Where Is Your Faith?

Luke 8:22-25

Key Verse 8:25

"Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

In the passage Jesus trained the disciples to live by faith in the Lord, so that with this faith they would save not just their own lives but the lives of others, and lead them to God's kingdom. 

First, let us go over to the other side of the lake.

Look at verse 22. "One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out." In the passage for today we see Jesus using the lake of Galilee as the training ground he had chosen to train the disciples to know what it is to live by faith. Thus far we've seen Jesus involved in serving a multitude of people, preaching the good news of God's kingdom and healing them of different kinds of diseases. All the while Jesus' disciples tagged along with Jesus. While traveling along with Jesus, mostly the disciples learned from Jesus. But Jesus was aware that very soon he would no longer be there in the world in a physical body. He knew that the disciples would have to take over his ministry, so they should continue to serve the flock. 

Then the question becomes, "Will the disciples be ready for the task?" Obviously the answer was, "No." In many ways the disciples were still young and immature. In the first place they did not know who Jesus really is. They were yet to develop their personal faith in the Father God who had sent Jesus. What then should Jesus do? We already know the answer: They needed training. 

If one wants to train anyone, the first thing one should come up with is a "training program" fit for the purpose. In the passage as well, even without the disciples knowing it, Jesus put the disciples through a training program. In this program Jesus used the journey through the lake as the golden opportunity to train them. In this journey, the sea of Galilee was the training ground. Jesus used the stormy wind and the squall as drill sergeants. The small boat the disciples were in served as barbed wires which you normally find put up around the boundary of military boot camp. The short journey through the lake of Galilee is very much reminiscent of the Lord God who trains his children to grow in faith by sending them some difficulties in their life’s journey here on earth. 

Second, as they sailed, he fell asleep.

How did the journey go? Look at verse 23. "As they sailed, he fell asleep." This passage tells us that at least during the first part of the journey things went pretty smooth. As they cruised along, they must have been able to even sing songs of joy and happiness. The disciples were seasoned fishermen. They were well trained in handling tricky situations that might arise during the journey. As the disciples skillfully started rowing the boat, the boat glided into the glassy sea. Then, Jesus started dozing off. Jesus quickly fell asleep. By that time the sun had probably began to set in the west. Dusk crawled in. 

Again verse 23 reads, "As they sailed, he fell asleep.” Let us pause for a moment and think about Jesus who fell asleep. What does this tell us about Jesus? As I asked this question, I was reminded of two Bible passages: Proverbs 3:1-26 (especially verses 5, 13, and 23-26); and Ecclesiastes 5:12.

Proverbs 3:1-26 says that when one maintains a perfectly harmonious relationship with God the Father, he or she can live a life which is totally free of any anxieties. According to one study anxiety disorders affect over 19 million people each year and phobias affect over 5 % of the American population. These are the same people you see everyday at work and play, it's just that these people are desperately looking for a way to cope with the situation they're in. They can secure professional help from people like medical doctors, psychiatrists, or social workers. But it could be very costly and time consuming for one to secure help from these professionals. Just in case one finds this sort of remedy as unaffordable, one can try what the Proverbs 3:1-26 offers for free, for in my opinion Jesus practiced the wisdom recorded in this Bible passage, that is, he maintained a perfect relationship with God the Father. Each moment Jesus lived in total trust in God the Father. As Jesus enjoyed a perfectly harmonious relationship with God the Father, although Jesus was wearing the same body as ours, and even though Jesus went through the same tumultuous situations as the disciples were in, still peace ruled Jesus’ heart. So Jesus could enjoy quality sleep through the stormy weather.

Proverbs 3:1-26 talks about Jesus’ internal relationship with God the Father, Ecclesiastes 5:12 describes Jesus' external life that is, the life that works hard for God’s glory. Look at this verse: "The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep." 

These two passages remind us of the cross of Jesus, which comes with two lines: one vertical line one horizontal line. Vertically as Proverbs 3 says Jesus maintained a perfect relationship with God the Father. Through his total trust in God’s total goodness, Jesus was in complete peace with God. Horizontally he worked hard to serve the flock of God, serving them by teaching God's word, healing them of the diseases, all in God's love and power. As Jesus worked hard like this, even as Jesus pulled himself through the stormy sea, he was able to sleep safe and sound. 

