that the hot water heater is out, and how do you do that? Well, by stepping into that cold shower. Now you really are awake! You go to make breakfast and discover that there is no milk for your cereal.
You grab an orange off the counter and are peeling, and as you are peeling it the juice sprays and drops onto your shirt, but you have no time to change your shirt now; so here we are, on the way to work with as poor an attitude as you can imagine and the day is just beginning. You know that day, don’t you? Yes, I thought you might. And so do I!
Well, the next time you have one of those days and you’re wondering if there is anything that you can do to help you make it through, I encourage you to look for, to listen for, and to try to discern and discover God’s voice in the midst of the storm. For the fact is that God promises to never place more on us than we can bear and that in every temptation He will give us a way of escape.
Those storms and those whirlwinds can come upon us and take us by surprise, with no warning. If we had known that the storm was approaching we would have taken action. We would have sought some shelter. We would have made some different plans, but now the storms have come so quickly and are so violent and disruptive that no amount of preparation is going to help.
You and I may not have been able to avert the storm and its effects, but aren’t you very glad this morning that God never says, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming.” God never says, “Man, how did that happen?”Understand that our all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, all-seeing God knows what we cannot know and sees what we cannot see. The storms of our lives are no surprise for Him. He knew that illness was coming. He knew that fuel prices would be rising. He knew that if things continued without intervention that your marriage and family would be destroyed. He knew that your finances would be stretched to the limit. He knew that the storm was coming, so He richly and graciously provided the one port in the storm that would provide you and me with a safe place to stand. That safe harbor is faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Understand that it’s not only you. The whole world groans and suffers under the strain of what seem to be perfect storms that completely surround and engulf our little vessels in this life. It is the perfect storm of sin and separation from God that exposes us to the storm with no safe port, with no answer, with no hope. Sin, that’s such a little word but it’s such a great reality. It is the cause of all the issues. Sin is the cause of all the dramas and storms in our lives. That is because our first parents, Adam and Eve, opened the way of access to the storm by their disobedience to God. So you and I often do nothing to cause or help the storm develop and yet the storm of sin will still be manifest in our lives.
The questions come again and again. Who can save me from this storm? Doesn’t God care? What am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to live like this? I’m tired of these storms, God! Ultimately our questions turn and become pleas and cries for mercy and grace as we lift our eyes, and our hearts, and our voices to heaven, begging and pleading with the only one who can provide relief. Help me Lord! Forgive me Lord! Save me Lord!!
Such cries and pleading to our merciful Father, they don’t go unheeded forever. That is why the Apostle Paul speaks the heart of God in our second lesson for this morning. In 2 Corinthians 6 Paul writes, “In an acceptable time,” God says, “I have heard you. And in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
This is the day when you and I can receive the Lord Jesus Christ, the safe port and secure harbor in the midst of the perfect storm sent into our lives by the enemy. Today is the day when faith in the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ can become your hiding place, your safe harbor in the midst of the storm. In fact the blood of Jesus is the one and only perfect storm shelter that God has given. Other than faith in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross, there is no shelter in the storm.
God has done everything that needs doing in order for you and me to have His protection in the midst of the storm. I do not know and cannot know what your storm is today, but I do know the Master of your storm. I have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, who is able to calm the storms in my life and give me room to breathe and live in a more abundant way. I understand that faith will not keep the storm from coming, but faith in Jesus will at the appointed time and in the appointed place, calm the storm.
I ask God regularly for His strength to be like the disciples who have Jesus with them in the boat in our Gospel lesson from Mark chapter 4. Jesus has directed them to cross over to the other side. So they leave the people, get in the boat, taking Jesus along.
While they are in the boat a great windstorm rises, and the waves begin to beat into the boat, and the boat fills with water. But look at Jesus — trusting in the provision of God, asleep on a pillow in the stern, in the midst of the storm, believing in the grace of His Father to reach the other side and to complete the work He was sent to perform. No panic in Jesus, He is the safe harbor, the safe port in the storm.
The disciples come and they wake Jesus, and they say to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?” Now how often have we have roused God from what we perceive to be unnecessary slumber, even what we think as irresponsible sleep, because God is not moving at the speed we would like in dealing with our storm.
Get up God! My children are not behaving; don’t you care? My rent is due; don’t you care? I’m sick unto death; don’t you care? I’m hungry and need food; don’t you care? I’m thirsty and have no water; don’t you care? I’m naked without clothes; don’t you care? I’m blind and cannot see; I’m poor and cannot find a job; I’m alone and have no friend; I’m in bondage to drugs and cannot get out; I’m growing weak in faith and tired of waiting; I’m pushed back and about to fall. You are asleep on your heavenly throne, and I’m stuck in this storm wrestling with my issues. I’m losing ground, God; I’m perishing. Lord God, Father, Savior, where are you? Don’t you care?
