Faith Formed From Storms - Luke 8: 22-25 Message #3 in the Life Cut Short Series on the Gospel of St. Luke

Luke 8:22–25 NRSV

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”

INTRODUCTION

THE DUTCH PAINTER VINCENT VAN GOGH BORE A CERTAIN FASCINATION ABOUT STORMS AND THE POWER OF

GOD’S CREATED ORDER....AMONG THE MOST

FAMOUS OF THE IMPRESSIONIST PAINTERS, ONE OF HIS PIECES.... “VIEW OF THE SEA AT Scheveningen”

WAS REMEMBERED FOR THE LENGTHS WE WENT TO, TO PAINT IT.....HE RECALLED OF THE DAY HE PAINTED IT:

“The wind was so strong that I could barely stay on my feet and barely see through the clouds of sand.”

Van Gogh made this painting on the beach, in a raging storm. Grains of sand blew into the paint. They can be seen

under the microscope.

IT WAS OUT OF HIS GOD-GIVEN CURIOSITY, GIFT FOR ARTISTRY AND CONCERNS FOR GENERATIONS THAT WOULD

FOLLOW HIM THAT PUSHED HIM INTO TWO

DIRECTIONS EVIDENT IN THESE 2 QUOTES ABOUT STORMS ATTRIBUTED TO HIM:

“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too” ― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“There is peace even in the storm” ― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

BELOVEDS, ST. LUKE AND ALL THE GOSPEL WRITERS FIND WAYS TO TELL OUR STORY FOR THE MORNING OF JESUS,

THE DISCIPLES AND THE STORM....PERHAPS BECAUSE THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE GOES SO SURELY BETWEEN TIMES

OF CALM AND TIMES OF STORMS.....TIMES WHEN THE STORMS FORM CHOPPY WATERS IN OUR LIVES AND WAVES

THAT CAN THROW US SUDDENLY FROM ONE SITUATION INTO THE NEXT.......

SOMETIMES WHEN IT SEEMS ONE STORM IS STILLING IN OUR LIVES ANOTHER STORM DUSTS UP.....AND THEN

THERE ARE STORMS THAT RAGE IN THE CULTURE, IN THE WORLD AND BEYOND OUR REACH OR CONTROL......SOME

YEARS AGO FRANCIS FRANGIPANE WROTE IN HER BOOK, THE POWER OF COVENANT PRAYER, THIS POWERFUL LINE

AS IF SHE WAS ANTICIPATING THESE VERY DAYS WE’RE LIVING THROUGH....SHE WROTE:

TODAY, THE FORCE PRODDING MANY CHRISTIANS TOWARD GREATER UNITY AND PRAYER HAS NOT BEEN THE

SWEETNESS OF FELLOWSHIP; MORE OFTEN IT HAS BEEN THE ASSAULT OF THE ENEMY. WE ARE IN

DESPERATE TIMES. WHEN IT COMES TO TOUCHING GOD’S HEART, OTHER THAN FOR A FEW ESSENTIAL

TRUTHS, UNITY OF DESPERATION IS MORE CRUCIAL THAN UNITY OF DOCTRINE.....

JESUS’ OWN HELP WHEN WE’RE DESPERATE

THE LORD LED THEM INTO THIS STORM ACCORDING TO OUR TEXT THIS MORNING, CHAPTER 8, VERSE 22.

Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” Did He know what He was getting them into? Surely

He did.

He knows all things and so He knew they would encounter this storm. Although the disciples were veteran

fishermen who knew this lake, they probably didn’t anticipate the storm. The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles long

and 7 miles wide. It sits in a depression that is almost 700 feet below sea level, surrounded by mountains that rise to

about 2,000 feet above sea level on the eastern side. When winds funnel down those hills, it can create sudden,

violent storms. It was one of those unexpected storms that hit that evening—unexpected to the disciples, but not to

the Lord Jesus. It must have been quite a storm, because even these seasoned fishermen feared for their lives. But

even though it was so terrible, the sovereign Lord, JESUS CHRIST led them directly into it!

