What’s In Your Boat?

Announcements:

1. We will be meeting at the nursing home parking lot at 2:50PM. Please remember to bring a mask if you are coming since there are a few cases of COVID at the nursing home. If you don’t feel comfortable coming, that is perfectly ok. We can only have a few at a time so next month we want to make sure those who aren’t able to come can come and maybe do a rotation. Just to are sure those who want to participate are able to.

2. Prayer requests:

Blake Moss, 15, tragic car accident need full recovery (salvation?)

Corrie’s mom: revocery

Kathy cousin: Sarah healing from cancer

Lee and Des: ministering at women’s recovery health

Kim: court/school loans

Amy: sick

Introduction:

What makes you afraid? I think if we are honest with ourselves, the majority, if not all of us, would say there is at least one thing that scares us or plants fear in our heart.

I think many of us may have certain fears or phobias waiting to reveal themselves at just the right time.

Maybe you have some of the more common types such as: claustrophobia—the fear of closed in spaces or arachnophobia—the fear of spiders.

Some of you might suffer from less common or rare types such as: Cnidophobia - the fear of stings, Arachibutyrophobia - fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth or from Homilophobia—the fear of sermons. Yes, that’s a real one too!

There are lots of phobias. From what I can tell, there are over 500!

We all deal with fear even though mine may not be the same as yours and visa versa.

The disciples were no different! This week we come to the story in Mark 4:35-41:

Mark 4:35–41 CSB

35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

Background:

The Sea of Galilee was the largest body of fresh water and it did not have a “calm” idea either to the people of Israel. It was 12.5 miles long and 7.5 miles wide and over 600 feet below sea level which is why the weather was fairly tropical. Because of the surrounding mountains, it was common for unexpected storms to appear out of nowhere. This was also the area where a great amount of Jesus’ ministry took place.

Cultural note: The people also saw large bodies of water as being synonomous with death and chaos. They would sometimes refer to them as the abyss. Either way, there was always a negative connotation with large bodies of water as it was more revered as a spiritual condition than one of nature.

This is an interesting story as, at first glance, it may seem hard to be able to relate to it. Jesus in a boat, Jesus speaking to the wind and waves and they listen to Him. We may not be able to experience the exact situation like the disciples did back then, but there is something we are can identify with as you look closer. That common ground is fear.

The disciples were facing a terrible storm and they were afraid. Why? They were tired from being with Jesus ministering all day (parable of the sower, the growing seed and the mustard seed to name what we know) and were probably hungry. Instead of getting some rest and food, Jesus told them it was time to go on the sea. They were experienced fisherman and knew a lot about the sea. When the best time to go on the sea. Knowing it was best to go when not tired and hungry, etc. But you have experienced fishermen listening to Jesus, a carpenter lol. So they were probably concerned or nervous from the beginning and I also think the wind probably helped a little so they didn’t have to row.

Can you relate to that?

We all face storms regularly in our lives. We face things from time to time that scare us.

Transition: As we look at our passage this morning, I would like to point out three types of fear and also talk about how we can face fear in stormy weather. We will be going in the order of most common fear to probably the least common fear.

Body:

I. The first most common type is the kind of fear that comes from ignorance.

Don’t get me wrong. Ignorance has nothing to do with intelligence.

I think I’m a fairly intelligent guy, but if you put me on a crew to build a house (or anything for that matter lol), I’m an ignoramus. I don’t know how to build things, other than being the gopher and getting things the other people on the crew need lol. I could overcome my ignorance by gaining knowledge about construction. That’s what I mean by ignorance.

Sometimes our fear comes from ignorance.

Let’s look at the story.

Mark 4:37–38 CSB

37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”

Can you relate to the disciples at this moment? I know I can. There have been many times in my life when things seem to be crashing in around me that I honestly asked, “God, are you sleeping right now? Do you not see what I’m going through?”

That’s legitimate. Don’t be afraid to be honest to God like that. But, also, be open to the thought that you might not have all the information about the situation.

That’s what the disciples’ problem was. Here’s where their ignorance shines through. They don’t really know who Jesus is.

First of all, they call him “teacher.”

Did you catch that? I think that is a common place of ignorance for the majority of people.

If you were to poll the general population, I think you would find that most people have generally positive ideas about Jesus. There really aren’t a lot of Jesus-haters in the world. Most people would say that Jesus was a good teacher and a positive moral leader. And they would be right. He was a great teacher and an incredibly positive moral leader.

But so have many other people been those things. Jesus is so much more than that. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Sometimes our fear comes because we just don’t have a clear picture of who Jesus is. When we haven’t taken the time to really get to know Jesus, then we can be tempted to question whether he really cares about us. If we think Jesus is just a good teacher and moral example, then when the storms of life hit us we might be like the disciples and shout out, “Jesus, don’t you care that I’m suffering?”

Question: How much time have you spent really trying to get to know Jesus?

It’s one thing to attend church (which is not wrong and actually something we should be doing), but there is another layer of really investigating who Jesus is. We do this by digging into the gospels and asking the deeper questions in a small group or Bible study, or reading books about it, and spending time in prayer.

When we understand who Jesus is and be purposeful in taking the time to get to know who He is, it will help with the fear which comes from ignorance. We will realize we don’t know everything. We only have a puzzle piece while He is putting together the puzzle because He knows what it is supposed to look like.

Transition: So, the first fear we are seeing if the fear from ignorance. There is another type of fear.

II. It is the fear that comes from a challenge.

Mark 4:35 CSB

35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.”

