Vintage

Series: Follow Me Into the Darkness

Matthew 8:18-27, Psalm 107:29, Job 38:1

Today and every Sunday this year we are going to be talking about following Jesus. But today we start a series that at first may sound a little odd. Our new series is about following Jesus into the Dark. Following Jesus into the Light makes sense… but why would we want to follow Jesus into the Dark? And this morning we are going to be talking about following Jesus into the Storm.

How many of you have a storm story? A time when you got caught in a storm and you thought your number was up, your time had come… the bejeebers were scared out of you…

Sometimes storm stories force us to realize that we are mortals and that are days are indeed numbered. There is something about storm stories that connect us to God in special way…

One of my favorite storm stories has to do with the time I was a park ranger in Glacier National Park. On my days off I would go hiking. I had an opportunity to ride my motorcycle to Logging Lake, and then take the motor boat across the lake to another trail head which led to another lake where I sat and ate my lunch and watched fish jump and enjoy my life until I saw this menacing cloud to move closer and closer?

Have many of your storm stories have something to do with water and a menacing cloud? Also, how many of your storm stories have something to do with your own personal stupidity? How many of you think my storm story has something to do with my stupidity?

Well, I as this storm begins to move on in, I begin to run… maybe a mile or so… back to Logging Lake and my boat which is my salvation… But now the wind is blowing and the boat moving back to shore. And when I start cranking the rope to get the engine started, the doggone thing doesn’t want to start right away… and the boat begins to drift closer to shore and closer to the rocks. And when I finally do get the engine started the prop is up against a rock and it hits a rock and shears this pin that hold the prop… so that even though the engine is going, the prop isn’t spinning. And now the storm is really on top of me… rain, rain, rain… wind, wind wind. I decided to get back into the boat and begin to row. Wind, rain, lightning and nothing to protect me… and wondering if my time had come. There is something about being in a storm that you can’t run from… you can’t hide from… and you can’t protect yourself… forces you to pray some really honest, really genuine prayers.

I think this is what happened to the disciples one day when Jesus told them to cross over the Sea of Galilee from one side to the other. That got into a storm so big and so raging that their only hope was in Jesus.

The story really begins from Matthew’s perspective with Jesus healing the sick. It was one person in particular that was healed… Peter’s mother-in-law, which indicates that the great Apostle Peter was married, although we don’t hear anything about his wife in the scriptures. But once she was healed, crowds began to gather.

And, quite frankly, that is what happens. When someone gets healed, the crowds gather to find out what is going on. Maybe Jesus can heal me too. But Jesus was not primarily a miracle worker, at least not primarily a miracle worker called to heal the body. His real objective, ultimately, was to heal the soul. And it seems that the source of Jesus’ healing power, for body and soul, came from deep within. Jesus needed his own soul to be nurtured and strengthened.

According to Mark’s gospel, this is what happened:

Healing Peter’s Mother-in-Law

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

Mark 1:29-31 (NIV)

Great story of Jesus’ compassion and concern for each individual. And a great story about Peter’s mother-in-law… who found her meaning and purpose in life by serving. And quite frankly, people like Peter’s mother-in-law are the happiest of people.

This is a little side note. But I remember my mom at the very beginning stages of the Alzheimer’s disease that would one day take her life. And my dad was very protective of her. I came down from Indiana to visit and my mom if I would like something to drink and she would get it for me. And my dad said: “Tom is capable of getting his own drink. You sit down.”

And my mom, turned to my dad with a little bit of edge in her voice said: “You will not deny me the privilege of serving my son.”

I think that is Peter’s mother-in-law. Don’t deny me the privilege of serving.

Anyway, the word gets out. Jesus is healing people.

The sun goes down and the darkness descends. Jesus’ day hasn’t ended. He is still at work.

Healing the Town

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases…

Mark 1:32-34 (NIV)

Now, if this is me, I am in my glory. The whole town is coming out. The whole town thinks I am special. The whole town is coming to me. I’d be running on an adrenaline high!

But I don’t think Jesus was nearly as concerned about the whole town as he was about one person… and that was his Father. Jesus wanted to get close to the Father because he knew that the Father was the source of his power. He wasn’t trying to get high… rather he was trying to get on High!

So what do we read?

