Storms of Life

03/13/16 “The Grave Robber: Walking on Water” John 6: 16-21

True confession: I have never been sailing. At least not traditional sailing on a sailboat. In fact, I hardly ever remember being on boats at all - except for one whale watching excursion that didn’t go awfully well because of the weather. But even though a sailor I am not, I know one of the old adages of the sea: “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Red skies at night, sailor’s delight.”

Apparently the disciples had missed the red sky adage even in all of their experience. Or perhaps the storm came upon them without any warning at all - as sometimes it goes with nature. They had left Jesus behind to pray, with the promise that he would join them at some later time. By the time night came they knew they were in trouble, the waters were getting rough, with the waves mounting in height. Worse, there was no shore in sight, since they had rowed at least 3-4 miles into the sea.They had a problem.

One of the commentaries I read from for research for this sermon pointed out that it was very rare for storms like this to come upon the sea of Galilee. Because of its position, any storm in fact, on that particular body of water, was rare, let alone a sizable storm. Even with experienced fishermen among them, the disciples may not have known what to do. They may have become paralyzed with fear.

Then the unthinkable happened. The unexplainable. Jesus was seen walking towards them on the water. Remember there would have been very little light shining from the boat itself with only pitch blackness to surround that. And into that darkness they saw Jesus, the one they had left behind on the other shore, walking towards them on the water. They knew that people didn’t walk on water - so they became afraid. As this story goes in the gospel of Matthew, they thought that they were seeing a ghost - since that was the next logical thing that could happen next to Jesus walking on the water. 

Jesus, however, recognized their fear and spoke into the darkness, into their darkness, and said “It is I” - its the one that you know. Its the one you have been spending time with. “Do not be afraid.” - Those pesky words that show up just when the disciples, or we, should be most afraid. When Mary found out she was unwed but with child by the Holy Spirit. When Zechariah found out he was going to have a son late in life. The prophet Jeremiah when he feared how people would react to his message. Do not be afraid, in the presence of that which brings us the most fear. 

With that the disciples welcomed him into the boat, and the shore immediately came into their sight, out of the path of the storm. As this story is told in the other gospels, Jesus also invited the disciples out of the boat to walk on the water, but for a moment, lets simply sit with this particular passage as is.

Brothers and sisters, what are the storms in your life? Where are those place that perhaps you stumbled into through choices you made to go again the signs God was trying to give you  - like red skies in the morning? And where are those places when the storms of life came suddenly, and unexpectedly upon you?

My first parish had a lot to teach me about the storms of life. As a young seminarian, I was placed as the pastor of a church in State College, where part of the congregation were refuges from Hurricane Katrina. They knew about the storms of life. They had watched a literal storm sweep away their lively hood, their homes, most of their possessions, and more then a few of their neighbors and friends, who were claimed by the water and their aftermath. 

Maybe we haven’t faced the literal storm with raising water and racing wind like Hurricane Katrina, but what the other storms in your life? A medical diagnosis? A problem in your family? Financial problems? Worrying about your kids or grandkids and the decisions they make? Or perhaps you are in a relatively quiet time of your life right now, without any raging storms. Can you remember back to a time when you were afraid that the waters of life were going to sweep you under and away?

Often when we feel like the storm is at its peak, we can sympathize with the disciples. We know how they must be feeling - like they were fighting a losing battle. We can become so paralyzed by fear at times, that all we can bring ourselves to do is hunker down - not realizing that our inaction is still a choice, is still an action in and of itself. 

Its also during the storm that we can start to wonder “what if?” - “what if I would have done something differently?” or “what if I would have made a different choice?”. But “what ifs” cannot save us from the storm - only Christ can do that. Which is the miracle that took place in this passage. Jesus showed up in the most unexpected of ways at the most needed of time. We worship a Lord who walked on water and calmed the waves, not just for the disciples, but for us, here, now, today.

Unfortunately, we don’t talk about these miracle moments enough. We like to think of Jesus as someone who does kind things for others, all the while forgetting that he is the one who has dominion over even the waves in our life. In the words of Pastor Mark Batterson, “We wonder why we are board with our faith? We have given people just enough Jesus to be bored, but not enough to transfix and transform”. Brothers and sisters, our God can calm waves by his mere presence and can transform lives in a powerful way, if only we let him. 

What’s your response when Jesus shows up in the most unlikely places and times in your life? Would you be like the disciples, fearful of the presence of Jesus? Thinking that the situation you are in is not where you would expect Jesus to be? Or would you welcome him into your boat of whatever situation you may be facing? 

We live in a world where we try to explain away everything that we cannot understand - and as a result we miss out on the every day miracles of life - the times Jesus came and calmed the seas around us without us even noticing. Lets open our eyes this week. Let us pray bold prayers, that God enters into the troubled waters of our lives and stands with us, calming the seas. And let us give God all the praise for the times that God intervened in our lives in big ways, causing the waters to calm. Amen.