“As they sailed, he fell asleep.” I believe even through the way Jesus slept, Jesus set a perfect example of how we ought to manage the storms of life. As the cross of Jesus indicates, we must pray to be in a perfectly harmonious relationship with God the Father. Then, daily we work hard for God’s glory using every flying minute of our life. Then, storms will no longer be storms: they will be resources for true entertainment. 

Third, a squall came down.

As I mentioned earlier, Jesus’ disciples were yet to master the wisdom to handle the storms of life. So they needed training. How did Jesus train them? Look at verse 23b. "A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger." Here, we can say that Jesus used the squall as a drill sergeant. Remember that the squall hit the boat to the point of the boat getting swamped.  Because of the squall the boat almost sank. If the boat sinks the disciples would be drowned to death and become a nice snack for the fish in the lake. 

Each time I read this Bile passage I am reminded of the time when I was put through the Marine Corps officers’ training program. The training took place during one cold winter. During the 19 weeks of the training program every once in a while the drill sergeant would wake us up at 4 a.m. He then gave us the drill to run four miles in full amour. As the troops started running, the drill sergeant would keep exhorting us, making sure that no one would give up in the middle. Then by the time we make about half a mile all of us would run out of breath, so that all felt like dropping dead. But, the drill sergeant would not allow us to slow down. Then we would reach a limit. But still the sergeant would not relent. 

I think the same thing happened to the disciples. As the squall kept beating down the boat, the disciples tried hard to steady the boat. They must have worked hard to dip the water and throw it out of the boat. But still the squall would not relent. It kept beating the boat more. The disciples worked harder than ever. And it continued until the disciples reached a limit. And the boat was about to sink.

In our life's journey particularly as we try to live as a Christian and then as a disciple of Jesus, we too might run into a situation like this at least at one point of our life's journey or another. In the disciples’ case, the drill sergeant was the squall. But, for us the drill sergeant could be something else like losing a job, a baby coming out, or a sin problem beating you down. When this happens, you may try hard to do every thing you can possibly do. You may work hard to bail the water out of the boat. With all the buckets you have, and using every muscle of your arms and legs, mobilizing all the skills, wits and wisdom, you will work hard to keep the boat steady, dry and most importantly stay “above” the water. But still the storm does not subside down. Then, you still try yard to fight the storm on your own. In the meantime, as you try hard, Jesus is still in bed. 

"A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger." Is this what is happening to you? When this happens, what do you think of the squall? Do you say that you are just having a bad time? But remember what Ecclesiastes 7:14 says, "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other."

Fourth, Jesus rebuked the storm.

In times as terrible as the night of the boat being swamped, what did the disciples do? Look at verse 24. "The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm." Finally they did what they should do: that is they went and woke Jesus up. Then, they shared their problem exactly as it was. 

One thing that is noteworthy is the way they called Jesus - Master. We don't know exactly who went to Jesus to wake him up, and what they meant with this title. But at least to them, Jesus was the master of something; especially the master of the Sea of Galilee, for most likely it was Peter who called out to Jesus saying "Master, Master." To Simon still the memory of Jesus helping him to make a huge catch of fish was fresh in his mind. He tried hard to catch the fish all night, but still he caught nothing. But Jesus helped him to catch a lot of fish, even to the point of his boat sinking down. With this memory flashing in his mind perhaps Simon Peter ran to Jesus, woke him up, saying, "Master, Master. We are all drowning. Please see what you can do for us." 

Then Jesus woke up. What did he do? He immediately rebuked the wind and raging waters. The storm subsided. And all was calm. Now let us stop and compare the way the disciples responded to the stormy wind and the way Jesus did. What is the difference? We can see that at least to the extent that the disciples cried out to Jesus and asked him for help, they did a pretty good job. They set a good example for all of us to follow. But in view of the generality of the passage we can say that the disciples did a poor job in controlling the seemingly uncontrollable circumstances. Standing in contrast with the disciples, Jesus' approach was quite different. He neither tried to control the boat steady nor tried to bail the water out. Rather, he directly got to the cause of the problem, that is, the wind and the raging waters. Simply he got to these causes and rebuked them to stop bothering them. 

