We’re All In The Same Boat

…That’s the bad news. What’s the good news?

by Ed Fernandez

Luke 8:22-25 (New International Version)

Jesus Calms the Storm

²²One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. ²³As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
²⁴The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. ²⁵“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

Click picture below to watch the scene in The Jesus Film. (You may begin at 46:00 in English version).

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I’ve seen The Jesus Film many times and the one you’ve just seen is one of my favorite scenes. This scene is a complete story in itself. It can stand alone as a short film. It has a beginning, middle—an action-packed middle!—and an end.

The story begins with Jesus saying to his disciples, “Let’s go to the other side of the lake.” The Christian life is like a journey. As we put our faith in Jesus and begin to follow him, we embark on a new journey in life. To get to a destination we may have to go through some rough ride across some “stormy lake.” The question is, Can we successfully “go to the other side”? Can we accomplish our mission? Can we succeed?

“Let’s go!”

Let’s go! I like how that sounds. I like the excitement of a journey, especially one that includes travel across a body of water. I was born and raised in a small town in southern Philippines and one of the places I wanted to visit was the biggest city in the country: Manila. So when I got myself a job at age 18, I saved some money, and bought myself a boat ticket for the journey across the seas. That boat trip lasted almost a week and it was a very memorable one!

When I was starting as a new believer in Christ, I was full of joy and hope. I was excited about everything. I felt God was leading me every step of the way. I was excited about where God would show me next.  Of course, there were some challenges but overall it was a great experience. My parents who were die-hard Catholics were not happy about what happened to me. They thought that I had gone crazy because I who went to a Catholic seminary had now become a Protestant! A no-no in a Catholic dominated small town.

I did not look at it that way though. I never thought of my experience as a conversion to Protestantism. I was very religious so I knew deep inside me that something deeper than religion had taken place. I knew in my heart that I had become a true follower of Jesus Christ. I knew in my heart that in Jesus I had received eternal life. I knew in my heart that I was going to heaven. I knew in my heart that I was a brand new person. I knew in my heart that God had a wonderful plan for me. And I was a very happy person. I relished every moment of the wonderful life I had in Christ.  So, to me, that’s all that really mattered. If it was a conversion, it was not a conversion from one religion to another but from an old selfish and hopeless way of living to a new way of living in Christ through whom I received the gift of eternal life. It was a grand experience!

If you believe, you too might have a similar experience. But if you have not yet believed in Jesus as Savior and Lord, then I would encourage you to check out Jesus. If you say you believe in Jesus but you’re not sure, or you haven’t experienced the joy and don’t have the hope I’m talking about, then I would ask you to take a good look at your faith. If you find that what you have is a questionable faith, then get it right. Believe in Jesus today and commit your life to him.

But if you already believe in Jesus and know it for sure, then you may have experienced the same things I have experienced. If you have believed in Christ you, too, have a story to tell. You, too, have embarked the “boat,” so-to-speak, and have begun your journey with Jesus to “go across the lake,” wherever or whatever that might be. As Jesus and his disciples took the boat across the lake, we too take that figurative boat with Jesus. And as Jesus took them across the lake to a certain place for a certain mission we, too, are going across for a mission.

What is our mission? I think it is important that we have a clear knowledge of our mission at the very outset.  It is important that we have a clear view of our vision. When Jesus called his disciples and they followed him they knew that Jesus’ mission had become their mission. At one time Jesus called them and said, “Come, follow me…and I will make you fishers of men” (Mark 1:17).  The mission of Jesus is to “catch” people—not to make slaves out of them but to set them free!  That’s why after Jesus and his disciples had gone across the lake to a region called Gerasenes, he exorcised a man who was possessed by a legion of evil spirits and set him free! We have the same mission in the world today: to proclaim the good news of freedom in Christ. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 16:15 NLT).

As a community of believers, we have been commissioned by Christ to proclaim the Good News.

The question is, Can we successfully “go to the other side of the lake”? Can we succeed?

“We’re going to drown!”

As we consider the question “Can we succeed?” we need to look at what happens next as Jesus and his disciples set out in a boat. And here’s what happened: Jesus fell asleep, a storm threatened to sink the boat, and the disciples were terrified!

In this situation, who do you normally expect to be afraid…the fishermen or the carpenter?  For some reason the disciples some of whom were fishermen were afraid! The storm must have been a big one. But what’s wrong with the picture? We may point our finger to Jesus and say, How can Jesus sleep during these dangerous moments? Does he care? Are there times in your life that you feel the Lord does not care? Are there times in your life that you feel like the Lord seems asleep while you are having a very hard time? Well, that’s how the disciples felt! They frantically yelled to Jesus and woke him up, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” In the Gospel of Mark they said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

Does Jesus care? He does! There’s no question about. The fact that Jesus, the God who came down to earth and became flesh, went through all the hassles of living as a human being shows clearly that he does care!

