Goat #2
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Northside Church
Important pictures #2 Peace in the chaos
Jamey Mills
3/19/23
Good morning…. My name is Jamey Mills, I’m the lead pastor here at NS.
Always look forward to seeing you guys… and sharing with you…
Update… Land
1 repair
2 companies that need to come out… county permits and things like that.
Seller is willing to take care of it and is process of doing that
We are in the second week of our new series… Greatest pictures of all time… (SLIDE: Series image)
Pictures that stand the test of time… that when you look at them… cause you to instantly remember… they sort of take you back and cause you to feel something…
Sometimes they are incredible… and sometimes they are incredibly difficult.
Today… I’ve asked _SZ some and share a picture that is important to them as well as… why.
Thank you…
There are some great pictures on the world stage…
Local… Mt. Saint Hellens- changed the landscape… people all around it that lived it… remember. We had ash falling on our car all the way in Redmond Or.
Berlin wall - the world watched…
Holocaust sleeping arrangements- reminder of how ugly humanity can get
Dead sea scrolls - world forced to take the historicity of the Bible seriously.
Last week we talked about this picture (SLIDE-MANGER)
And how it represents the great intervention of God… that we all need. And how one of the most dangerous places we can be, like any intervention… is… “I don't need it… I don't have a problem”
Here is our picture for today…
What is it?
When you see it, what comes to mind?
Why is it important?
What do you really believe about it?
What difference if any, as it made in the way you live your life?
What difference if any does it make in the way you will face today?
ILL…
Race horse… goat
Glass floor… people freaking out
Something known to shatter… installed by the lowest bidder
Today’s passage is in all three of the synoptic gospels… M,M, L
And to me that’s incredibly powerful. While they all agree… completely… they also provide a sort of unique angle… a bit of a fuller picture of what happened.
Jesus had finished days of teaching… people were showing up in full force…
So much so that Mark 4 makes it sound like Jesus was sort of crowded to the edge of the sea, so he stepped onto a boat and taught the people from there.
He’d been teaching for days… He and the disciples were tired… the feel is that they needed a break… maybe Jesus wanted to get away and debrief with them… either way… that's where our passage picks up.
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind. 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
We actually talked about this passage a few months ago…
So… quick review…
The sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater lake in the world…
Its 13 miles wide
8 miles long
Over 160 ft. deep.
And topographically… situated between rolling mountains… it's like a wind tunnel…
And to this day, storms… on this sea… now called Lake Tiberias or Lake Kinneret…
Can come at a moment's notice and send sailors running… even today… with all of our innovation… it’s still dangerous…
(SLIDE: modern S or G storm)
I think this is an important picture too…
(SLIDE of BOAT)
In the late 1980’s some brothers discovered an ancient boat on the S of G… the first discovery of its kind… it and the artifacts in it dated between 50 BC and 76AD…
There is little doubt among scholar… this is what the boat they were on was like.
27Ft long… about 8ft wide… walls stood about 4 ft. high… There is historical evidence (Josephus) of these boats carrying as many as 15. (SLIDE: scale model)
Most of these guys were fishermen… with experience… on this lake even.
So a storm that would rattle them… helps us realize… This was something different.
In fact the word that Matthew uses is unusual…
Sizmas Magas = a huge seismic event.
A great shaking… This was bad.
Waves were breaking into the boat… literally, it says… waves were covering the boat.
This storm wasn’t just bad, it was deadly. And they knew it. (Slide… S O G storm)
It was swamping them… out of their control… bigger than what they could handle…
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
Did they draw straws… can you imagine being the one to wake Jesus up…
Excuse me… some of the guys, not me… obviously, but you know who… are really struggling… quite the storm happening here… and I was thinking that maybe… you could get up, say a few words… really boost morale or something…
That’s not it at all. These guys were professionals. Have you ever seen Deadliest catch? That’s not how they talk at all!
They were yelling… directions back and forth… and other things… it was total chaos…
No doubt… if there was anything that could be done… they did it.
This storm was bigger… than they were… there was no human solution. It was out of their control…
It’s sheer panic… when one of them looks at Jesus and yells…
DON’T YOU EVEN CARE THAT WE ARE GOING TO DIE HERE…
We are fighting for our lives… and you are asleep at the wheel… WHERE ARE YOU.
Can you imagine Jesus hearing that… Don’t you even care… It’s why I came… that’s what all of this is really about…
I’ve felt that way… moments where what I’ve been going through… was bigger than I am… scared… lost in it… angry in it… even questioning God in it.
I’ve learned this… and I’m betting you have too.
Storms… in life are a certainty…
You need to know this… because many of us at least at a subconscious level don’t…
God never promised that storms wouldn’t come!
… or that they wouldn’t last… or that He’d remove us from every storm that we face…
If that is your view of God, how God words… if that is your expectation of what God “owes” you… not only will it be hard, but you end up fighting God in your life… animosity will develop…
In fact the exact opposite is the truth…
John 16:33a
In this world, you will have trouble!
IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE
… you will face storms.
Sometimes, God sends the storms!
In Jonah we learn that sometimes… God often sends them… That sometimes storms have real reason and purpose… to get our attention, to redirect us, to mold, shape, and develop us…to call us out into the deep… where we learn what trusting Him means and looks like… for His glory and our own good.
You know them… storms… these overwhelming things that feel and often are bigger than we are…
of sickness, cancer, disease….
