WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?
Luke 8:22-25
Key verse 8:25
“Where is your faith? He asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.’”
Last year was the year of the storms. There was a record of 31 hurricanes, the worst one being Hurricane Katrina which caused billions of dollars in damage and cost the lives of over 1400 people. Storms sure can be scary and deadly. No one likes to be in a storm because of the uncertainty of the damage they may cause. Two years ago, a big snowstorm hit the DC area. It happened on a Sunday. My family and I almost didn’t make it to the Center. As we got on 495 from route 66, my small car was almost side swapped by a big bus that I didn’t see. Driving was tough, but we made it. On the way back, I thought things would be easier. But instead they were worse because we were driving into the wind and the snow was blowing horizontally right at us. My windshield wipers became clogged and I could not see on 495 so I had to drive with my head sticking out of the window for most part. But thank God, he led us out of the storm.
In life we go through many storms. The storms I am talking about here are not snow storms or hurricanes. The Bible calls them trials and tests of our faith. They come in various forms such as sickness, financial, job, family, school and relationships just to name a few. When we read the Bible, from the OT to the NT, we see that God puts these storms in our life, not to give us a hard time and make life miserable for us or to punish us when we sin. Of course not, he loves us! God loves us so much that he uses these storms for his sovereign purpose so that we may know who he is and so that our faith may be mature.
In this morning’s passage, Jesus gives his disciples “storm training.” Through this event, even though it appeared life threatening, the disciples came to know the awesome and divine power of Jesus. It became undeniable to them, that Jesus is more than just a rabbi or a prophet or a teacher, because he calmed this fierce and ferocious storm. His disciples said, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Through this message, may God help each one of you to answer Jesus’ question, “Where is your faith?...” May God help you to personally accept that in the storms of life Jesus is with you and in control. May he also help you to accept that they are for your good, because God loves you and has a purpose for you. .
Part 1. The Storm (22-24a)
Let’s read verse 22, “One day Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’ So they got into a boat and set out.” Wow! To be alone with Jesus, just with Jesus on a nice boat ride across a beautiful lake! The disciples must have rejoiced to be able to finally spend some real quality time with Jesus, away from the crowds of people that always seemed to flock around the good shepherd Jesus. The weather must have been picture perfect. Not one cloud in the sky, the temperature was 75 degrees, and there was just a very slight breeze in the air. The water was blue and looked very gentle, almost like glass, as they got into their boat and set off to go to the other side of the lake, about six miles away.
Look at verse 23a, “As they sailed, he fell asleep…” This is the only mention in the Bible that Jesus slept. But it does not mean that he never slept. Now, Jesus finally could get some rest. Mark 4:38 tells us that Jesus went asleep in the stern of the boat, sleeping on a cushion. He got nice and comfortable. Sometimes we forget that Jesus also was very much human and he also needed rest, but because he was always in demand, morning, noon and night, he could hardly get much sleep, and he probably never took much of a nap. But now, this comfortable boat ride on the Lake was so peaceful and gentle, he was able to fall asleep. It reminds me of how easy it is to fall asleep when you are a passenger in a car on the highway on a long road trip. It can become very relaxing with the hum of the car engine. It is easy to doze off.
As they sailed on the Lake, the disciples felt as if they were on top of the world. How great it was to be with Jesus!! How easy this was in this boat! As they sailed they began to sing. But after they sang for a few minutes, a squall came down upon the lake. A squall is a fierce storm with strong winds that whip on the lake. The reason for such fierce winds is the surrounding landscape. The lake is 700 feet below sea level, and is fed by rivers that have cut deep ravines surrounded by flat plains that are in turn hedged in by mountains. The ravines act like wind siphons or tunnels, gathering cooler air from the mountains as it crosses the plains. When the air mass runs into the hot lake shore, violent storms are whipped up with no warning. As the squall came down on the lake, it began to whip up the water and turn the water into big waves that began to crash into their boat. As it did, water began to come over board and fill the boat. At least four of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen who had experience handling a boat in all types of weather. They tried bailing out the boat, throwing water out of the boat. It was difficult because of the winds and the waves and the boat was turning and twisting back and forth and up and down.
The more they tried, the more it seemed like a losing battle. With all their strength and all their experience, they could not keep up with the storm. They yelled at each other and screamed and began to panic, realizing their lives were in danger, realizing that they could drown any minute and die. Matthew the former tax collector, who could not swim, pictured himself floating to the bottom of the lake dying. It was at that time, they went to Jesus in panic, to wake him up. Look at verse 24a, “The disciples went and woke him up saying, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!...’” The fear of death gripped their hearts. They became paralyzed with fear that sent a terrible cold chill throughout their bodies. Here we also see that they called him “Master.” This word “master” means they respected him as their leader, but they did not know him as Lord yet, even though he had done many miracles, including raising a widow’s young son from the dead in the town of Nain. It is amazing that with all the miracles that Jesus performed they still did not believe he was Lord yet. And, after all the miracles that they saw him perform, they could not connect what he did to this event, this life-threatening storm. They were really scared out of their skin.
