QJA How is it That You Have No Faith

Do you sleep well? When storms arise, are you a “sleep right through” or a “stay awake until it passes?”

Do you regularly get eight hours?

Are you able to sleep soundly, nothing awakens you, or are you a light sleeper, waking with any sound?

I we took the time to go around the room, we could each tell of a circumstance that so captivated our emotions, we couldn’t sleep. We sought rest, but it didn’t come.

Have you ever experienced great peril? A flight traveling through heavy turbulence, a cruise ship tossed by waves, a car skidding on ice, drama unfolding in front of you and there was nothing you could do?

Look at Rembrandt’s rendering of that famous night recorded in our scripture today.

Great Peril

One man holds the mast for dear life

Another man, in a red shirt and green face, holds the gunwale

There is a stark contrast in the painting between the bow and the stern

On the left side of the painting the scene is charged with drama

The waves are white and peaked almost as if they are watery mountaintops

The bodies of the men are contorted, holding on for dear life

If you really concentrate on this side of the painting long enough you can almost hear the wind howl and the storm rage. You feel a bit queasy.

Now the right side of the painting, there in the stern, there is a circle of calm around Jesus.

What is Rembrandt suggesting?

Jesus is the center of calm. Jesus is the eye of the storm. Jesus is the light in darkness.

Rembrandt paints a small halo around Jesus. Is this to depict Him as the Son of Man or just so we could pick Him out of the crowd? He has no form of cumliness that we should desire Him Isaiah said.

How many figures are in the boat? How many should there be? Who is the 14th?

Its Rembrandt, right in the middle between the two sides storm and calm, with his hand seemingly raised to his forehead as if to give the Homer Simpson “D’oh!” How did I get here?

What is Rembrandt saying about himself? I stand in the middle, I have both fear at times and faith at times? At times the wind and waves overcome me and at times i am perfectly capable of turning into the arms of Jesus?

Does this describe you?

Are there times of great faith when you step up and take the challenge, beat the odds and move forward, circled by times when you sit down, remain silent and hope this too shall pass?

I want to give you the conclusion to the message before the body of the message. Ready...

How will the disciples believe in the resurrection, how can they have faith in the resurrection, if they don’t believe He, the Son of God, can heal the lame, make the blind to see, cast out demons and calm the sea.

If Jesus taught the disciples, only taught them, was crucified dead and buried, and raised from the dead, would their mission been as effective as Jesus teaching His disciples, healing the lame, and blind, forgiving sin, feeding the 5000, walking on water, casting out demons, teaching as one with authority, calming the sea, being crucified, dead and buried and on the third day rising to life.

Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God and was raised from the dead?

Then calming the sea, whats the big deal.

Now for the body of the message.

Elijah is my guy. No rain three years, God hides him from his enemies, I like that. God feeds him, I like that, God gives him courage, I like that. He stands on the mountain top and calls down fire from heaven, licks up the offering and the water! Slaughters the prophets of Baal and Asherah, calls for rain and it rains, says my job is done here and runs back to the city. YES!

Only to hear the queen say,

1 Kings 19:2 NKJV

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”

Whoa, i made Ahab’s wife mad! Whoa the queen is furious with me!

Back to the boat.

In Luke’s version of the story today, he records the disciples words, “Master, master, we are perishing!”

Mark is a little more to the point: “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing!”

Like Elijah, Peter was tested. Matthew records the story of Jesus walking on the water toward the disciples and they presumed it to be a ghost! Peter, recognizing Jesus, he thinks, asks permission to come out onto the waves.

“Come,” Jesus replies.

Matthew 14:29–31 NKJV

So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 14:29–30 NKJV

So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Back to Elijah.

The queen is going to kill him by this time tomorrow! He runs off in fear for his life. Fire from heaven, no rain, rain, kills 450 prophets...

Hurting, alone, broken, faithless, lonely, in the valley after a great mountain top experience, he allowed his joy to be taken...

God spoke!

Why do you doubt? Where is your faith?

You need some small wins to build your faith. Jesus film will be one, a remodel of our church will be one, a conversation with someone at church that says, this place makes all the difference in my week, a relative that calls you the rock for your constant help and perseverance is one. Listening to someone hurting over life, is one, worship is one, small wins all the time that lend to our growing faith.

Can you hear Peter and Elijah?

Why did I doubt? Big smile, I just walked on water! I just called down fire from heaven! I was used by God, I asked my neighbor to church, I prayed with someone, I spoke of God’s grace publicly...

Faith...

If someone asks me about you, and I say “I have faith in him/her” what am I saying?

I trust Him, I trust her. I rely on him, I rely on her. I really love him, I really love her.

To say I have faith in Jesus, is a language of relationship, belief, trust. It is a living dynamic relationship.

Is your relationship with Jesus living and dynamic? Don’t wait to be awaken by a great storm and find out your relationship isn’t what it should be. Isn’t as strong as it could be. As a matter of fact, it’s really weak. You may find out you thought you could weather a little storm, but like Elijah, you quickly retreated. Like Peter, I doubted.

Story of buying a house in Owasso…Bill Walker

Lack of faith is a lack of trust. Jesus is going to be crucified, and killed. The disciples aren’t ready for this news. He must build them up.

William Sloan Coffin put it this way: “Faith isn’t believing without proof-it’s trusting without reservation.

I have failed to trust Christ without reservation. So have you. So did Peter, the disciples, Elijah and others. You are in good company.

If the word Faith was properly understood and properly used, it would be in the verb form, not as a noun. It isn’t really a possession as much as it is a capacity. Our English doesn’t allow for the verb form.

Faith properly understood is a verb. Faith is something we do. If language would allow, we would say:

“I faith sometimes. I wish I could faith more often, In fact, I’m working toward faithing in God in all that I do.”

This statement may be grammatically painful yes, but it is theologically correct. Faith is something we do, just as we trust.

As you walk through life, fear may track you down and try to take over. You can still muster some faith. You can and will muster enough faith to say, Jesus, save me!

We know very well Jesus will not calm every storm, right every wrong today. We will suffer many manner of storms. Turmoil, inner strife, rejection, and the like. But you can have a confidence in this, Jesus love for you will prevail. He gets the last word. My memory verse form this is Paul’s words to the Romans in 8:38 and 39.

Romans 8:38–39 NKJV

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God gets the last word.

One of the things I loved about my brother was his strong will. Yes at times it was a challenge and created storms, but he believed this:

“Either way, I’ll be ok.” In life or in death, I will be ok. To live is Christ to die is gain, either way, I’ll be ok.

I think it’s the kind of faith Jesus was looking for in His friends.

How is your faith? Are you hoping Jesus, like the your 8th grade biology teacher, doesn’t call on you, you just don’t have the answer. You just don’t have faith?

If your faith is struggling, can you believe He is the Son of God? Can you believe, He is the resurrected? He is life. light, authority? Its a good beginning.

Chris Tomlin - I Lift My Hands

Be still, there is a healer His love is deeper than the sea His mercy, it is unfailing His arms are a fortress for the weak Let faith arise Let faith arise I lift my hands to believe again You are my refuge, You are my strength As I pour out my heart, these things I remember You are faithful, God, forever Be still, there is a river That flows from Calvary's tree A fountain for the thirsty Pure grace that washes over me So let faith arise Let faith…

So let faith arise Let faith arise Open my eyes Open my eyes I lift my hands to believe again You are my refuge, You are my strength As I pour out my heart, these things I remember You are faithful, God You are faithful, God, forever