St Matthew, Chapter 8, verses:25 - 26, The Gathereing Storm.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The storm on the lake) Part 2.  

Christ is sleeping in the boat and the waves are overflowing into the boat causing it to sink.  The disciples are in a panic and do not know what to do.  So they come and wake him from his sleep and say to him, "Lord, save us! we are perishing! "   Christ has just performed miracles before their eyes.  He has cured a leper.  He has healed a servent grieviously ill in bed.  He has banished a fever from Peter's mother-in-law, and performed other miracles, casting out demons and curing all that were brought to him.  Yet the disciples were affraid.  They feared for their lives.

We, in similar fashion, face perils and hardships calling upon God to save us.  When sickness comes we call upon God.  When disease comes we call upon God.  When disaster strikes we call upon God.  When death is knocking at our door, we call upon God.  When the bills are coming faster than we can see income to pay for them, we call upon God.  When doubt comes in, having us question our faith, we call upon God.  LORD save us, we are perishing!!!  We call upon God.  Where is the knowledge of his wisdom within us?  Where is the belief in his love while we are holding his hand?  Where is the security of his protection when we are under his guidance?  Where did our courage go when we see peril approaching?  Do we not believe?  Do we not have faith in his power?  Do we not trust in his wisdom and his love and his protection for us?

Christ awoke from his sleep and spoke to his disciples saying,  "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"   Why do we fear, if we are with Christ?  Why do we not have faith if Christ is in our lives?  Do we not believe?  Do we have to call upon God for every little incident that comes into our lives?  Do we have to pray for every sickness that comes upon us?  Do we have to call upon him when the waves of the world seem to overtake us?  Or do we have faith?  What is faith if we do not have it?  Really,  W H A T   I S   F A I T H  and do we really have it?  

Christ has taken us on a journey of belief.  He has demonstrated to his disciples in his miracles those who had faith.  He has pointed out incidences of great faith to us and to his disciples.  Then, he provides us with the written test to see if we will pass.  He provided the disciples with their lack of faith when he slept in the boat and the waves of the sea seemed to overtake them.  He gave them a grade and they did not pass because they had not grasped the simple principle of faith. 

Do we have faith today?  Have we passed the written test that he has given us?  Have we failed to demonstrate that we have faith?  Christ is preparing his disciples for the time when his mission will end and he will take his rest with his father in heaven.  He is running them through the obstacle course to build up their faith.  He is training them on the basics of faith and how they should use it.  Are we paying attention when we read these passages, so that we will also be trained in our faith?   We are week human beings but faith makes us strong in him who is the source of all strength.  "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  
   

St Matthew, Chapter 8, verse: 23-24, The Gathering Storm.

Our paragraph topic is: (The storm on the lake) Part 1. 

23 Then he got into a boat, and his disciples followed him.  24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves;but he was asleep.

Christ ordered the disciples to go across the sea when he saw the great crowds gathering.  The word had spread of his  popularity and all the crowds came to see him.  And out of the woodwork came all who wanted to be near him.  The groupies wanted to follow him.  His disciples made excuses to leave him.  And he had no place to rest.  He got into the boat and set sail for the other side of the lake.  Christ slept while they were traveling across the lake.  Matthew tells us that a great storm arose on the sea and the boat was covered by the waves.  But Christ was asleep in the boat.

Christ had just spoke to a groupie telling him that the Son of Man had no place to lay his head.  He had no place to move away from the gathering crowds of people.  He was like a movie star that draws crowds wherever they go.  He had to have people to protect him and to be around him at all times lest he is mobbed by the people.  Yet he was God made flesh like all other humans and required rest for his human body.

And the world raged on around him.  The seas churned, the waves lashed against the boat, and the waters began to wash into the boat, filling it to near flooding.  The disciples were panicking.  They did not know what to do.  They tried to bail out the water but it was too much for them.  They were lashed about by the waves.  They were thrown hither and yonder by the winds.  They fought for their lives under the overflow of the waves.  They were afraid.  They feared for their lives.  And Christ was asleep in the boat.

