This morning’s text and sermon at Abbeville UMC & Briggs UMC. Also, available on FB on Abbeville United Methodist Church page.
Matthew 8:23-27
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.
24 A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.
25 And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.
27 They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
August 30, 2020
Lessons Learned From The Storm
It was September 9, 1965. I was 7 years old. There were 12 of us gathered at my grandfather’s 2-bedroom, 900 square foot, house in Metairie, LA. Present were my Paw Paw and Aunt Pat, they were our hosts for the evening. Our family was there: my dad, my sister, my brother, and I. My dad’s sister, my Aunt Helen and my uncle Charlie and their children were there. And, there were two of my aunt Pat’s friends there as well. It was a family reunion of sorts. There was food and drink. Games were played and much conversation was shared. It was, however, no typical “party.” You see, we had all fled our homes. There was a hurricane heading straight into New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico…and, her name was “Betsy…”
At that time, we were living in a particularly “low lying” area in New Orleans. And, so were my aunt Helen and her family. My grandfather’s house was located in a part of New Orleans called the Old Metairie Ridge. And, he was the one who lived on the “highest ground” in the city of New Orleans.
Now, from the perspective of a 7 year old…it was a great night…when you are seven, all family events are a great deal of fun…did I mention that I was the baby?… Then, the storm hit….
Of course, in those days, the first thing that went was electricity…so, out came the candles and the portable am/fm radio…the next danger was the loss of a good clean water supply and so, pitchers and bathtubs were filled…next, we would lose phone service…and, my dad and uncle being the telephone men that they were had great angst over the idea of our being without a phone…(and, no doubt…over the troubles that they would face when they got back to work in the future…)…and, then, came the torrential rain and wind… Now, I don’t know how fierce the wind was…I do know that “Betsy” was a category 4 hurricane and that she carried winds upwards of 100 mph…what I do know is that the windows and doors on my grandfather’s house shook ferociously. And, I knew that the fun was over and I was scared.
And, then, everything stopped. The wind stopped. The rain stopped. And, everything was still and quiet. And, my dad, picked me up in his arms and carried me onto the front porch of my grandfather’s house and we were in the eye of the storm.
Have you ever experienced the eye of the storm? It is the time during a hurricane when all is well and peaceful. It is the center most place, a place of low pressure around which the storm develops. Depending upon the width of the storm, the “eye” can last for some period of time…sometimes people use the eye of the storm to get from a place of danger to a higher place…a place of greater safety… Some of you may just have experienced the eye of Hurricane Laura…Some of you may remember the “eye” of Hurricane Katrina…the eye of Hurricane Rita…other “eyes” of storms…Now, “Betsy” may have been the first “eye” of the storm that I experienced but, it certainly was not the last.
Well, this past week will be one of those weeks that will not leave the hearts and minds and memories of the people of Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas for many years to come…and, all of those in the path of the storm for some time…add to that the memories of Katrina, fifteen years ago, yesterday, and Rita, fifteen years in September…
Storms…hurricanes…floods…
I think that there are lessons both practical and spiritual that we can learn from the hurricanes/storms in our lives. In our time together this morning, we are going to look at some of life’s lessons learned from storms and parallel them with Jesus’ journey to the cross.
Lesson #1: You can’t run from a storm
Many people have heard about hurricane “Betsy” of which I spoke earlier and the devastation it wrecked upon New Orleans in 1965. There was another devastating storm that battered New Orleans in 1915, exactly 50 years before “Betsy.” It has been said of the storm of 1915, that from that point, New Orleanians have adopted a “not if another hurricane will strike but, when will another hurricane strike?” That when came some 50 years later called, “Katrina” and she badly crippled the city.
And, of course, there continue to be other “whens…” Truly the “whens” of Audrey, Betsy, Andrew, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Isaac, Lily, Michael, and, now, Laura…have contributed to a spirit and philosophy that “waits” for the next big storm… the “whens” also contribute to growing awareness and willingness to evacuate and get out of harms way…
Hear me well, evacuation is extremely important…especially for families with young children and the elderly…even, if you are not in the direct path of the storm, the residual effects and inconveniences of the storm are significant…food, water, medical help, air conditioning, sewerage…right now, it is projected that Lake Charles and Sulphur will not get electricity back for several months…the water situation is also severely compromised.
Still, and all, I believe that the first lesson to be learned is that you cannot run from a storm. I remember in 1969, our neighbors left New Orleans as Camille approached with a stronger force than Betsy had had…just 5 years earlier…and they evacuated to Jackson, MS going straight into the path of the storm…so, one can try to turn and run from a storm but, one had better be careful…one might be running right into the path of the storm.
In John’s gospel, when Jesus turned his disciples back to Bethany, he was taking them directly into the path of the greatest storm of their lives…Jerusalem and the cross of Calvary. Bethany represented the beginning of the end of Jesus’ ministry and his time on earth. When he arrives in Bethany, he will raise Lazarus from the tomb…and, this act will be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back…and quickly, the storm gains strength and power.
Lesson #2: You must properly prepare for the storm
Tape your windows, fill your bathtubs with water, buy batteries, enough to run your house for about a year, and water…did I mention that there I bought a generator on my way back from evacuating this week…just in case I did not have power when I returned home? …whatever it takes…prepare for the storm. These are important things. Preparation is important. Preparation is what we do to make ourselves feel better and more ready for the coming storm.
I will never forget the words given to us by the mayor of Sulphur as Rita was bearing down on the Cameron coast…Mayor Ron LeLeux summed up what we were to do in three words: prepare and pray.
