Lord of the Storm!

If you’re not in Mark 4, go ahead and turn there. We’re going to be there in a moment. Next week, we’re going to be in Mark 5. Pastor Will Broadus, who is the pastor of Reconcile Community Church in West Greenville (one of our partners in our educational pods) is going to be taking us through the first section (5:1-20), where Jesus heals the man with the demon in the country of the Gerasenes. This is a great privilege next week. I hope you’ll be able to join us.

Before we look at Mark 4, at the man who calmed the sea, I want to create a storm. I want to have a little pastoral chat. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were in a restaurant. We were just there to pick up food for someone. We just wanted to get in and get out alive. A man came in without a mask, and the lady at the cash register asked him to put on a mask. He didn’t. She kept asking him, eventually gave him a mask, which he put in his pocket, and things escalated from there. He eventually stormed out.

And I have a simple request of you, if you’re a member of North Hills, don’t be that man. Please don’t be that man. I don’t know that man, so I’m not thinking of any you. I’m thinking of the theoretical man. Don’t be that man. He ruined that young lady’s day. That poor young lady at the cash register who my wife and I were counseling afterwards, he ruined her day. She was just obeying her boss who asked her to enforce a rule in a private business which was clearly defined on the door — “Masks Required.”

So, let me be clear. I’m not even debating masks right now. It’s an important discussion. We’re not having that discussion. We’re just simply saying, don’t be that man. Don’t be that man. All of us in the lobby had to go home and refresh our deodorant. It was very tense. It got so bad, it escalated so quickly, I thought I was going to have to use my Walker Texas Ranger moves to bring things under control. And you don’t want to see that.

And I understand. Please, I understand everybody’s tired of this. We’re tired of this. My wife and I had just gotten out of COVID isolation. We had COVID, so we couldn’t get it or give it. Why were we wearing masks? Because on the doorway it said, “Masks required.” You don’t have to go in that business. You can go in the woods and hunt squirrels and live off the land, and you won’t have to wear a mask. But in that business masks were required.

What does God’s Word to say about this? 1 Peter 2:11:

“[Loved ones] Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles [Notice Peter wants to remind us who we really are as citizens of the kingdom where the King of kings is calling us to live in this country where we might be… You may be a citizen of this country, but that is always secondary. You are primarily sojourners and exiles who are called by the King of kings of our country, our home country] to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers [which they will], [make sure] they see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Be subject for the Lord’s sake [Be subject not because you think it’s the best thing, but for the Lord’s sake] to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

When I walk in that restaurant, my primary identity is, I am on a mission for God. I am not merely picking up food for someone. I am on mission for God. So, whatever I do, I want it to reflect. Can you imagine that man, if he were a believer, trying to witness, share the gospel with that lady of whom her day was just destroyed and probably will be many times over.

In case we’re confused about this, in verse 17 Peter summarizes it, puts it in “tweetable” form. He just makes it super simple for those of us, “Well, I’m confused. There are so many different opinions.” Here it is.

“Honor everyone. [Even the young lady behind the cash register. Honor her.] Love the brotherhood. [Christians are going to differ on these issues, and we’re going to love each other.] Fear God. [Remember, it’s for the Lord’s sake.] Honor the emperor.”

But what if the emperor is not an emperor, he’s a governor who’s overreaching, which is happening all across our country. I’ll give you that. And not just governors, the House just passed the Equality Act (which is greatly misnamed) this week. It has nothing to do with equality. Christians, we should be all about equality if that means treating every image bearer — no matter their lifestyle, no matter their identification — with respect and dignity. We are passionate about that. We will fight for that, everyone’s rights. But this act is not about that, which is one of the reasons, oddly enough, you have these very strong feminist groups uniting with conservative groups in opposing the Act. You won’t see that normally. Because it is an assault on women’s rights. It is decimating parental authority and it sweeps the feet out from under religious freedom. My point in stating that is we need to pray about that and address that.

