Second Presbyterian Church

"Secrets, Families & Storms
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
September 5, 2004

Upcoming Events

Worship Schedule

Sermons

About the Church

• Accessibility to the Church

• Directions to the Church

• History of the Church

Church Staff

Groups & Organizations

• Boy Scouts of America - Troop 175

• Choirs

• Presbyterian Women

• SPY (Second Presbyterian Youth)

Committees

• Building & Grounds

• Church Growth

• Congregational Care & Fellowship

• Education & Nurture

• Finance

• Office & Personnel

• Stewardship

• Witness & Service

• Worship & Celebration

Ad Hoc Committees

• Architectural - Engineering

• Building Fund

Presbyterian Internet Sites of Interest

Virginia Links

• Virginia Cities

Web Site Statistics

Site Map

Second Presbyterian Church Homepage

Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2004 » Sermons for September 2004 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#27 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Psalm 65: 1-9
• Luke 8: 16-25

It's time to return to the Gospel according to Luke. Today we take up three small units. The first two units speak more about the point about those who hear the Word of God and do it. You will remember the Parable of the Sower; the people who heard and did the Word were the grain that yielded a bountiful harvest in the parable of the sower. The two short units are about letting your light shine and who are Jesus' family. The third unit, the calming of the storm, begins a series of four miracle stories about Jesus.

Again, as we left the Parable of the Sower we noted that the ones who hear the Word of God and do it are the ones who are fruitful in the Kingdom of God. The parable served to remind us that, as Christians, we not only accept the Good News of Jesus Christ, but we also are supposed to go out and "do it." To make it clear, those who DO the Word of God ARE the ones who have accepted the Gospel.

The first unit is a series of short sayings about light, secrets and receiving. In many ways these, too, are separate sayings, but Luke used them together to reinforce the importance of receiving the word of God and responding to it.

The one who hears the Word of God and does it is like a light. His life shines with the glow from God. It serves as a beacon for others to see and to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Since we are talking about secrets, let me make this very clear. There are no secret Christians. That would be like one who lights a light and then tries to hide it so no one will notice. There is both blessing and judgment. When we receive the Word of God and do it we are blessed and those around us benefit. This becomes a blessing for us. When we hear the Word of God and try to hide it then we are trying to keep it a secret and the Lord shall judge those who are ashamed of the Gospel. What little they have they shall lose.

So you see how the three little sayings about light, secrets, and the "one who has" weave together to reinforce the point that true believers are not just hearers of the Word, they are changed by the Word and the seek to do what faithful Christians are to do.

And a similar point is made by the three verses about Jesus' family. Luke changed the context from Mark. Mark has the context of his mother and brothers coming to retrieve Jesus, because they believe that he is possessed; he has gone crazy. (Mark 3: 31-35) Luke used this incident to reinforce, once more the point about people who hear and respond to the Word of God. It changed from a negative context in Mark to a positive context in Luke. Luke is using the example of his family to make a simple point. Those who hear and do the Word of God are part of the family of God. In Christ we all become brothers and sisters to one another.

The last section of the lesson read this morning is when Jesus calmed the storm. Here we have Jesus telling the disciples to board a boat and to go to the other side of the Lake Galilee. While on route, Jesus fell asleep and a windstorm suddenly came up and the waves were starting to fill the boat. The disciples became afraid, and woke Jesus up saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Jesus then got up, rebuked the wind and suddenly there was a great calm on the lake. Jesus then noted their lack of faith and the disciples were afraid (again!). The last verse had the disciples wondering about Jesus, just who was he that even the wind and the waves obeyed him!

First of all. Today, we don't think about wind, storms and waves as personal - unless they are hurricanes! They still have names. Who hasn't, this week, wondered about Frances and what she might do. Who wasn't, last week, surprised by the ferocity of Gastone, or the meekness of Charley (except in Florida!). Who hasn't thought back to 50 years ago when Hazel roared through and toppled the steeple on the church! But by and large, except for hurricanes, we don't understand things, such as weather phenomena, as having their own personality. In the time of Jesus people did. A rock wasn't an "it;" it was a "he" or "she." So also was the wind, or the waves, or a storm. So for Jesus to speak to the wind and the sea wasn't necessarily unusual. What was unusual was that they OBEYED him! Jesus had such authority that the wind and the sea obeyed him. What kind of man was this! Because after Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea; it was calm, very calm, too calm for a sail boat.

Now many who have contemplated this passage see it as a parable for the church. The disciples represent the members of the church, together in the boat of life, upon the sea of chaos that is constantly threatening the life of the church. And I believe that Luke did have the church in mind when he wrote, or edited this passage into his gospel.

And I believe that the lesson is this! 1. Another example of Jesus as Messiah who has authority over all creation. 2. The church needs to feel free to call upon him when things get too rough. 3. But, it needs to do so in faith, and not fear. The disciples are encouraged to grow their faith and not fear the storm of life around us, just fear the Lord.

Perhaps the easiest one for us is to intellectually acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, as Lord. After all, most of us here consider ourselves Christians. And many of us feel pretty free to call upon the Lord for help when the Church (not just our individual selves) is struggling. You are aware that I have been calling the membership to prayer for the future of our congregation, so that we can discern God's will for us here at Second.

But how many of us can do this without having fear creep in. Fear is the destroyer of faith. Fear means that we do not trust the Lord as much as He would have us trust him. And yet, if we look back upon our lives and we remember when fear took over we remember that the decisions we made in that fear were probably not the best decisions made, as individuals. When congregations become afraid, scared or anxious, they too tend do things that express their lack of faith rather that be the community of faith. When anxiety rules, we look for someone to either blame or scapegoat. When we overcome our anxiety, then we look at the situation and make decisions that need courage, but are the right ones to make.

Storms come because we need them. We need them to practice growing our faith. We need them to help us exercise our trust in God, regardless of the apparent outcome of that trust. That is what Jesus is calling us to do. That's what it means to hear the word and to do it. That is what it means when we bravely choose to continue to be a congregation who believes in Jesus Christ and not allow the anxiety of worldly needs take over and place us in a posture of self-preservation. For a congregation, the goal of self-preservation is spiritually fatal; it becomes idolatrous and relegates Jesus Christ to a secondary position. Growing our faith means that we commit ourselves to never letting self-preservation become first, no matter what the future looks like.

The best example I can give of this is Jesus himself. He chose to trust God all the way. He chose to trust God all the way to the excruciating death on the cross. It looked like total defeat, especially in human terms. But Jesus trusted God all the way, and the result was our salvation and our reconciliation with the Lord God. He may have known what was going to happen, but I cannot imagine that that made it easier. Just imagine: God comes up to you and says, "You are going to die on the cross, a most excruciating way to die. But don't worry, because I am going to raise you from the dead and you will then live forever with me in heaven." What would you say? Would you go for it? Jesus did. And I thank God for that! Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.