But as we get into this passage today, and it's blowing my mind this week thinking about Jesus here,
let me tell you about my mobile phone provider.
And just so you know I'm not showing preference to mine, we'll just call them a phone voter, okay?
When I first signed on the dotted line with my mobile phone company,
I remember there was a big slogan emblazoned at the top,
and it just said, power to you.
And it stroked my ego, I remember thinking, yes, yes, love that, power to you.
Now, it was British writer Norman Douglas who famously said
that you can tell an ideals of a nation by its advertisements.
Take that in for a minute.
You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.
You see, here's the thing that I reckon my mobile phone provider and all the big companies have figured out pretty quickly about the human heart.
And it's this.
Particularly for us, I think, if we're living in the West today, we know this to be true.
It's that deep down, every single one of us on one level or another, we're all control freaks.
We want to have comfort cells in our world.
We want to have every base in our life covered.
And yet, despite all the bubble wrap that we try and put around ourselves,
we try and put around those that we love and the things that we care about,
how often does life, and I wonder if this was true for you last year,
as my American friends would say, how often does life curveball us?
In other words, things happen in our lives that we just don't see coming at all.
And whoever you are here today, if there's anything in your life right now,
as you think about the year past, as you think about the year to come,
if there's anything going on right now that makes you fearful,
and it makes you nervous and anxious,
then we need, our souls need, the man who's at the heart of this passage today.
Now, my one aim is to help us see that we can rest in the truth that we are not in control
when we embrace the one person who is in control.
Jesus Christ, this man who we'll see here is so totally committed to his people.
He's totally committed to you this morning, if your trust is in him.
He's totally committed to you.
And he's totally committed to teaching his people things about them and about him
in order that he would woo our hearts closer to who he is and trusting in him.
You see, the Jesus School of Faith has got many classrooms.
In the Gospels, as you read them, and as you read the early chapters of Mark,
as you get up to this point, you see Jesus, he teaches people
in everyday places through everyday things.
We see him at a well.
We see him in the grain fields.
We see him beside the sea.
We see him in the synagogue.
We see him walking with people.
But as well as many classrooms, the Jesus School of Faith has many crucibles.
They always say, don't you, that when you want to see what somebody really believes,
see how they respond in a moment of crisis.
Right?
Think of it, boys and girls, if you're like me in your bath.
Right?
Ines, do you take a bath at night?
No, you don't.
There you go.
Well, our girls take a bath at night.
And I'm always reminded of this every time I look in and I hold up the sponge.
The sponge.
Boys and girls, think about it.
How do you know what's in a sponge?
Or adults, think about it.
How do you know what it's absorbed?
How do you know what it's soaked up?
How do you know what it's taken in?
There's only one way to find out what's in a sponge.
It's what comes out when you squeeze it.
And that's exactly what happens to the disciples today, isn't it?
It struck me when I was reading this through.
I wonder if you've ever thought about this before.
That Jesus could easily have left the disciples on the shore,
given them a pair of binoculars,
and said, why don't you watch on from the shore while I calm the storm?
He could have done that, couldn't he, if you think about it?
But he takes them with him.
Why?
Because they are about to learn lessons in this boat,
and their character is about to be moulded in ways that it just wouldn't be otherwise.
So I've got three really quick invitations for us today,
and they're tied to the three questions that the people in the scene ask Jesus.
So come with me to verse 35, and let's get into this drama together.
And Jesus says, do you see verse 35 to his disciples?
He says, let's get into the boat and go over to the other side.
Now, do you see how the initiative is all of Jesus here?
It's important to see that the disciples didn't get lost at sea.
It's not like the sat-nav failed, or as once happened to Alex and I in a canoe,
a rudder gets stuck at the wrong angle and you can't go anywhere.
Jesus said, we're going from here and we're going to there.
He's initiated this whole encounter that's about to go down here.
From the get-go, do you see how Jesus is in complete control of this situation?
And at some point in the journey, they get caught up in this huge storm.
And in addition to the description of the furious squall,
and I just love that phrase,
when a storm is described as furious,
here's what convinces me this was a huge storm.
It's what the men in this boat did for a job.
So many of these guys are fishermen.
They always say, don't they, that when the professionals say don't panic,
you normally know that you don't need to panic.
I take it that's why they had Chris Whitty on our screens every single day
during the COVID pandemic saying, it's okay.
But see, when the professionals start panicking,
that's when you sit up and you pay attention, don't you?
Here are fishermen panicking.
