The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 8:23-27

In Christ Jesus, who sees our troubles even when He appears to be sleeping, and who comes to save us even though it seems like we are alone, dear fellow redeemed:

We don’t exactly know how things played out in the boat with Jesus and His disciples. But it seems clear that they didn’t go to Jesus for help until things had gotten really bad. Before this, they thought they could handle the situation. They were expert fishermen after all, and this was their sea. They had sailed through all sorts of conditions on the Sea of Galilee, and it had never dished out more than they could take.

These seasoned men were keenly aware of changes in the weather. They noticed variations in the wind, temperature drops and rises, and what to watch for at different times of the year. As the wind started picking up, they may have rowed a little harder or changed their trajectory to get to land sooner. Then the wind got stronger, the waves rose higher, and the boat started to fill with water. So they started bailing water—they knew what to do!

But as conditions worsened, they realized they were no longer in control. They were at the mercy of a raging sea, and neither their knowledge nor their strength could save them anymore. It was then—and only then—that they cried out to the Lord for help. How bad do things have to get before you pray? I’m not saying you don’t pray—I know you do pray regularly. But when things are going badly, is prayer your first order of business? Or is it something to try when all else has failed?

There is a certain confidence we have when we face challenges in familiar settings. We might think that we have weathered plenty of storms before in our homes, in the workplace, or even at church. We can handle whatever comes our way. We’re ready for whatever happens. But then a big storm arises. We didn’t expect the diagnosis of a terminal disease. We didn’t expect the serious injury. We didn’t expect the attacks from our co-workers or our fellow Christians. We didn’t expect the place we knew so well to become all of a sudden so treacherous, so difficult to navigate.

We realize we are not in control, which is just as troubling as the problem itself. When we are not in control, that’s when we feel afraid. It’s the feeling you get when your car starts spinning on the ice. It’s the feeling when someone is making bad choices, and you are powerless to stop it. It’s the feeling when a loved one is suffering, and you can’t make it better. It’s the feeling when a contagious virus spreads through your home or your community, and one after another gets sick.

At times like these, people look at God in one of two ways. They look at Him as the problem, or they look to Him as the solution. Or maybe there is a mixture of the two. The disciples cried out, “Save us, Lord!” knowing that He could rescue them. But the evangelist Mark also records them saying, “do you not care that we are perishing?” (4:38). They believed Jesus could help, but they were also troubled to see Him sleeping while they were doing all they could to keep their heads above water.

“Do you not care?” they cried. It was a silly question, but it is a question that easily comes to mind and crosses the lips when we are faced with difficulties and troubles. We think we shouldn’t have to endure such hardships. We try to live the right way. We love our neighbors. We give glory to God. We don’t do all this perfectly but certainly better than many of the people around us, we think. So why does it seem like they have it better than we do? Doesn’t the Lord care about us?

This expectation of how things should be and how things should go is following our own will rather than God’s. We do not trust Him to get us out of tough situations or to lead us through them for the purpose of strengthening our faith. Or if we do put our trust in Him, it is only after every other option has failed, and we recognize we have lost all control.

That’s how the disciples were when they shook Jesus awake. Jesus did not chide them for waking Him up. He chided them for their fear. “Why are you afraid?” He asked. And then He supplied the answer, “O you of little faith.” Their desperation and fear were caused by their little faith. Had they not seen Jesus turn water into wine, cleanse lepers, heal the sick, and cast out demons? What about those experiences told them that Jesus doesn’t care? What made them think that the storm around them was more powerful than their Lord?

“Do you not care?” is a silly question. It was silly for the disciples, and it is for us too. It is abundantly clear that Jesus does care about you and me. The Lord cared enough to become a man and humble Himself, so that He could suffer and die for your sins. He cared enough to endure more troubles on earth than you can imagine, so that you would have heaven for eternity. He cared enough to cover you in His righteousness through the waters of Baptism, and He cares enough to keep coming through the Absolution and through His Holy Supper to bring you the forgiveness of your sins. Jesus does care.

In His care for you, He strengthens you now through the means of grace for the storms of life that will come. And He promises to strengthen you and relieve your burdens when the storms have come. He is the agent of peace that brings calm in all your stressful, anxious situations. He is not unaware of your troubles. He is not sleeping on the job. Something might be out of your control, but it is not out of His. Something may cause you to tremble with fear, but not Him. He rises up in your heart and rebukes the winds and the sea that rage inside you, and He calms your fear.

People will often try to find inner, lasting peace by looking inside themselves. But peace doesn’t come through positive thinking, breathing exercises, or yoga poses. The peace “which surpasses all understanding” (Phi. 4:7), comes only through the Word of Jesus. The evangelist Mark says that Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea with the words, “‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (4:39).

How did the disciples respond? The evangelists tell us that they were afraid (Mar. 4:41, Luk. 8:25), but this was a different kind of fear than before. Before, they were afraid because they had lost all control of their situation and thought they might die. Now they were afraid because they realized nothing on earth was more powerful than Jesus. They “marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?’” He was the sort of man like the world had never seen. He was the God-Man—God in the flesh.

I expect the disciples were ashamed about their lack of faith when they thought back to this episode. They were ashamed that they questioned Jesus’ commitment to them, and that they worried about anything when He was right there with them. We likewise feel ashamed when we remember how small our faith was in various trials and difficulties. We did not put our trust in Jesus, the King of all creation. We are ashamed that we prayed only when all other options were exhausted.

And yet Jesus did not bail on us. He is still with us. He is here to speak His Word into the storms around us and inside us. He is here to bring calmness and peace. He is here to save. He forgives our thinking that we are ever in control. He forgives us for questioning His commitment to us. He forgives us for failing to fear, love, and trust in Him only. And He still hears our cries for help, even when those cries come later than they should. “[C]all upon me in the day of trouble,” He says; “I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psa. 50:15).

It is true that like those trembling disciples in the boat we have a “little faith.” But we have a great Savior. No storm is too fierce, no problem is too difficult, no trial is too terrible for Him. There is nothing to fear, because He is here. “Fear not,” says the LORD, “for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isa. 43:1-3).

Because of our Lord’s powerful promises, our faith rises up and sings:

Lightnings flash
And thunders crash;
Yet, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus Will Not Fail Me. (ELH #263, v. 2)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

+  +  +

(picture from “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee” by Ludolf Backhuysen, 1695)