Faith over Fear

Luke 8:22-25 - Riley Boggs

Have you ever talked to someone who claims to be able to do something amazing, but for some reason when the time comes, they are never able to do it? They talk a big game, but there is always an excuse when the time comes to prove it. I want you to imagine that you’re talking to a person like this, who claims to be able to climb a massive rock wall without any ropes at all. He tells you that he’s done it a million times before and he’s not scared of falling. In fact, he tells you that it’s pretty easy for a guy who possesses skills like his. And so you tell him, “You know what, I’d love to see you do that. Say, tomorrow at noon?” He says, “Sure thing, see you there.”

The next day, you show up at to this massive rock wall at noon and you tell the man, “go ahead, climb it.” The man puts on his climbing shoes and walks up to the wall. Then, just like he said, he starts to climb. But after he gets 2 feet off the ground, he drops down and says, “You know what, I forgot to stretch.” So he stretches, walks up to the wall again, and starts climbing again. Again, just like last time, climbs up just a few feet and drops down again. This time he says, “I think I need to re-tie my climbing shoes.” Now imagine this same thing keeps happening over and over again. He climbs a few feet, drops down, says that he needs to do something before climbing, and so on and so forth. And he does this repeatedly until finally it starts to get dark and says, “You know what, let me just do it with a rope and harness. It’s the same thing.” So, he puts on the rope and harness and climbs up.

If this happened to you, by a raise of hands, who here would think that this man was actually brave, or stupid, enough to climb the wall without ropes? Right, none of us. Though he talked like it was no big deal to him, when the time came for him to prove it, he couldn’t. All the confidence that he talked about seemed to vanish the moment he got a few feet up and saw the ground start to get further away beneath him.

I think in our text this morning, we see a similar story. We see a group of men, Jesus’ disciples, get put in a situation where they have to really act in faith. It doesn’t matter how much they have talked about having faith in Jesus, they find themselves in a situation where they have to put it on display. Their confident words have to be put into confident actions. But, as you heard just a moment ago when I read the passage for us, they don’t do it. In the same way that the climber shrunk back when the moment came, the disciples do the same. Though they had taken steps of faith beforehand to follow Jesus, this step felt a bit too far. And what they end up realizing is that maybe their faith isn’t as strong as they had previously thought.

And just like it happened in the hypothetical rock climber story and the disciples, I think it happens to us. We talk about trusting the Lord with everything and being willing to follow Him faithfully no matter what comes. But, when things get difficult or confusing, when the ground begins to grow distant, we change our tune. We happily take steps of faith when they directly benefit us, but when that step of faith means we will grow uncomfortable, well maybe not. When trusting the Lord means a big life change or a radical approach to sin or an awkward conversation or financial struggle or letting go of control, our faith looks much weaker than it once did. This morning, I want us to look at this text and see how we might grow in faith. Specifically the kind of faith that responds to hardship and pain with boldness, not fear.

Let’s start by looking at the story. We know that Jesus has been teaching around the shore of the Sea of Galilee while his disciples follow Him. In fact, we know that a few of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen and that Jesus taught from their boat to the crowd on the shore. And so as He continues to do ministry in this region, one day, He gets into a boat with his disciples and tells them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” Now, when we think of a lake we might think of Barren River Lake or Dale Hollow Lake or something like that. But, the Sea of Galilee was much wider than these lakes. Basically the whole lake is about 7 miles wide, so going to the other side wasn’t as simple is paddling across in just a moment. Actually, I did a little research on this to see how long it would’ve taken them to go across and the answer I found is, I don’t know. I read things that said it could take 2-10 hours depending on the weather. I also read that even today, if the weather is bad enough, you might not be able to even leave the harbor. Point being, it was not as simple as crossing Barren River Lake.

Regardless of the time it should have taken, we read that their plans got a bit interrupted. As they were on their way across, they encounter a windstorm.  This was common for the Sea of Galilee because of where it sits geographically. Storms can stir up really quickly and grow strong rather fast. And it seems that this must have been a pretty strong storm based on the way that the disciples respond. Like we noted earlier, several of these men were experienced fishermen, and they had no doubt encountered storms on this very lake before. So it seems that this storm was particularly bad and had caused the disciples to grow increasingly scared.

As their fear grows, they decide to go and tell Jesus what is happening. Now, you might be thinking, “Wait, how would Jesus not know what it happening? You just told me that this was an especially terrible storm and yet Jesus needs to be informed about it?” Well the reason that the disciples have to tell Jesus about the storm is because Jesus is asleep. In the Mark’s Gospel he includes the details that Jesus was asleep in the stern on a cushion. And so, in a full-blown panic, the disciples rush to the stern, to sleeping Jesus, and they wake up him and say, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” They thought they were done for. The boat was filling with water, and they were sure that they were going to die.

