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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Who Sends the Storm?

2/5/2025

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Epiphany 4| Matthew 8:23-27| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| February 2, 202523 Some went down to the sea in ships,
    doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
    His wondrous works in the deep.
25 For He commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
    and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and He delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love,
    for His wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol Him in the congregation of the people,
    and praise Him in the assembly of the elders. Psalm 107:23-32
That was just a portion of Psalm 107. Psalm 107 recounts God’s works of salvation found in Scripture, using the following outline: Some found themselves in a sorry situation, they cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord helped them, and so the Psalmist invites us to give thanks to the Lord. If you know your Bible well, you can tell which Bible stories the Psalmist is referring to in each of his verses. So, what Bible stories does the Psalmist teach us with the verse I just recited? Well, in fact, there are three stories this verse describes.
The first is the story of Jonah. God called Jonah to preach against Nineveh, the great capital city of the Assyrian Empire. But he fled on a ship into the Mediterranean Sea, trying to fit in with a bunch of sailors and merchants going about their business. But God hurled a great storm upon the sea, so that the mariners feared for their lives. They cast their cargo into the sea, caring nothing for the profit they had hoped to make, and caring only to save their lives. The captain commanded every man to call out to his god. But they found Jonah a sleep inside the ship. After casting lots, Jonah admitted that the storm had come on account of him, because he had fled from the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. He instructed them to cast him into the sea and the storm would stop. The men tried in vain to reach shore without throwing a man overboard, but finally they acquiesced to Jonah’s instruction. They cried out to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness and cast Jonah into the sea. The sea was calmed, and the pagan men worshiped the Lord, the one true God.
Yet, Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, and was trapped in the belly of the sea creature for three days and three nights. Jonah serves as a type of Christ. Jonah’s experience is a sign, which teaches us of the ministry of Christ. And so, this leads us to the second story described in the passage from Psalm 107. Jesus went into a boat with His disciples. Yet, the Lord hurled a great storm upon them. Like Jonah, Jesus was asleep. Yet, when He awoke, He calmed the sea.
Jonah teaches us about Jesus, but Jesus is greater than Jonah (Matthew 12:41). Jonah was sent to preach to the people of Nineveh, but he fled, because he was afraid. Jesus was sent not only to preach, but to die for a hostile people, and He did it praying, “Father, Your will be done.” The men in the boat with Jonah had their own sins for which they were guilty. Yet, only Jonah was thrown overboard and the sea was calmed for his sake. Yet, Jonah was not guiltless. God raised the storm on the sea because of his rebellion. Yet, when God’s wrath raged against mankind for our sin, it was Christ who was tossed into the stormy sea, and the sea was calmed for us. Christ was not handed over to the storm of God’s wrath on account of His own sins. Unlike Jonah, He was guiltless. Yet, like Jonah, he was delivered over to death to save others and spent three days in the heart of the earth.
Why is Jesus better than Jonah? Yes, Jesus is sinless while Jonah was a sinner. Yes, Jesus marched bravely on to suffering, shame, and death in order to fulfill God’s will, while Jonah ran away. Yet, the distinction which makes Jesus infinitely better than Jonah has to do with who Jesus is. Like Jonah, Jesus was sleeping in the boat during the deadly storm. What does that prove? Well, He was tired. Why was He tired? Because He’s human! Humans get tired! Yet, when Jesus awoke, He rebuked the wind and the sea, so that there was a great calm. His disciples marveled and asked, “What sort of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
Indeed! What sort of man is this? That’s the point! He is not just a man. He is God. This is what makes Jesus so much greater than Jonah! Jonah was thrown into the sea for his own sin, so that the sea was calm for a moment and the mariners in the ship could get safely to shore. Jesus was thrown into the storm of God’s wrath for the sins of the whole world, and so the sea of God’s judgment became calm as God’s wrath was appeased and our sins were atoned for. Jesus could only do this if He were God. And Jesus is God. As He slept in the boat during the storm, He remained the same God who controlled the wind and the waves. And so, He remained true God, Lord of the earth and sea, when He was nailed to the cross on which He died. Even as He was laid lifeless in the belly of the earth for three days, He remained the God by whom the foundations of the earth were laid and continue to hold together. Everything Christ does as a man, He does as God. He is forever both God and man. And because Jesus is both God and man, His work of salvation saves not just a handful of men in a boat, but it wins salvation for the entire human race.
