Rev. Rob Henderson
Shelby Wesleyan Church
48 Ferry
Shelby, MI 49455
231-861-5375
https://www.angelfire.com/mi2/robhenderson/
robnaomi@oceana.net
Mark 4:36
June 25, 2000 am
In 1985 Tropical Storm Isabel steered towards the Florida coast gaining strength as she passed through the Caribbean sea. Naomi and I lived in a tin-can trailer and were closely watching the weather forcast and trying to decide what we needed to do to avoid the problems that would come with a possible hurricane. I had put hurricane straps on the trailer just a few weeks after moving in and so we knew it wasn’t going anywhere. but we also knew that we wouldn’t be safe. So we went to my boss’s house. There we played Monopoly and partied until the all clear signal was given. Isabel had went out to sea to never be heard from again.
There was an air of anticipation in our community during that time and we were both afraid and excited simutaneously. But in all seriousness, we understood the dangers that even a tropical storm can bring.
I understand from research that the Sea of Galilee has been known to have storms that suddenly spawn out of nowhere and catch unwary fisherman. Perhaps this is what occurred that dreadful day when one moment Jesus decides to take a nap and the disciples are enjoying the boating adventure and then in a heartbeat the weather changes and their lives are in peril.
Sound familiar?
When we are going along like a steady river all of a sudden our world can come crashing down. I saw the photograph of Deborah Day, the young wife of a military pilot leaning in anguish on her husband’s casket as “the Missing Man” formation was flown by F-14 pilots. Only a few days before life was going along just fine. And then, tragically, her husband had died in an air-show accident. Death can come suddenly sending a whole family into chaos and uncertainty. Nothing will never be the same.
A storm without warning.
Alfred Tennyson wrote these words after the death of a close friend. He was expressing a wishful hope that there is something better to look forward to:
Behold, we do not know anything;
I can but trust that good hall fall
At last- far off- at last, to all
And every winter change to spring.
So runs my dream; but what am I?
An infant crying in the night;
An infant crying in the light;
And with no language but a cry.
And isn’t that how human suffering strikes? Without warning and without the alarms; life deals you a bad hand and you pay the price.
There are many here this morning who are hurting in some significant way. You are suffering from frustrating physical limitations. You can no longer get through the day without some kind of medication. You long for the day to wake up and have need of nothing. Some here are frustrated because you can no longer do the things you used to do.
Some are hurting as you see your loved ones hurt. Perhaps the worst kind of hurt is when a loved one suffers and you can do nothing. When a grandparent forgets who you are or a friend in a car accident suffers you are hurt and worst yet, you can do nothing but watch.
Storms without warning. Gale force winds that take your tiny ship and toss it all about. Torrential rains that dampen your spirits and drown your soul. And rising tides that threaten your house built upon a rock.
What are we to do when the forces of this world seem overwhelming? What are we to do when the winds and the waves crash all around us? Where do we go?
36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
MK 4:39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
MK 4:40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
MK 4:41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
The storm that may be looming off the coast of your life can take on various forms.
I saw a church sign in Cadillac with the words from a very familiar Christian song: “At the end of broken dreams people need the Lord.”
Are you holding broken dreams in your hands? Hopes that have been dashed by irresponsibility? An idea that sounded good but now...
Failures are something we never get to talk about. What about the failure of a business? I worked for a company that went belly up. I got out before things went bad. Naomi’s brother was the last man standing as they closed the doors one last time. He saw the owner cry in those last days as equipment and supplies were being seized by creditors. The failure of a dream is a hell all too real to those who have dared.
What about the failure of a marriage? With the desperation for relationships we as a society have become gun-shy when it comes to marriage. More and more couples are opting for co-habitating instead of marriage. Rather than as a church condemning a fornicating lifestyle of living in sin- and it is- maybe we need to find out why so many are afraid of marriage. I have heard many who have personally told me that they can’t get along married but live together just fine without the strains of commitment. Those who have been through a divorce know what a hell on earth is all about. The failure of a marriage is a terrible storm to have to endure.
How about failure in our spritual life? We have Americanized Christianity enough that we are not to fail as Christians. To fail God is not simply unbiblical but un-American. And in our holiness circles we must cover up our failure so that we are not looked down upon by our counterparts across the aisle who quite likely have failed God too at some point in their life. Those who have tragically failed God and had the guts to face the issue will admit that it was hell. And maybe some of you face that now. You struggle with a pornography addiction or some other hidden sin and every time you feel like a failure. You are living a secret hell and nobody knows the storm that swirls around your life.
Failure is unacceptable in America. Afterall, we are the land of opportunity where we are promised Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. We are a nation loaded with success stories of common people rising to the top and achieving the unbelievable. No one is expected to fail.
But yet millions do- every day. An unexpected pink slip after the car is bought, a demotion instead of a promotion, divorce instead of happiness.
You and me and our neighbor.
How are we to cope when the storm of failure strikes?
So many suffer from physical distress. Illnesses has all but crippled you. Disease has racked your body and mind. Sickness leaves you weak and vulnerable. Factor in old age and it’s very easy to become depressed and morose about the future.
