Author: Jeff

I have a friend who thinks that we humans have some morbid fascination with death.

I tend to agree with her.

We participate in elaborate funerals. We gather our dead in large rolling cemeteries. We construct huge monuments and memorials to commemorate those who have gone before us. Time and time again we return to the memory of the past, dwelling on what was instead of focusing on what is.

How often do we do that with God?

Do we return time and time again to the tomb, remembering Jesus as he was, treating him like he’s still there?

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here;

He has risen!”

If you were going to write a song about that, what would it say?

“There is a God. He is alive!”

Maybe someone should do that.

Sadly, I still think my friend is right. We sing songs like “I serve a risen Savior” and “Our God He is Alive!” but seem to act in so many ways like God does not exist at all. Perhaps the most foolish group of people in the world are those who claim to believe God exists, yet act as if he does not. Kreeft has a brilliant comment on the popularity of this position in his ethics class.

My hope is that we will give the death of Christ the proper reverence it deserves, but not too much – that it will become another part of the story of Christ – not the only part.

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’

Then the wind died down

and it was completely calm.”

I wonder what that storm was like. It must have been some sight to see – enough to scare the serious fishermen and make them think they were in danger of death.

These guys had been on that lake their whole lives. They’d grown up there. Their dad’s had taught them how to move the boats and cast their lines there. They had been across that lake hundreds of times. They’d probably seen hundreds of storms. They knew that place like the back of their hands.

They didn’t expect the storm to come – they took Jesus in the boat and headed out across the lake with no question of whether it was safe or not. I can see the clear skies as they set out. Storm? What storm? Not a cloud in the sky!

But then it came. Unexpected. Unplanned. Out in the middle of the lake, far from land, there was nothing that they could do but continue on. The winds and waves buffeted the ship. They broke over the boat, and these guys who hadn’t worried about the storm suddenly began to worry a lot about the storm.

And then there’s Jesus. Their teacher. Laying in the hold of the boat, sleeping. Doesn’t he get sea-sick? After all – he’s a carpenter! He builds these boats, he doesn’t sail on them.

“Teacher! Don’t you care if we drown?”

“Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

And Jesus arises.
And Jesus speaks.
And the world is calm.
And the world is silent.

And I look at the storms in my life. They’re quite a sight to see – let me assure you. Problems that have even a veteran like me worried.

I’ve grown up dealing with problems. I’ve grown up dealing with chaos in my life. After all, that’s what they teach you. “The American Way.” Deal with your problems yourself. We’re no stranger to difficulty and struggle. It’s what makes us the people who we are.

I don’t usually expect the storm. It isn’t like I really want it, after all. While problems and storms are a part of life, they’re never a pleasant one, and I’d just as soon avoid them if possible. I can imagine myself, standing on the shore as I get ready to set out on my newest adventures. Storm? What storm? Not a cloud in the sky!

But then it comes. Unexpected. Unplanned. Out in the middle of the lake, far from land, far from help, there is nothing that I can do but continue on. The winds and waves buffet my life. They break over me, and suddenly I begin to worry a lot about the storm.

And then there’s Jesus. My teacher. And where do I find him, but calmly sleeping over in the corner!

“Teacher! Don’t you care if I drown?”

“Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

And Jesus rises.
And Jesus speaks
And the world is calm.
And the world is silent.

“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

I often forget the power of Christ. Too often it’s an abstract or distant thing, something that is impossible to comprehend or something that only existed long ago – but nothing that is immediate, present, and real.

When I see the power of God displayed, it almost always confuses me – how did that happen? Where did it come from? Can it really be?

When I read these words again, I am reminded of the lyrics of an old song:

Jesus Savior pilot me
over life’s tempestuous seas.
Unknown waves before me roll
hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass come from thee,
Jesus Savior Pilot me.
Chart and compass come from thee,
Jesus Savior Pilot me.

As a mother stills her child
you have calmed the oceans wild.
Boisterous waves obey thy will
when you say to them, “Be still!”
Wonderous Sovereign of the sea,
Jesus Savior pilot me.
Wonderous Sovereign of the sea,
Jesus Savior pilot me.