Why are you so fearful?

Sermon for Epiphany 4

Romans 13:8-10  +  Matthew 8:23-27

Our Gospel today deals with senseless fear, something we can all relate to, something we continue to witness around the world almost two years into the COVID pandemic, as many, many people are just as fearful of that tiny little virus now as they were in the beginning. For the one who believes that God doesn’t exist or that God doesn’t trouble Himself with our human affairs, who believe that this life is all there is and so must be preserved at all costs, that fear may not be senseless. It’s cowardly, still, but not without some rational basis.

But for disciples of Jesus, fear of disease, fear of disaster, panic in the face of danger, truly is senseless. And yet it’s also common. And so the Holy Spirit gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ own disciples on a day at sea when they all fell into that senseless fear in the presence of Jesus. And He gives us this glimpse, not only to show again the divinity and power of Jesus, but also in order to strengthen the faith that is sometimes so little. Jesus’ question to His disciples is also His question to us: Why are you so fearful?

Now, you may say, the disciples were in real danger, so they had something to be fearful about. There was a very real storm raging around their boat. That’s true. There were real waves crashing into it and over it. That’s true. Christians can still die; being a disciple of Jesus doesn’t make you immune to dying in a storm. That’s true, too. No one is denying the reality of the storm or the mortality of the disciples.

But what else needs to be factored in? Well, there’s the fact that all three Evangelists who record this event make it clear that Jesus is the One who instigated this journey across the Sea of Galilee. The disciples followed Him into the boat. Or as Mark and Luke record, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake!” Should we imagine that Jesus made a mistake in setting out to sea that evening, unaware that a storm was coming? Well, that doesn’t make sense. Jesus is the Son of God. He knows all things. Should we imagine, then, that He was intentionally leading the disciples to their doom? That doesn’t make sense, either. God is not playing games with us, toying with us in order to watch us suffer, in order to watch us trust in Him only to be disappointed in the end so He can have a laugh over it.

What else needs to be factored in? Well, by this point in His ministry, Jesus had already called these very men to follow Him, at which time He promised them that He would make them fishers of men, that is preachers who would bring the Gospel to the world. Had that happened yet? No. Could Jesus have been lying to them? Also, no. Could they perish before the word of Jesus was fulfilled? Absolutely not.

This account reminds me of Abraham and Isaac, when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. And the writer to the Hebrews tells us that Abraham was willing to do it, for the very reason that God had already promised Abraham that he would have descendants through Isaac. Well, Isaac hadn’t given him any descendants yet, so Abraham reasoned, even if Isaac dies, he must be brought back to life, in order for the word of the Lord to be fulfilled.

So, too, in our Gospel, the Lord had given these disciples His word that they would become His ministers in the world. So no matter what storm or danger they faced before that time, they had every reason to believe that they would be kept safe.

And finally, we should also factor in the fact, while the storm was certainly real, God is also real, and He was, at that very moment, sleeping right there in the boat with His disciples. This man who had changed water into wine with a word, who had healed all sorts of diseases with a word, this man whom they believed to be the promised Christ, was right there with them, not far away, but very near, sleeping through the storm, because He had entrusted all—His very life—to His Father’s care.

And so finally, after exhausting all their own best efforts to no avail, as a last resort, the disciples woke their God from His peaceful sleep. Lord, save us! We are perishing! St. Mark tells us something else they added. Don’t you care?

And Jesus gets up and deals first, not with the raging storm, but with the disciples’ senseless fearfulness. Why are you so fearful, O you of little faith? And then He told the wind and the waves to be quiet, be still, and they immediately obeyed Him. Now, in the calm after the storm, the disciples can pause to ponder what had just happened. What kind of Man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!

But you supposedly already knew what kind of man He was! You’ve seen great miracles, even raising a young man from the dead by this point, if St. Luke’s chronology is in order. And some of you have already confessed Him to be the Christ, the Son of God, the King of Israel.

But such is the sinful nature of each one of us. No matter what we know and believe about God on the New Man side, the Old Man always distrusts God, pretends He isn’t real, always has to figure out how to save himself, to deal with earthly problems in an earthly way. The Old Man convinces a person not to go first to God in faith, but to rely on oneself, to focus on the wind and the waves, and when human efforts aren’t enough, to despair. And with despair comes fear and timidity and cowardliness—things that are just the opposite of what the Holy Spirit is striving to produce within the Christian.

The fact is, God is real. He really sent His Son to live among us some 2,000 years ago. He really calmed storms at sea, and He really gave His life on a cross for the sins of the world. And then He really rose from the dead. And He really sent His Gospel to you and brought you to faith and saw to it that you were baptized in His name and adopted as His child. And while He has not promised to rescue us physically from every disease or storm or disaster, He has promised that all things must work together for good to those who love Him, and that every hair on your head is numbered.

So. Do not have faith in things God hasn’t promised. None of us has any reason to believe we’ll live through the day, because God hasn’t promised that in the same way that He had promised His disciples they would survive to become His preachers. He hasn’t promised to keep you from getting COVID or from dying from it. But He has promised to guard you, to guard your life, to guard your going out and your coming in. So if He allows some storm to come through that guardian protection, you know He must have a very good reason for it. And if He has a good reason for it, and if He is in control of it, then why be fearful? Fear is senseless, while faith—faith has a firm foundation in the faithfulness and power of God. So when disaster strikes and fear starts to rise up in your heart, as it surely will, go to your God as the very first thing you do, not in panic, not in despair, but in faith. And receive the peace and the strength He offers in His Word and in His Sacraments, and in His history of faithfulness and perfect salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.