The difference then is that while the disciples allowed the circumstances to dictate them, Jesus did things the other way around. He dictated the environment to follow his direction. Here what Jesus did is consistent with what the Bible says in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1:28 we see the Lord God blessing the man and commanding man to be fruitful and increase in number. In other words the Lord God commanded man to become prosperous. He then said to the man to subdue the earth. Look at the first part of Genesis 1:28, "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." Here the earth in the expression "subdue it [=the earth]” includes all that are true of the earth: mountains, sea, oceans, lakes, and everything else on earth. In short, the command in Genesis 1:28 is the command to conquer the environment, so that as man serves the Lord, all of nature such as the sea, wind, waters, and all the rest would be subservient to man; serving the Lord and His purpose. 

For young students like us, Jesus rebuking the wind and raging waters set a clear direction for all to follow: that is, we need to rebuke what is made disorderly and rebellious to become subservient to each of us, so we would be in complete command of what we have here on earth – our physical environments, raging storms that arise inside and outside of us, the storms of anger, the flames of evil urges, etc.  

Fifth, where is your faith?

After the storm calmed down Jesus turned to his disciples and asked them a question. "Where is your faith?" This question supposes that a number of things are true. For example, it is possible that you have faith in the Lord at one point of time or another, but later you end up losing it. Or you still have your faith but you do not know where you put it. Or you keep your faith right in your pocket, but for some crazy reasons you do not take it out and use it. 

“Where is your faith?” Jesus' question also assumes that faith is powerful enough to keep the wind and raging waters that might arise in our life’s journey under control. Jesus’ question presupposes that had the disciples had faith, and had they known how to apply their faith to the given situation, they could have done the same thing as the Lord Jesus had done to the storm. Had they had faith, they could have rebuked the storm and the storm would have subsided. Overall then Jesus' question teaches us two things.

First, the power of faith

We must believe in the power of faith in the Lord. How powerful is faith? It is as powerful as the Lord is. Some people have faith in faith. But faith itself is nothing. Faith is faith in the Lord. It is to put trust in what the Lord can do. It is the means by which we invite the Lord's dimensions into our lives. The other day I read a book. In the book a Jewish Rabbi made an interesting remark on “faith”. To him, “faith is the song of life.” I thought this definition was kind of interesting. And it made a lot of sense, for if one has faith in the Lord, even as one goes through the stormy sea, one can turn the stormy conditions into reasons to praise the Lord, making a powerful piece of music out of the troublesome conditions. 

Second, the use of faith

Now what should we do with this faith? The answer is obvious: Jesus wants us to use it, and we must use it especially in times of difficulties such as storms of life hitting us. In order for us to be able to use it, first of all we must carry it all the time. And we must use it before, during, and after the storms. Before the storm would ever arise we can pray for example that the storm would not arise. Or suppose that before you embark on your daily journey, you forgot to pray for the storm not to arise. So the storm does arise. Then what do you do? Pray that the storm would calm down. Suppose further that you forgot to pray for this prayer topic. So the storm thinks that you like the storm, so it comes and tries to beat you down. Then what do you do? Pull out faith from your chest pocket, and give it a knock out punch. Then, the storm will say, “Oh, I’m sorry. I did not know that you don’t like me.” Then, the storm will calm down.  

Sixth, who is this?

Look at verse 25b. "In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."" Through the storm training the disciples’ spiritual eyes were opened about Jesus. They learned that Jesus is the Creator God who made the heavens and the earth, with his word. 

In conclusion, let us read verse 25. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Jesus called his disciples to shepherd over the flock of God and to lead them to the kingdom of God. Of all the ventures, the venture to lead God’s flock to God’s kingdom is the hardest. With human efforts one can build business empires, making tons of money. With human wisdom one can earn one, two, three, or even seven PhD’s. With human discipline, one earn gold medals in tennis, swimming, or boxing. But, shepherding over one lost soul, serving him to grow to Jesus’ greatness, and lead them to God’s kingdom is way beyond any human abilities. But by faith in the Lord, we can fulfill this task. 

One word: Where is your faith? 

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