But what happens? Jesus wakes up and rebukes the winds and the waves, and immediately the storm ceases and everything is calm. In a moment, Jesus brings peace. Then, He turns to the disciples and asks, “Where is your faith?” And all the disciples were afraid and marveled and began to talk to one another asking, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

This morning I only have very simple 3 points for us. The first one is this.

1.) Fear often comes from a lack of faith

The disciples were wrong for being scared on that boat. Does that strike anyone as a bit a bit strange? I mean don’t you kind of want to come to the disciples defense a little bit? They are on a boat in the middle of the sea of Galilee stuck in a terrible storm. The massive waves are crashing into the side of the boat, and the boat is beginning to take on a lot of water. And naturally it seems, they realize that their boat might sink, and they will drown. And yet, when they go and tell Jesus, He rebukes them. Why? Would you be fearful in that situation? I think, if we’re honest, most of us would be. And if we were on that boat and we were fearful like the disciples, we too would have been wrong for it.

The reason that it was wrong for the disciples to fear is because of what Jesus told them in verse 22 when He said, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” That is the statement that should have kept the disciples from fearing. Jesus told them what they were going to do, they were going to go to the other side. And so when the storm came, what they should have done is remember what Jesus had said and clung to those words. They should have believed and rested in what Jesus had said, but they didn’t. Instead of remembering and trusting, they became transfixed on their surroundings and became fearful. And this is precisely why Jesus rebukes them specifically for lacking faith.

This is how fear often arises in our own lives, from a lack of faith in what Jesus has said. We know what the Bible says. We know that Jesus has said that He works all things out for the good of His people. And we believe that and proclaim that to be true when things are going well. But then, when tragedy strikes or disappointment comes, we immediately begin to doubt that. We doubt that whatever the situation is can actually be for our good, that seems impossible. And then, we begin to say things like, “Jesus, Jesus, we are perishing! Don’t you see what’s happening Jesus? This isn’t for my good. I know what is good for me, and it isn’t this. There’s no way.” That response is one that is driven by fear. It’s one that doubts what Jesus has said.

Actually, this is the same place that anxiety often comes from, since fear and anxiety are like twins. Anxiety often feels like having never ending fear that you can’t control. It’s this constant nagging feeling that says, “things aren’t actually going to be okay.” Both of these, fear and anxiety, rise up when we begin to doubt what Jesus has said. When we begin to intentionally distrust or accidentally slip into a season of doubt, fear and anxiety seem to be right there waiting for us.

It's important for us to acknowledge this because we need to be actively fighting against it. If we know that fear comes from a lack of faith, then we need to be constantly asking God to make our faith stronger and doing the things that He has told us will build our faith. Paul writes that faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the Word of God. This is both true at for salvation, when we hear the Gospel, and have saving faith given to us by God. But it is also true for the rest of a Christians life. If you want to grow in faith, look to the Word of God. Look at what Jesus has said and allow it to build your faith. And then, call it to mind when clouds of doubt begin to roll in.

This is why things like Sunday School and small group and men’s and women’s groups are so important. They can seem like just another thing on the to-do list, but they really are so much more than that. They are times specifically set up for you to grow in your faith just a little bit each time. And over time, as those little moments of growth compile, you will find yourself with a stronger faith. A faith that stands stronger than once before, and helps to push out the fear that so easily can come in. Fear often comes from a lack of faith, so first and foremost, let this text encourage us to be a people who are concerned about growing in our faith.

The second thing I want us to see this morning is this. 

2.) Jesus is Lord of all

I love the contrast of Jesus’ humanity and divinity here in this passage. In one moment you have Jesus the man who is simply tired from days of doing ministry. And so, he decides to go and rest while they travel across the water. It’s a reminder that Jesus knows what it means to be tired and knows what it feels like to desire to rest. And on the other hand, right after we get this picture of His humanity, we get this powerful picture of His divinity. He wakes up and rebukes the wind and waves, and they obey Him. He doesn’t move the boat out of the storm. He doesn’t pray to the Father and ask Him to stop the storm. He simply stops the storm by His Words. It’s a reminder that Jesus is not merely a man, He is also God. He is powerful and sovereign, He is Lord of all.

It's this second point that the disciples have failed to really comprehend up until this point, or at least it seems this way, because of how they respond. They respond in a way that shows that they never expected Jesus to be able to do such a thing. They respond in reverent fear and amazement and ask a question that they had likely thought they already had the answer to, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

I don’t know what the disciples were thinking specifically in this moment, but it is likely that Old Testament texts about God being in control of the weather came to their mind. Maybe they thought of Psalm 89:8-9 that says, “O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” Even if the disciples didn’t make this connection, though I think they did based on their response, I think it’s important for us to make this connection. Jesus is showing Himself, so clearly, to be more than a man. A man does not rule the raging sea, He’s subject to it. When a man is caught in a storm and He sees that His boat is beginning to sink, he doesn’t yell at the wind and waves asking them to stop. No, what does he do? He calls out to God to save Him, to stop the wind and the waves, because he knows that God alone can do it. But that’s not what Jesus does.

