Gospel Prism

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
Luke 8:22-25

Introduction

Where is your faith? This was the question that Jesus posed to his disciples when they encountered Him with deathly fear, anxiety and dread on that small fishing boat in the middle of a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples had seen some incredible miracles by Jesus thus far. They had witnessed people being healed of dreadful diseases like leprosy. They had seen demons expelled. They had heard teaching that was unlike any other. They had observed multitudes come and listen to Jesus speak. And after all of this, the disciples still forgot who they were with on that day in the midst of the storm.

But let’s not get caught thinking that the disciples were a bunch of unbelieving, faithless men who had no spine. Remember, these were men who had left everything, their livelihood, their families, their friends, their reputations behind in order to follow Jesus. They had obviously exhibited some faith and they backed it up by their actions. And so we must not believe that if we were in their shoes, we would have been at peace in the midst of the tumult on that boat. No, you and I are asked this same question each day that we live by our Lord, where is your faith?

And in this story in Luke 8:22-25, Jesus is essentially confronting not only their lack of faith, but also their faith in things that are far inferior to Christ Himself. And so, as you examine the disciples’ faith in other things, I believe you will understand why placing your faith in Christ rather than trusting in anything else in this world will bring you a delight that will never be matched.

So where do we place our faith in according to verses 22-25?

Experience/Expertise

First, we can place our faith in our experience and expertise. Let’s look at verse 22 where Luke records: “One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” Now we don’t receive that much information here other than the fact that Jesus and the disciples board a boat, probably a fishing boat to cross the lake, which is actually the Sea of Galilee. We know that Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, as well as James and John, were fishermen. And if you’ve ever watched the movie The Perfect Storm, you know how fisherman are. They’re grizzled sea veterans who know their boats and know their seas. After all, they’ve lived by the sea and have fed their families from what they catch from the sea. These men have probably seen many a storm on that sea and have had their own close calls.

So when they’re on this boat and they see this terrible storm, probably the first place they turned to was their experience and expertise. They turned to what they were trained to do in such circumstances. They probably recalled the challenges they faced in every other storm they encountered on their fishing excursions. With four experienced fishermen on-board, I’m sure they must have believed that they had enough men to weather this storm.

But reading verses 23-24, we see that this was not the case: “So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” What would cause these 4 experienced fishermen to turn to someone who had absolutely no experience on the sea as their help? Luke describes the storm as a “windstorm” or a ‘whirlwind.’ Matthew actually describes the storm as a seismos or ‘earthquake.’ This was no regular storm at all. It was probably a storm that far exceeded their experience. This past Monday, I was taking a nap and suddenly it felt like someone had taken our house and thrown it a few feet. An 3.5 quake had hit with what felt like our house being the epicenter. Well, I have a feeling, Peter, Andrew, James, and John and the rest of the disciples had probably felt as though someone was literally tossing their boat to and fro, a storm beyond anything that they had ever experienced. In fact, it was beyond their experiences.

So when Jesus asked them, “Where is your faith?” one area He was questioning was their faith in their experiences and expertise. Every person has a collection of experiences that allows us to make sense of the world. We’re taught as parents that we should allow our children to experience as much as possible through their hands and mouths and eyes. We spend over two decades learning through education, further developing our base of knowledge. And then we spend our whole lives living through trials, tragedies, joys, traumas, pleasures, etc., all of which allows us to live in this world. And so when the disciples entered that boat that day with Jesus, of course, they would go back to every one of these experiences and everything they knew about fishing before they would turn to Jesus.

And this is the same for each one of us. Where is your faith? Or in other words, where have you placed your hope and trust or what do you count on to make sense of the world you live in? Every one of us is somewhat like the disciples. We are tempted to place our hope and faith first and foremost in our experiences and expertise rather than in Christ. So how do we do this?

We do this when we decide that we are and deserve to be the final arbiters of our lives. What so many people can’t stand about the doctrine of the sovereignty of God is the relinquishing of control over one’s life. When Satan tempted Eve, what did he say that was so alluring to Eve that she and Adam would decide to turn away from God? Genesis 3:5 tells us: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan tempted Eve with being the final arbiter of her own life. She didn’t need to trust and depend on God. She could do things her own way. She would be ‘like God’ and she would determine for herself what is good (best for her) and what is evil (not good for her). She simply didn’t need God anymore.