And yet strangely, all this time, will they go into survival mode?
Do you see Jesus, verse 38, what's he doing?
And this is hugely profound in ways that I just hadn't really thought about before until this week.
What is he doing? He is sleeping.
Notice the eyewitness detail there.
He's sleeping, but he's sleeping on a cushion.
So they're drowning and he's napping.
And here's where we get our first question.
And it's from them to him, verse 38.
And I don't imagine they asked it quietly.
I don't imagine they asked it philosophically.
I imagine they screamed it and they say,
teacher, don't you care if we drown?
It's not so much a question as it's an accusation, isn't it?
Do you not care?
Do you really love us?
Why would you take us all the way out here only for this to happen?
Because remember that these are the same disciples that Mark has just told us at chapter 3
are the ones that Jesus has chosen to come and be with him.
And more than that, these are the disciples that are making the trip that Jesus told them to make.
So we can understand their question.
So here's the first thing I think the invitation that we need to see this passage makes to us.
Here's the first one.
Friends, never believe in a cold-hearted Jesus.
See, the very reason he's in the boat.
More than that, the very reason that he's in the world.
More than that, the very reason that this gospel will end with him going to the cross
and dying for them and rising again is because of his commitment to and love for them.
Now some commentators, I remember that I read, said of this scene,
what a ridiculous question for the disciples to ask.
I would just custard pie that thought and say it just strikes me as a very human question to ask.
I love, one of the things I love most about the Bible is it's filled with people who are just like me
and who lose it and who panic and who fret.
Jesus is sleeping while they're panicking.
You see, for Jesus to sleep, this is more than just that he was just tired.
Although being fully man, he is.
He's not sleeping because he's not panicking.
Now maybe you can think of it like this.
Boys and girls, I don't know where your bedroom is at home,
but our kids, their bedroom is upstairs.
And our bedroom is downstairs.
And one of the reasons for that is really simply so that those guys will sleep well at night.
Because they know if anybody comes into that house,
they have to go through us before they get to them.
And it's true, isn't it, of us as human beings.
We sleep best when we know we're safe.
Jesus here, as a full man, is showing us the perfect example of human trust in a sovereign God.
A sovereign God who remembers Psalm 121 that we read at the start.
A sovereign God who neither slumbers nor sleeps.
A sovereign God who is keeping his people.
Jesus doesn't sleep because he's trusting in the one who is in control of all things.
And as God, he's showing us that we can sleep because he's in control and he's not panicking.
In other words, to get to us, ultimately, death needs to get past him first to get to us.
I love this in the words of Charles Spurgeon.
He put it like this,
The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the child of God rests.
His head at night, giving perfect peace.
Dear friends, know that just because Jesus is seemingly inactive,
it doesn't mean that he's ceased to be the one who is holding the stars in place.
Just because he is seemingly inactive doesn't mean that he's ceased to be the one that is giving you and I breath
every single minute of every single day.
There is wonderful comfort for us to be found in a sleeping Savior.
Now, you might be here today and you're asking,
Why?
Why did something happen in my life?
How do I know this God cares?
Listen, let me lovingly just say to you,
there might be so many possible answers to that question.
Some of them might be to do with stuff that we've done.
Some of them might just be to do with the reality of the fact that we are living our lives
in a world that is east of Eden,
which is another way of saying in a world that is broken and is groaning
and is longing for its creator to renew it.
But among those possible answers,
if your trust is in this Jesus,
the answer cannot be
that he has dropped the ball.
The answer cannot be
that he doesn't love you.
And you say,
How can I know that?
Well, it's ultimately, isn't it,
that we can look to the place
that these disciples will look for their answer to that question.
Isn't that amazing when you read
the pastoral epistles particularly?
When you read John and Peter speaking,
two men that would have been in that boat,
when the topic comes up of
how do we know God loves us?
They don't say
God showed his love for us in this,
that while we were at sea,
he calmed it.
No, no, no.
They say,
How did God show his love among us?
He sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin.
His precious blood covered all of our wrongs.
We can look ultimately today
to the same place that these disciples will look
for the ultimate answer to that question.
We look to the cross.
The place,
and we've got to see the bigger picture here,
the disciples understand
that how God showed his love to us
wasn't in just calming
our present situations.
No, no, no.
It was by dealing with our eternal security.
This Jesus is right now
at the Father's right hand
making intercession for us.
Friends, if you're struggling just now,
remember those two rights.
Right now, right hand.