And this introduces our third story described by Psalm 107:23-32. And that is your story. Although, there is not a specific Bible story about you, the Bible very much tells your story. Because the Bible teaches you about human nature and the entire human race of which you are apart. And so, when Scripture says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that you were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:3), Scripture is speaking about you. And when Scripture states that Christ came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) and to make propitiation for all through His blood (Romans 3:24-25; 1 John 2:2), it is writing about what Christ has done for you.
One thing often missed in this story about the stormy sea, is who sent the storm. People often think it is Satan, or the sinful world raging against the Church. And it is true that the boat is a biblical illustration of the Church, and Satan and the wicked world do rage against Christ’s Church like a storm, and that Christians are kept safe from the attacks of Satan and the world by staying with Christ in the boat, that is, by holding to Christ within the safety of the Christian Church. However, Psalm 107 clearly says, “They saw the deeds of the Lord, His wondrous works in the deep. For He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.” And Scriptures states in Jonah 1, “But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.” And while Matthew writes simply that a great storm happened on the sea, who is it who commands the wind and the sea and they obey Him? It is not Satan. It is God!
And so, who is it who hurls the storms at you in your life? People are uncomfortable answering this question. Yet, the correct answer is actually the most comforting! It is God. God controls the weather. God is your Judge. God is your heavenly Father, who chastises you and disciplines you for your own good! Paul Gerhardt writes in His beautiful hymn, “Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me,” “When life’s troubles rise to meet me, Though their weight May be great, They will not defeat me. God, my loving Savior, sends them; He who knows All my woes Knows how best to end them.”
It is God who sends your trouble. And it is God who takes your trouble away. St. Paul writes in Romans 1, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” The great storm you fear, which you should fear, is God’s wrath against your sin! He is just. He will execute His wrath against all ungodliness. Yet, it is Christ Jesus, true God and true man, your righteous Savior, who stands between you and God’s wrath, who casts Himself into the sea of God’s wrath, and makes it a great calm! God’s storm rose against you on account of your sin. And God calmed the storm by taking your sins away through Jesus’ blood.
Scripture states that God chastises the son whom He loves (Hebrews 12:6). God loved the disciples. That is why He cast a storm upon them on the Sea of Galilee, so that they feared for their lives. Now, how can that be loving? Well, what was the result of this trial? Did they die? No. They cried out to Jesus and He saved them. That is the best result of any situation. This is why St. Paul writes that all things work out together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Jesus said, “Why are you afraid; O you of little faith?” So, what was the result of this trial? The disciples had a stronger faith with better knowledge of Christ and increased courage. They needed to see how weak their faith was, so that they would pray for a stronger faith. Though Christ won salvation for everyone, a person can only receive salvation through faith. They needed to see how powerful Jesus is to save for them to realize who He is. They needed to survive a storm, so that they would have courage to face another one.
When Jonah’s ship was being tossed by the storm sent by God, the sailors cast the cargo overboard to lighten the craft. Boy did they learn perspective by that storm! They set out with confidence into the Mediterranean Sea with goods to trade and make themselves rich. That was the sole purpose of their trip. Yet, when God threatened their lives with a storm, they threw all their wares overboard with which they had hoped to gain great wealth, so much had they learned to value their lives instead of earthly riches. And God does the same kindness to you, although in the moment you do not recognize it as kind. He sends trials into your life, so that you give up your love for things on earth that have become your idols, so that you value Him more than anything, and trust in His salvation more than the fleeting pleasures of this world. It is by taking us through the storms of life that God teaches us to say, “Take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won, the Kingdom ours remaineth.” (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, stz. 4)
You went down in a ship, so to speak. And God hurled a storm upon you. And what have you done? You cried out to the Lord in your distress, and He delivered you. You recognized that you are a poor, wretched sinner, who deserves the trouble you endure and more. And Christ has forgiven your sins. You recognize that the things of this life are not your true treasure, and Christ has promised you true treasures in heaven. You called out to the Lord in your distress, and He answered you, so that even if your suffering continues in this life for a while, you have comfort that God will bring you through it for Christ’s sake. Only Jesus can calm the storms sent by God. And you have learned that He does.
So, let us thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! Let us extol Him in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the assembly of the elders. Amen.
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The Test to Strengthen Faith