Remember, Luke is writing this Gospel so that we might be certain concerning the things that we have been taught. This is one of those things. Yes it is true that Jesus is a man, and that He, as the author of Hebrews writes, is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. That is entirely and true, and something that ought to bring us great comfort. And at the same time, we need to remember that Jesus is also Lord of all things. He is not a passive character in the redemption story, He is the active author of the story. He is sovereign over all things, including the weather. Everything is His, nothing is out of His control.

One time I had a conversation with a Muslim man about who Jesus really was. For those who aren’t familiar with Islam, they see Jesus as an important prophet, but not as the Son of God. So we were going back and forth about this, and I was trying to show this man that Jesus was and is truly God, not just a prophet. And the thing that this man kept repeating to me was this. “If you can show me one place in the Gospels where Jesus says, ‘I am God’, I will believe you.” But the issue is that no matter what text I pointed him to, he was never satisfied. He had a reason why every single text wasn’t actually Jesus claiming that He has God.

I say that because I want to you know that the burden of proof does not fall on us to prove that Jesus is God. When you read the Gospels, it is absolutely undeniable that Jesus is God. The burden of proof does not fall on us, but on the one who denies what is so evident before them. His Words and His actions declare that He is the eternal Son of God, who is one with the Father and the Spirit; Jesus is God. Don’t get shaken or overwhelmed by those who come against us saying that there isn’t enough proof, even in the Gospel accounts, because that isn’t true. There is abundance of real and true evidence. Even in stories such as the one we are in this morning, where Jesus commands the weather with only His voice. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus is Lord of all.

  It’s this truth, combined with the reality of His humanity, that ought to bring us immeasurable comfort in times of trouble, which is the third point this morning.

3.) Because we are in Christ, we do not need to fear when the storm comes

The connection between a baby and it’s mother is truly miraculous. Babies are born screaming and crying, unsure of everything that is happening, and then the moment they are given to their mother, they are okay. Why is that? Well there’s all sorts of scientific answers to that question, but I’m not a scientist, I’m a pastor, so let me give you the spiritual reason. The reason is that for 9-10 months that little baby has been growing and learning what it means to be alive in their mother’s body. They have no experience without their mother entirely surrounding them, holding them, nourishing them, and supplying their every need. That has been their entire life from the moment they were created.

But then, when they are born, what has been their entire world, seems to be taken away from them in a moment. What had once surrounded them entirely is now out of reach. But then, when that baby is laid in their mother’s arms, they feel safe again. They recognize that they are once again being held by the one who has held them all the days of their life.

You know, we are all just a bunch of grown-up babies, and our desires aren’t all that different from before we grew up. We still desire to be loved and to feel safe. In fact, most people spend their entire life searching for those things, to feel loved and to feel safe. The issue is that this world is broken and the people in the world are broken, and so both of those things, when searched for in the world, can’t be found. Yes they can be found temporarily, but only temporarily. Eternal love and safety can’t be found in this world. But the amazing thing is that Jesus, not from this world, entered into our world to bring us these things. To bring us forgiveness for our sins, never-ending love, and everlasting safety in Him.

But, that doesn’t mean that storms won’t come, they will. I promise you they will. But even in the midst of the storms of our life, whatever they may be, we do not need to fear. We are in the arms of our Savior, who understands what it means to be human, but who is also Lord of all things. The issue is that unlike the baby in their mother’s arms, we don’t realize we are being held. The baby knows instinctively that they are being held by the one who loves them, but we often fail to realize this, we think we are alone. Just like the disciples, we doubt that the Lord knows what is happening, we doubt that He cares about our circumstances, or we doubt that He is going to see us through it. And so we go to Him and say, “Lord, Lord, don’t you see?” and His response is, “Where is your faith? Don’t you see that I am the one who has been carrying you this entire time? Don’t you remember what I’ve said to you? Don’t you remember who you are in me? Don’t you remember what I’ve made you to be? Don’t you remember what I have for you?”

Brothers and sisters, the ending to our story isn’t a mystery. I know how this story ends, and so do you. It ends with us being raised and seated with Christ, where there are no more storms. Until then, we must hold fast to our Lord, who is with us through the storms of this world. Cast all you anxieties and fears on Him, who not only understands them, but is Lord of them. He sought you and saved you, and He will bring you home. Trust in that, cling to that. That is what it means to have faith in the storm. It doesn’t mean ignoring the storm or acting as if it isn’t happening. It is declaring, in the good times and the bad times, “it is going to be okay” because I am in Christ. Like the beautiful hymn, we say, “When peace like a river, attendeth my way,  When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.”