The disciples are not just crying out into empty space from the midst of their storm; Jesus is right there and their need, their cries, their concern cause the Lord to be awake. That means in their distress they provoked Jesus. In their storm they stimulated Jesus awake. In the midst of their issue for which they had no answer the disciples stirred Him up, they kindled Him, they encouraged Him awake. Isn’t that great news? Jesus is here, and the way that we approach Him out of our need and condition will cause him to be awake. It will arouse Jesus, and stir Him up to respond to our need. As the old folk used to say, “He may not come when you want Him, but He’s always right on time.”
The disciples woke Jesus and He rebuked the wind. To rebuke the wind is to forbid it to go any longer. He forbade the wind and commanded the sea, “Peace, be still!” That is: storm, get calm, become good again. Behave! Quit acting up! Return to the place ordained for you from the creation of the world! Peace, be still!
The storm completely and totally submitted to the voice of the Lord. The Bible says the wind ceased and there was great calm.
They asked, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Well since God set the limits, since only God controls the wind, since God authorizes and sends rain, since God is responsible for the humidity, the air pressure, God is in control of it and it obeys Jesus when He commands it, “Peace, be still!” well this must be God!
Jesus is performing things particular to and reserved for God alone. God does not share His uniqueness with any created being; therefore, this Jesus must somehow be God. I do not understand it. He seems flesh and blood just like me, but I can’t control the storms of life like that. Only God can. So this Jesus must be “God in man made manifest.”
Perhaps that’s why John testifies in chapter 1, verse 14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Perhaps that is why Paul says in Philippians chapter 2, verses 9-11, “Therefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Jesus is Lord. He is Lord over the storms of life. Jesus is Lord over my distress and confusion. Jesus is Lord. He is Lord over every issue that will ever come my way. Jesus is Lord, God in man made manifest, taking on human form, coming to earth as a man, to suffer my infirmities, take my blows upon His body, suffer my insults and separation from God on the cross that I might have an inheritance from the Father. Some hope now in the midst of the storms of life and final victory in the glorious presence of God the Father in eternity. Now that’s good news!
Notice the question Jesus asked the disciples after He had rebuked the wind and waves. It is the same question He asks us after calming our storms. “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”
Well, to be honest, the answer probably is, “Lord, when we saw the storm rising, when we saw the wind and the waves, when the boat began taking on water; we forgot Your character, we forgot that You’re faithful, we forgot Your abundant love for us, we forgot Your protective nature, we forgot Your kindness, and most of all, Lord, we forgot Your presence with us and Your promises.”
The disciples forgot the promises of the Old Covenant inasmuch as they were in the midst of the New Covenant promises being completed in Christ. They forgot how their faithful God had carried them on eagle’s wings out of bondage from the land of Egypt. How God had parted the sea, given them the land, supplied victory upon victory over their enemies and promised that they would always be secure by faith and trust in Him. They had forgotten that because of the ferocity of the storm and sometimes, sometimes, because our storms are very menacing we forget as well. But our forgetting is a bit more severe than theirs, because for us every promise of God is completed and fulfilled through our Lord Jesus. In other words, we know the end of the story. We win in Christ and yet our faith still grows weak at times, and we still sometimes ask, “Lord, don’t you care?”
The answer comes swiftly on the wings of the Holy Spirit, “Of course I care, and that’s why I gave you the gifts, remember?” In the midst of the storm we do remember and we are calmed even though the storm continues to rage. Now, what do we remember? We remember the promises and assurances of God that cling to us by faith in the Word of God.
The storm rages, the wind blows, the flood comes, and I remember Jesus who said, “I am with you always even until the end of the age.” I am comforted even as the storm continues to rage. I remember the gracious water of Baptism by which I become a child of God and an heir of eternal life. As the waters rise I recall the promise, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved!” I remember the promise that’s in the Sacrament of the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper in Holy Communion. Jesus taking bread, and breaking, and blessing, and giving: “This is My body.” Jesus taking wine, “Take, drink of it all of you, this is My blood of the New Testament, (the new covenant, the new promise) shed for you for the forgiveness of your sin.” As the Psalmist has said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me.”
The storms then, can actually be a blessing. They are difficult times, but they can be a blessing still because they teach us to cling to the “Wave Walker.” They draw us back to the promises of God in His Word and Sacraments. Ultimately the storms strengthen our faith because our ears are trained in the storm to listen for the voice of God above every worry and care of the world. We cling to the testimony of Saint Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 4: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; we are persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” Our God is using the storm to perfect our faith in His plan and provisions. So Lord train us to hear your voice in the midst of the storm.
