In the storm

The Preacher goes into the pulpit and prays his opening prayer. Just before he begins preaching Thaddaeus comes running up the main aisle and shouts up at the Preacher …

Thaddaeus: I’ve just had the most incredible experience!

Preacher: What? In Church? You must be joking!

Thaddaeus: No, not in - what did you call it? - Urch? I was on the Sea of Galilee.

Preacher: It’s Church, not Urch. It’s a place where we worship Jesus.

Thaddaeus: But that’s who I was with! I’m Thaddaeus, one of Jesus’ disciples and I was with him just now in a boat on Galilee.

Preacher: You mean, you’ve walked straight out of the pages of the story we just heard read and into our Church! That’s incredible!

Thaddaeus: Maybe incredible things do happen in Church, after all. They always seemed to when Jesus was around.

Preacher: What was it like being in that storm? It sounded really scary.

Thaddaeus: Too right, it was! We were petrified. Galilee can be like a mill pond one moment and a seething whirlpool the next. Normally, we have someone looking out for changes in the weather but we were so excited about all the things Jesus had been saying and doing that we were more interested in discussing them than looking around. And Jesus was so tired that he had gone to sleep. Before we knew it the storm was on us and there was no time to sail to shelter.

Preacher: Was it really as fierce a storm as the story says?

Thaddaeus: Well, I don’t know who’s told you about it or what they said but this storm was serious. Rain was pelting down so we could barely see. There was lightening - that was seriously close! The wind was getting the waves up, the boat was rocking violently, and waves were breaking over the side into the boat. The boat was filling with water and we were sure it would sink if the storm continued. We were so scared we weren’t even thinking straight. No one was bailing water out. We were all convinced we were going to die and we just shouted at Jesus to wake up and help.

Preacher: And he got up and stilled the storm?

Thaddaeus: Certainly did. Got up as calm as you like, told the storm to stop and suddenly the night was as calm as before that storm had begun.

Preacher: What’s always puzzled me is that he asked why you were so frightened. I would have thought that was obvious.

Thaddaeus: We were panicking so much that we hadn’t done any of the things that might have got us through the storm. We hadn’t taken down the sail. We weren’t bailing the water out. We weren’t trying to steer against the storm rather than with it.

Preacher: You made the situation worse by panicking. So, it was your panic that was as likely to have got you killed as the storm itself.

Thaddaeus: I think so. People have survived great storms on the lake before. He said that we didn’t have very much faith.

Preacher: So, he stilled the storm because you didn’t believe you could come through the storm but if you had believed he wouldn’t have done it, wouldn’t have needed to have done it, because you would all have done the sensible things which could have meant that you would have survived the storm. I’m never thought about the story like that before.

Thaddaeus: That reminds me of a worship song we sing in the Synagogues. It’s got a line that goes, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me”.

Preacher: God goes with us through each storm we face and can bring us through, if we trust and don’t panic. “Don’t panic, don’t panic, Mr Mainwaring!”

Thaddaeus: Who’s Mr Mainwaring?

Preacher: Don’t worry that’s just a twentieth century cultural reference.

Thaddaeus: What’s the twentieth century?

Preacher: This is going to get really complicated, there’s two thousand years of history for me to fill you in on!

Thaddeus: Hey, what’s happening to me? I’m fading away.

Preacher: Maybe you’re going back into the pages of history. But hey! Remember what we said, don’t panic! Have faith! God will see you through. [Addressing the congregation] Well, that was incredible wasn’t it? I’d never understood that story in that way before. Maybe incredible things do happen in Church after all!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jon Foreman - Your Love Is Strong.