Audio Recording
Jesus calms the storm. I knew a man who many years ago his life was
a storm, a very painful storm. He never
was really all that interested in church.
His wife liked to take the children, but struggled to get him to
go. He had a good job building his own
business, a home with projects to keep him busy, a monster garden in the
summer. Life was good. But then the storm came. His wife wanted a divorce. He moved out.
The rejection, the loss of family, the loss of a home, the loss of an
ideal…all that emotional stuff was a storm that did indeed threaten his
life.
In his old house he had neighbours on either side of
him. On one side his neighbour was a
strong Christian, on the other side his neighbour was a devoted alcoholic. In a way these neighbours represented the
paths he could walk down. Alcohol was
winning. Yet, from time to time though
no longer neighbours his Christian neighbour would check in on him, listen to
him, and encourage him, and tell him that God loved him and to seek Jesus and
he would find the peace he was drinking for.
Don’t judge this man. He was a very
good man, well liked and well loved by everybody. But what he went through when he was alone
with himself was living hell. He
couldn’t work it away. He couldn’t drink
it away. It was just the way he felt
about himself.
The storm went on heavy for a couple of years. One day he was in his car driving. His work involved a lot of driving, a lot of
time alone. He was at the end of his rope
and it wasn’t like this was the first time he cried out to God. But this time, he told me something came over
him. He said it was the most peaceful
feeling he had ever felt. His old
neighbour told him that was Jesus. He
started going to church. Got some
counselling from the minister. The need
to drink left him. The storm was still
there, but not like it was for he knew he was not alone in the boat. Though Jesus can indeed calm our storms,
he’ll let the storms continue while we learn that he himself, his presence with
us, is the calm in the storm and it is a felt calm.
Jesus gives peace.
I know another man. He had been
raised around the church, and never got too far from the church. As a child he enjoyed Sunday School. He learned to read from the books some old
lady brought to his Sunday School class on the church library cart. He was the kid who very much enjoyed the
story Bible for kids they had at home. This
man’s parents divorced when he was a young child bringing a storm into his life
that he never asked for. Broken homes
are still broken no matter how normal you try to keep things.
About the age of nineteen, all the anger and hurt
caught up with him. As far as he could
determine his choices were to end his life or give it to Jesus. He chose the later. It was a fateful New Year’s Day morning after
having hosted a New Year’s Eve party to which nobody showed up, not even his
closest friends. At the toll of midnight
he was thinking to himself that if this was the sum total of his life why live
it. After a long squint at suicidal
ideations, he went on to bed and New Year’s Day morning he rose and called his
best friend’s mom and informed her he would be seeing her in church that
morning.
He then went to church as often as he could and
formed some strong opinions about things that passed as Christian beliefs. At this small little Presbyterian church he
was given quite a bit of acceptance because he was the only young person. Regardless of church acceptance and his
beliefs/opinions about God, the storm went on.
He still hurt but now there was a new direction to go in, a real purpose,
a hope to hang on to. Where would Jesus
lead him? There were no definites but it
felt good to be on the right path.
It happened that he met a girl who told him he should
come to her “spiritually alive” church because the one he was going to was
“spiritually dead”. He gave it a
try. It was a new fellowship that met in
an elementary school cafeteria. The
minute he walked in the door, he felt a peaceful feeling he had never felt
before. All of a sudden he knew God
really was real and loved him and Jesus really was alive and with him and there
really is something to this Holy Spirit stuff and it wasn’t crazy. The peace that Jesus breathed upon his disciples,
he had just stepped into and that’s what has kept him coming back to church for
over thirty years now because he knows, push come to shove no matter how messed
up things may get, he is a dearly loved child of God and God is faithful. Moreover, there was someone in that church
who led him to forgive his parents. The
peace of Christ begets peace through Christian people ministering with their
gifts for ministry. Jesus is the calm in
the storm.
I received a phone call earlier this week. The person called with a question that I
think draws the line as to why some churches, most of them of the more
charismatic variety, have been thriving since the mid-sixties all the while the
Mainline churches have been dwindling.
The question this person asked was “You and Timothy both talk about the
Holy Spirit. I just want to know if I’m
missing something.” Basically, the root question
was how do we know if the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. To be blunt, in the Mainline churches we tend
to not talk much if at all about our experiences of God because we tend to think
that people who do are crazy. But it is
time we get over that. The church that
will move forward into the future will be the one that insists on experiencing
God, that promises spiritual awakening, that focuses on how to maintain a
devotional life, and that indeed expects resurrection, expects people to find
new life in Jesus.[1]
Anyone can have religious opinions about God, Jesus,
the church, and what’s right and what’s wrong.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to Jesus, God the Son, in a way
that is relational, personal, and unique to us each and it quite often involves
the storms and the result of that relationship is that we find ourselves
sharing in his knowing and trusting of the steadfast love and faithfulness of
God the Father and in response we find ourselves sharing his love of the Father
and desire to do the Father’s will. When
the followers of Jesus who know he is the calm in the storm get together we
should be experiencing the peace he breathed on his disciples and has continued
to breath on us through the gift of the Holy Spirit who comes to do his work. That peace begets peace as we Christians
learn to listen to and pray for each other.
Since we have this calm, the peace, we have something
no one else in the world has. The peace
of Christ isn’t something we keep to ourselves.
I’ve a song to share with you that I hope captures what I’m saying. It’s called The Peace of Christ by Glen
Soderholm. It’s rooted in Psalm 133 and
makes use of the traditional Christian greeting of the peace of Christ.
The Peace of Christ
May the peace of Christ be with and also with you.
May the peace of Christ be with you in all you do.
Its like the precious oil that flows down Aaron’s
beard.
And as dew falls from the mountain
The blessing bursts forth here.
So we throw down all our weapons and the things we
long to control.
And call now for Jesus’ presence
To restore our very souls.
We turn now from the solitary
to the dance of kindred hearts and laughing with each
other
as each one takes their part.[2]
The peace of Christ be with you. Amen.
[1] See “15 Things Alcoholics Anonymous Can Teach the Church” at http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6101/15-things-alcoholics-anonymous-can-teach-the-church
[2] Printed with the permission
of Glen Soderholm.