And ever since then, we don’t like thinking that our lives are ultimately not in our own hands. Instead, we do everything we can to maintain control over our own lives, which of course leads to anxiety and worry. But what we fail to realize is that we regularly allow someone else to hold our lives in their hands. A few weeks ago, a few of us went to Great America with our children. Ever since I was a kid, I have never enjoyed rollercoaster rides or any thrill ride really. So I go on these rides not because I enjoy going on them, but because I don’t want my children afraid to experience anything they haven’t tried at least once. Well, we went onto one ride and though outwardly I had a look of peace and tranquility, inside I was praying the whole time, saying to myself, “Lord, if you wish, I am ready to come home now, but if you would allow it, please help me to survive this ride.” There is a helplessness that comes with being on a ride. Your life is completely out of your hands and your faith is in the mechanics of the ride, the inspector who last checked the ride, and the operator of that ride. I couldn’t help fret and worry.

Placing your life in someone else’s hands can be scary because you have no control. But though we dislike relinquishing control to God in our lives, we continually trust in something that is completely out of our own control. How many people had faith that the real estate market would always go up and invested heavily in property and lost everything. Those men and women who lost their lives on the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis had faith in the engineers of that bridge and the inspectors who checked it for trouble. One time a group of us guys went on a bike ride. We started on top of a very large hill and we were going down this hill at speeds close to 40mph. I placed my life into the hands of a bike that I bought second hand. I had faith in that bike, but both literally and figuratively, it was a shaky faith. Every time you step into an elevator, you have faith that those cables can hold your weight. You have faith that the building you walk into will not collapse. You have faith that when the doctor says you’re healthy that he is not overlooking the tumor in your brain that can kill you at any moment. The point is, we are always trusting in something. We are continuously placing our lives into someone else’s hands. And we believe that we’ve researched enough, or evaluated enough, but ultimately we still have faith in someone or something. Faith in our experiences is ultimately still faith. So it’s not a question of faith vs. reason but rather it’s a question of whether we believe the faith in ourselves and our experiences or faith in the God of the Bible will lead us to our ultimate satisfaction.

We are also tempted to place our faith in our expertise and experiences when we believe that what is material is our only hope. Do you remember Thomas? When the disciples had told him they had seen the resurrected Jesus, he responded: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Thomas could not move beyond what he could see and touch. Reality for him was only based on the tangible. And therefore, he could not truly believe in Jesus. Ultimate faith in the tangible kept him from ultimate faith in Christ.

And again, like Thomas and his heart, we too are kept regularly from trusting in Jesus. If you are single, you will be tempted to be place your faith in your ability to find a suitable marriage partner rather than in Christ. And so, as time passes, you might think, “I’m not getting any younger, I think I’ll just have to marry any person who seems great, regardless of whether he/she trusts in Christ.” And so, one’s experience dictates ones faith or lack of faith in Christ. Or perhaps if you are angry and embittered by someone in your life. It takes faith in Christ, rather than your experiences (whatever happened that should cause this anger), to decide to forgive even if there is no mutuality in sorrow over sin. Our experiences might dictate to us that taking the job that makes the most money or provides the most career advancement makes the most sense, even if it is at the cost of our relationship to Christ. It takes faith to move beyond our expertise and experiences to trust that in making our faith in Christ ultimate before anything we’ve experienced or anything we know and have strategically figured out. Where is your faith? Is it in your expertise and experiences or is it in Christ, the God of all creation, who loves you and gave Himself for you?

Circumstances

Second, not only can we place our faith in our expertise and experiences, but we often place far too much faith in our circumstances. In other words, we let our circumstances dictate our trust in God far more than we should. Listen again to verses 22-24: “And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.” As the storm brewed and was worsening with each minute, even the experiences and expertise of the fishermen were unable to match the power of this particular storm. As I had shared earlier, this was a seismos, something beyond anything they had ever experienced. They realized that their very lives were in danger.

And so the disciples rush down to the lower deck where Jesus was sleeping! And with what was probably shouts of terror, they scream for Jesus’ help. Mark records another response, perhaps the response of one of the disciples: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)

The thing about expertise and experience, we turn to it until we come to a point in our lives where are circumstances dictate a completely different perspective. In other words, I might be skilled as a teacher or engineer or pastor, but if I go to the doctor and he tells me I have stomach cancer and only have a few months to live, suddenly I no longer have faith in what I think I can accomplish by my skills. Suddenly, my life is no longer under my control and it is terribly unnerving. This is why with the advent of the internet, when a person hears terrible news about one’s health, what’s the first place one turns to? He turns to the web to find out as much as he can about whatever condition he has. Why, because knowing gives us a sense of control and when we have control, only then do we feel we can have peace. But without control, there is only worry and fear. And this is what circumstances, especially dire circumstances, can do, they can overwhelm our sense of control.