In our marriage… being lost
IN our kids… seeing them struggle and hurt… and chose horrible things that will alter their life
In our bank accounts… at work…
Our culture… feeling hopeless… how do we raise our kids in this crap hole
Our struggle with sin… shame and guilt…
Discouragement/depression
God never the storms wouldn’t come.
On the boat we see two very distinct pictures within the one…
The disciples are the picture of chaos… fear… scrambling… questioning
Jesus… is totally at peace.
It’s crazy… because His peace… seems so misplaced… it sticks out…
And it got me thinking… what's the difference here… why did they and do we worry…
Why do we often worry?
We don’t know what’s coming… lack of knowledge
Because often the storm feels and is often bigger than we were… lack of power
Two of the three words that I was taught in undergrad that describe the magnitude of God’s nature… who God is…
Omniscient = means all knowing.
Omnipotent = means all powerful
All powerful… Literally… nothing is to big or to hard.
If I were to ask you what this passage is really about, what would you say?
Sometimes it’s easy for us when we read the Bible… it's easy for us to sort of place ourselves as the main subject… this is about me… which is where a bad theology like… this passage is about Jesus removing storms from my life can come from.
I think this passage is actually about Jesus revealing the reality of who He is to the disciples and to us.
And what is that lesson?
Which is that Jesus is fully man and fully God.
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
It talks about how God sent JB to tell people Jesus was coming…
JB was NOT the light… Jesus is other… More… He gives true light…
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ ”
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ ”
Jesus is revealing the reality of who He is and what that means…
The fact that Jesus was there at creation… and now here in the boat reveals the third
OMNI word that describes the dynamics of His nature… which is
Omnipresent = means all present
OMNIpresent…
He is… everywhere… at all times.
And understanding all that Jesus is… I really is what this picture is about…
In fact it was the very question the the disciples came to… WHO IS THIS… that the wind and waves… obey Him.
Peter is an excellent example…
We see 4 distinct encounters with Peter and Jesus on the sea… On this sea I think.
Luke 5, when Jesus called Peter to follow Him… he was out fishing… caught nothing, Jesus said go out further, try again… They’s tried all night… but he did. And the caught so much their nets were ripping… it says when peter realzied what was happening… fell on his knees and said please leave… I am far too sinful to be around you.
Mark 4, Here… this miracle… and the response is… who is this that wind waves obey Him.
Matthew 14… the Disciples where in another storm, Jesus came to them walking on the water… Peter stepped over… and for a moment, he did too… fear got the better of him and he sank… but their reaction… truly… you are the son of God.
John 21… After Peter denied Jesus three times… he was lost… hurt… he blew it and he knew it… he went back to fishing… when someone looked to the shore and said its Jesus… it says he got dressed… dove in… and swam to Jesus… it’s a picture… of how important it was to get right with who He’d come to know Jesus to be…
Each storm… was shaping… molding… revealing…
Storms do that. There is something refining… almost life giving when we begin to see them the right way.
They have a way of laying us bear… of stripping away or pealing back pretense and all that is superficial… in ways where we are forced to see and respond to Jesus… or… ignore Him altogether.
Storms are a reality… Maybe they wont always end or result in what you think they should…
Takes our life or the life of someone we love prematurely in our view…
It feels like more than we can handle or bear
Struggling or watching those we love struggle
It takes us places we’d rather not go
Fear… not seeing a way out of a situation
And so it’s important to ask…
How do you face the storms in your life?
Does the immediacy… what you don’t know… what you can’t see… and the fact they often feel and are bigger than you… cause you to see the waves… or the one who created them?
I have met many through the years who face the storms and come to this conclusion… That if that’s God and who God is… I’m out. If God allows that… I’m out.
It is an incredibly dangerous, self centered, and foolish thing to think that eternity and all that God is and does rests on my experience.
We need to remember that God has a different perspective all together… on life, death… on fullness of life and real freedom… and even the storms of life.
No matter the storm(s) you face… what wind and waves that come at you or that God brings you to, the God of all creation… that spoke light, land, and life into place… who has the power to calm the wind and waves… that knows you by name… Will see you through it… any storm…
The pathway to fullness and freedom… and to all that God had for you and longs for you to be… often run through the desert… and through the storm… places where we often have no alternative than to either ignore Him… or trust Him.
The pathway to real fullness, real freedom, and to all that God has and desires for you often runs through the dessert and through the storm.
The one who said… let there be light is the same one who said… silent/be still.. Is the same one who said… and know this… I AM WITH YOU to the very end.
He never promised you wouldn’t face them… or that He’d remove them…
The #1 repeated promise is scripture is… I am with you… always.
Is there any evidence at all, that Jesus is in your boat?
That question reveals where you're looking. What your eyes are fixed on.
We live in a world where there is so little that we can have confidence in…
Corruption is everywhere…
Lies are believed
Identities lost…
Maybe… just maybe… its time to come to this place of putting our trust and confidence in the one that was there at the beginning… who made it all… who knows you by name… and the # of hairs on your head…
Who knows the future… and even hold tomorrow in His hands
Who has all power… even over creation
And who is in the boat with you.
This picture…
When you see it, what comes to mind?
Why is it important?
What do you really believe about it?
What difference if any, as it made in the way you live your life?
What difference if any does it make in the way you will face today?
Most dangerous place to be…
That will never happen to me
I’ll deal with it when i get there