But simply to illustrate, if you want to be that man, something inside of you says, “I’ve got to stand for something,” there are plenty of things you can stand for. If you need a hill to die on, there are some good hills to die on today, but not a piece of cloth on your mouth. They require you to put a piece of cloth on your shoes and on your chest when you go into that business and now temporarily a piece of cloth on your mouth. Is that the hill you want to die on? Christians, please… Well, I can’t get into this. This summer, we’re going to take time in our Wisdomfest to address, when should we as believers be civilly disobedient? Because there is a time for that, isn’t there? The Scriptures are clear. You’re going to do what Peter just said, but there are times even Peter illustrated, “No more! No further! I can’t! I’m willing to go to jail. Kill me. I can’t.” The question is, brothers and sisters, if we stand for everything, when we have to stand for something, it will mean nothing. That’s what Peter’s getting at. Make sure that when you have to put a stake in the ground, it’s something you absolutely need to go down on. Not that you’re just known… Like the husbands who are control freaks, and they’re demanding their wife and their kid constantly obey them on everything, and it’s very selfish. Then when they do have to stand for something, it just means nothing. That’s what Peter is saying. Don’t be that man. Please don’t be that man. Can we agree that you’re not going to be? Amen? No, I understand it raises lots of questions, which I’m not addressing right now because we have a passage to explore.

Let’s pray. Father, we desperately need your… I need your wisdom. I stand for things that are the wrong things, and then I don’t stand for things that are the right things. Show us how to live free, truly free, but not to use our freedom just as a way of getting our way or not being inconvenient or failing to love, honor everyone. We ask that as we open your Word, you would reveal your Son to us today — the man, the God-man who calmed the sea, the Lion who is the Lamb. We want to see you, Jesus. We see you coming with your hair white as snow, your eyes like flame, your feet like burnished bronze, your voice like the roar of many waters. You command the storm. You rule and reign over all creation. You are the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Governor of governors. You hold seven stars in your right hand. You command the angels who are over the churches. From your mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword. May your Word this morning be living and active and pierce us, we pray. Your face is like the sun shining in full strength. And we pray that as we bathe in your presence this morning, you would melt away our sin, melt away our stubbornness. Fill us with your Spirit, your presence. And may we see your Son as he really is. We ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus does four surprising things with the storm. He chooses, snoozes, defuses, and uses. Okay, it’s a little corny, but he does that with the storm. Let’s look at those each one at a time — chooses, snoozes, defuses, uses.

First of all, he chooses. Jesus chooses to take them through the storm. Verse 35,

“On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.”

Not sure what that means, but remember, he had been teaching in the boat. So, he didn’t get his bathing suit on, didn’t change his robe, just as he was, took off.

“And other boats with him [There’s a flotilla. Verse 37]. “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.”

So, as we’ve seen the last two weeks, he’s been teaching all day by the sea. He was training them to listen through parables. And now he moves from teaching to testing, from the classroom to the field trip, from hearing to doing. He could have led them around the lake. He could have waited to cross when he knew there wouldn’t be a storm, but he led them into the storm. How does that jive with your theology? Some of us think that if we obey Jesus carefully enough, he will always lead us through calm waters. And if we are currently in rough waters, it is probably because we disobeyed him. Maybe. But these disciples are in a storm because they obeyed him. He was the one who said, “Let’s go. Let’s go across.” He chooses to take them through the storm. “Let us go across to the other side,” on mission to the Gentiles.

Number 2, Jesus snoozes in the middle of the storm. Verse 38, Jesus snoozes in the middle of the storm.

“But he was in the stern [the back], asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’”

Now, the storms on the Sea of Galilee could be sudden and fierce, 5-10 foot waves, which is big for a lake. The boat was being tossed like a toy, and Jesus was sound asleep. “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” That word is interesting, that word “care.” It’s the same word that is used in the passage we memorized. Remember when the pandemic began, we soaked in 1 Peter 5:7,

“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he [what?] cares.”

It’s interesting that Peter wrote that. Remember, the gospel of Mark is most likely the account written by Mark from Peter. Peter in the boat. Teacher, do you not care? It seems like you don’t care. It seems as if you did care, you would do something right now. And later, Peter says, “Hey, you can cast your anxieties on him, because I know for a fact he does care even when it seems like he doesn’t care.”

A few weeks ago, I was reading in Psalm 11:4, “His eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.” That’s interesting. That just really jumped out to me. And it might mean, it’s a Semitic way of saying vision. He sees. We’re tested by his divine vision. But the word eyelids is literally the word eyelids. It’s not eyeballs, it’s eyelids. And so perhaps what is being said is not only his seeing tests us, but his sleeping tests us, when it appears that his eyelids are closed.