1/30/2022

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Picture
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633. Public Domain.
Epiphany 4 
Matthew 8:23-27 
Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church 
January 30, 2022 
 
In 1 Kings 18, the Prophet Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to determine who the true God is, the LORD or Baal. Each party set up an altar and prepared a bull to be sacrificed, but neither the false prophets or Elijah set their offering on fire. Instead, they prayed to their god for him to send fire down from heaven. The prophets of Baal went first. After hours of crying out to Baal and dancing around like pagans, Elijah began to mock them saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” (2 Kings 18:27) Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal in this way, because their god was no true God. Baal did not make man in his own image, but rather a bunch of men made Baal after their own imaginations, with needs and wants just like their own. But the LORD, the true God, whom Elijah served, who did send fire down from heaven to consume Elijah’s sacrifice, was not like Baal that he would muse, or relieve himself, or go off on a journey, or sleep. The LORD is not like a man that he does these things. He transcends mankind. He is all-knowing, omnipresent, and eternal. He has no body that he should relieve himself or go to sleep. So, Elijah rightly mocks these prophets of Baal for worshiping a false god, who cannot answer prayers.  


Yet, the Jesus, whom we confess to be God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made, this Jesus does muse. He frequently goes off by himself to meditate in a desolate place and pray. His ministry is described as peripatetic, meaning, that he wanders around, going on journeys. He is recorded to have eaten and drunk like any other man.  And here, in our Gospel lesson, we find this Jesus asleep and his disciples must awaken him. Everything Elijah says to mock the false god Baal, we find our Jesus doing here on earth! What does this mean?  


Well, this means that our Jesus is truly a man. He doesn’t just appear to be a man, as some have supposed. He is a real, flesh and blood human, just like us, yet, without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Our Lord got hungry. Our Lord needed time by himself to think and pray. And yes, our Lord got tired and slept. Jesus worked hard, traveling, teaching, and preaching, and healing every type of disease. This took a toll on Christ. It tired him out. And so, as anyone who has ever put in more than a full day’s work can sympathize with, he fell asleep. So worn out was he, that the tumultuous waves served only to rock him as he slumbered.  


Yet, does this mean that Jesus is not God? By no means. As Jesus is truly a man, he remains God. Although he sleeps here on earth, he remains in full control of the universe on his throne in heaven. Just as Christ held the universe in his hand while he was yet an unborn baby in his mother’s womb, so Jesus continues to be God as he lies tired and worn in the stern of the boat. Jesus’ human nature does not diminish his divine nature. Jesus’ humiliation does not inhibit his ability to rule as God. This is the mystery of the Personal Union of Christ. He is one person, yet man and God at the same time. He sleeps through the storm even while controlling the weather on the entire planet.  


This means that Jesus’ nap does not make him unaware of his disciples’ problem. He does not sleep ignorant of the danger of the wind and the waves. Nevertheless, he sleeps. Yet, why does he sleep? Why does he seem so unconcerned for their safety? Why does he permit his friends to tremble in fear that they might drown, so that St. Mark records them crying out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”? This behavior of our God was not introduced when he became man. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Even when the people of God knew that God had no body and no need to sleep, the Psalmist still cried out to the Lord in Psalm 44, “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!”  


