The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
29 January, Anno Domini 2017
St. Matthew 8:23-27
Pr. Kurt Ulmer
In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Man has been able to tame and subdue many things in creation. Once wild animals have been tamed in order to serve us. Some diseases and illnesses have been eradicated while others are managed through various treatments and medicines. But, weather is different. Weather isn’t one of those things that can be tamed, no matter how well it is understood. There is nothing man can do, no law that can be passed, fine levied, or military summoned that can stop the thrashing wind, the monolithic surge of a tsunami, or the shifting and tearing of tectonic plates and faults. We can only suffer them and hope to survive them. Whether it’s a tornado, a flood, or hail, storms are some of the best reminders that, in truth, man is truly and weak and helpless. There is simply nothing we can do until the storm passes and we try to pick up the pieces of what is left if we have survived.
The Lord, on the other, can and does press the elements of wind and rain and lightening into His service as He did that day when He brought the storm against Jonah’s ship heading to Tarshish, when He appointed the giant fish to swallow Jonah whole and serve as his three-day, watery grave, and when He caused the storm to stop as soon as Jonah was thrown overboard. As the Author of the laws of nature, He can bend them according to His will as when He caused the sun to stand still as Israel defeated the Amorites or when He rained down fire and brimstone in judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. St. Matthew presents us with another such case.
It’s worth noting in today’s appointed reading from the Gospel that this is the first time the disciples have gotten in a boat with Jesus. It won’t be the last (though you can imagine they were probably a little nervous every time they did) but they were still fresh-faced disciples. They had marveled at Jesus’ teaching and witnessed Him bending nature’s laws as He healed diseases by merely speaking. Up to that point, discipleship didn’t seem such a bad thing. Faith in Jesus didn’t have a cost…yet. I imagine the weather was quite beautiful when these very seasoned fishermen followed their Lord into the boat. Sure, they knew that storms on the Sea of Galilee could come up pretty quickly at any point but hanging around Jesus, everything seemed to be sunshine and roses. After all, as long as they were with Jesus, what could possibly go wrong?
So it often is when the first seeds of faith sprout up. There is great joy and hope. Life has a whole new outlook. Jesus will make life better. We imagine that we will have it easier as a Christian because Jesus is with us. And, certainly, the Lord does promise His protection and aid at all times. He is the Lord who delivers His people. And when there isn’t anything to be delivered from, it’s quite easy to take Jesus at His Word.
But that isn’t a faith that can endure reality on this side of eternal life. That isn’t a faith that is prepared for the onslaught of Satan and the misery that he will bring in order to pull you away from Jesus. Jesus knew the great danger that lay ahead for the disciples and in love He led them into the boat and right into the storm that He had prepared for them. The budding faith of the disciples needed to be pressed and challenged so that it might be formed and tempered and hardened. He needed to expose the weakness of their faith and teach them not to be prideful, not to ever assume that they were strong.
This is, in part, why God’s children seem to suffer more than the unbelievers. Our Father loves us and is preparing us for the battle and the hardships that will, undoubtedly, come against us. Again, it’s easy to believe when the sun is shining, when we are experiencing success in our jobs, and our children are healthy. But such times in this world are fleeting and temporary. The devil cannot and will not let God’s children enjoy uninterrupted peace and will attack from every side in order to bring us into great misery and despair. If he can convince us that God has removed His love and promises (which the Lord doesn’t do) then he has accomplished his purposes.
Now, certainly, this wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill storm. The way Matthew presents it, it’s almost as if the storm overtook them before they could even find their seats. This was an act of God and all the disciples’ joy and optimism and trust in Christ vanished in the face of the waves crashing into the boat and the wind howling and swirling around them. It was almost as if all the legions of hell had suddenly been unleashed against them. No longer were the promises of God enough. The waves and the wind suddenly bore much more weight in the hearts of the disciples than anything they had heard from Jesus, who, by the way, was sound asleep in the bottom of the ship, doing nothing! Didn’t the Lord care at all?
But it wasn’t Jesus who had failed. It was the disciples, at least in part. They were certainly right to run to Jesus and implore His aid. “Save us Lord; we are perishing!” From their perspective they were as good as dead. The problem wasn’t that they prayed. The problem was that their prayer proceeded from doubt and uncertainty. They had allowed anxiety and fear to rule their hearts rather than faith in God’s Word. It is no different when it comes to our own anxiety and fear and doubt and worry. These aren’t simply medical conditions. They are also spiritual symptoms of the unbelief and weakness of faith that remain in our sinful flesh and Satan will most certainly stir them up in the fires of persecution.
Beloved, you are baptized. God the Father has promised you His love and care. He has promised you the forgiveness of all your sins. He has promised you eternal life. He has promised you the victory over death. And no matter what affliction or struggle may come against you, no matter how hopeless your situation seems, no matter how “asleep” your Lord appears to be, He will be faithful to you and deliver on every last one of those promises.
But with those promises, following Jesus into the boat, comes great danger and great enemies. There is no work of God Satan hates more than you, God’s dear children and there is nothing he will not do to snatch you out of your Father’s hand. He will send storm and sword and poverty to torment you. He will work hard to convince you that it is more than you can bear, that the ship of Christ’s promises will sink, that God has abandoned you. He will parade an endless line of temptations under your nose. He will afflict you with diseases of the body and the mind. He will never let you forget the evil thoughts that have proceeded from your heart, the evil that you have spoken with your tongue, and the evil you have done with your hand. He will remind you of all the good that you have withheld from those in need. He will stir up the whole world against Christ and His Church and you to shout you down, to intimidate you, to convince you that you should be ashamed of God’s Word.
But Satan only knows how to lie. The Lord is faithful to you and will deliver you. Put away all your doubts and fears and behold the Lord Jesus who has thrown Himself overboard as a sacrifice to God so that the raging storm of sin and death is forever silenced. His Body and Blood stand as a constant rebuke to whatever storms may come against you. You don’t need to fear. Christ is here among you. With Him you are safe. No storm or devil can harm you no matter how large or powerful they may seem. Before Christ they are nothing. They are an illusion meant to distract you from the promises of God.
It is incredibly important to note that Jesus went into the boat with them. He didn’t send them into this test of faith alone. He was very much with them to protect them and to teach them. Contrast the frantic running around and panicking of the disciples with the steady, perfect faith of Jesus who was so confident of the goodness and promises of His heavenly Father, that He would not fear or doubt even if God’s will was that He and the disciples drown that day at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee.
In Jesus, we see the picture of true faith, the faith which we ourselves are to have. But we don’t. We too need to hear the Lord’s chastisement for we have lost faith, we have doubted the love and the promises of God. We need to repent of the prideful notion that our faith is strong and that we are not in constant need of God’s mercy and deliverance, that we don’t need to hear God’s Word or receive the Means of Grace. The prayer of the disciples needs to always be on our lips not because the help of the Lord is doubtful, but precisely because the Lord’s help is a sure thing. Faith always cries out for help and for more faith, more trust in the Lord and His promises. And in His mercy, by His Holy Spirit, through His Word and the Holy Sacraments, He will most certainly save you and strengthen your faith.
In the Name of +Jesus.