SO, IF THE LORD JESUS KNEW IT WAS COMING....AND HE KNEW THE QUESTION HE WOULD ASK THEM NEAR THE

CLOSE OF THE TEXT TODAY, “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?”

OUR CHALLENGE TODAY IS TO GO AWAY FROM HERE WITH MORE SPIRITUAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES TO DEAL

WITH THE STORMS THAT WILL SURELY COME OUR WAY.....FOR THERE

ARE MANY STORMS THAT ARE MEANT TO HELP FORM OUR FAITH, AND FIT OUR FAITH FOR THE LORD JESUS’ OWN

PURPOSES......

THIS MORNING, WE LOOK AT 4 STORMS, 4 SHIPS & 4 SEA CAPTAINS TO FIND IN THEM MORE TOOLS FOR OUR

FAITH…AMEN?

4 SHIPS IN A STORM

THERE IS A STORY ABOUT 4 SHIPS IN A STORM.....THE STORM BLEW IN, BUT IT WAS EXPECTED. 3 SAILING

SHIPS

WITH CARGO FROM THE EAST WERE SAILING TOWARD VENICE, ITALY. THE CAPTAINS HAD BEEN WARNED THAT

THEY SHOULD ANTICIPATE TROUBLE ON THIS VOYAGE, FOR A STORM LOOMED ON THE HORIZON. BUT WHEN THE

STORM ERUPTED, EACH CAPTAIN REACTED DIFFERENTLY.

THE FIRST ATTEMPTED TO SAIL AROUND THE STORM, NOT WANTING IT TO INTERRUPT HIS VOYAGE. HE WAS IN A

HURRY TO GET ON WITH HIS LIFE. HE WAS IN DENIAL.

THE CAPTAIN OF THE 2nd SHIP UNAFRAID OF THE STORM DROVE HIS SHIP STRAIGHT INTO THE STORM. HE WAS

MACHO, FULL OF BRAVADO, STRENGTH....CONFIDENCE, IF YOU LIKE. HE THOUGHT, “I CAN TAKE IT ON......”

BUT THE CAPTAIN OF THE 3rd SHIP ORDERED THAT HIS ANCHOR BE PUT DOWN, FOR HE TRUSTED THAT THE

ANCHOR WOULD HOLD THE SHIP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORM.

THE STORM BROKE WITH TREMENDOUS FURY AND THE 1st SHIP WAS BLOWN HUNDREDS OF MILES OFF COURSE.

THE SHIP OF DENIAL. THE 2nd SHIP, THE SHIP OF CONFIDENCE, IF YOU WILL, WAS POUNDED AGAINST THE SHORE.

BUT THE 3rd SHIP, THOUGH NEARLY DESTROYED.....HELD FIRM IN ITS PLACE IN THE SEA....

WHAT KIND OF FAITH IS FORMED BY THOSE WHO SEEK TO MAKE JESUS THEIR ANCHOR IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM

TOSSED SEA? IS THIS THE KIND OF FAITH TO HAVE AND HOLD, TO KNOW AND ASPIRE TO?

FOR THE ONES WHO CHOOSE THE WAY.... TO TRY TO DENY, THEIR STORM IS HARD AND DEMANDING MUCH OF

THEM, THEIR MONEY, THEIR SPIRIT, THEIR COMMITMENT EVEN THEIR CHANGE OF ATTITUDE OR POSITION....CAUSE

STORMS, THEY NEVER LEAVE US THE SAME, DO THEY CHURCH?

WHAT ABOUT THOSE OTHERS WHO CHOOSE THE WAY OF CONFIDENCE, BRAVADO AND PERHAPS EVEN SELF-

SACRIFICE SO THEY CAN SAVE THEMSELVES....WITHOUT A SAVIOR, WITHOUT JESUS, WITHOUT THE ONE WHO WAS

BY THE CREATOR’S SIDE AT THE CREATION, AS ST. JOHN’S GOSPEL TELLS US IN IT’S OPENING VERSES?

JESUS ASKED THOSE DISCIPLES, “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?”

WAS IT TOO SOON FOR THEM TO ANSWER? WAS SUCH A QUESTION FAIR, WHEN DISTRESS WAS SO HIGH AND

DESTRUCTION SO NEAR? COULDN’T THEY HAVE JUST SUNG A HYMN TOGETHER OR LOCKED ARMS FOR PRAYER?