Why does Jesus put his disciples through this trial? The answer is given by Jesus, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Jesus puts them through this trial to strengthen their weak faith. This is always why God puts us through trials, so that we may come out stronger in the end. This might seem cruel when you go through such a fright, but you’re always better off when you endure. There was a great storm, and afterward Jesus provided a great calm to make up for it. The sailors on Jonah’s ship were certainly frightened that they would lose their lives. They didn’t want to go through such a storm. Yet, they rejoiced in the true God afterward and inherited eternal life. This is why the Psalmist says, “It was good that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” (Psalm 119:71) A stronger faith is always worth the trial, because faith is what unites us to Christ and saves us.  


The disciples suffered from a weak faith. A weak faith is another way of saying that they served false gods. We learn from the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods,” that whatever you fear, love, or trust in most is your god. The disciples were confident when they went out on the boat when the water was calm and the wind gentle. Did they embark in the boat, because they trusted in God? No. They embarked, because they trusted in the calm sea and gentle winds. Yet, when the storm suddenly arose and poured water into their boats, did they fear the Lord? No, they feared the water and the waves. The storm proved their weak faith; it exposed their false gods. 


Yet, the disciples did have faith. Their faith was weak. It needed to be strengthened. And so, as God has done many times to those whom he loves, Jesus tested his disciples, so that they would call upon him for help and see his power to save.  


Jesus proved that he is God by commanding the wind and the sea, and they obeyed him. The wind and sea do not have faith in Christ. They simply obey him out of necessity. They are creatures. Jesus is the creator. Likewise, Jesus healed many diseases. The diseases did not have faith in Christ, although many of those suffering from them did. Yet, the diseases needed to obey Jesus, because he has the power to restore his creation. After this episode, Jesus comes across a couple men possessed by thousands of demons. The demons obey Jesus’ command to leave the men, not because they have faith, but because Jesus is God.  


Yet, faith is different. Jesus does not force us to believe and trust in him against our will, as he stills the sea or casts out demons against their will. Our sinful will is indeed unwilling to believe in Jesus, but Christ does not use force. Rather, Jesus makes us willing by the power and persuasiveness of his Word. To have faith in Christ means to willingly follow him and to willingly obey him. Only the Gospel has the power to create such willingness of faith, because only the Gospel promises life and salvation. Yet, Christ does use the preaching of the Law and trials in this life to prepare the heart to accept the Gospel. The Law condemns you as a sinner, as a worshipper of false gods. Trials in life reinforce the message of the Law. The storm on the sea exposed the fact that the disciples trusted in the weather instead of Christ. Yet, the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed many times caused them to call out to Christ for help when their false god failed them. And when he calmed the sea, they knew that Jesus is God.  


God uses our troubles to direct us to the Gospel. They make us weak and needy. The Gospel is for the weak and needy, because the Gospel offers pure grace and forgiveness. This is why St. Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10) He is strong, because he knows the Gospel. And the weaker he is, the closer he clings to the Gospel. Yet, if you neglect the Gospel and try to solve your problem, searching for other gods or trying to be your own god, then there will be no end to your misery.  


The Gospel comforts the weak and troubled, because it reveals how our God saves the weak and troubled. Our God became a man, just like us except without sin, as we see in our Lord Jesus. He died for us to take away our sins. That man, nailed to the cross dying, remained God, the creator of the universe, the righteous and holy judge. So, by virtue of that Personal Union, that man who died for our sins is also our God. That means that our sins are forgiven, because no sin is greater than God’s righteousness. In this Gospel, we see the certainty of our salvation. We see the depth of God’s love for us. In Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, we see that our Savior is in complete control. This is the Gospel that convinces us of God’s love, that gives us comfort in our trials and faith that God will bring us through them.  