That's where he is.
He is interceding for us.
He is representing us.
He is praying for us.
He is holding us.
And underscoring the gospel
is the affirmation that Jesus loves us.
But in the text,
you see how this same Jesus wakes.
And don't miss the utter absurdity
of what happens next.
Jesus doesn't grab a bucket
and join in the frantic bailing out of water.
That's what I would have expected him to do.
No, Jesus speaks to the sea.
Now take that in.
He speaks to the sea.
Is that not just plain strange?
If this fails,
then it is time for the men
with the white straitjacket
to come and collect this man.
He speaks to nature.
No hocus pocus,
no rhyme and riddle.
Jesus just utters three words.
Quiet, be still.
And the wind died down.
And the sea was completely calm.
See, the relationship
that Jesus has with creation
is the same as the one
that you and I have
with our Alexa.
Isn't it?
Alexa, play the best of the Beatles.
Alexa, what's the weather like tomorrow?
Alexa, what's the capital of Armenia?
We speak to Alexa
and Alexa does.
If you want to go for Siri,
you can have Siri as well.
We speak, it does.
What's going on here
is Jesus speaks and creation does
is that creation is really simply
recognizing the voice of its creator.
The headline on the Galilee News at 10
is that God's in the boat.
And taking the bigger Bible story here
in the same way that in Genesis 1
that God spoke and things happened,
here is Jesus,
the second person of the Godhead,
the one through whom all things were made,
and he's being true to form.
And maybe just another angle on this,
again, I've just not seen before
until I thought about it this week.
Maybe the sea in this day
is more than just the physical sea.
It represents evil.
And it's just this little foretaste that we get
that this same Jesus will,
one day,
he will make all things new.
One day when he returns,
he will speak
and evil will be banished.
And he will say,
not be still,
but he will say,
be gone.
And so we get the second question
and it's verse 40
and it comes from him to them.
He says,
why are you so afraid?
Do you still have no faith?
In other words,
your view of me
is still way too small.
And so here's the second invitation
that this passage makes to us today
is don't settle for a small scale Jesus.
In our heads and in our hearts,
do we end this year
with him in our minds
as just a slightly souped up,
better version of us?
Is he in our minds
like one of those lucky mascots
that we used to take into the exam hall
when we were young?
We'd rather have him on our team
than not on our team.
He calls his followers here
to replace faithless fear
with fearless faith.
And let me be clear
that this is not about us
upping our spiritual game for Jesus.
As good as many of the things
that we will plan to do this year,
probably we will talk about them
over the next 24 hours or so.
Bible in a year plan,
wonderful idea,
get involved in that.
Attending more things,
wonderful idea,
get more involved in that.
But this is not about us
upping our spiritual game for Jesus.
There's a man called Sam Albury.
I don't know if the quote on the screen,
apologies for that.
But he always said this
and it's just made such a profound
impact on my life.
He said,
we need to understand
that Christian maturity
in the Christian life
is not about realizing
that we need Jesus less.
It's about realizing
that we need Jesus more.
Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing
to pray this year?
Lord Jesus,
help me see that I need you more.
Have we settled
in our understanding
of who we think this man is?
Let me just say,
it's the thing about
the Christians over the years
who've made the biggest impact on me.
Do you know what it is about them
that connects them?
It isn't their sorted lives.
It wasn't their impressive lectures.
It wasn't and isn't
their spectacular gifts.
It's the people
who I can look at today
who are a lot older in life than me
and I can tell by the way
that they walk and they talk
that they've never stopped growing
and they've never stopped
learning things about Jesus
that blows their minds.
As we watch the disciples here
get a glimpse of Jesus' full glory
as they encounter him
in all his majesty,
let's never settle
for a small scale Jesus.
And so the third and final question
comes at verse 41
and it's from them to them.
They say to each other,
do you see,
who is this
that even the wind
and the waves
obey him?
And so here's the third invitation
really quickly
is not to miss out
on a life-giving Jesus.
For the question that they ask,
it's not only the big question
that dominates
the first half of Mark's gospel.
Let me just say
it's the biggest question
that any of us can ask in life
to do wrestle with,
to do battle with,
to get our heads around.
Who is this man?
Do you see at the start
how the disciples
are fearful of what's out there?
And at the end of this scene
they are fearful of what's
in the boat.
It's a lovely little fear contrast,
a fear swap, isn't it?
At the beginning of this scene
they are fearful of the storm.
Now at the end
they are fearful of Jesus.