CONCLUSION: JESUS TAKES US DEEPER THAN WE THINK WE CAN EVEN GO

THE DISCIPLES WERE ON A JOURNEY WITH JESUS....A JOURNEY THAT MADE THIS SHIP VOYAGE JUST ONE PART

IT IS TRUE THEIR LIVES WERE THREATENED.....CERTAINLY THERE IS REAL FEAR, REAL DREAD IN THEIR STATEMENT:

Luke 8:24 NRSV

They went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm.

NOTICE THEY DID NOT SAY, MASTER....THE SHIP IS GOING DOWN

NOR DID THEY SAY, MASTER......WE HAVE DONE ALL WE CAN.....

NOTICE THEY WERE SO VERY CLOSE TO ‘GIVING UP THE SHIP’.....BUT THEY KNEW TO FINALLY WAKE JESUS....

YOU’LL REMEMBER IN OUR STORY THERE WERE 4 SHIPS, & 4 SEA CAPTAINS....AMEN? THERE IS A 4th SHIP IN THE

STORY AND THIS IS THE SHIP THAT ATTEMPTS TO DROP THE ANCHOR.....THIS IS THE SHIP AND CAPTAIN THAT DOES

THEIR BEST TO SHOW THEIR FAITH......THIS IS THE ONE, THAT WHEN THE DARKNESS COMES THEY DON’T GIVE UP,

THEY DON’T GIVE IN.....THEY JUST DO THEIR BEST TO KEEP ON TRUSTING

THE ANCHOR WILL HOLD, THAT THEY’LL GRIP THE SOLID ROCK.....THAT ROCK, LIKE THE GREAT CHRISTIAN HYMN

SAYS IS JESUS.....YES, HE’S THE ONE, THAT ROCK IS JESUS....THE ONLY ONE.....

IN THAT STORM, THE CAPTAIN LEARNED WHAT THE DISCIPLES CAME TO KNOW ON THAT BOAT WITH JESUS THAT

DAY......ANNE LAMOTT PENNED IT SO POIGNANTLY:

OUR LIVES AND HUMANITY ARE UNTIDY. DISORGANIZED AND CAREWORN . LIFE ON EARTH IS OFTEN A

RAUNCHY AND VIOLENT EXPERIENCE. IT CAN BE AGONY JUST TO GET THROUGH THE DAY...

STORMS, LIKE LIFE, CAN BE RAUNCHY AND VIOLENT AND SUDDEN........AND THE CHALLENGE TO STAY ANCHORED

CAN BE GREAT......IT IS IN PLACES AND TIMES LIKE THESE THAT JESUS DOES HIS BEST WORK.......

WAS YOUR WEEK RAUNCHY, DISORGANIZED OR VIOLENT IN THE WAYS IT MADE DEMANDS ON YOU?

DID YOU FEEL A MEASURE OF AGONY AS YOU TRIED TO RIGHT THE SHIP OF LIFE AND LIVING?

STORM FORMED FAITH IS FAITH THAT COMES TO KNOW THAT GOD WILL NOT ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU WANT.

STORM FORMED FAITH IS FAITH THAT GOD WILL DO WHAT IS RIGHT........NO MATTER HOW LONG THE STORM

LASTS

OR HOW HARD THE STORM MAY BE....

ST. LUKE SHOWED US THE DISCIPLES HAD MORE LEARNING TO DO AFTER THIS STORM AND THAT LEARNING WITH

JESUS IS A DAILY JOURNEY, NOT JUST ONE THAT COMES WITH THE DRAMATIC AND TRAUMATIC IN OUR LIVES.... ST.

LUKE SHOWED US THAT THOUGH THEY THOUGHT THEY WOULD DIE THAT DAY......PHYSICAL DEATH DID NOT COME

THEIR WAY.......JESUS STILLED THE STORM…AND FOR ST. LUKE THAT WASN’T THE END OF THE STORY, IT WAS JUST

THE END OF THAT STORM.......THE DISCIPLES HAD MORE TO LEARN AND MORE SITUATIONS TO APPLY THE LESSONS

THEY LEARNED ON THAT STORM TOSSED SEA....

