Tension in the Tempest
Notes
Transcript
35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”
36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.
37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.
38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”
41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
Title
Tension in the Tempest
Tension in the Tempest
Recap Wed night
Make note of the similarity between Pastor’s message this morning and this one
The Gospel of Mark is considered by many scholars to be the earliest of the synoptic gospels, and even possibly the guide or source from which the gospels of Matthew and Luke may have patterned their delivery.
One tradition asserts that Mark actually dictated the recollection of Peter as the source of his gospel.
This is important when we are interpreting the details from the gospel of Mark because it gives us some insight into the urgency with which the stories are told… (i.e. suddenly… immediately… at once…)
Peter was an action oriented, quick to speak, quick to jump kind of person. We see this repeatedly in throughout the records of the Gospels.
If there is anyone qualified to speak on the tensions of life, it is Peter.
Peter is the one who was there on the mount of transformation when He and James and John saw Jesus speak with moses and Elijah and he said…
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
It was here on the mount where Peter found himself in the tension of being in the presence of a heavenly encounter.
Why tension? because his first reaction is to build a tabernacle… Let’s stay here. I don’t want to leave this heavenly encounter… Let’s set up camp…
What Peter didn’t realize in his assertion is that the desire was right, to keep a sense of heaven on earth, but also that there was a mission to accomplish yet.
Therein lies the tension… I have felt myself in those same times of glorious revelation when we are here in the presence of God and it feels like we could stay here forever… but there’s a mission…
In moments like this when we find ourselves rightly in awe of the presence of God, resting in His presence, we must also remember that the tension in this moment is that although we would bask in His presence forever, there is still a mission to accomplish.
There is still a task at hand. If we sequester ourselves inside the walls, this is all for naught.
This is the tension, that it is right to be in His presence, but it is also right to leave to accomplish His mission on the earth.
Tension. Tension that requires balance… Tension that stretches us. Tension that tunes us.
Peter is also the one who went from being praised to rebuked in the same paragraph in Mark 8.
27 Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?”
28 They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”
29 And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”
30 And He warned them to tell no one about Him.
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32 And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.
33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Talk about tension! How quickly the mood switched for Peter.
Aren’t we guilty of finding ourselves in the same tension when we are all in unity and on the same page, but then a situation arises where we have a disagreement and we find ourselves at odds…
Peter didn’t want Jesus to suffer… His intentions were noble. His heart was sincere, but Jesus says he was focused on man’s interest rather than God’s…
Here’s another tension we have to strike a balance with: prayer and planning…
We must proceed with wisdom and plan accordingly, but planning without prayer is prioritizing the wisdom of man over the mind of God.
When our leadership meets, all of the decisions that are made are circumvented with prayer. From start to finish, we bathe every decision in prayer, while we plan. There is no plan without prayer, but the other side is also true.
We pray, then we do. Prayer without action is an intentional shortfall. Prayer should drive our actions, compel our going, encourage our walk.
The tension is a balance, to be neither stagnant with inaction nor half baked without prayer.
Tension.
Peter is constantly the picture of tension.
Back in our text in Mark 4, not only is peter in tension, but all the disciples on the boat have found themselves in a point of tension…
35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”
So they get in the boat, cast off to the other side, but in the middle of their trip, a storm arose… A tempest blew in…
Now the disciples find themselves in a position of tension… Jesus is with them. They are following His command… but things aren’t going as planned…
Have you ever been in the place where things didn’t go as planned?
You know God spoke to you. You know you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, but things are not going as planned…
You may be in that situation now… You thought by this time you would be further along than you are…
You thought by this age you would have life figured out…
You thought you had parenting about figured out, but now things are not going as planned…
You thought that business was what God was going to bless… You thought that new job was the path God wanted you on, but now you’re not so sure because things are not going according to plan…
Some of you even have a higher tolerance for change than others. You were okay with the first surprise,
when the thunder first started to rumble it didn’t bother you much. In fact, the rain was just a blip on the radar of your life as you determined in your heart to follow God…
But now the winds of life have begun to blow, darkness has crept up on you, find yourself in the same position as the disciples.... in a boat that is taking on water…
37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.