That can be discouraging. Have you ever preached, and you look out and all you see is eyelids? No. In many ways I understand. People are super busy. They’re exhausted. We were dumb enough to make comfortable chairs. But what can be discouraging is when you’re just starting your sermon, you haven’t even got into your introduction, and you look out and you see eyelids. You haven’t even given me a chance. That’s not on me. Speaking for myself, when I am passionate about a word that I believe God has for us, and I look out and I think, “Hey, this is the one time I don’t want to see eyelids.” That feeling, the disciples were feeling that. God, we’re looking to you at a moment of crisis and we don’t want to see eyelids. I need to see your eyeballs. I need to know you’re looking. I need to know you care. I need to know you’re not sleeping. The psalmist knew this. That’s why he cried out, verse 23 of chapter 44,

“Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?”

(Sermon audio missing here.)

“Where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms. When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption? If you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be — or so it feels – welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is in vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and the sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become.” C.S. Lewis

Jesus snoozes in the storm. And then number 3, Jesus defuses the power of the storm. Verse 39.

“And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

So, from a deep sleep he woke up and he “rebuked the wind.” Now think about that. If you haven’t been in church super long, that’s going to sound really weird. He’s talking to wind. Now, we do that, don’t we? We talk to our computer screen, choice words when it’s not cooperating. We might say some things we regret to our lawnmower when it won’t start. But generally speaking, it doesn’t help get our lawn mowed. Because our words, yes, carry a level of power, and we can actually hurt people with them. But this is different. He’s talking to wind and waves. And like a switch being flipped, the wind suddenly stops. And the waves didn’t just continue to rumble until they … No, they laid … Immediately they were flat, like glass. The wind, the waves suddenly calmed down, stopped. You could hear the dripping off the mast. Everyone froze.

The word he uses there “to be still” literally is to be muzzled, be silent. The only other time we see that command in Mark, is in Mark 1:25 when Jesus told demons to be silent, to be muzzled. So, clear communication going on here. Jesus isn’t just authoritative over the demonic world. He is authoritative over creation, over everything, everyone he made. He rules over them. Jesus (number 3) defuses the power of the storm with a word. Number 4… I mean, who does that except the one who spoke them into being with a word?

Number 4, Jesus uses the message from the storm. Verse 40.

“He said to them, ‘Why?’ [Now, just picture the scene. He’s just done this; all the disciples are frozen. You hear the dripping off the mast.] “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” [It’s one thing to hear teaching, but now Jesus is taking the teaching from their ears deep into their hearts. Verse 41] “They were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’”

Now, notice what’s happening. The disciples here are more terrified of Jesus than they were of the storm. It says they were afraid of the storm, seasoned fishermen afraid of the storm. But they are filled with what kind of fear? Great fear of Jesus. Because the storm in the sea has now gone into their souls. Who is this? Jesus is using the storm as a stage to reveal himself to his disciples. In that day, the sea represented chaos and uncontainable power. That’s why in Revelation 13, the beast rises up from the sea. But Jesus, in his human weakness, remember, he’s wiping sleepies out of his eyes. Even in his human weakness, he is more powerful than all the forces around us of chaos. He is truly the Son of God, and he leaves his disciples asking the question in verse 41, “Who is this?” We knew he was a great teacher, but who does this?

Notice the question they’re asking, which I think is super relevant for us when we’re in the middle of storms. We are always asking questions like: Why am I in this? What am I going to do? How do I get out of this? But often we fail to ask the most important question, the question that should be most prominent in our minds. Who is Jesus in this storm? Who? Who is this? Kittle writes,

“Who is this who in the middle of the storm stands at one and the same time with his own and also at the side of God? Who is this, in whom God’s creative and redeeming power invades the world of chaos and snatches people from its destructive force?”

Who is this God-man? He is Lord of the storm.

This past week I was listening to Sandy Wilson tell about a story I hadn’t heard for a long time. I  remember reading it years ago. I’d forgotten about it. But it was about Jim and Elisabeth Elliot before they got married, obviously before Jim was martyred. They were single missionaries — Jim in Ecuador, Elisabeth in Peru. And Elisabeth spent the year learning the language with a language helper, translating among the Colorado Indians in Peru. At the end of that, after about a year, a little more than a year, her language helper was murdered. She felt like, “I need to get a break.” So, she boarded a bus, they put the luggage on top in the luggage rack, went to Quito to meet Jim. When she got to Quito, her luggage had been stolen. Now imagine this. You spend an entire year working out this alphabet, beginning to translate the Bible, working with this valuable language helper. The language helper gets murdered. All your translation work, the alphabet, everything was in the luggage that gets stolen. You have nothing.

Aren’t those the hardest storms to deal with? It’s like, “God, this doesn’t even make sense! What are you doing? Are you asleep at the wheel?” And she wrote this of that time.

