Jonah 1:1-17; Romans 13:8-10; St Matthew 8:23-27
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
There’s a reason we put on life-preservers when we step into a boat. The sea can be a dangerous place. Unpredictable and terrifying. For the ancients the sea was the domain of the satanic. The dwelling of dark, mysterious creatures who would lure men to their certain doom. Leviathan. Even the mariners with whom Jonah sailed were afraid at the mighty tempest that threatened to break up their ship. What may start out as a pleasant little ride can easily turn deadly. What’s a boat compared to the power of a raging sea?
But there should be nothing to fear if Jesus is in the boat, right? There should be nothing to fear especially when Jesus is in the boat sleeping, right? A good rule of thumb for passengers on a boat is to keep your eyes on the captain. Every passenger knows that if the captain is sleeping through a storm, there’s really no reason for concern. Things can’t be that bad. But when that storm wakes him from sleep, that should cause us concern. That’s a sign of real trouble.
But the disciples refuse to see Jesus asleep as a good sign. A sign that all is well. A sign that there’s nothing to fear and that He is completely in control. As true God, Jesus was still ruling all things, upholding the universe by His omnipotent hand, even though His divine majesty is concealed under His sleeping humanity. Jesus can sleep through anything. He trusts in His heavenly Father’s protection. He has no fears, no guilt, no worries.
But sometimes it seem like He sleeps right through our prayers. He rarely behaves the way we think He should. Why was He sleeping while the storm raged? Why was He not with His disciples, teaching or praying or comforting them? Why wasn’t He helping? And why, when they came to Him looking for salvation, did He rebuke them? He had praised Gentiles for the same request.
Here’s another question: Who sent the storm? Some would say the devil, trying to destroy Jesus and the New Testament Church of the Twelve. But what about the Introit? For He commanded and raised up the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea (Ps 107:25)? Or the reading from Jonah? The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up? So which was it, the devil or God?
Yes.
In his Large Catechism on the First Commandment, Luther asks some other, related, questions:
What does it mean to have a god? Or, what is God? Answer: a god means that from which we are to expect all good and in which we are to take refuge in all distress. So, that have a God is nothing other than trusting and believing Him with the heart. I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your
faith and trust is right, then your god is also true. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you do not have the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God. Now, I say, that whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god. So you can easily understand what and how much this commandment requires. A person’s entire heart and all his confidence must be placed in God alone and in no one else. For to “have” God, you can easily see, is not to take hold of Him without hands or to put Him in a bag like money or to lock Him in a chest like silver vessels. Instead, to “have” Him means that the heart takes hold of Him and clings to Him. To cling to Him with the heart is nothing else than to trust in Him entirely. For this reason God wishes to turn us away from everything else that exits outside of Him and to draw us to Himself (LC I:1-3, 13-15).
It is wicked and unbelieving to be worried, anxious, scared. While traveling with Jesus these feelings are a sure symptom of a lack of faith in Him. And if we don’t have faith and trust in Jesus, what do we have? The biblical picture of the Church is of a boat traveling on stormy waters. It’s not an airplane hitting turbulence. Not a care driving in a snow storm. The Church is pictured as a boat in rough waters. Jesus, your Captain and your Head is there, promising to get you to heavenly shores.
You came aboard after He threw you a lifeline in your Baptism, when He sundered you safe and sound in the holy ark of the Christian Church, separating you from the multitude of unbelievers perishing in the raging flood of sin and death, swamped by the devil and fear of hell. He says to you, “Fix your eyes on Me, the Author and Perfecter of your faith.”
But we have not. We refuse to believe Jesus is control and we are suspicious of His ways, of His behavior. He doesn’t seem to be working all things together for my good. He seems to be sleeping, to be ignoring us. Don’t You care that we are perishing? (Mk 4:38) Wars and disease, hatred and greed, bigotry and addiction, they threaten and attack us from all sides. We are plagued with crime and poverty. Families are falling apart. Babies are murdered in their mother’s wombs. American soldiers die in foreign lands while wives at home are unfaithful. The government lies. Children cheat. Schools can’t be trusted. Friends betray us. Pastors preach false doctrine.
Repent, you little faiths. Receive the rebuke of our Lord. Be broken by His Law. For in this way He empties you of yourself in order to fill you with His love and life. He kills you in order to revive you. If we stop feeling the Law, we lose the Gospel. First comes the rebuke, then comes the calming of the storm. First comes the cross, then comes the glory. Receive His Word with thanksgiving, repent, and consider what sort of Man your Savior is.
For He is the sort the world has never before seen. He is the Man who is also God. The One who can rise and talk to the gusting winds and the stormy seas and they listen like an obedient pet. The One who can rise and speak peace into the hearts of little faiths, doubting disciples, and they are forgiven. Lord, count us among those little faiths on Your boat.
