Well, wouldn’t you know it. I have been on annual leave for the past week so I dutifully wrote my sermon a whole week early so that I knew I could relax, kick back and enjoy my time off (which I did, by the way.) But of course, God always has a sense of humour doesn’t He? Which bible reading should have been set for the Sunday following one of the largest storms in British history? Jesus calming the storm of course! Good one, God. Thanks for that.
So today is all about storms and boats. I have been fortunate enough to go on many boat journeys in my life, but there are two particularly memorable ones that I can recall.
This first was when I was about 6 or 7 and we went out on a tiny little boat in the harbour of a tiny fishing village in the Republic of Ireland called Mullaghmore. Fans of The Crown will know Mullaghmore well as it has the unhappy association with the tragic death of Lord Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s Uncle, whose boat was blown up by IRA terrorists. However, Mullaghmore is in reality what I imagine heaven might be like. A long sandy beach, stunning limestone mountains, roaring waves crashing onto cliffs, pubs with pints of Guinness, you get the idea.
Anyway, imagine 6 year old Matt on a boat. I went with my Grandmother, Nanny Kay, my middle brother James and a lovely man named Mick, whose house we were staying in. It was early evening, the Atlantic Ocean was still and calm, very much unlike it was this week. The warm, setting sun was reflecting onto the water, as the light danced and jumped like the fish we were trying to catch. I am pleased to report we caught 26 fish that evening, which was just about the most exciting thing I can remember from my childhood, aside from Manchester United’s Treble winning season of 1999.
The second memorable, and far less pleasant boat journey that I can recall also involved Ireland, but we’re talking a much larger vessel this time. On the ferry travelling back from Dublin to Holyhead we got caught in a storm in the middle of the night. The large, shiny boat rocked from side to side. It was utterly grim and also a bit exciting too. After a while, you can’t walk straight, think straight and it’s hard to eat or drink anything. We sat and endured the journey, longing for the safety of a little Ford Fiesta and the firm ground of the North Wales countryside.
Being on a boat in a storm is pretty unpleasant. Perhaps many of you might have similar experiences to share. Being a relative nautical novice, it’s quite understandable that I was concerned for my safety and the safety of my family upon that large boat that stormy night.
But for the disciples in our reading today, well all I can say is that it must have been one heck of a terrible storm for them to cry out to a sleeping Jesus. Think Storm Eunice, but with bells on!
“As they sailed, Jesus fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’”
Let us not forget, among the disciples were experienced sailors, and a number of professional fishermen who would have no doubt been caught up in a few stormy squalls in their time. But in their moment of crisis, as the waves begin to overwhelm their vessel, they wake up perhaps the least experienced sailor among them in order get some help.
‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’”
Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
Wow. Let’s just take a moment to let that sink in...no pun intended.
Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
All was calm. All is calm. They can breathe again. They can feel again. They can live again.
This is all a bit much though isn’t it? I mean, it’s one thing to heal the sick, to speak up against those in authority and restore sight to the blind.
But now….now even the weather takes note of what the Son of Man does and says. The disciples are stunned.
But Jesus asks them a question. He says: ‘Where is your faith?’
Now, I noticed something when preparing this sermon that I’d never noticed before.
Note that it’s not ‘Where was your faith?’ but ‘Where is your faith?’
Jesus is not talking about the past, but now looking towards the future. And that’s because it is completely rational to seek help in a time of need. It is completely rational to call out to someone when your boat is sinking. It is completely rational to cry out when you feel your life is in danger.
But we know that Jesus wasn’t a great sailor. The disciples weren’t looking for practical advice or some obscure sailing technique which would wrestle the boat back under control.
No, they were crying out in fear of their lives because they had absolutely no one else to turn to.
And it was at that moment that Jesus provided for them.
All of us and one time or another have found ourselves to be on a stormy boat. And it is a terrifying thought when you can’t seem to wrestle back some sense of order amongst the chaos. No matter what you try, which direction you turn, nothing seems to help. We have all been in that place at one time or another and I know that some of you are in that very place right now.
So….
What do you think I’m going to say next?
What did Jesus ask of His disciples?
So what do we think Jesus asks of us in that moment?
‘Where is your faith?’
‘Where is your faith?’
In the darkest storms of our lives, where is our faith? Because I’ll be really honest, if we can’t turn to the Lord when we’re in a really nasty storm when will we turn to Him?
Jesus is here, asking you, calling you, giving you the choice.
So, ‘Where is your faith?’
We don’t know what kind of tone Jesus used when has asked that question? Perhaps He was genuinely questioning them like some kind of TV Quiz Show host? Or maybe He was asking them something which He already knew the answer to.
Their faith was finally not in their own might and skill as sailors. Their faith was not in the supreme craftsmanship of their boat, which had never let them down before. No, Jesus knew that their faith was in Him, because in the scariest moment of their lives, they chose to wake up the least experienced sailor in order to get their boat out of a storm.
This week, now that Storm Eunice has passed, consider the storms of your life. Whether they are your own or perhaps those of a person who is very near a dear to you….the question remains the same.
‘Where is your faith?’
Amen
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