The sermon for January 29 was based on Matthew 8:23-27.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.  

When I was a boy my father was killed in a boating accident. He died when our family sailboat was rammed by a motor boat but not before throwing my little brother and sister overboard and saving their lives. A few years later, my brother and I were sailing on lake Erie and he was overcome by terror. He knew that it was possible to die on the water and He knew that God was real. What He didn't know was whether or not God was going to let us die the way He had let our father die.

The uncertainty was terrifying to my little brother and it was all he could do just to huddle near the mast and burry his head in his hands. The uncertainty was worse, he says, than actually being shipwrecked. The truth of the matter is that we have no guarantee that God is going to spare us the agonies of life in this fallen world. We have His word, in fact, that He will not. All we can do is trust that He will take care of us in spite of our difficult circumstances.

Like my brother, the disciples in our Gospel's storm tossed little boat were afraid of dying at sea. The waves were overwhelming their boat and there was nothing they could do to get out of the storm. I'm sure they did everything they knew to do. I'm sure they let down the sails and tried to navigate according the waves but evidently things were going so badly that they became desperate. What do you suppose they thought of Jesus who slept through their anxious struggle? What would you think of a man who claimed to have the power to save who napped through you struggle for life? Would you think Him selfish or fraudulent or mad? Would you resent Him or be angry with Him or would you feel the need to quickly win His favor so that He would help?

You don't have to speculate. You've been in enough storms of one kind or another to ask yourself what your attitude toward God has been during those times. Some of us shake our fists at God and demand to know why He seems to be sleeping through our anguish. Others of us prefer to take matters into our own hands and be our won Gods. I speak whereof I know in this matter. My own temptation when confronting the storms of life is to make myself completely weatherproof and to prevent the storms from occurring in the first place. We are, of course, utterly incapable of doing either of these things. No matter what we do we are going to be vulnerable to the ravages of sin, whether our own or of those around us. And there is nothing we can do to keep people from hurting us or the ones we love. Neither can we keep from hurting ourselves and the ones we love. We are all trapped in the same slowing sinking boat.

But in our desperation we do all kinds of crazy sinful things. The husband caught up in a stormy marriage will threaten to divorce his wife and thereby ruin what is left of their trust and scar their children with his sinful and selfish attempt to save himself from further pain, to say nothing of the one who actually goes through with such a devilish course of action. Some people hide from the storms that plague them by turning to drugs or alcohol or food or some other addiction. Some people lash out in anger and blame everyone around them for the waves that are crashing over them. Some desperately overwhelmed people actually turn violent and give physical expression to the devils within them. All of us though are tempted to do for ourselves what we think God should be doing for us.

Whether we feel the need to tell God what to do for us, like the disciples in the boat, or whether we just try to do if for ourselves, Jesus answer is the same. "I've got it. What are you so worried about?" Storms, trials, tribulations, heartaches and griefs all call for the same response, faith in the goodness and mercy of God. Trials and tempests are nothing more than mere circumstances, it is our lack of faith that makes them terrifying. I am never more afraid than when I forget that God is with me even in the valley of the shadow of death.

Sometimes we are afraid for our lives, as when we are severely ill or in danger. Usually we are afraid of suffering and being miserable. Like my little brother on the sailboat we are aware that God lets people suffer. We are unaware of why or to what end. Sometimes God spares us the suffering we dread. Sometimes He pours it on. In either case, He does what is best for us. He does what we need Him to do, even and sometimes especially when it isn't what we want Him to do. If we are spared it is because Jesus has deflected suffering away from us and if we are allowed to suffer Jesus stands with us and guides us through the pain to a new and better life.

There are two truths here. One, life is hard and sometimes even brutal. Two, Jesus loves us and is with us always working things to our good. Jesus uses the pain of life to transform us and when we are transformed the world around us seems different to us. The man whom Jesus encourages to stand by his wife even when doing so breaks his heart becomes a better man and that in turn becomes a blessing to his family and they in their turn become blessings to others. The woman who accepts her guilt when she is tempted to blame it one someone else becomes a stronger woman and a more capable servant. The one who turns away from violence becomes a powerful voice for peace, and so on. The suffering of the faithful makes them stronger.

We may feel that God is absent, that Jesus is negligent, that the Holy Ghost is asleep at the helm but He isn't. Jesus loves us so much that He gets right in the same boat we're in just to be with us. He comes into our world at Christmas. He comes into our lives at Baptism. He comes into our bodies in Holy Communion. He comes into our daily interactions with His holy, inerrant and inspired Word and through these Means of Grace He forgives all our sins, even our doubt and anger and unbelief. He forgives us for forgetting that He is always working for our good.

The good news for those of us who believe that Jesus lived and died to forgive our sins is that we are no longer required to the our own gods. We no longer need to try to master the universe and everyone in it. We no longer have to fear the circumstances in which we find ourselves, whether that be at home or work or church or even in the privacy of our own thoughts. All we have to be is what we were created to be. A man has his vocation and his work as a husband, father and son. A woman has her husband and her work as a mother, daughter and sister. We need to do what we were created to do and let God do what He has promised to do.

The duties of a sailor in a storm at sea are exactly the same as they are for everyone else in the world. Do the very best you can right now and let God be God. You can trust God to take care of you. The disciples were terrified that Jesus would let the drown. He didn't. He rebuked them for even thinking such a thing and then He gave them a reason to have confidence in Him. He calmed the storm so that they could see He was trust worthy. And in doing so He strengthened their faith so that when they got to the real moment of crisis they would be able to handle it. All of the Apostle were martyred. Part of what made them able to face death so boldly and to the benefit of all who look to their example is the suffering that Jesus allowed them to go through on the way to their final moment of confession. The bedrock conviction of the genuine saint is not that life is fair but rather that God is good.

For the brokenhearted husband or wife, resist the devil when he lures you toward the abyss of divorce because God has a plan for you. To the put upon employee, do your duty and trust in God to bless you and reward your good work. To the overwhelmed and terrified child, know that God will never leave you, no matter how frightening the weather of your life.

God is with us and He is our champion. If we suffer, it is for our good. If we are spared, that too is for our good. God loves us more than we know and we are happiest and most useful to our fellow men when we let Him be Himself and limit ourselves to being what He has made us to be. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008