What sort of Man is this? He is a lot like the prophet Jonah, who also slept on a boat during a storm. He is a lot like the prophet Jonah for whom they cast lots. He is a lot like the prophet Jonah, who gave his life to spare others. He is a lot like him, but in one way profoundly and eternally different.
For Jonah was a sinful man who deserved to die. The Lord spared his life in the belly of the fish. Jesus was an innocent Man who deserved to be spared from death, but who lived to right into death’s belly and not be spared. Instead, Jesus was the Prophet who was hurled into the deadly sea of your sins at the Cross and died for them. He was the Prophet swamped by your refusal to take Him at His Word, allow Him to be your God, and be drowned in your unbelief and fear. He was the Prophet cast into our damnation upon the Mast of the Cross, lashed to it in the storm of of His Father’s rage, and then laid in the grave dead.
Look at the Captain of your Salvation, lying dead in that tomb, and be cheered. For your sins were killed with Him. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the Cross, despising its shame, His body laid dead in the grave, and be glad, little faiths. For you know what happens next. A miracle greater than Jonah being swallowed by a giant fish - the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead!
The victorious Resurrection where the Father woke Jesus from the dead, not to rebuke His scared disciples on Easter, but to show them His wounds and to speak peace to them. The Resurrection, where the Father raised the Prophet Jesus from the dead to show that you are no longer in our sins and to calm your troubled hearts. The Resurrection, where the Father “spit” Jesus out of the grave like it was nothing, to show you that the power of death and hell have been defeated, and to give you the promise that your own death will be the most pleasant kind of sleep there is. Asleep in Jesus, until He comes again and makes your bodies - along with all of creation - new.
The devil continues His raging against the Church and her saints. And though your hearts will sometimes fail, you need not fear. Your Captain is here. And He does not slumber or sleep. He who keeps Israel does not grow weary or faint. In Love He fulfilled the Law. He is your God and you are His people. Baptismally rescued safe and sound within the Ark of His own Body, the Church.
Behold, here is your Anchor within the Veil, that is, within the Holy of Holies and the Veil of His own flesh, His blessed Sacrament; His oath, His covenant, His Blood, support you in this raging flood. Fix your eyes and hearts here, beloved, in faith upon your Lord Jesus. Waves crash against the Church and she looks like she’s sinking; there is doubt and fear without and within, but here, here, is peace which the world cannot give. Peace with surpasses all human understanding. Peace which shall guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
There’s a reason we put on life-preservers when we step into a boat. The sea can be a dangerous place. Unpredictable and terrifying. For the ancients the sea was the domain of the satanic. The dwelling of dark, mysterious creatures who would lure men to their certain doom. Leviathan. Even the mariners with whom Jonah sailed were afraid at the mighty tempest that threatened to break up their ship. What may start out as a pleasant little ride can easily turn deadly. What’s a boat compared to the power of a raging sea?
But there should be nothing to fear if Jesus is in the boat, right? There should be nothing to fear especially when Jesus is in the boat sleeping, right? A good rule of thumb for passengers on a boat is to keep your eyes on the captain. Every passenger knows that if the captain is sleeping through a storm, there’s really no reason for concern. Things can’t be that bad. But when that storm wakes him from sleep, that should cause us concern. That’s a sign of real trouble.
But the disciples refuse to see Jesus asleep as a good sign. A sign that all is well. A sign that there’s nothing to fear and that He is completely in control. As true God, Jesus was still ruling all things, upholding the universe by His omnipotent hand, even though His divine majesty is concealed under His sleeping humanity. Jesus can sleep through anything. He trusts in His heavenly Father’s protection. He has no fears, no guilt, no worries.
But sometimes it seem like He sleeps right through our prayers. He rarely behaves the way we think He should. Why was He sleeping while the storm raged? Why was He not with His disciples, teaching or praying or comforting them? Why wasn’t He helping? And why, when they came to Him looking for salvation, did He rebuke them? He had praised Gentiles for the same request.
Here’s another question: Who sent the storm? Some would say the devil, trying to destroy Jesus and the New Testament Church of the Twelve. But what about the Introit? For He commanded and raised up the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea (Ps 107:25)? Or the reading from Jonah? The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up? So which was it, the devil or God?
Yes.
In his Large Catechism on the First Commandment, Luther asks some other, related, questions:
What does it mean to have a god? Or, what is God? Answer: a god means that from which we are to expect all good and in which we are to take refuge in all distress. So, that have a God is nothing other than trusting and believing Him with the heart. I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your
faith and trust is right, then your god is also true. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you do not have the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God. Now, I say, that whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god. So you can easily understand what and how much this commandment requires. A person’s entire heart and all his confidence must be placed in God alone and in no one else. For to “have” God, you can easily see, is not to take hold of Him without hands or to put Him in a bag like money or to lock Him in a chest like silver vessels. Instead, to “have” Him means that the heart takes hold of Him and clings to Him. To cling to Him with the heart is nothing else than to trust in Him entirely. For this reason God wishes to turn us away from everything else that exits outside of Him and to draw us to Himself (LC I:1-3, 13-15).
