Fear and Faith
Notes
Transcript
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”
36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.
37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
38 But he 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 awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Prayer
Intro -
Fear and Faith. These are two things that define how we react to things in our life. There are common things that we could collectively agree on that bring some level of fear in our lives. Starting school, graduating, getting married, having kids, kids growing up, watching kids fail so that they can learn, changing jobs, or buying a house. These are all life events that bring a level of fear to us.
But then we have things like world events. Maybe you are old enough and it was the Korean war, Vietnam war, Gulf war, 9/11. Or things that effect our economy. Gas prices, food prices, or the impending election.
Let’s not shy away from the truth that all of these things cause a level of fear in our life. But maybe it isn’t something that is big. Maybe it is something that is small.
These past few weeks, I have been volunteering with the kids from Central Elementary to take them swimming. And some of them act like they have never even gotten in a bathtub with water. They cling to the wall and some even refuse to get in. We were talking last night at my parents house about our swim lessons growing up. We went to Rock Creek Park. And the only thing that I remember about those lessons is that at the end of the week, they made it climb up the ladder to the high dive and we had to jump off the high dive into the pool. And I didn’t want to do it. I got up there and I was scared. That was a long way down. But they told me that there was only one way down, and it wasn’t the ladder. I had an option, I could either jump off into the water or they were going to push me off the board into the water. Well I went down that high dive and landed right in that water, but it wasn’t because I jumped.
The reality is that, for my lessons and for the kids lessons that I have been helping with, there were instructors and life guards that would keep us from anything bad happening. But our fear of the unknown has taken over our faith in the lifeguards. Fear and faith. Two reactions that are pivotal in how we view God. So I have a question for you that I want you to keep in your in the front of your thoughts as we go through this text.
Probing Question - Does your fear outweigh your faith?
This sermon only has one point so that is the main point. We will still be going verse by verse through it but I saw one major, clear point in it and that is that…
Fear Takes our Focus off of Jesus
Fear Takes our Focus off of Jesus
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”
We are coming off of a day where Jesus had shared many parables.
Overview of parables -
Parable of the sower
explains the parable - only good soil produces fruit (hear the word, understand the word, obey the word)
Parable of the lamp - our measurement is based off of us hearing and obeying the word
Parable of the seed growing - God is the one who causes seeds to grow, we only scatter them
Parable of mustard seed - the kingdom of God is going to be massive
Now we come to the place where Jesus is ending his speech of parables and wants to get away.
36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.
There was still this great crowd around him. He has had this full day of teaching. He was actually teaching from the boat. The crowd was along the shore listening to him. Maybe you think that a 40 minute sermon is a long sermon. Imagine the people who would sit hours upon hours, listening to the teaching of Jesus. And many of these people did not even understand what Jesus was saying. During the parable that he was teaching, Mark adds in the commentary of it that only those who were the disciples of Jesus understood what he said. They may not have understood what he was saying, but there was no denying from them that Jesus had power that was unlike anyone else. And this is what drew the crowds in.
So he gets done teaching and they leave. There are enough of them that they are on more than one boat.
37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
Peighton has been learning about weather in school and during the storm the other night, she was teaching us some things about storms. The words in the Greek here were basically describing a hurricane force type storm. But the lay of the land was conducive of this. The gorge in the sea of Galilee was sitting about 600 feet below sea level. This contributed to unpredictable weather patterns in the area. It was sitting low enough that the cold, strong winds would come down from the mountains. And if you have had 5th grade science, you may remember that when cold air and warm air meets, storms happen. This would happen in the area and often cause severe storms to pop up.
And this storm was a bad one. Waves crashing into the boat. Water coming into the boat. My wife has booked us a cruise for later this year and reading this passage might make me rethink that. Most of us have never experienced a storm like this on a boat. These men may have never experience this powerful of a storm. The perceived chances of them sinking was great.
What we may overlook here is that Jesus was very aware of where they were headed. Not only was he aware of the impending storm, he was the one who led them into it. He is the one who said a couple of verses earlier that they should head across the water. God is not taken by surprise. We are oftentimes, but God is not.
