June 24, 2009 + “Keep the Faith!” (Mark 4:35-41) + Hayward Fong

According to the Lectionary, the Gospel reading was for last Sunday, the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Because I chose to speak on a Father’s Day theme last week, I’m a week behind.

I don’t need to tell you how the economic recession had shattered the lives and dreams of so many Americans and their families. I get a lot of mail from charities. Many include real life stories of people who are facing the realities of today and how they are managing to face the “Storms of Life.” I want to begin this morning by sharing with you a real life story of a man named Steve.

Steve was living what some people might call the American Dream. He had a great wife and two wonderful children. He lived in a beautiful house on a quiet street, and had a job that most people would love to have. However, upon coming to work one day, Steve found out that his job in management had been eliminated…not downsized, but eliminated. As the bills grew higher and higher so did the tension between Steve and his family. The things that Steve and his family were going through could be summed up in four words, and they are the “Storms of Life.”

Have you experienced storms in your life?...those times where things just didn’t make any sense…times where your problems seemed so big and your faith seemed so small…times where you felt so swamped and so afraid that you were going to be taken over by the storm. I think all of us have had a feeling like that. I know that I have. Jesus’ disciples were no different. How did they deal with the storm? There are some major points that we can apply, between the Spiritual Storms and the disciples’ Physical Storm.

The first point is there will be storms…storms will come, sooner or later, they will come. Do you remember the lyrics of a song of the 40-50s, “Into each life some rain must fall, but too much has fallen in mine…!” Even if everything is going great right now, you must keep your faith in Jesus, because the storms will come. It only takes a second for everything to change, for everything to be flipped upside down. Maybe you lose your job, or a family member is in a serious accident, or as we’ve noted in recent years here in Southern California, home destroyed by wildfires and earthquakes. You can fill in your personal storms because the list goes on and on and on, physical storms, spiritual storms.

For the disciples, it wasn’t a spiritual storm, but rather a physical storm. When they left the docks that evening, everything was fine. However, it only took a split second for everything to go horribly wrong. The winds picked up and the waves crashed over the boat, and the disciples were afraid. When the storms come, they bring out the emotions of fear, anger, frustration, and uncertainty.

If we know the storms will come, we have to ask ourselves the next question, “How do we deal with these storms when they come?” The first thing we need to do is never give up. We need to take the storm that is plaguing our life for what it is, and that it is a test or trial or temptation. We must remember never give up!

The next thing we need to do in dealing with the storms is to keep focused. It’s so easy when times are hard to lose our focus from the things that are really important or the tasks we need to accomplish. And isn’t that how the devil traps and entangles us...by putting other things in our life to break our focus and to make us lose sight of our goal? You can bet your bottom dollar on it! That’s why we need to keep focused.

The third and final thing we need to do in order to deal with the storms in our life is that we must remember! We must remember to have faith in Jesus. With faith in Jesus we can be assured that no matter how bad things get, the storm will not stick around forever. And that leads us to the next major point.

The storms will go. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a storm that stuck around forever. I know that when it rains, infrequently as it does here in Southern California, and it’s wet and miserable outside, it feels like the storm will last forever, but what eventually happens? The Sun comes out, the temperature rises and before we know it, the storm is over. We can always take hope in the fact, that no matter how bad things get, the storm will pass. The same can be said of the blizzards in the Midwest or the hurricanes in the Southeast, the storms will pass.

Jesus’ disciples saw the same tings. They thought the storm may last forever, or at least long enough to put an end to them. But what do we see from the story, the SON, S-O-N, not the SUN, S-U-N, came out and calmed the winds and the waves and the storm that they were so worried about ended.

And isn’t that the way it usually goes? When we realize that we can’t do it on our own, that’s when we ask for help. That’s when we start looking for Jesus. And why do we do that? We do that because we know that Jesus will always be there to calm the winds and the waves of our spiritual lives. He will always be there to strengthen and comfort us.

But one question remains, what do we do with Jesus after the storm is gone? And here is an answer that I think is most important. We must remember to put our faith in Jesus! Now you might be asking yourself, why should I put my faith in Jesus? The storm is already over. Well, the storm may be over, but Jesus is still there! And that leads us to the third major point.

Jesus always remains. Just because Jesus is there in the storms of your life, that doesn’t mean you can’t look for Him in the good times. It doesn’t mean that you should only ask for help and guidance in the bad times. He wants to be there when things are going great also. He wants to share in you joys as well as your sorrows. When I say Jesus always remains, I mean always!

When we look at the disciples in the story, at what time did they go and get Jesus? It was when times were really bad, it was when they had no place else to turn. I think that is something each and everyone of us should think about!

I like a poem called “Footprints in the Sand,” by Mary Stevenson (1936). Let me read it for you.

“One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

“In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was only one.

“This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“’You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?’

“The Lord replied, ‘The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you’”

A lot of people feel that the greatest phrase in this poem is the concluding phrase. While it is a wonderful phrase, I feel the best part is during the rest of the man’s life where there were two sets of footprints in the sand. The two sets of footprints remind me that we must put our faith in Jesus. For the simple fact that Jesus is always there! For the simple fact that Jesus’ love is always there! For the simple fact that His peace and patience and kindness is always there! And most of all for the simple fact that Jesus Always Remains!

Let us revisit our friend Steve. Since we last saw Steve, everything has changed. He has found a new job, and has rediscovered his relationship with Jesus. Steve summed everything up in this way, “When everything was going great, I thought I could do it all on my own. I thought Jesus was there to help in my times of trouble. However, when the storms hit my life, I began to read the Bible and I found out that Jesus always remains. He is there in the good times as well as the bad. And all I had to do is remember to put my faith in Him.”

I think Steve is on the right track. When the storms come we must remember to put our trust in Jesus, because He will help us through tough times. When the storms go we must remember to continue putting our faith in Jesus, because He will help us put our lives back together, strengthening and encouraging us along the way. And finally we must remember to keep our faith in Jesus, because Jesus Always Remains! So, let Him remain in your life always, through good times and bad.

Amen.