Way back in the beginning the first Christians were Jewish, and they saw no reason to depart from Judaism. Though they were believers in Jesus (and followers of Jesus), they continued to meet for worship in the synagogues with the others in their community. They were serious about following Jesus, but were happy enough to remain where they had always been.
All of that quickly changed around AD 70 when the great Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The Jews asked themselves in effect (as people often do in times of tragedy),“what have we done to deserve this?” and concluded that maybe they had become lax in their faith and God was angry with them. So they looked at possible reasons. In the end it was decided to show the Jesus people the door. And so the early Christians were expelled, and found themselves a separate group.
That was a scary time for the Christians, for despite the fact that Judea was under Roman occupation, the Romans permitted the Jews to practice their own faith as long as it didn’t seem to clash with the Emperor too much. So Judaism was tolerated and protected. It was a recognised, official religion. But no such protection was offered to this new group – the Christians. They weren’t recognised. And it was not long before persecution began. Nothing like having a strange new group to blame everything for. So even at this early stage Christians were being misunderstood and misrepresented. Worse still, they were starting to encounter active hostility and opposition.
It was at this time that Matthew wrote the gospel. It was written to a church that was starting to find its feet and at the same time realising that being a Christian could be very hazardous to health.
And the story we heard today was one that was especially treasured by that early community. One of the first symbols of the church was the boat. And when Matthew relates this story again he’s not just trying to tell the world about something that happened on one day only. He is trying to write to encourage the church – to help them see that though they may feel they are in deep water and in a sorry predicament, there is one they can rely on to see them through the storm.
Once, the disciples were caught up in a terrible storm, out in their boat, battling for their lives. Then Jesus comes to them, through that storm. In their fear, they can’t believe what they are seeing. Jesus reassures them. “Courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid!”
Now, as I said, the point of the story is not to describe a one-off event. The point of the story is that Jesus still comes to help us in times of storm.
The American writer Garrison Keiller once spoke about a terrible snowstorm that affected the country in 1964. He had to go out in his car. The sky was dark, the snow was blinding, and he had to drive with his door open, looking down at the ground following the tyre tracks he could see there. Only after about 2 miles did he realise that the tracks he was following were being made by his own front wheel!
Storms can be very scary. They can come from nowhere. They can threaten our very lives. But not all storms are to do with weather.
Maybe the storm is the unexpected day we get the bad news from the doctor.
Or it’s the worry over our son who is heading out of control.
It’s the moment our supervisor informs us of redundancies.
It’s that morning that our husband tells us he wants a divorce.
It’s the car crash that leaves us disabled.
The fire that burns down our home.
The news that our wife has died.
Maybe it’s a combination of some of these (and similar) awful events.
On those days, the sun may be shining. But the storms have come to us.
If that happens to us (or when that happens – because storms come to every life) there are some things we should know. First thing is this. When we are in a storm Jesus comes to us.
Just as he came to the disciples in their trouble, he draws near to us.
Maybe not exactly in the way we would like. We kind of want Jesus to magic away the storm – make it go away – we want Jesus to remove all our problems and worries and just iron everything out.
But just as Jesus never promised that his followers would be immune to trouble, neither does Jesus promise to magic it all away. What Jesus does promise is this. To be with us. To comfort us. To give us the resources we need to get through the storms safely to the other side.
The author Robert Capon says that most of us would like to think of Jesus coming to the rescue is a heavenly tow truck, offering us hot chicken soup as he tows us to safety. In reality, Capon writes, Jesus does come to us in the storm, and he sits and suffers with us until the storm has passed.
Jesus may not change the storm. He may change us. Give to us a peace and calm despite the trouble. And give to us the resources to cope with the storm.
Lyn (our current assistant minister) and I were in Edinburgh last Monday night to hear an interview with Gene Robinson, the American Bishop of New Hampshire, who has been in the centre of the row currently splitting the Anglican Church. When it was announced that he was to be nominated as the new bishop, and that he was gay, some others in the church went into overdrive to try and oppose it. Charges were brought against him to try and prevent the consecration. He was accused of improper behaviour towards someone, and of being linked to a pornographic website. Now he knew the charges were untrue, but he had to remain shut away in a hotel room whilst there was an investigation by the Church. Gene spoke about a priest that brought him (at this very dramatic time) a piece of calligraphy that said:
“Sometimes God calms the storm.
And sometimes God lets the storm rage and calms his child.”
Thinking about that time, in his book, here is something he wrote…
“A day or two later, I received a photograph from a fellow priest of the diocese – a weather satellite photo taken miles above a huge hurricane in the Atlantic. In the centre of that terrible and fierce storm was a tiny pinpoint of blue calm. That is where I have tried to put myself ever since my life changed. But the fact of the matter is that I cannot live in the eye of the storm on my own. I can’t get myself there or keep myself there. Only God can bring me to that place of peace and sustain me there. Only God can calm me and soothe me when hatred and vitriol come my way. Only God can persuade me to not to step into the powerful winds swirling around me; when I do, only God can keep me from being swept away by their destructive power.”
(Gene Robinson: In the Eye of the Storm p2)
When we are in a storm Jesus will come to us. We can rely on Jesus for support.
Here is another thing to remember. All storms end. All storms come to a close eventually. Life may be like a storm for you right now. You may be going through a tough time. You may feel like you are that wee boat struggling in the waves. You may be discouraged, lonely or afraid. Or all three. And the storm you face may have been raging for some time now. But, whatever the storm, sooner or later all storms pass. Eventually the storm will be over and the sun will be shining once more. It is vital that we never forget that.
One last thing. Amazing as it must have been, to witness Jesus walking on water, there is a point where we read that Peter walks on water too. Jesus invites him to take that step of faith. Jesus calls him out of the boat. When he looks at Jesus all is well - when he looks at the waves around him he begins to sink. Here is another message for the church. There’s a great verse in Hebrews (12:2) which says this:
“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,
on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.”
We always have a choice about where we focus. We can focus on Jesus or we can stare at the storm. We can concentrate on God and look out for God’s support, or we can keep ruminating on our worries and woes. If we spend all our time dwelling on our difficulties we are likely to sink, but if we open ourselves to God, it is amazing the storms we can weather.
This is true not just for us in our personal lives. It’s true for us in the church as a whole. We face many difficulties these days. We don’t have our troubles to seek. In our country we may have had to face indifference from many. But these days there is a growing hostility towards faith. And, as I mentioned last week, Christianity is increasingly misrepresented and misunderstood.
If all we do is look at the problems and complain about our lot, then our future is bleak indeed. If that is our response then we will surely sink. But if we keep our attention on Jesus, then we have nothing to fear, because Jesus is the one who can conquer the storms. Jesus needs to be at the centre. Jesus needs to be at the heart of everything. Jesus needs to be our focus. With Jesus, we can face all the storms of life, and come through them to where God wants us to be.