How often we face the same situations in our lives where turmoil surrounds us.  We see our lives going down in destruction.  We fear the worst for ourselves when change comes about that threatens our livelihoods.  The waves of tribulation flood into our boat and we are lost not knowing what to do.  We frantically try to bail out the water without any success.  The waters of destruction overwhelm us leaving us frustrated and fearful.  We panic.  We live in a state of stress.  We are angry at what has happened to us.  We seek answers and find something to blame.  We live in the past constantly reliving what we could have done to change our current circumstances.  We do everything that we know to do, relying on our human strength to bring about a change.

In the previous paragraphs Christ has given us examples of authority, miracles of restoration, and opportunities of faith to lead us along the path.  He is traveling somewhere and wants us to follow.  He tells his disciple to follow him.  He tells him to let the dead bury the dead implying that the living should be with him.  And now in the mist of the worldly storm he sleeps.  Should we sleep also following his example?  Should we place our trust in him and not worry about what we see around us?  Should we believe in his authority that will protect and guide us to safe shores?  Or should we see the gathering storm and fear?  Should we panic and use our human powers in an attempt to deliver us from the storm?  Christ is asleep in the boat.  Shouldn't we also rest with him?  Shouldn't we also be at peace with him? 
   

23

St Matthew, Chapter 8, verse: 21-22, The Gathering Storm.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Sacrifice to follow Christ) Part 2.  

We continue our discussion on this topic of Miracles under the heading of sacrifices to follow Christ.  As we talked about before the word has gone out and the crowds have gathered to where Christ is preaching.  He has given orders to his disciples that they are going across the sea.  All kinds of people are coming out of the woodwork to see him, to follow him, to question him, to take advantage of him, to marvel at him, to ridicule him.  And we can be assured that those who would do him harm, those who have evil intentions against him, those who are possessed of evil, are out to see him also.

So under this guise many people are saying things to him.  Those wannabe groupies have come out also.  One groupie has said to him, Lord I will follow you wherever thou goest.  In these verses another groupie tells him the same thing but with a contingency.  He says,  "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."   Christ in return says something that is well worth remembering.  He tells this disciple:  "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."   Christ calls those who are not following him dead.  Those who do not hear his words he calls dead.  Those who are not witness to his miracles he calls dead.

This must have been a shock to those who heard it.   The disciple who asked this question was asking permission of Christ to take a leave of absence.  He was asking Christ if he could be excused for this reason, to bury his father.  Christ, in his response, did not give recognition to the disciple's excuse.  He did not say to him it is a good reason for you to leave, to bury your father.  Christ said to the disciple that he did not have a valid reason to leave.  In his words he told the disciple that there was no reason for him to leave.  His father was already dead and those that are already dead would bury him.  And that statement infers that the disciple was alive but the others were dead.

How often do we hear excuses to following Christ?  I don't have enough time.  I am too busy to go to church.  I don't read the bible because it is to difficult to read.  I often told myself, many years ago, that I would take time out to read the bible when I was settled enough and had the time to spare.  I look back on those times and think how foolish I was in making such an excuse.  My life was in the world and I did not know it.  My life was focused on living in the world and I did not know it.  My life was set on being successful in the world and this was what I knew.  My life was the world and as a result my life was dead. 

I had no life.  It was full of drugs.  It was full of lust.  It was full of selfishness, I only wanted for me and only me.  It was full of desire for the world and greed.  And I was dead.  I came to a crossroads in my life I had to make a decision as to which direction to take.  I was out of control and needed help.  I asked God for help and he reached out and took my hand and led me.  He turned my life around and provided for me when I could not provide for myself.  He opened small doors for me when my ego and selfish pride demanded that I fight for bigger doors to be opened.  He led me with baby steps keeping me on the path that leads to him.  

Today I have life in me.  Today I have joy.  Today I have peace.   Today I trust in his wisdom for me and I know that he provides for me.  What excuse do you have today?  What excuses do we use to not follow Christ?  Why do you not follow Christ?  Why do you not hear his words everyday?  Why do you not have life within you?  Are you dead?  Let the dead bury the dead!