Praying in Solitude

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Mark 1:36 (NIV)

Now, this is not an isolated incident. Read through the gospels and look at all the incidents where Jesus pulled himself out to pray. Jesus focus in life was not keeping up with the Joneses or trying to be more comfortable than before…

Jesus objective in life was getting close to the Father. If we want to follow Jesus, we need to do the very same thing. When we are at our busiest we need to make sure that we take time to be with the Father. When we are riding the wave of popularity, we need to take time to be with the Father, because that popularity can be very ephemeral. I have learned that in life you can’t fully trust the people around you… they happen to be people. Even the ones like Peter who proclaim, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.” Even those people can turn out to be Peter-like in the end.

Your source of strength and hope and encouragement cannot ultimately be the people around us. Ultimately it is the Father. So, we have to cultivate that relationship with our Father, so that when the darkness of the storm hits, we have something to rely on. If Jesus himself needed that resource, how much more you and I?

Jesus’ disciples went out looking for him.

Everyone Looking

Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Mark 1:36-37 (NIV)

So what does Jesus say? It is now time to leave.

Now, Matthew takes this story and connects it with a call to discipleship… and call to be faithful and committed. Jesus wasn’t about the crowds, he was about the committed. Can I raise your commitment level. Jesus wasn’t into mere caretaking. He was into raising the bar, raising the commitment level, who could enter the darkness of life with Jesus… enter the storms of life with Jesus.

Leaving the Crowd Behind

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

Matthew 8:18-19 (NIV)

Jesus was used to having prostitutes come to him, tax-collectors, sinners of every shape and stripe. He was used to having the lame, and the blind, and the lepers and the poor. But now, something different takes place. A teacher of the law comes to him. This man is well respected in society. This guy can pull strings. This guy can make things happen. His ministry had now made it to the big time. Here was a guy who could make good things happen.

So Jesus says to him: “Boy have I been waiting for you. My rag tag group is made up of a bunch of losers. But you are the kind of guy I have been waiting for. We are going to partner and build a mega-ministry. Now we are going to have the best show in town.”

No, what Jesus said is so unlike what I might have said. He said to him, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think you are really going to fit. I have not been called to comfort and security. I haven’t come here to build a mega ministry. I haven’t come here to impress the lords and the kings. I haven’t come here so the mayors and the dignitaries will give me an award.

If you are going to follow me, you will follow me into the darkness of the storm. No protection from the wind and rain and lightning and thunder. You will be exposed.

No Place to Call Home

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Matthew 8:20 (NIV)

The birds will be better protected than I am. If you follow me you will have to get into this boat with me and Jesus knew and enter into the darkness of the storm.

Following Jesus into the Storm

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

Matthew 8:23-25 (NIV)

Have you ever prayed, “Lord, I am following you… no reservations. Nothing held back. I am getting into your boat.” At the time it may seem like the sun is shining and the boat seems secure. Others are getting into the boat with you. If others are in the boat it can’t be all that bad… and then it seems like Jesus falls asleep…and the sun is hidden behind a cloud… and the cloud gets angrier and angrier. And then… we begin to get a bit desperate for Jesus’ attention. “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

Then Jesus responds: “Don’t you realize that I have it under control? There ain’t no storm bigger than I am. In fact I am just as much Lord of the Darkness and the Storm as I am Lord of the Sun and the Light. What you fear, I rejoice in. I want you to follow me into the storm so I can show you how to have peace no matter what you are facing.”

Rebuking Winds and Waves

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

Matthew 8:26 (NIV)

What Kind of Man Is This?

The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Matthew 8:27 (NIV)

Maybe that is the most important question that we need to ask whenever we enter a storm… “What kind of man is this who we have trusted with our lives and our souls?”

I think he was a man of prayer. And I also think he was a man of the Word. There is a great Psalm in the OT called Psalm 107. This Psalm was written for worship. Maybe it alludes the great storm came in the form of the Babylonian Empire that struck and destroyed Jerusalem and carted off the nation’s leaders in a tumultuous captivity.

But listen to the words of the Psalmist that I believe were words for Jesus as well:

Give Thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever….

Psalm 107:1 (NIV)

Wandering in Wastelands

Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.

They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

Psalm 107:5-8 (NIV)

Chained in Darkness

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains…

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

Psalm 107:10-15 (NIV)

Fools and Afflicted

Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities….
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

Psalm 107:17-21 (NIV)

Storms at Sea

Some went out on the sea in ships… he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

Psalm 107:23-31 (NIV)

What storm is Jesus inviting you to follow him into? What storm. If you are a disciple you won’t run from the storm but you will get into the boat with him. And, if you are a disciple you won’t wait until the storm ends and the darkness subsides until you give thanks to the Lord. You will give thanks in the midst of the storm.