The general and gradual results of living takes its toll on all of us. That crick in between my shoulder blades gets more painful more often. The bum knee doesn’t respond to medicine like it used to. Our faces become weathered and worn with the worries of life and the fall-out of just getting old- or raising teenagers.
What do we do as we come to the close of life itself? The storms of pain and suffering remind us that despite how easy life can be that in the end we face the certainty of death. We seem to be born to die. And in that final storm with all of its fury our eyes will eventually close and our final breath taken.
And through it all, through all the storms of tragedy that come our way, through the storms of failure, and through the storms of dying we hear deep within our souls that still small voice of our Savior: “Peace. Be still.”
I had a friend helping roof a house in Muskegon. As we pounded nails and hurried along the rain arrived. We kept working. We were not going to allow a little water to rush us off of the roof. After about ten minutes of wet roofing John announces to me that he has just prayed for the rain to stop. He then says, “Peace, be still.”
It began to rain harder. We quit and got off of the roof.
So many times in the midst of our storm we shout “Peace, be still” and nothing happens. We excersice faith in the tempest but nothing changes.
Our faith needs to be stronger, we tell ourselves. Just believe, we preach. I’m trusting in the Lord, we pray. But the tide has become ever deeper and we find the accuser standing nearby, mocking us.
Satan is alive and well on planet earth. He goes to and fro seeking whom he may devour. His goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. He stands day and night, accusing the brethren. He wants you to believe that God does not exist. He wants you to believe that God does not hear your cries. He wants you to believe that God does not care.
What storm are you going through today?
Perhaps you are encountering a family circumstance that is more than you can bear. Maybe a loved one is slipping away and there is nothing you can do. You hurt to see them hurt. It pains you to watch them in pain. In the midst of the storm you want to hear our Lord say “Peace. Be still.”
Maybe you are going through a tough time dealing with a relationship with someone. You want to do the right thing but you are sick to your stomach over it. You wanted to say the right words but they came out wrong. Comments were made and tempers flared. And now a storm is brewing. You long to hear those words from Jesus, “Peace. Be still.”
Maybe you are facing uncertainty. Tests and more tests. The tests won’t say and the doctors don’t know. You are frustrated and confused. You wonder “Why me, God?” And while you are tossed on the stormy seas you long to hear the words of your Savior, “Peace. Be still.”
Woudn’t it be wonderful to wake up one morning and not have to take a pill? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to wake up and not have to see the doctor? Or go to the hospital for tests? And be able to spend the money you are saving on something fun.
During the storm I want to hear those words, “Peace. Be still.” Three words that assure me of God and his love for me.
I want to close with three truths that I trust will give a place to rest in until the storm passes by.
1. Realize that God is there.
The world would want you to believe that God has abandoned you and left you for dead. The world would want you to believe that the trinity composed of the doctors, insurance companies, and the government are the Godhead. God has not abandoned you. God is there for you. He is very real, very personal, and very much alive.
2. Realize that God is there and He is not silent.
When you pray to God you are not telling him something that he doesn’t already know. So why pray? Why pray when God already knows what we are going to say?
Prayer is an expression of our your faith. God is not some far off God. Our Savior is not a savior who died for someone else. The Holy Spirit is not just simply a work of grace that strengthens others. Our faith brings life to our prayers. A faithless prayer is mumbo-jumbo. We can pray with faith knowing that He is there and He is not silent. God will answer.
And maybe the answer is not what we expected.
We fall into the danger of just simply accepting the things that we cannot change. Well, duh, we can’t change a lot of things. Can we, for a moment, accept the things that God says He will not change?
Or perhaps God’s answer rests on your choices. If you have a sin addiction then your choices will either curtail the storm or cause it to intensify. Your choice.
Or maybe, God will choose to heal you. Either in this world or the next.
When you pray be assured that He is not silent.
3. Realize that God is there, He is not silent, and He cares.
Unlike the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, our Savior is not made of stone. The statue may stand ninety feet and overlook the city of Rio de Janeiro but my Lord looks through all of creation right down to my place in this world. My Savior reached into my life and performed the greatest miracle by transforming a sinner’s heart through the cleansing power of His blood on the cross. Jesus cares so much for you that He died for your sins so that you could spend eternity in heaven where there will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain.”
God cares. He cares for you and the storm you are facing. He longs to say “Peace. Be still.”
C.S. Lewis had this to say concerning suffering and I trust that they give us hope:
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
I hope and pray that in the storm you are going through that you will take time to hear the voice of God. He is there, He is not silent, and He cares.
He wants to say to your storm: PEACE. BE STILL.
’TIL THE STORM PASSES BY
Mosie Lister
”In the dark of the midnight Have I oft hid my face
While the storm howls above me, And there’s no hiding place.
’Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry,
”Keep me safe, ‘til the storm passes by.”
”refrain
’Til the storm passes over, til the thunder sounds no more
’Til the clouds roll forever from the sky.
Hold me fast let me stand, In the hollow of Thy hand;
Keep me safe, ‘til the storm passes by.”
