The Object Of Our Faith

The Object Of Our Faith

Mark 4: 35 - 41

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port  aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure.

Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed.

If not for the courage of the fearless crew,

The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.”

     We all know the story.  Jesus and the others set sail from the west side of the sea.  Jesus falls asleep, the weather gets rough, and He wakes up to calm the waves.  Then the disciples gasp with their jaws dropped.  Lah, dee, dah.  On to the next story, right?  Heard this one a million times.  Jesus is God so He can command the weather.  Big deal.

     It is a big deal when we stop to examine what He has to teach us about fear.  What did these fishermen lack when starting out from shore?  Friction and resistance they did not know.  Just another jaunt across the lake.  “Eh, clouds look a little heavy, but we got this.”

     A ramping psychological dilemma brewed as the wind increased.  Waves gave testimony of  suffocating death awaiting morbidity.  Plagued thinking lowered their confidence to skim just above the foaming surface.  If not for joined woodened planks, death was inevitable.

     This journey did not start in desperate faith instilled in timbers.  Gusto and pride propelled the flagship crew to carry the King while others followed.  They trusted their abilities to rent a craft making it obey.  They trusted their skill reading weather and waves.  They trusted their capacity to overcome.  Without this confidence, they would have never left.

     Somewhere along the storm’s wake, apprehension seeped to fear.  Waves were ok if they minded their manners.  When breaking over the stern, water threatened to surpass a defined boundary every sailor knew.  The craft’s ultimate duty was about to be compromised.

     The resulting reaction exposed the straw that broke their backs.  The ship was going down.  Panic caught their souls.  Fear filled faith’s drought.  Up they roused the Sleeper.  “Don’t you care?  We are perishing!”  Jesus awakened and calmed the storm. 

Mark 4:40 “And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”

     Certainly they had faith.  As my pastor defined, they put it in the wrong place.  So focused their attention on a wooden life preserver, they forgot Jesus their championed leader.  They had heard Him teach.  In addition, they saw Him heal.  Finally, they witnessed Him standing up to the Pharisees. 

     With a few words, He stretched their understanding again.  “Even the wind and waves obey Him!”  Another revelation as Jesus implored them to sink their faith in Him.  This visual should have stuck, but He came back later with John’s revelation.  Convincing the early church that He was in charge, Jesus rights their minds and gains their trust.  “I’ve got this.  Put your faith in Me.”

    Surely Skipper had a Bible on board.  Gilligan could have spent more time praying and less time fixing the Minnow.  Then again, where would the series be?   

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