Now may the peace of God that passes all understanding regulate our hearts, minds, and actions to faith in Christ Jesus and obedience to His commands both now and in eternity. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for June 25, 2006
TOPIC: Do Unto Others Is EnoughANNOUNCER: Is “Golden Rule Religion” good enough? That will be our topic today as Pastor Ken Klaus responds to a listener’s comment. I’m Mark Eischer. The comment is, “We don’t need all the ethical rules of organized religion. All we need to know about how to live is summed up in the Golden Rule.” Pastor, what would you say about that?
KLAUS: First, let’s make sure everybody knows what the “Golden Rule” is. In the Old Testament book of Leviticus (19:18), Moses wrote down God’s law which should sum up all of human relationships. It says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus takes that rule one step further in Matthew (5:43-44). He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you….”
ANNOUNCER: So, in other words: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And is that Golden Rule good enough?
KLAUS: Good enough for what? That is question. If all the nations of the world were to practice this Golden Rule, the earth would certainly be a better place. We could probably stop making all kinds of war weapons and send most of the military home.
If drug dealers treated others the way they wanted to be treated, they’d stop selling drugs that hurt and destroy. You could send some of the police home.If everybody loved each other, it would make a great difference in race relations, in employer-employee relations; between spouses. Think of the reduction in work for the Better Business Bureau.
There is absolutely no question that if we treated each other with kindness, the world would be a better place. Think of all the changes that would happen in homes. Divorce lawyers would be out of work.
ANNOUNCER: And do I detect a note of skepticism in your voice?
KLAUS: You do. And there’s a good reason for that. Almost all religions say, “Be good, be nice, especially to people like yourself.”
ANNOUCER: And the problem is?
KLAUS: People aren’t good; they aren’t nice and they don’t love their neighbor as themselves. I know I don’t. The guy that cuts me off on the highway, I do not especially love him. The guy who walks his dog and doesn’t clean up after that dog; I think most people have a similar list. The Golden Rule is a great concept… but, in practice, all on its own, it fails pretty miserably. Humanity, and by that I mean each one of us, has this thing called a sinful human nature. We can try to love our neighbor like we love ourselves; we could even give tax breaks to people who try to love their neighbors like themselves; but the bottom line is, it’s not going to happen. There will still be hatred, anger, prejudice. Rules don’t have the power to make us good.
ANNOUNCER: Well, that sounds hopeless.
KLAUS: It does, doesn’t it? And it gets worse.
ANNOUNCER: How could it get worse?
KLAUS: Well, those who are real practical people will end up saying, “Why should I love my neighbor like myself? My neighbor doesn’t love me like he loves himself. Why should I be the one who starts? I’ll start loving when everybody else does. And till then, ‘I’m ‘agonna watch out for number one.”
ANNOUNCER: So, I take it you pretty much disagree with everything our writer said.
KLAUS: Well, not completely. I disagree with him when he says, “All we need is the Golden Rule.” But I agree with him when he said, “We don’t need all the ethical rules of religion.”
ANNOUNCER: Now some might be surprised to hear you say that.
KLAUS: Here’s what I mean. We don’t need a religion of ethical rules. Those are a dime a dozen. What we need, is a Savior. Only when we have the Savior Jesus, God’s Son who rescues us from ourselves, can we be changed.
God loved us and sent His Son to fulfill the law for us, to live for us, to die for us, to rise for us. Those who have faith in Jesus are changed… they can’t help it. They really do start to love each other, because they have a Savior who first loved them.ANNOUNCER: If I remember, that was what was said of the first Christians, “See how they love one another.”
KLAUS: Exactly.ANNOUNCER: But now I’m confused. I thought you said you still had a list of folks that you don’t especially love.
KLAUS: I do. I do. I’m not especially proud of the list, and with the help of the Holy Spirit I am working on shortening it. You know, just because you become a Christian doesn’t mean that all of a sudden you have a pair of wings duct-taped onto your back, you put on a halo and you float around all beatific like.
We’re still sinners. Saved sinners. And the Holy Spirit is at work in us to help us change. It’s one of the great things about a Savior. Even when we fail, He is there to help us, forgiving us, encouraging us to love Him and love each other. Nope, our fellow needs a Savior. Then and only then will he have a reason to love his neighbor.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me” arranged by James A. Wilson. From My Redeemer Lives by Don Wharton (© 1996 Third Firkin Music Company)
“Entrust Your Days and Burdens” From Every Voice a Song (© 1995 Concordia Publishing House)
“Komm, heiliger Geist” by Dietrich Buxtehude. From Richard Heschke at the Hradetzky in Red Bank by Richard Heschke (© 1993 Arkay Records, San Jose, CA)