What do you do when the boat starts filling up? What do you do when your capacity is met by demand and now you feel like you’re sinking…
I can imagine the debate amongst the disciples while they decided what to do…
The boat is filling up… The wind threatens their sails… the waves are crashing over the side… we are taking on water… the boat is filling up… and now it feels like we are sinking!
Jesus is with us, but He is asleep… The Lord is with us, but it feels like He’s not paying attention…
We have His command, He even blesses us with His presence, but what do we do right now… I need a specific word… I need some specific direction…
This is the tension of their situation…
Do we keep on as we have in the struggle, does He even care? If He really cared, He would’ve already stepped in…
This is the argument that the world would like to introduce as a seed of doubt to somehow unwind the thread with the question, “If God cares, why is there a storm?”
If He cares, why is there evil? If God is who He says He is, why allow it?
Mark 4:38 (NASB95)
“Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
Have you ever felt like you were in a place and you weren’t sure if God even cared?
Tension in the Tempest…
He’s in your boat, but does He care?
Tension. Tension. Tension in the Tempest…
We are constantly living in the context of tension in our own lives… We are saved, yet being saved, and will be saved. We are aliens, but must also live in excellence to this life. We are called to rest in his promise, but push toward the mark.
We are called to wait on him, but run our race.
Song example: I’m a soldier in the army of the lord vs I’m getting ready to leave this world - two great messages held in tension at the same time.
As we move forward into new seasons, there is sure to be tensions arise because that is the nature of our time on this earth. We are just passing through, but we also have a responsibility to this place.
Illustration example: tension enables drums, bows, stringed instruments (piano, guitar) Maybe take a guitar string and adjust the tension as an example… without the tension there is no music. It’s the tensions in life that enable us to praise… pull in a psalm…
I want to look at one final point of tension that is the ultimate picture of tension held in balance…
33 When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
God in the flesh, held in literal tension on a cross, stretched in an existential tension as the God-man bearing the weight of a sin that cannot co-exist with the holiness of God…
Tension…
Many see this as the time that God had to look away because of His hostile aversion to sin, but I think there is more happening here in the mind of Christ as He hangs in tension for all the world…
My God my God… Why have you forsaken me…
This is actually a quote from the 22nd Psalm.
1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
2 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
Why are you so far from helping me.. Why are you asleep in the boat of my storm… Why do you feel so far away when I need you the most…
Do you even care that I am perishing!?!?!?!
3 Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
5 To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed.
Though I may not understand it now… Though things are not going according to plan… though it feels like you may not care… though i’m caught up in my own situation, in my own emotions, in my own groanings....
Though I cry and wail, though I mourn at loss, though I cannot see through the fog of my own guilt and shame....
Though I find myself weary and struggling…
YET YOU ARE HOLY!
And when I look back over my life, I see you showed up time and time again…
You’ve been faithful this far…
You’ll be faithful again!
Even when I can’t remember in my own life, I can look at the lives of the saints who have gone before… I can think of the testimonies of the elders that surround me....
In You they trusted and You delivered them…
To you they cried out and were delivered…
In you they trusted and were not disappointed…
He’s never failed before and He’s not going to stop now!
This is the tension we walk with daily… We live as imperfect humanity, pulled on through our emotions and weariness, yet we trust in Him despite our own weakness…
Altar Call - Do you need a memorial moment? A moment to remember how God has proved Himself before… A community that can remind you of how He came through for them and encourage you…
This is not something we can do alone… We need a community of believers to surround us and encourage us and lift us up…
I would like to take a moment and just share how God has come through for you.... I’ll start, then I would like two or three to share…
Stories that I could share:
1) Prayer meeting where the doorposts shook
2) Stomach Issue healed by wind that followed us
3) Salvation Story - oil in skin over group
4) Wreck in corsicanna