Look what Jesus says at the beginning of this story. He says, “hey guys, let’s cross over to the other side.”

So far in the story of Mark, Jesus has been hanging out on the west side of the sea of Galilee in the region of Galilee which was populated by Jewish people. He had been doing amazing things and stirring the pot among his own people. (Ministering to the crowds, healing people, setting demon possessed people free, choosing the twelve disciples, etc.). It is familiar territory for the disciples.

Then, Jesus gets them out of their comfort zone.

Jesus challenges his disciples and says, “let’s cross over to the other side.”

“whoa, wait a minute Jesus. Do you know who lives over there? That is where the Gentiles live.”

On the east side of the sea of Galilee was the region called the Decapolis which was full of non-Jewish people, the Gentiles. For Jesus’ Jewish disciples this was a scary prospect. Jews weren’t supposed to cross over to the other side and mingle with the Gentiles.

Here’s the thing. When you follow Jesus, He asks you to do scary things; uncomfortable things.

It baffles my mind when I hear people say that following Jesus is for weak-minded people. That it is a crutch.

Now, that might be true if your religion was all about coming to church, singing some songs, getting some bread and juice, going on with your life, and thinking that you’ll go to heaven when you die. That could be a crutch, but that is not what Jesus is all about.

Jesus calls us to get into the boat and go to the other side where He wants to love people who are scary and different.

Jesus says, “see that person, I love that person.”

And, by default, we tend to look at that person and think, “I don’t like the way that person looks, I don’t like the way that person smells, I don’t like the things that person does. I don’t want to love that person.”

And Jesus says, “get in the boat with me and let’s go to the other side.”

That’s a stormy ride.

I have to be honest with you. Sometimes following Jesus scares me.

Just to think about where God is calling us. As we strive to be a missional, that is seeking to bring the Gospel to our community, God is going to ask us to meet people and do things that make me (annd probably you) uncomfortable. It will stretch us. If it were up to me, I like to play it safe.

But Jesus calls us to cross over to the other side.

Jesus never promised that we would avoid storms. He just promised to take us through them.

I think it’s perfectly normal to freak out from time to time as a follower of Jesus. The times when we freak out are opportunities God uses to help us see where our heart truly is and helps us to grow in our faith and relationship with Him.

That leads us to the last kind of fear.

Look what Jesus does. The disciples have just woken him up from a nap and accused him of not caring about them.  He stands up and looks at the wind and the waves. Now, remember, this is the ancient world. The people then considered the wind and the waves to not be just non-personal forces of nature. These were spiritual beings. These were gods.

Jesus looks at the wind first and rebukes it. This is the exact same word used when he would drive out evil spirits. He rebuked them and they stopped.

And then he speaks to the sea and says—this is the literal translation of the Greek—“Silence! Put a muzzle on it!” Don’t you just love that? Jesus yells at the sea god and says, “Put a muzzle on it wave boy!”

And then it says that the wind calmed down. It didn’t just lay off, it says that it came to a great calm. The sea god snapped to attention and stopped everything.

If you were a disciple and had seen this, what would you do in that moment?

I think I would be freaking out. The text literally says that they feared a great fear. They weren’t just afraid. They were terrified. Undone.

Transition: So we talked about the fear that comes from ignorance and from a challenge. The last fear we will look at this morning is:

III. The least common type is holy fear that seizes us when we realize that we are in the presence of the Almighty God.

Jesus isn’t just a good teacher and a moral leader (like Pastor Jordan talked about last week). Jesus is the Word of God that created the wind and the waves. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And He does care about us, deeply.

This might seem kind of backward, but one of the greatest ways to overcome fear is to realize that the Almighty God who has the power to create and destroy has feely given us love and forgiveness.

1 John 4:18 CSB

There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.

Too often I think we are tempted to take God’s grace for granted and we can slip into a mindset that it is really about us and how we deal with life’s storms. When we get into that mindset it is easy to get overwhelmed by the fear. We can think that God has fallen asleep and doesn’t care about us. We can yell up at the sky, “Teacher, don’t you care?”

But when we allow ourselves to be reminded that the God of the universe loves us so much that He gave his own life for us. This God who can tell the sea to put a muzzle on it is the same God that loves me. Then that should send a shiver down our spine and give us the courage to face any kind of fear. He is in control no matter what storm you find yourself in and He is in the boat with you as you go through the storm!

Conclusion:

What do you fear today? What is your phobia?

What storm do you find yourself in this morning?

Don’t be afraid because you don’t have the whole picture. (fear of ignorance)

Don’t be afraid because you are getting out of your comfort zone. (Fear of a challenge)

Don’t be afraid because you have the King of kings and the Lord of lords in your boat! (Holy fear of the presence of the Lord with you)

Give it to Jesus and let him put a muzzle on it!

Let’s worship the Lord this morning. For those online, before we end our online stream, I would encourage you to get some worship music going and take time to think about the following:

If you are in a storm right now, I would challenge you to take this time and get your focus off the storm and onto the One who is the boat.

You may not know why things are going on because you don’t have the whole picture. Don’t let fear come because of that.

You may find yourself in unknown territory and don’t know what to do or go. Don’t let fear come because of that.

Remember the King of kings and the Lord of lords is in your boat. He sees the complete picture for the puzzle. He will guide you and direct you as you follow Him. Focus on Him and not on the storm you are engulfed in!

Worship:

Oceans

2. I Surrender

3. I Want to Know You

4. Blessed Be Your Name