But what was Jesus doing as this storm raged on? What was he doing as his disciples panicked and struggled to save themselves? He was sleeping comfortably! How could he do this? Was it because he was a very heavy sleeper? Was it because he snored loudly and couldn’t hear the howling winds and waves? No, it was because he trusted in His Heavenly Father. Jesus slept peaceably because he trusted in his Heavenly Father whom he knew was in control of all things. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
Part 2. Jesus calms the storm (24b-25)
Let’s see how Jesus handled this storm. Let’s read verse 24b, “…He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided and all was calm.” Jesus did not fall into fear, panic and scream like his disciples. Instead, he got up and commanded the wind and the waves with a rebuke. In Mark 4:39, he said to the storm, “Quiet! Be still!” Then all was calm. Wow! What words of authority. Everything , even the power of nature, the winds and the waves must obey Jesus because Jesus is the Creator God who created everything from nothing, just by his words. John 1:3 says of Jesus, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
After Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waters, to show his lordship over nature, he rebuked his disciples. Look at verse 25a, “Where is your faith? He asked his disciples…” This is an interesting question. Jesus could have easily said to them, “Are you guys all right? Do you need a towel to dry off?” He could have easily sympathized with their struggle to keep from drowning. But Jesus’ question clearly pointed to their problem in this storm. It was their lack of faith.
In Matthew and Mark’s account of this event, he said, “You of little faith” and he said, “Do you still have no faith?” (Matthew 8:26, Mark 4:40). These could be stinging words to the disciples ego and it could hurt their spiritual pride. When they were with Jesus on the boat as they sailed out and everything was smooth sailing, they thought they had faith in God. They could easily and proudly say and identify themselves to others saying, “We are Jesus’ disciples! We have left everything to follow Jesus!” But now the storm clearly showed just what kind of faith they had. Shockingly Jesus said, “Where is your faith?” When someone says to you the word “Where?” It means they can’t see it or find it. Jesus could not see faith in his disciples hearts, only fear.
This made Jesus rebuke them. This is because to Jesus, our faith is the most important thing. He will do anything to help us to have faith even if it means allowing storms to come into our lives. Sometimes we are too confident in the faith that we think we have. Then the storms of life come. The storm tested and tried what faith the disciples thought they had. As they battled the storm and felt themselves losing and facing the sure possibility of dying, they gave into an overwhelming and uncontrollable fear, and fell into doubt that they would be rescued from the situation. Fear gripped and squeezed them like a boa constrictor grips its prey, holding it and squeezing the life out of it, then swallowing it. This was the fear that they were completely helpless, that they could not do anything, despite their experience and their human strength. They were thrust into an unexpected realm of human experience that they had no control over.
When fear comes to our hearts it is because at that moment our faith in God and trust in God falls short. This is after the effort that we made in our minds thinking, “God will help me immediately and now! He has too!” We want God’s immediate help. We want an immediate solution to the problem so all will be smooth and easy for us. We become like Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus lay sick and they called for Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” (Jn.11:3) They expected Jesus’ help but Jesus purposely allowed this storm of Lazarus’ death to teach them something new about him that they never knew, that he is the resurrection and the life.
But God doesn’t work or think the way we do. He is God and he sent Jesus to give us faith we lack. This faith comes from his words, which we need to consider carefully (8:18). The disciples had forgotten what Jesus had said before they got into the boat to go across the lake. Look again what he said in verse 22, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” This means that Jesus had planned to take them to the other side and to get off, back on land. Jesus had no plan to let his disciples drown because he had a purpose for them and a plan for them to be his instruments for world salvation. Especially, Jesus was with them in the boat, the whole time.
In the storms of life, we often forget that Jesus is right here with us, as we journey through our life. Like the disciples, we try to save ourselves and do whatever we can necessary, using all our experience, knowledge, wisdom and skill; relying on ourselves, in order to save ourselves and pull ourselves through. But we reach a limitation and then we panic and give into fear.
But Jesus is with us, throughout our lives because this is his promise to us. One of the greatest promises that Jesus gave his disciples before he ascended into heaven was in Matthew 28:20b, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus is with us! He is not only with us when we pray and worship and fellowship, but he is also with us in the storms of life, when problems and troubles are rising high like the waves of the sea and when the winds of problems are strong and fierce.
