Sermon Tone Analysis

Outline

False advertising

Ever heard of “Dieselgate”?

Everything has to be a something-gate just now so why not diesel?

Here’s the story: certain car manufactures - VW was one of the big ones - hid secret software inside their engines which would detect when the car was being tested by the government.

When the computer thought it was on test, it would tweak a bunch of settings to make it far less polluting than when driving normally (but pretty rubbish to drive).

Christian life as plain sailing

Apparently they got caught out when another organisation tried to reproduce the government’s pollution tests independently - by actually driving the cars around on roads rather than plugging them into test machines - and they got hugely different results and smelt a rat.

It ended up costing VW billions.

For years, VW were happily marketing their cars as low pollution super eco things - when it was all a big fat lie.

False advertising stinks - that’s why it’s illegal!

Christian life as plain sailing

There’s some pretty serious false advertising about the Christian life around, isn’t there?

Follow Jesus and you’ll be happy.

Follow Jesus and you’ll be healthy.

Follow Jesus and you’ll be rich.

Follow Jesus and you can get your own Gulf Stream Jet - apparently.

Follow Jesus and all your problems disappear - I even remember a song with those words in it.

Follow Jesus, and life will be plain sailing.

Is your life plain sailing?

But if you’re a Christian here today, I have to ask you: is your life plain sailing?

has it all been plain sailing all the way?

I don’t know all of your stories - but I know enough of enough of them to say without a shadow of a doubt that’s not true.

And I know my own story - and I can tell you too that it’s not all been plain sailing.

No false advertising here.

So how should we deal with it when life isn’t plain sailing?

We’re continuing our journey through Luke’s gospel, Luke’s telling of Jesus’ life story, and in today’s short section, Jesus has something to show his disciples.

Come with me to Luke chapter 8 - the chapters are the big numbers - and verse 22 - the verses are the small numbers.

- big 8, small 22. That’s on page ________.

, page ______.

Let’s read together.

Reading:

Jesus has something to show his disciples

Reading:

Nice day for a sailing trip

Jesus has been teaching crowds publicly, talking about his message and his kingdom.

Jesus has been teaching his disciples privately, explaining more to them.

He’s calling for faith, calling for people to listen to him and to put his words into action.

And then after a big block of teaching, it’s time for a change of scene.

Jesus wants to head over to the other side of a lake, Lake Galilee as it happens - about 7 miles across.

Perhaps he just wants some space from the crowds.

Perhaps he has a particular mission in mind to accomplish.

But either way, the story starts out simple-enough.

Jesus’ disciples are probably thinking a wee sail would be rather nice after all the talking and crowds.

The ex-fishermen among them are probably thrilled to be back in the saddle (to mix metaphors), back out on the lake, back on home territory.

All is calm.

I picture them cruising smoothly out into the lake.

It’s the perfect moment for a nap - and Jesus settles down for a rest.

Seems totally fair again after all the crowds and teaching.

It’s an Instagram moment.

context: teaching disciples, calling for faith

fishermen back in the saddle (to mix metaphors)

All calm and easy

I wonder if anyone was thinking “there may be trouble ahead”?

Or humming it?! Well we’ve read the story, and we know it.

And suddenly the perfect storm seems to be upon them.

Perfect moment for a nap

Suddenly the perfect storm seems to be upon them.

Now apparently the lake’s geography makes storms like this

Now apparently this lake was known for sudden violent storms - and the lake’s geography explains it: far below sea level and surrounded by steep mountains.

So you have to imagine those fishermen who have spent their lives on the lake wouldn’t be totally surprised by one of these storms.

But it seems to be a particularly severe one.

You can tell a storm’s bad when the fishermen are afraid.

I mean, have you ever seen that show, Deadliest Catch, all about crab fishermen braving wild seas?

They always seem basically non-plussed by the epic waves and crazy storms they are working in, just carrying on with business as usual with the deck at 45 degrees and waves crashing over their heads.

But these seasoned fishermen, back out on the lake with Jesus, they’re terrified by this storm.

“we’re going to drown” they shout at Jesus in v24.

More literally, that’s translating them saying “we are perishing” - we’re dying right now, we’re going down, this isn’t just a storm Jesus, this is a killer storm.

And we’re not going to make it.

That’s the sense you get from their words and the urgency of their call to Jesus.

“we’re going to drown” they shout at Jesus in v24.

More literally, that’s translating them saying “we are perishing” - we’re dying right now, we’re going down, this isn’t just a storm Jesus, this is a killer storm.

And we’re not going to make it.

That’s the sense you get from their words and the urgency of their call to Jesus.

This story is told in Matthew and Mark’s gospels too - and Mark adds to the disciples’ words: “don’t you care?”

There may be trouble ahead

How can Jesus be sleeping in the middle of a killer storm like this?

How can he be all casual and relaxed when death is only moments away for everyone?

Practically, how come the water washing into the boat hasn’t woken him up already?

I don’t know.

But the disciples rouse him urgently, fearing for their lives, questioning his concern.

“the perfect storm”

And then the story turns.

it’s bad when fishermen are afraid [deadliest catch]

A sinking feeling

lit: “we are perishing”; Mk don’t you care?

Creation commanded

Jesus is calm despite the storm

Jesus is cool as ice despite the storm - not panicked by the waves.

He doesn’t wake in a haze like I so often do, but with clarity and focus from the first moment.

“he got up and rebuked the wind and raging waters,” it says.

Now that word “rebuke” pictures this as a confrontation, mano-a-mano, Jesus vs. the storm - but there’s no contest here at all.

Creation obeys it’s creator.

The storm stops - that “subsided” there makes it feel like this happened gradually but underneath, the original language just says it stopped.

And it isn’t just the storm that stops, the waves disappear too: sudden flat calm.

Physicists, no conservation of momentum here.

That’s a lot of water mass in motion in the storm which suddenly comes to a halt, not a few hours of the waves gradually subsiding.

I don’t think it’d surprise you to know that ancient Greeks and ancient Romans and ancient Jews all agreed that it was only the divine which had this sort of power over nature.

They certainly knew people didn’t - and it’s pretty obvious to us today that mere humans don’t have this sort of power too - think about the variously named storms which have hit the UK this year.

It would be ridiculous of anyone to think they could do anything at all to tame the awesome scale of the power of nature.