How did Jesus prepare for the storms of his life? How did he help his disciples prepare for the storms of their life? He prayed. Throughout his ministry, we hear about the times that Jesus, with and without his disciples, went to “some quiet place” to prepare spiritually. In those final hours with his disciples, Jesus led his disciples to the Garden of Gethsamene. So, that they could prepare and pray.
And, in the gospel of John, Jesus spends a considerable amount of time to prepare and pay for his disciples. The text is called, “The Farewell Discourse” and it covers three chapters of Jesus’ final teaching and preaching. In it, he gives further tools and helps for their survival…He concludes the “Farewell Discourse” with the high, priestly prayer. This is Jesus’ prayer for his disciples and for the world. As he prepares to leave them, as the storm bands of betrayal, hate and falsehood increase, Jesus prays for the world.
Lesson #3 You can’t properly prepare for the storm
Why? Because the storm is going to come. Remember lesson #1, it is not if but, when…
One can tape the windows but, if a tree falls on the roof, the tape is not going to protect the house.
It is the nature of the storm to be unpredictable and turbulent.
Jesus had prepared all of his life for the storm that was to happen in the last few hours of his life. But, still the storm came. For immediately after Gethsamene, there was the arrest and the trial. And, inasmuch, as Jesus had prepared himself and those near him, the events still unfolded in the most unexpected and difficult way.
Lesson #4 Where you are helps to determine how you are going to weather the storm
Do you know where the best place to be in a hurricane that is moving north out of the Gulf of Mexico? It is on the western side. The storm surges, wind, and rains are not as fierce on the west side of the storm as they are on the eastern side of the storm.
From a physical standpoint, where you are in the storms of life, can be something that is a little by chance. Remember lesson #1, you can’t run away from the storm…
From a spiritual standpoint, however, being on the right side/the righteous side is a matter not so much of chance but, choice.
As Jesus turned his disciples back to Jerusalem…they expressed their fear and doubt about the direction that they were about to take. The disciples knew what waited for them ahead in Jerusalem…”Rabbi, the Jews were trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus explains that they must go to Lazarus who “has fallen asleep.” They respond, “if he is asleep, he will awaken…we don’t have to go.” And, then, Jesus says plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
It was the lone voice of Thomas, however, who said to Jesus and his disciple brethren, “Let us also go that we may die with him.” Thomas was definitely on the right/righteous side of this storm. And, from that side, no matter how bad it is going to get, he would put everything on the line…risk it all…and, he would be able to weather the storm.
Lesson #5 Take storms seriously and learn from them
When the storm has hit and all is left is the clean up and the rebuilding, the learning curve begins.
People who have experienced life’s storms, learn and grow from them. They make every effort to recover and repair and to become restored and healed, again. It is hard to say for certain but I think Hurricane Laura could have been even more destructive had the people who has rebuilt after Hurricane Rita had not learned important lessons of building stronger structures. I think that the whole evacuation process led to learned lessons from Rita…
In Jesus’ ministry, there was no time when the storm got more serious than when the soldiers began to march Jesus up the hill. He had been accused and tried in a court setting that was at the least, a mockery. He has been betrayed and beaten. And, now, ridiculed at the soldier’s hand and made to carry his own cross; head bedecked with a crown of thorns.
And, there, powerless to change or do anything were the disciples…but, they could take this storm seriously and they could learn from this storm and they could remain steadfast and faithful and carry forth the message in courage and faith.
Lesson #6 Find peace in the eye of the storm
There is peace in the eye of the storm. For that moment, or for those moments, the trees are not bending or breaking, the rain is not pelting the windows, the flooding begins to recede…it is possible to experience the safety and calm in the midst of the storm.
In my own experience of Rita…there I was…in my house in Sulphur… with two of my friends…we had done all that we could do…we had prepared and we had prayed and we found ourselves in the direct path of the storm…. It was about 1:30 am and we were standing in the front room of my house watching the big tree in the front yard sway in the wind…I mean it was wild…limbs were crashing on the roof…anyway, all of a sudden, we heard a big crack…and I mean a big crack but, it had not come from the front of the house…it came from the rear of the house…flashlights in hand, we ran to the back of the house and there discovered a large tree limb that had crashed through the eave of the house into the master bathroom and bedroom…
What followed was a few minutes of panic…my normal non-anxious presence gave way to what do we do…where do we go…when my suggestion to get into my friends truck and drive to the church was vetoed…I mean, really, what was I thinking?…even Harold’s big truck could not withstand those kinds of winds…it was decided that we would just stay in the house and if that big tree in the front of the house came in, we would just find another room…then, a real miracle happened…
The winds continued and the rains continued…and, all three of us…fell into a deep, peaceful sleep…I say it like this, “it was as though God said, ‘take your rest in me, there is no need for you to worry any more tonight.”
Where was the “eye” of the storm for Jesus and the disciples?
I often think about the Gospel story that we heard earlier as one of the true miracle stories of the Bible…nobody was raised from the dead, a lame man was not given to walk again or a blind man to see…the miracle in this story is the universal challenge to each of us…all of us…to have/find peace in the storm. Where is your faith?, asks the Master.
Yes! There are storms coming…and, nobody knows exactly when it will hit or how devastating it will be…but, we all know where the peace of the storm can be found…we can place ourselves in the presence and power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and, even, in the midst of the storm, we can find that peace…that precious peace….that passes all understanding…
May it be so for you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
revtlmack 