As this passage progresses, we see prime verses in scripture that depict the sovereignty of God. Think back to a time where you were caught off guard by something. You had a plan, and maybe you even thought it was God’s plan, but then disaster strikes.
a planned marriage
a career
a friendship
a child
a sick loved one
We often think things are going the way that they should but then all of a sudden, the train comes off the tracks. I have felt this way before. Especially all the years that we spent trying to get pregnant. You question why God is not letting this one thing happen. We try to tell God that this was the plan and he is messing up our plans.
I know that the Israelites had these feelings when they were fleeing captivity out of Egypt. The people of Israel had been held captive by the Egyptians for over 400 years. God had put Moses in a position to demand the release of the Israelites. Pharoah refused and then God sent 10 plagues to the Egyptians to show them that he is all powerful. Pharoah finally lets them go. But then there is quite a twist of what happens. God doesn’t just let the Israelites walk free. They get out of Egypt and were going through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And God spoke to Moses and told him, Exodus 14:4 “4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.”
So God made Pharoah release them but then made Pharoah pursue them. This was not part of the plan for the Israelites. In fact, they thought they were just fine in the oppression that they were facing. When the armies of Pharoah began to pursue them, they questioned everything. Exodus 14:10–12 “10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.””
How often do we feel like that when things don’t go the way we want. We would rather have things just never have changed at all. You would rather have stayed in that comfortable job. Or you would rather have just married the person that you broke it off with. But these things are not what God has planned. Just as the captivity of the Israelites is not what God had planned. He wanted them to be pursued by the Egyptians. Not because he is playing some kind of cat and mouse game with them. But so that he can display his power and be glorified. And maybe you need to hear today what Moses told the people of Israel as they were going through this.
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Remember these words as we continue to go through these verses in Mark. The Lord will fight for you and all you have to do is be silent.
38 But he 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?”
As Christians, we believe that the bible is very clear in its teaching that Jesus is fully God while also fully man. Here, we see the humanity of Jesus. He had been talking to crowds and preaching and teaching all day. He wanted to get away in the boat so that he could rest. Most Sunday mornings, I get here around 7:30-8, I go over all of the stuff for the day, I teach Sunday School, I play guitar, and I preach. Then we go out for lunch, usually with some people from church, and spend the lunch time talking. By the time we get home, it is usually 2 or so. I am tired. I go and sit in my recliner and the next thing I know, I am dozing. And my tasks take up about 4-5 hours. Jesus had been preaching all day.
But we also see the reaction of his disciples to what was going on. They knew that there was nothing in their power that they could do to calm this storm. They felt as though they would die. And this man that they had been following, Jesus, has been doing miracles and teaching boldly and claiming to be God. Yet, he was asleep while all of this was going on. So we see a reaction of frustration from the disciples.
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
What a choice in words here. The accusation towards Jesus of his lack of care for them. It is out of frustration and fear, but it was bold. Why is it bold? Because of what Jesus does on the cross. The reason that Jesus came was to keep people from perishing. John 3:16 “16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus was sent so that whoever believes in him does not have to perish but will live forever in eternity. But think about the accusation. That Jesus cares so little about them that he is willing to let them perish in this boat during this storm. But yet, in reality, he cared so much about them and about us, that he goes to the cross to die that we can live. This is the gospel. (gospel presentation)
Exalting Jesus in Mark We Panic When We Lose Faith in the One We Should Trust (Mark 4:38)
Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, said, “God is too wise to err, too good to be unkind; leave off doubting Him, and begin to trust Him, for in so doing, you will put a crown on His head”
In this verse, his disciples question their relationship, Jesus purpose, and Jesus power. And what Jesus does next solidifies it all for them.