And it's not a fear
that causes them
to run away and hide.
It's a fear
that compels them
to come close
and delight.
See, to fear God
is to be magnetically drawn in
like a paper clip
to a magnet
to savor the beauty
of our three-in-one God.
and to find yourself
in that place
where you can honestly say
that upon no one else
am I placing
the direction of my eyes
nor the affections of my heart.
And the Bible would say
that that place
is where true wisdom
is to be found.
The fear of the Lord.
As we wrap this up,
do you know
there will be so many times
this year, friends,
when you and I
will realize
that we are not in control.
Despite all the things
that the world sells us
and tells us,
we will not be in control.
There will be things
that will happen this year
that we will say
we just did not see that coming.
But we can trust the heart
of the one
who is in control
of all things.
The one who is so committed to us.
The one who loves us
so, so much.
And let's be like
the disciples here.
Let's allow the fear,
the fear
to gaze our eyes on
this Jesus.
You know, just as we close,
let me tell you
about one of my best friends.
His name is Hamish.
Studied with him at university
all the way through
for many years.
He remains to this day
one of my dearest friends.
He's one of the kindest
and the most intelligent people
that I think
I've ever met in life.
He was actually
one of the first people
back in 2019
who I heard of
that suffered
and got COVID.
And sadly as well,
he's one of the first people
that I heard of and knew
that suffers
still to this day
with what they call
long COVID.
And that,
plus a few other
health issues in his life,
have meant that the past
three or so years
of his life
have been so incredibly tough
for him and his family.
What was initially
just a period
of being signed off work,
it turned into
he's just going to have
to be off work completely.
That's where he is
still to this day.
But I remember speaking
to him early on
in the days of his illness
and he said,
do you know what?
It's just like
that kid's book.
We're going on a bear hunt.
He said,
this kind of stuff,
do you know what?
I can't
go over it.
I can't go under it.
I'm just going to have
to go through it.
But I know that this God
has got me.
And so Hamos,
he set up a WhatsApp group
for updates on his health.
Tons of people
in this WhatsApp group.
It's one of those groups
where you can't respond
because it just tires them
having the same conversation
with so many different people
because people genuinely
love him and want to know.
So he sends updates
on this group.
But every time I read
this WhatsApp group,
I'm struck by two things
that he asks us to pray for.
Two of the same things
every time.
And here's the two things.
He said,
would you pray
that I would be honest
in my weakness?
And secondly,
would you pray
that I'd be aware
of God's faithfulness?
And I take it
that somebody
who's learned
that in the storms of life,
the best place to be,
when you don't understand,
when it's out of your control,
the best place to be
is looking at the one
who's in control
of the wind and the waves.
You know,
we used to sing this song
at Boys Brigade
when I grew up.
It's kind of gone
out of fashion a little bit,
but I always love it
to come back to it
because it's a wonderful challenge
and a wonderful assurance.
It says this,
will your anchor hold
in the storms of life
when the clouds unfold
their wings of strife?
Will,
when the strong tides lift
and the cables strain?
Will your anchor drift
or firm remain?
We have an anchor
that keeps the soul
steadfast and sure
while the billows roll,
fastened to the rock
which cannot move,
grounded firm and deep
in the Savior's love.
Why don't we pray
as we close our time together?
words of Psalm 121,
I lift up my eyes
to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved.
He who keeps you
will not slumber.
Behold,
he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber
nor sleep.
And so, Father,
we're so thankful today
that we can trust
our uncertain tomorrows
to you,
the God who knows
the end from the beginning.
Father,
thank you that that is not
a truth that comes to us
this morning cold.
It's a truth that comes
to us this morning
wrapped in affection and love.
So, Lord, I pray,
Father,
that this morning,
whatever is going on
in our lives,
I pray that your Spirit
would be at work
in our hearts.
Would he be bringing
that sense of conviction
that we need to,
maybe even for the first time today,
respond to who Jesus is?
Father,
would he be bringing
that sense of assurance
and comfort
that truly our lives
could not be in better hands?
So, Father,
as a church family today,
we would pray,
Lord,
as we step into another year,
looking back on your faithfulness
this year to us
and certain of your faithfulness
to us in the generations
to come,
Lord,
that you would help us
to be a church
that's grounded prayerfully
in a true dependence
on who you are.
So, Father,
we thank you
that you love us
and we pray these things
confidently
because we pray them
in the powerful
and in the strong name
of Jesus.
Amen.