Hurricane Irma
15 Sep 2017
Is 43:1-3, 2 Cor 1:3-11, Lk 8:22-25
First of all I thank God that you are here……
whether you evacuated, or stayed, whether you lost home, power, goods, you are here………
Now would you look around you and tell your neighbor here : I thank God you are here.
We need this because in the midst of all this stress—we need to be focused beyond these circumstances onto someone other than FP&L—someone who has real power to fix things.
It was kind of funny—someone in the first days after Irma’s visit said there’s power in the church, the church has power, the church never lost power, the depth of that statement went way beyond the meaning intended. And in a real sense that is why we are here, in a place of power, getting our priorities straight as we come here to be in the presence of the Lord.
As Irma drew closer and the forecast became ever more foreboding, I sent out a text to the hurricane preparedness committee that was a kind of free- flowing stream of reflections about our situation.
I reflected on Job and his experience of God speaking to him out of the storm; what he lost and later gained. And his statement of faith in the midst of his trial: Yet though he slay me, yet I will trust in him.
I thought about Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego’s storm related in the book of Daniel and their unwavering faith in the face of threat: We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 if we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[a] from your majesty’s hand. 18 but even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
And I considered Jonah’s situation, and the affirmations David and the Apostles later made, how in the midst of threats of death and persecution and hard times they were able to find peace, to exhort others to rejoice in their afflictions, pray constantly, be not anxious but pray.
And my thinking about these things, as it related to our facing the unknown threat of Irma, led me to consider three things:
-Who is the God we worship?
-Who are we, or am I, as a man who trusts in Jesus, as a Christian?
-And what is our telos—our end purpose of life?
All of the biblical characters I was led to consider had pretty good answers to those three questions.
They understood the God they worshipped—that he was there—he was present in the storm—that he was all powerful and almighty, and his ways were not necessarily our ways.
Their identity had a sense of intimacy with God. They were his sheep, his children. They knew that what God spoke to Isaiah was true despite their circumstances: fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.
And their understanding of their own life had the sense that they were in God’s hands, and that whatever happened God would and could use it to his glory.
They ultimately were lifted beyond their circumstances—above this material existence per se, to be focused entirely on the Lord what he wanted.
As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians “but that it was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead…on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”
Which leads me to the disciples in the boat; the account we hear in the gospel. You know the story, Jesus and the disciples, all fishermen and men of the sea by the way, get in a boat and head to the other side of the lake. And a storm comes up, one of some consequence by the way if it is strong enough to scare experienced sailors. And they get scared, rightfully so I think, and wake Jesus and blast him with the warning we are all ‘gonna’ die.
And he calms the storm—then rebukes them saying where is your faith? That’s a hard word to those guys—but what he was getting them to consider had to do with those three questions: Who is God? Who am I as a Christian? What is my ultimate purpose of life?
I don’t know about you, but I confess a couple of times I felt myself there – in the boat with those guys fretting for my friends, my family, my stuff, wondering, “God, are you there? Don’t you see what is about to happen?”
And I feel Jesus’s rebuke: “Where is your faith?” Where indeed, Marsden—as I still mildly complain about my power being shut off—
but thank God, we are where the power is on…..
We are in a place worshipping God- the place where we can be reaffirmed—or challenged in response to those three questions,
So that in the midst of our losses, our trials our sufferings, we can find, like our biblical heroes, the ability to find peace in the midst of the storm, to be able to rejoice in the face of trials, to be able to trust the Lord completely with our lives.
That is the challenge of faith, that’s being in the boat.
So let us thank God for our presence here, thank him for who he is. Thank him for all he has given us. And let us pray for all those still undergoing hardship that God might speak to them in their storm and bring them comfort, peace and restoration for his glory.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Richard C. Marsden
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
Service of Thanksgiving after Hurricane Irma
15 September 2017