Does God love you? Look at Jesus and how he died for you while you were still a sinner and tell me that God does not love you. Is Jesus able to rescue you? Look at him who rose from the grave after paying the debt of mankind’s sin and ascended to the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and tell me that Jesus is not able to rescue you. There is not a trial you go through that God has not given you. All your suffering is limited by God’s discretion. He may appear to be sleeping; he may seem to be far away, but he is surely watching and ready to answer your prayers. He desires for you to hold on to him closer, to call upon him in every need, to willingly obey him with perfect trust that he will take care of you.  


God’s silence should not tell us that God does not care. Even when Jesus is sleeping, he is aware of his disciples’ troubles. Rather, God’s silence should draw us closer to him, to trust that he is in control, and most importantly, to recognize that he is not silent. He speaks to us today, in the midst of your trial, in his Gospel. What do you need from the Lord? What do you need to know from him? He has already given you everything in Christ Jesus. He has revealed his love for you in the Gospel. The Gospel reveals to you that God has already given you everything you need. If you lose everything, but have Christ, you have lost nothing. You have won. And such knowledge will strengthen you to weather every trial on earth, knowing that all things work out for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28). Amen.  
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Epiphany 4: Jesus Rules

1/30/2017

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Picture
Matthew 8:23-27 
01/29/17 
 