Our lives are in God’s loving hands, not in the hands of any of the storms of life. M.Elijah Park’s testimony about being in an airplane coming from China last year. The plane was being tossed around, people were screaming and throwing up, but he believed that Jesus was with him and would bring him back to Baltimore safely because he had prayed that morning and was convinced that God would answer his prayers. Two young women were caught and captured by the violent Taliban in Afghanistan not too much longer after 9/11. They were thrown into a cargo hold and left there over night. But instead of giving into fear, they sang hymns of praise to God. They trusted their lives in God’s hands, but death looked certain for them and any Americans. Within a few days the American forces came and they were rescued.
Our lives are like this boat ride the disciples had with Jesus. It is a journey of faith. Sometimes it is smooth sailing, other times it becomes very stormy. But no matter what may happen in our journey of faith, Jesus is surely with us and will take us over to the other side. This other side is the Kingdom of Heaven that God promises to all who have put their faith in Jesus.
But some of you might ask, “Well, if we are saved by faith in Jesus and for certain will be with him in the Kingdom of heaven one day, then why does God allow these troubles and storms to come into our life? Doesn’t he love us?” The reason that God allows such storms in our lives are for our faith to mature and to be Christ-like. God is more concerned about our character than what we do for him.
James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” When we read the Bible from the OT to the NT we see many who went through the storms of life: Joseph, Moses, David (He went through many; a man after God’s own heart), Job (!) Daniel and Paul, just to name a few.
The storms of life can grow our faith like no Bible study or fellowship meeting can, but we need to see them from God’s point of view for our own benefit. Then we can experience the grace of God. They can even teach us the compassionate heart of Jesus so we can comfort others. Paul (Not Paul Lim) wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
No one likes storms. No one says, “I hope it pours rain all day and I hope a few tornadoes come down here.” None of us would want this. If we could, if we could have it our way, we would want it to be sunny everyday. No one wants troubles or trials or looks for them. But God allows them, for our own spiritual growth, if we remember that God has a divine personal purpose for them in our life. To name just a few of the storms of life: Financial, job, school, family, sickness, and relationship problems. They come unexpectedly! We can’t track these kind of storms by using Super Doplar Radar and say, “I see the storm of sickness coming in about two days!” God never gives us a warning, but he wants us to be ready by holding onto his unconditional love and words of promise that he will be with us in every and any storm of life..
I have taken Romans 8:28 as a verse to help me go through the storms of life. It says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” I have gone through some storms in the last few years that I never would have imagined would have come. At times things felt so unbearable that I felt like I was dying inside. I felt like the disciples who said in Mark’s gospel 4:38, in the same event, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” It felt that Jesus didn’t care. But it was only through the personal study of God’s word that I saw that all these things were part of God’s sovereign plan for my life to grow my faith to be dependent on him. I could not say God doesn’t love me because this is contradictory to the Scripture, his word. I would not let this doubt enter my mind. So I could only conclude that because God loves me he has a purpose for all of these storms that I can’t see clearly right now, but later, s long as I hold onto his love, I will see.
Now look at verse 25b, “…In fear and amazement they asked one another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.’” At the moment Jesus stopped speaking, all became very calm. Their boat stopped rocking and swaying and became still. The lake became like a sea of glass. The sun came out and the sky became perfectly blue. For the disciples it was more scarier than the raging storm. Their fear came from what Jesus had just done. They had holy fear of him! Their amazement was at this great supernatural event that just occurred before their eyes. Their comment, “Who is this? He even commands the winds and the water, and they obey him” reveals that they now had reached a new revelation and insight about Jesus. “Who is this? Who can this be? Who is this that commands the winds and the water and they obey him?!”
It is clear that through this storm that the disciples came to know something about Jesus that they never knew before if they had not gone through the storm. They came to know that he is not an ordinary man, a teacher, a rabbi or even a prophet. They came to know that he is God in sovereign control over the awesome power of nature. I am sure that what had happened would later cause them to make the life giving confession that Jesus is the unique Son of God, the Christ (9:20). Then there is one thing that we can say about this storm. It was the perfect storm. The perfect storm because through this they could know the power and authority of Jesus and of course, they could know Him as later as God.
Then this storm was worth it! This storm was God’s great wisdom and love! If it takes for us to go through the storms of life to know Jesus better, then all the storms of our lives are the perfect storm.
This morning, Jesus asks each of you personally, “Where is your faith?...” Where will your faith be when you go through the storms of life? When you are faced with a life and death situation? When you are out of your comfort zone? What kind of faith will you have? Let’s personally accept the love of God when we are in the storms of life. Let’s also personally accept that he is in sovereign control and he is with us in the storms and will safely bring us to the other side, the Kingdom of Heaven.