Why were the disciples so troubled when Jesus, the God of the universe, was on board that ship? Why, because their first hope was in themselves. They believed that everything was under their control. After all, they were experienced on the seas. But when that experience proved useless, they turned to their next controlling factor, the events around them. And the events were so harrowing, so deadly, so palatable, that they couldn’t help but be afraid for their lives. They ‘trusted’ in their circumstances more than they did in Christ. And this is where the Bible continuously reminds us that we don’t worship a God who is powerless and indifferent to our needs. On the contrary, we worship a God who says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb 13:5) In fact, his most repeated command throughout the whole Bible is not love one another, or do not sin, but do not fear. Texts like Isaiah 44:8, “Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any,” and Matthew 14:27, “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid,” and John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid,” bear this out.

These are not empty promises. These are words from the God who created you and has numbered every hair on your head. But the problem lies in our response to these promises. Like the apostles, as they assessed their situation and saw the ferociousness of the waves and the seas, they panicked and therefore, they wanted a quick response. Faith in circumstances is unwilling to wait and trust in God. Faith in circumstances can’t see beyond the tyranny of the moment. Everything appears urgent and critical. Every decision seems like one wrong step will lead to some sort of catastrophe. Faith in circumstances believes God is watching from a distance while you decide what road to take. Faith in circumstances wants relief, answers, and solutions now, in MY timing and in the manner in which I believe the answer should be. And faith in circumstances nervously worries, constantly frets, and leads to quick anger.

Some of you are in the midst of making some important decisions. You’re buying homes. You’re deciding to make career changes. You’re praying about location changes. You’re wondering about marriage. Your children are entering into a new phase of life, the work force, marriage, college, teen years, etc. Some of you are wondering whether you’ll have a job in a few months to pay for your bills, let alone your lifestyle. And all of this is keeping you anxious and worried. Perhaps, there could even be far more pressing and dire circumstances: bankruptcy, tragic accident, severe illness, marital pressures, etc.

Will you allow your faith to rest in your circumstances? You know this is happening when your first response to worry is to rely on your expertise and experience. So you spend all of your spare time researching. You are cluttered in your mind with either dreams of your own glory (praises from your bosses) or nightmares of the worst possible scenarios. Such a person is the man or woman Jesus addresses in the parable of the sower in Mark 4:19: “But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” When a person is cluttered with the circumstances of life and is ruled by them, when desires for ‘other things’ become all-consuming, such a person cannot receive God’s word regardless of how often he hears it. Instead, that word is choked out. Where is your faith?

Christ

The answer is not to place your faith in your expertise and experience, nor in your circumstances, regardless of how good or bad they are. Instead, place your faith in Christ alone. Let’s look at verses 24-25 and see what happens with the disciples: “And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” The word ‘rebuke’ in verse 24 is the same word that describes Jesus’ casting out the unclean spirit in 4:35 and the fever in 4:39. You have to imagine how dramatic this was. When I was younger, I was on a boat ride with my family in Lake Erie and a storm hit our sailboat. I can tell you, that even though we were down below, we felt it. And I remember seeing the look of concern on all of the adults’ faces, being a child, I was oblivious. Well, our storm was not ‘earthquake’ in intensity. So to go from the ranging seas to suddenly in an instant become calm must have been an incredible sight. Not only that, but you can imagine the winds howling, the waves crashing against the boat, and the men running back and forth pulling down the waves , screaming to one another directions. Then suddenly not only is there is the quieting of the wind and waves, but right after Jesus says, “Be still,” there is complete silence and calm. There is peace.

The problem with trying to find peace and joy in your experience and expertise and in the circumstances of life is that they lead you to places that are always changing, places where peace is for a moment until the next storm comes. And so if you run to your own skills or if you run to a job or a if you run to a relationship with the man or woman of your dreams or if you run to more money, you’ll find those things will never give you lasting peace. Worry and fear cannot be ended by something you obtain. They can only be met by someone, and for that peace to be lasting, that someone needs to be eternally stable. Ed Welch in his book Running Scared, observes about fear:

If fear slows down for a minute, it realizes that peace and rest can only reside in someone rather than something, in people rather than pills. A fearful child wants to sleep with her parents. On a walk through dark woods, our fears ebb in the presence of a companion–in a pinch, we will even settle for a small dog. Over the short run, anything alive will do, but we prefer an actual person who is big and strong…Fear calls out for a person bigger than ourselves. (Ed Welch, Running Scared, 63.)