The reason why the disciples were afraid was because at these dangerous moments the Jesus they saw was not the Lord of heaven and earth, but just another man, sleeping and who was too tired to care! They did not realize that this man who was sleeping in the same boat was the very God through whom everything was created, including the lake on which their boat was floating and the wind that caused all the rocking! So what’s wrong with the picture? What’s wrong with the picture is not Jesus sleeping. What’s wrong with the picture is the terrified disciples screaming, “We’re going to drown!” when  Jesus was with them!

Let’s take a closer look at the disciples’ statement: “We’re going to drown!” What does it express? Hopelessness. Pessimism. I’m afraid that some of Jesus’ followers today have the same feeling of hopelessness. They are pessimistic and negative about so many things. Proof of this is the fact that when a believer goes out in the open and enthusiastically talks about success or how to accomplish goals, some “pessimistic believers” (a contradiction of terms, by the way) will begin to shoot that guy down. How? By using proof texts that make their arguments appear biblical and them more spiritual! I think some of them over-react to the so-called “prosperity theology” propagated by some shallow preachers. That’s why they have become allergic to terms like “success” and in the process shortchanged themselves and the people they have influence on. Some are just plain pessimists.

“Where is your faith?”

Why is it that some followers of Christ are so pessimistic…so negative? It may be that some who consider themselves believers are really mere followers who have not really formed strong personal and sound biblical and theological beliefs that help build a genuine faith in Jesus. Like the disciples of Jesus, they may be following Jesus but their faith in Jesus is suspect.

At this point the disciples did not really know who Jesus really was. Or perhaps their faith was still in its infancy—they were like crybabies as far as their faith in Jesus was concerned. That’s why after Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves, he asked them the soul-searching question, “Where is your faith?” Obviously, their faith wasn’t really there yet.  But what the Gospel writer says about them next shows some glimmer of hope: “In fear and amazement they asked one another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him’” (bold mine).  Knowledge begins by asking then right questions and the disciples asked the right one.

I wonder how many of you who say you follow Christ is like the disciples—your faith is not really there yet. When the storm of life comes, you’re terrified. Here are some comforting words for you: If you find yourself terrified, you’re not alone. And there is hope for you. What you need to do is ask yourself the question, Who is Jesus Christ? And if your answer is Jesus is God who came in the flesh to be my Savior and that he is the Sovereign Lord of the universe who can calm any storm that may come along my path, then you’re on the right track. With that belief, a faith that can move mountains (Matthew 17:20) can develop in you so that with God’s help you can be the person that God wants you to be and you can do  what God’s wants you to do. Now that’s the kind of faith in Jesus that can get you across a stormy lake! The bottom line of this message is a principle for success: to accomplish our special mission in the world and be a success we’ve got to put our faith in Jesus Christ, the one that the Bible presents.

We have a mission as a church. God has called us as a community to bear witness for Christ and to proclaim the Gospel. As we gather together, we are God’s collective light in the world. But as we scatter, we serve as God’s individual lights in the world. Here are some of the questions you need to answer: What can you do so that your life will become truly a light that leads people to the Savior? How can you exhibit the freedom you have in Christ? How does your faith show in a world where people are pessimistic and feel hopeless? Do you drown with them in the stormy lake of pessimism or do you offer them a ride to our “boat,” which is a way of life—where Christ is present? As they say, “action speaks louder than words.” What kind of actions do you display? Are they actions of pessimism or actions of faith? In this bad economy in which people are depressed, are you a help? Are you an encourager?  Do you ride the boat of discouragement, fear and despair or the boat where Christ is present?

But let’s be realistic, you say. OK, let’s be. Are there non-Christians (or “unbelievers” as some of us call them) who believe they can weather the storm? Oh yes! Plenty of them! And are they going to make it? Oh yes! Many of them! So what’s the problem? What’s the reason why you, a believer, can’t make it? You should be able to make it even better than unbelievers. Why? Because you can be more than just a positive person. You can be a true believer! You can believe in an all-powerful God who can save you and help you overcome the storms that may come along your way!

When you set out with Christ to do something, you are in a special mission. Your occupation may be in business or finance but your goal is not just to be prosperous or to help people become prosperous. Your goal is to proclaim freedom in Christ! If this is your goal, do you think the Lord will help you? Isn’t the answer quite obvious? So what do we need to have? We need faith in him who can save us. We need faith in him who can get us across the stormy way to our destination. We need faith in him who can set people free! We need faith in Christ!

Let me end this message with a success story of a poor girl who’s found freedom and life and success in Christ. If you’re from the Philippines you may have heard about the story of a girl named Sarah. Out of her story Viva Films made a movie. Viva actually hired me in the mid 90s to research her story. Sarah was a poor Muslim girl went to United Arab Emirates to work as a maid and to help her family survive. She was below 18 and so she was really just a child. Her boss attempted to rape her but Sarah went to prison for defending herself. I’ll let Sarah tell you the rest of the story because she will be with us on Freedom Day, 4th of July. All I want to tell you about her is that she was a young Muslim girl who had a terrible experience in life but who found freedom, hope, joy and success in Christ! Now Sarah tours America to share her wonderful testimony.  Sarah is a success story. You, too, can be!