39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Jesus displays power here that they have not seen. They have seen him heal people, they have seen him cast out demons. But these miracles were dealing with people. People with souls. People with hearts. People who could listen to him. But this storm is not a person. This is a piece of nature. And the command that he gives it is strong. It says that he rebuked it and said, “Peace! Be Still!”. Notice the punctuations that the ESV has in those commands. Those exclamation marks. This was not some light-hearted command that Jesus gave to the storm. These word were words with authority.
I love baseball. But sometimes, there are aspects of baseball that frustrate me. Because peoples humanity and imperfectness come out in a game, especially the umpire. Yes, they are human and make mistakes. But sometimes, they just make terrible calls. And when they do, the manager will often times come out on the field and have a conversation with the ump about his ability to make calls. And, as a Braves fan I know this all too well, the umpires really do not like their ability being questioned and will throw the manager out of the game. Now, when this ejection happens, the manager is never in a hurry to get off the field and often takes his time while still letting the umpire know his opinion of the matter.
Now imagine this exchange here between Jesus and the storm. Except there is a difference. Jesus is all powerful. So when Jesus speaks, it happens. The authority with which Jesus speaks makes it where everything obeys him. Jesus makes the command like the umpire. But the storm, unlike the manager, has no choice but to obey. And the storm calms.
So we have seen this problem arise and we have seen the solution come.
40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Jesus turns his attention from speaking to the storm to now speaking to his disciples. These are the same men that have been traveling with Jesus. They have seen his miracles and heard his teaching. Yet, they still were afraid.
Now it would be easy for us to read into this verse the tone of Jesus, but I think we should take these words of Jesus at face value. I don’t think there was sarcasm or cynicism in these words. But there is rebuke and correction in his words. He was saying to them, “you have seen me do miracles, you have seen me cast out demons, you have seen me heal people. I was right here with you on this boat, yet you were still afraid. Do you not have faith in me that I will take care of you?”
So I ask you the same questions. Maybe you are going through a difficult time. Maybe, since today is Mother’s Day, you are having a hard time dealing with not having your mother here. Maybe you are going through the ending of a relationship. Maybe your job is becoming too much. But, don’t you remember everything that God has done for you. How he has saved you, how he has sustained you, how he has grown you. But you are still afraid? Do you not have faith that Jesus will take care of you? Does your fear outweigh your faith?
Most of us have lived enough life that we can look back and we can pick out the storms in our life. And we can sit here today with assurance that the boat did not sink. And it is because of the sustaining sovereignty of God.
And now we come to our last verse in this passage where we see the reaction of the disciples.
41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
They were filled with great fear. What caused this great fear in them? Was it the storm that was going to take their life? No. It was the display of the sovereign omnipotence of Jesus. Jesus display that he was all knowing and all powerful. And this caused them to fear him. But not only to fear him, but to fear him even more than they feared the storm.
So we should ask ourselves the question, do we fear God more than our situations? Or does our fear outweigh our faith?
Yes, we could try to dissect this verse and try to pull apart the reason that they filled with great fear and what this fear meant. But, they just witnessed Jesus speak to a storm and it go away. These men were human beings. They experienced emotions just like we do. Of course they feared the Lord when he did this. Because he is displaying to them they their fear for the storm was not necessary. Faith was what was necessary.
And the question that they ask. Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
I feel like they knew the answer to the question even when they asked it. But think about the things that will come after this storm to display on an even greater level who Jesus is.
Conclusion
So then, does our fear outweigh our faith?
Maybe you are going through a trial or a season where fear is creeping in. Or maybe fear is all that you feel. Do you trust in God to calm the storm? Remember the words from Moses to the Israelites. The Lord will fight for you and all you have to do is be silent.
What does this passage mean for us today. This passage is to remind us to trust. Have faith that God is going to take care of the situation. Will it always go the way that you want it? No. And if you think that then you live in some sort of fantasy land. God is going to take care of the situation in the way that brings him glory.
Maybe you are going through a storm right now in your life and you have heard the gospel for the first time today and have believed. Praise God. Trust in God that he is going to take care of that storm.
For everyone here, I want to leave you with this.
Let your Faith outweigh your fear.