“It is in accepting what God has given that God gives himself.”

It is in accepting what God has given that God gives himself. Just take that in. Language helper murdered, everything I’ve given myself to gone, luggage gone. I feel very betrayed by you, God, and yet you’re giving yourself. That will force us to ask the question: Who is this? Quicker than anything. Who is this?

Let’s review and apply these four things: chooses, snoozes, defuses, uses. Number 1, Jesus could take us around the storm, but he takes us through it. There’s a fascinating parallel story in Psalm 107, just making sure we don’t miss the fact that only God can create calm, dominate, rule over storms. Jesus is God. Soak in that passage in your notes there, Psalm 107:23-32.

Secondly, Jesus seems to be absent in the storm, but he’s with us in it. When he seems to be snoozing during a pandemic, or when we’re battling bone cancer, facing deep loss. Isaiah 43, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” We specifically prayed last night in our prayer meeting for those of you who right now feel like you’re looking at God’s eyelids. Do you even care? Do you see what I’m going through? I don’t know if I can keep going. I feel invisible, forgotten. What are you doing? That today, the Word of God by the power of the Spirit of God would say very clearly to your heart, “I am with you. I don’t just see you from a distance. I’m with you.”

Number 3, Jesus feels to us (as to the disciples) like a victim of the storm (He was tossed, he was soaked.) but he is the ruler over it. He is the one who, Psalm 107, “made the storm be still.” And some of us today desperately need a “peace be still” miracle from God.

And number 4, Jesus could remove our fear of the storm, but he replaces it. He replaces it with himself. This is a form of fighting fear with fear. Does that make sense? Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “Don’t fear the one who can only kill your body. Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” What is he doing there? He’s fighting fear with fear. When you stand in awe of God, you will not stand in awe of a storm. Some of us are standing in awe of storms because we’ve taken our eyes off of Jesus. I’m not saying we’ll never battle fear. The disciples illustrate, and the Bible promises we’re going to struggle with fear. But let’s replace fear with fear. Let’s be so full of an awe of Jesus Christ that whatever is going on down here will be seen through his eyes. That’s where he ends. You notice the disciples… If you’re preaching a sermon from this passage, “Hey, brother, hey sister, don’t worry. Jesus always calms your heart.” No, actually, the disciples at the end of the story have hearts that are less calm. They are exploding in awe of Jesus, which puts the storm into perspective. Some of us are afraid of what people think, and the solution isn’t to try to think less about people, it’s to think more about God. Replace that awe, that fear.

So, take a moment right now and look at those four. If you have the notes, you’ll see passages that we don’t have time to explore right now, but that you can explore this week. But take a moment to locate yourself in this. Where am I right now? Which of these am I having the most difficult time with? And let’s respond to the Spirit right now. We’ll have a chance to respond collectively as we cry out to him in a few minutes. But let’s just quietly, what is the Spirit saying to you right now? Some of you, you need to hear the answer to the question, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Jesus, you are human like us. You were wet and sleeping and tossed about in the storm. You were with your disciples. But then you also plant your footsteps in the sea, and you ride upon the storm. You rule and reign as a Lord of the storm. Forgive us, Lord, when we have a puny view of you. Thank you, Jesus, that you have taken our greatest storm upon yourself on the cross. You absorbed the winds of judgment, the waves of wrath, the terror of the curse for us. When you rose, you were crying out, “Peace be still.” You bring shalom, wholeness. You’re making all things right, reconciling all things to yourself.

Father, help us stand in awe of you more than we stand in awe of storms. And even as we pray for that, Lord, we remember our brothers and sisters who are in the kinds of storms we can’t even imagine — villages being attacked in Nigeria, brothers and sisters being imprisoned in North Korea. We imagine them all over the world. Some of them are sitting in a cell corner this morning saying, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” We ask by your Spirit, they would know right now that you do. Like Peter in Acts 12, who knew what it was like to ask that question, but then right before he was to be executed, he slept between two guards. He slept in the storm because he knows you care. May our brothers and sisters know you care. May we in the midst of the storm… Some of these storms, Lord, you’re going to end soon. Some of them you’re going to call us to walk through long term. But may we know that you are with us. You will never forsake us. Your eyes are wide open. May we cast our anxieties on you. Lord, you are taking your church to the other side, through the storm, to the lost, to the demonic, to the Gentiles, to those who need to hear. And if you’re with us we will not fear the storm. We thank you in Jesus’ name, amen.