And this is why it doesn’t make sense if my oldest daughter Charisa ran behind my 4 year old son because she was scared of a shadow. She knows that he provides no protection for her. If Shua saw a spider and ran to our 6 year old Elisabeth for her help to kill it, that would provide no protection to Shua at all from her fear. The problem with meeting our worries and fears with anyone or anything other than Christ, is that we will find that ultimately, others are unreliable and unable to provide the security and peace we need. And this is exactly why Christ is the answer to our fears and worry and why faith only in Him is the only means by which you will ever have lasting peace.

Let me close with the story of Rachel Barkley and then a final exhortation. “Rachel Barkley has enjoyed many of the best things life has to offer. She’s happily married and has 2 beautiful children. She’s also a successful business woman and writer. But she found out that she had a fast growing cancer in her liver and in her bones and has only months left to live. She had a history of cancer. 4 years ago she found a lump on her breast and was diagnosed with lung cancer. She had a double mastectomy and since she had the genetic makeup of cancer in her family, she also had her ovaries removed in order to avoid the situation she finds herself in today. She’s been on medications that make her sick ever since. Can you imagine such a life? One day her 5 year old little girl Kate came to her and asked what every child wants. There should stood with her arms outstretched: “Mommy will you pick me up please?” She sadly thought to herself that she wished her little girl was asking for something else. Something she could do because she couldn’t pick her up. She had to tell her the bones in her back are so weak because they’re riddled with cancer and they would collapse onto her spinal cord if she picked her up. Rachel’s best friend saw what was happening and said that she would pick her up, so Kate ran to her. But Rachel’s heart was still broken that she couldn’t pick up her little girl anymore.

Rachel gave these words in her talk called “Death Is Not Dying” to over 600 women in Vancouver. Her words sum up well what Jesus was looking for from His disciples and from us when He asks, “Where is your faith?”:

We all have faith in something, but not all faiths save. The faith I have saves. So when I say that death is not dying, the part of me that will die is only a shell…It will become harder and harder to eat or drink. Eventually the cancer will win and I will starve to death…In my life there have been many difficult things the Lord has allowed. In my life, I have known the shame of being sexually abused. I have made poor decisions in relationships and have hurt others and have been hurt as a result of them. I have known the searing pain of the loss with the death of a loved one. I have been diagnosed with cancer twice now and the second time barring a miracle will end my life before I reach my 38th birthday. In His providence God has used the tough things of my life to draw me closer to Him…I have learned I can never be perfect and I have the scars to prove it [from surgeries from the cancer], 13 of them, and they serve as a physical reminder of a spriitual reality that I can never be perfect on my own. I need a Savior. I have learned that the greatest eveidence of God’s love is seen when I stand at the foot of the cross. He took my shame upon Himself and rescued me…I have learned that being a Christian is the joy of knowing and trusting in a God who is loving and faithful no matter the circumstances.

Rachel understands. The storm that faced the disciples was obviously terrifying. Jesus wasn’t rebuking them for being afraid. Instead, it was who and what they turned to for their salvation, their hope that he was addressing. David understood that only God could truly be trusted to save as he says in Psalm 56:1-3: “Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; 2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. 3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” When you’re afraid, when circumstances are overwhelming, when times are difficult, when you are on the verge of anger from repeated frustration, where will you turn? Where is your faith? Is it in your experiences, your expertise, your circumstances, your relationships with others? Or will you place your trust in the God who will never let you go, no matter how rough life can be upon you as Rachel Barkley understands so well? Will you experience the confidence of David: “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Ps 16:8) and “He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:2). Will you consider running to the God of the cross who according to Colossians 2:14-15 has canceled every debt that has stood against us because of our rebellion against God, and through the blood of God’s Son Jesus Christ has “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him”? So every storm, every cancer, every curse of an enemy, every unjust action toward you, ever word spoken to your mind of entitlement, every time you want to stay away from God’s people by staying home on Sunday, every unkindness, every point of suffering and death, when you run to Him, when you place your trust in Him, there is triumph over all of those things because of God’s great Son’s work on that cross for you.