It is wicked and unbelieving to be worried, anxious, scared. While traveling with Jesus these feelings are a sure symptom of a lack of faith in Him. And if we don’t have faith and trust in Jesus, what do we have? The biblical picture of the Church is of a boat traveling on stormy waters. It’s not an airplane hitting turbulence. Not a care driving in a snow storm. The Church is pictured as a boat in rough waters. Jesus, your Captain and your Head is there, promising to get you to heavenly shores.
You came aboard after He threw you a lifeline in your Baptism, when He sundered you safe and sound in the holy ark of the Christian Church, separating you from the multitude of unbelievers perishing in the raging flood of sin and death, swamped by the devil and fear of hell. He says to you, “Fix your eyes on Me, the Author and Perfecter of your faith.”
But we have not. We refuse to believe Jesus is control and we are suspicious of His ways, of His behavior. He doesn’t seem to be working all things together for my good. He seems to be sleeping, to be ignoring us. Don’t You care that we are perishing? (Mk 4:38) Wars and disease, hatred and greed, bigotry and addiction, they threaten and attack us from all sides. We are plagued with crime and poverty. Families are falling apart. Babies are murdered in their mother’s wombs. American soldiers die in foreign lands while wives at home are unfaithful. The government lies. Children cheat. Schools can’t be trusted. Friends betray us. Pastors preach false doctrine.
Repent, you little faiths. Receive the rebuke of our Lord. Be broken by His Law. For in this way He empties you of yourself in order to fill you with His love and life. He kills you in order to revive you. If we stop feeling the Law, we lose the Gospel. First comes the rebuke, then comes the calming of the storm. First comes the cross, then comes the glory. Receive His Word with thanksgiving, repent, and consider what sort of Man your Savior is.
For He is the sort the world has never before seen. He is the Man who is also God. The One who can rise and talk to the gusting winds and the stormy seas and they listen like an obedient pet. The One who can rise and speak peace into the hearts of little faiths, doubting disciples, and they are forgiven. Lord, count us among those little faiths on Your boat.
What sort of Man is this? He is a lot like the prophet Jonah, who also slept on a boat during a storm. He is a lot like the prophet Jonah for whom they cast lots. He is a lot like the prophet Jonah, who gave his life to spare others. He is a lot like him, but in one way profoundly and eternally different.
For Jonah was a sinful man who deserved to die. The Lord spared his life in the belly of the fish. Jesus was an innocent Man who deserved to be spared from death, but who lived to right into death’s belly and not be spared. Instead, Jesus was the Prophet who was hurled into the deadly sea of your sins at the Cross and died for them. He was the Prophet swamped by your refusal to take Him at His Word, allow Him to be your God, and be drowned in your unbelief and fear. He was the Prophet cast into our damnation upon the Mast of the Cross, lashed to it in the storm of of His Father’s rage, and then laid in the grave dead.
Look at the Captain of your Salvation, lying dead in that tomb, and be cheered. For your sins were killed with Him. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the Cross, despising its shame, His body laid dead in the grave, and be glad, little faiths. For you know what happens next. A miracle greater than Jonah being swallowed by a giant fish - the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead!
The victorious Resurrection where the Father woke Jesus from the dead, not to rebuke His scared disciples on Easter, but to show them His wounds and to speak peace to them. The Resurrection, where the Father raised the Prophet Jesus from the dead to show that you are no longer in our sins and to calm your troubled hearts. The Resurrection, where the Father “spit” Jesus out of the grave like it was nothing, to show you that the power of death and hell have been defeated, and to give you the promise that your own death will be the most pleasant kind of sleep there is. Asleep in Jesus, until He comes again and makes your bodies - along with all of creation - new.
The devil continues His raging against the Church and her saints. And though your hearts will sometimes fail, you need not fear. Your Captain is here. And He does not slumber or sleep. He who keeps Israel does not grow weary or faint. In Love He fulfilled the Law. He is your God and you are His people. Baptismally rescued safe and sound within the Ark of His own Body, the Church.
Behold, here is your Anchor within the Veil, that is, within the Holy of Holies and the Veil of His own flesh, His blessed Sacrament; His oath, His covenant, His Blood, support you in this raging flood. Fix your eyes and hearts here, beloved, in faith upon your Lord Jesus. Waves crash against the Church and she looks like she’s sinking; there is doubt and fear without and within, but here, here, is peace which the world cannot give. Peace with surpasses all human understanding. Peace which shall guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
RSS Feed