Jesus went into the boat and his disciples followed him. That's the way it works. Disciples follow their Lord. So it is when you were baptized, when you began to believe in Christ Jesus you followed him into the boat. The boat is the holy Christian Church. Christians are safe when they are in the holy Christian Church, because they are with Jesus.  
But if anyone ever tells you that being a Christian is easy or that their troubles went away when they became a Christian don't believe them. Not long after the disciples pushed off onto the peaceful waters of Galilee with Jesus in tow a great storm arose on the sea and the waves pummeled over its deck and threatened to swamp the ship. And so it is for you Christians, safe within the boat of the Christian Church. The devil sends his attacks. Temptation! That spiritual warfare that tosses about your soul like a little boat in a hurricane. Temptation to doubt God's love; to doubt the benefits of his word; to doubt his presence. Temptation to sin, because it would be so much easier than doing what's right. Temptation to sin, because it's what you want to do. And if anyone tells you, "Don't worry, Satan can only launch spiritual attacks. He can't hurt your body." Think again. He'll use mounting debt, a lost job, sickness, injury, the death of a loved one, anything he can get his hands on (he's an innovator, that devil) to tempt you into sin and unbelief.  
And Satan has powerful allies, the world and your own sinful flesh. And these three attack the Christian Church like a boat on the sea; hailing down persecution from powerful governments and cruel extremists and swamping her hull with scandals and false teaching. And Satan attacks the Christian too. He attacks you. He'll use your own wants and desires to make you believe that they make up your whole world. He'll use national politics, the economy, and your job to cause you to lose sight of who's really in control. But all the wind and rain, thunder and lightning, even the waves rushing over the edge of the ship are just distractions to deter you from seeing who's really in charge.  
Jesus lay sleeping. The disciples cry to him, "Save us, Lord!" So Jesus rises and rebukes the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. The disciples marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?" What sort of man is this? Well, he's the Lord God of heaven, the creator of the sea and dry land. Who else can command the winds and sea and they obey him? The disciples see Jesus sleeping. He appears to be just a man. Jesus is a man. But he is not just a man. He is God. And so, he is always in control.  
Jesus never loses control of the situation. Even as waves poured into the boat and no amount of man power could steer the ship straight, Jesus was in control. Even as he trudged up that hill with splinters of wood from his cross rubbing against his already raw back, Jesus was in control. As Roman soldiers drove nails into his hands and feet; as he was lifted up high for all his haters to see; even as he gave up his last breath; Jesus never lost control of the situation.  
Hell itself ranted and raved for the souls of the damned. The Law of God required justice for the sins of the world. Lots were cast to see on whose account this storm raged. Yet the lot didn't fall on you or me, as it should have. The lot fell on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God. So like Jonah, Jesus was cast into torrents of hell and was swallowed up by death. Yet even then Jesus steered the situation. Our Lord willingly lay down his life, so that he could defeat hell and death by rising from the dead on the third day. 
And Jesus is in control now. That doesn't mean your life will be peachy? Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24). You, Christian, must bear your cross. Yes, Christians must suffer more than all people. Satan will not let you pass through this life with ease. He'll try to capsize your boat. He'll make you long to be an unbeliever, who doesn't have to be concerned about the teachings of the Church, who doesn't have to worry about repentance and forgiveness, about heaven and hell. He'll even let your life be comfortable, so that you care more about your nice car, your retirement fund or your next vacation than God's Word.  
Being a Christian takes courage. Satan won't just let pastors preach the pure Law with its full force to lead sinners to repentance and guide Christians in what is right. Nor will he let them preach the Gospel to comfort and save the lost without temptations to compromise to keep the peace. He doesn't want parents to teach their children about Jesus or bring them to church. He wants them to think the task of reading Bible stories and saying prayers is too laborious and not worth the time. He wants parents to give up on bringing their little ones to Jesus thinking, "There's no way they're getting anything out of church anyway." He'll make you feel stupid for being a Christian. He'll make you choose between worshiping your God and making money or doing what you love. He'll make you think that you're in control or that there is no order in the universe, anything if it will knock you out of that boat and get you away from Jesus.  
And this is how the disciples were, exhausted from trying to row to shore and bailing out the boat, drenched to the bone and preparing to drown. So they cry, "Save us, Lord! We are perishing!" Jesus, in complete control of the situation, before he orders the seas to be still, first rebukes his disciples, "Why are you cowards, O you of little faith?"  
"Why are you cowards? Can't you see that I am God? I am in control." Jesus calls his disciples, "O you of little faith." At first this seems like an insult or a harsh rebuke. But Jesus only calls his disciples, "you of little faith." If you read the New Testament you'll see Jesus use this phrase several times, but never when talking to an unbeliever; only when talking to his disciples.  
We learned last week about the centurion of whom Jesus said, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith." Oh, how we'd love to have the courage to say, "At your word, O Lord," even as sickness and death pummel us! And truly, we should constantly pray for a stronger faith. Yet, when it comes to your eternal salvation the "greatness" of your faith isn't what matters. Faith isn't some great work that earns your salvation. Faith is only as useful as its object, that is, faith is only as good as the one to whom it clings. The disciples, these men of little faith, clung on to Jesus with their little faith.  
Oh, that we all could have such a little faith! Oh, that each of us here would have the faith to cry to Christ for help when the waves of this life rush over us! God promises in Psalm 50:15, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you and you will glorify me." Faith grasps this promise, it believes it, it takes refuge in it. Often times the reason why Christ, who is always in control, permits trials and temptations to accost us in this life is so that we will come crying to him for help, so our faith will become stronger while we still have it.  
Faith clings to Jesus and his promise. It believes that when Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven," that God truly is at peace with you. Faith knows to whom you should pray. Faith keeps you from being drowned by the attacks of the devil, because faith clings to Christ alone, who died, so that you might live, who was raised from the dead to give you new life, who bore the pains of the cross, so that you can endure the suffering of this life.  
Now the entire Christian life on earth is not doom and gloom. God sends days of gladness to the Christian; children, family and friends, even prosperity. But these are not what makes a Christian truly happy. A Christian can rejoice, because after the great storm is a great calm. The Christian knows that the suffering of this present age is not even worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us in Christ Jesus.  
Having faith does not put you in control. Rather, it attaches you to the one who is in control. And even a little faith that trusts in Christ will join you to the only one who can save you. May God, by the preaching of his Word and the power of the Sacrament strengthen all of you in this faith, so that you may always remain in the safety of this boat, the Christian Church, which carries us to eternal life with Christ.  
Amen.  
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    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 
    You can listen to sermons in podcast format at 
    [email protected]. 

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