STORM FORMED FAITH IS FAITH, BELOVEDS, THAT DOESN’T DENY OUR FEARS, IT FACES FEAR....LIKE THE

DISCIPLES

DID.....AND FINDS HEALING AND HELP IN JESUS WHILE THOSE FEARS ARE RAGING AND SEEKING TO DO THEIR

WORST DAMAGE.....

STORM FORMED FAITH DOES THE UNEXPECTED TOO....AND THAT SAME STORM FORMED FAITH GETS GOD’S

ATTENTION, BELOVEDS.....IT GETS GOD’S ATTENTION....AMEN?

FINALLY, THIS MORNING, WE SEE STORM FORMED FAITH PLAINLY WHEN WE CONSIDER THE STORY OF EPISCOPAL

PRIEST JOHN CLAYPOOL. IN HIS BOOK, TRACKS OF A FELLOW STRUGGLER, HE WROTE AS A FATHER CRYING OUT

IN AGONY TO GOD IN THE MIDST OF ONE OF HIS STORMS. FOR 18 MONTHS HE SEARCHES FOR A SOLUTION TO HIS

8-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER’S LEUKEMIA, SEEKING OUT THE BEST DOCTORS, HAVING HER ANOINTED BY FAMOUS

HEALING EVANGELISTS, SOLICITING PRAYER SUPPORT FROM HIS PARISHIONERS AND FRIENDS. THE SHE DIES. HIS

REFLECTION ON THAT TIME WENT LIKE THIS:

AND I AM HERE TO TESTIFY THIS IS THE ONLY WAY DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN OF LOSS. I DO NOT MEAN TO

SAY THAT SUCH A PERSPECTIVE MAKES THINGS EASY, FOR IT DOES NOT. BUT AT LEAST IT MAKES THINGS

BEARABLE WHEN I REMEMBER THAT LAURA LUE WAS A GIFT, PURE AND SIMPLE, SOMETHING I NEITHER

EARNED NOR DESERVED NOR HAD A RIGHT TO. AND WHEN I REMEMBER THAT THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE

TO A GIFT, EVEN WHEN IT IS TAKEN AWAY, IS GRATITUDE, THEN I AM BETTER ABLE TO TRY AND THANK GOD

THAT I WAS EVER GIVEN HER IN THE FIRST PLACE. EVEN THOUGH IT IS VERY, VERY HARD, I AM DOING MY

BEST TO LEARN THIS DISCIPLINE NOW. CLAYPOOL ENDS BY ASKING HIS CONGREGATION, HIS FRIENDS AND

HIS READERS FOR HELP IN REMINDING HIM THAT LIFE IS A GIFT, EVERY LAST PARTICLE OF IT, AND THAT THE

WAY TO HANDLE A GIFT IS TO BE GRATEFUL...

BELOVEDS, THAT REALIZATION IS THE EPITOME OF FAITH FORMED FROM A STORM......KEEP YOUR ANCHOR

MOORED IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST......ALLOW HIM TO BE YOUR SEA CAPTAIN.....THE ONE WHOM YOU TURN TO

THE ONE YOU KEEP DEEPENING YOUR JOURNEY WITH......ALL OF LIFE IS A GIFT, EVERY LAST PARTICLE OF IT, SO

BELOVEDS DON’T LIVE IT ALONE....THE PRIEST REALIZED TO KEEP WALKING WITH JESUS HE NEEDED EVERY

FRIEND, EVERY CONGREGANT, EVERY READER OF HIS BOOK TO REMIND HIM OF WHAT HE BELIEVED.....STORMS

KNOCK US OFF KILTER.....STORMS PUSH US OFF COURSE........STORMS CAN LAST LONGER THAN WE PREFER....AND

CAN BATTER US ALL THE WAY THROUGH......

THAT’S NO EXCUSE NOT TO SERVE JESUS....NOT TO DEEPEN YOUR WALK AND RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM......

“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too” ― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“There is peace even in the storm” ― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh