When the sky begins to turn almost pitch black, off in the horizon, and the wind begins to blow, and the sky grows darker and darker, and the clouds move closer and closer to your house, and the rumbles of thunder can be heard, and the wind begins to blow harder, and the trees begin to bow over so it appears as if they are going to snap, and the house begins to creak, and the windows begin to rattle, and the rain begins to come down in sheets, and the flashes of lightening are so brilliant that for a tenth of a second it is brighter than the brightest of day, and the crack of the thunder is so loud that it shakes through to your very bone marrow, it is at moments like that, when the wind could rip the roof off of our homes, when the lightening could literally strike a tree, or strike us, when nature could destroy all we have and all we are, it is at moments like that we come to see, very starkly, very plainly, and very clearly just how powerless we are and how powerful, absolutely powerful nature is. We are at nature’s mercy.

We saw it a week ago, yesterday. 300,000 people went down to Warner Park. They took their blankets and spread them out. They took their radios and had them turned on. The concession stands were set up. Fireworks were set up all over the place, with computers ready to blast them off. People were ready to have a great time, celebrating the 4^th of July, when nature changed everybody’s plans. And all 300,000 people could not will away the power of nature, as nature swept in, bringing a storm, a strong, powerful, lightening, and windstorm. How powerless we are, and what power there is behind nature. In fact, the Bible really tells us this. When we see the great power that is behind nature, it is not really nature’s power that we are seeing. Listen to what the book of Roman says, in Romans 1:20.

"For, since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made."

There the Bible tells us that when we look at nature, behind nature, we see nature’s maker. We see nature’s controller. When you look, the Bible says,

"The heavens declare the glory of God

and the sky His handiwork."

When we look at the sun, the moon, and the stars, we cannot avoid the fact that there is an almighty Creator of this world, who set the sun in place, and who set the stars in their courses. We have a powerful, powerful God. When we look at the creatures, the plants, the animals, human beings, the beauty of nature, the complexity of nature, the complexity of the molecule, the complexity of the atom, the Bible tells us we are without excuse, when we look at that, and we have to admit, "What a powerful, powerful God, who puts all of that in place and all of that in order, the God who created the laws of nature, and who laid the foundations of the deep!" As scripture says, when we look at nature, we see the power, the strength, and wisdom of God!

We also see the God who rules over nature. We see the God who can choose to send the sun, if it is His will, and can withhold the sun. That is how powerful He is! He can send the rain, if He wants and withhold the rain, if that is His desire. What a powerful, powerful God! As we can see, we cannot control nature. Only God can control nature. As the Bible says, "He holds in His hands the surging seas. He holds in His hand the waves and the wind." God in His power can send the wind and the waves. God in His absolute power can control the wind and the waves. And, we see it in today’s scripture reading. Jesus, who is God and Man in one person, stood up in that ship. And in the midst of a furious storm, (and certainly there was thunder, lightening, wind, and waves, and the disciples were terrified), Jesus, simply by speaking the Word, said,

"Quiet!

Be still!"

and it was!

Our God,

what almighty power He has,

when we look at nature!

When we see that, it serves as a stark reminder in one sense. And that is this. You know, the wind does not care much about you, at all. The wind does not care about your house. The wind would just as soon rip the roof of your house, as your neighbor’s house. And the lightening does not care about your tree, or about your car. Lightening would just as soon strike your car, or your person, as anybody else. And the floods don’t care about your house.

So, what does God think, because God is the One who controls all of those things?

One of the things that we see, when we look at the might of nature, especially in the storms, is that it is a picture of judgment. Our sinful nature looks at those things, and our sinful nature can become frightened and terrified. Today, we see the disciples in the ship, and they were afraid. They were terrified. When we really begin to look at the power of nature, and who is behind that power, we see that it is God.

It is God

behind that power.

And we may ask ourselves, "Will the lightening strike me? Will the wind destroy my house? I cannot stop it. What does God think about me? Is God angry at me? Do I deserve God’s punishment because of my sin?"

We see in history that God used nature and the power of nature to punish people in their sin. During the great flood, God punished the whole earth, by the power of nature and destroyed all people, (except eight), because of their wickedness. God opened up the earth, when Korah sinned against God. The earth swallowed up Korah and his whole family, and then the earth closed up on them. Again, God used the powers of nature to punish sinners. At times, during the history of Israel, God would withhold the rain and there would be great droughts, because the people had sinned against God. God certainly can use nature to punish sinners.

And so, we look at nature, and when we are in the storm, or when nature brings trouble in our lives, we may ask ourselves, "What if God were to punish me for my sin? Is He doing that? Should I be afraid? And, should I be troubled by God, as I see the great power of nature?" Should we be troubled?

The question the disciples asked Jesus is a very profound question. They said, "Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?" Think about those first words,

"Teacher, don’t you care?

Don’t you care?"

They were concerned and worried that the Lord did not care about them, that the Lord did not care about their safety, that the Lord did not care about their future, that the Lord did not care what the wind and the waves did to them, that the Lord did not care what the lightening and the storm did to them, that the Lord did not care that the thunder was frightening them.

"Don’t you care?"

That is a ridiculous question, isn’t it? Don’t you care? Do you think the Lord doesn’t care when the lightening flashes, the thunder rumbles and roars, and the winds blow? Can you say, "Don’t you care?"

Look at how much the Lord cares for you. In our Epistle Lesson for today, the Bible tells us,

"God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ,

not counting men’s sins against them."

Does God care about you? Does God care for you? God cannot care for you more deeply than the fact of what God did for you in Jesus Christ. Your Creator, the One who made the earth, the sky and seas, the One who holds in His hands the wind and the waves, the surging waters, the One who sends the lightening bolts and the thunder, that very One, became one of us! He took on flesh. God the Creator became the creature. God the Creator became the creature! And the Creator, in human body, took all of your sins.

He cares so much

about you.

He does not want to destroy you. He does not want to bring down His anger and wrath, (which He could rightly bring down on you). He does not want to destroy you with the powers of nature. He does not want to destroy you in Hell, for all eternity, which you deserve.

"Don’t you care?" Oh how He cares! Look at what He did. God, the Father, took all the wrath that He had stored up against you and against your sin. (And you and I cannot imagine the amount of wrath that we deserve from God, because of our sin. We really can’t imagine that.) He took all of that wrath, and though it should be poured out on you, in His great love for you, He poured all that wrath out on His dear Son, God, in human flesh, (God become one of us). And on the cross, all the anger of God, against all the sin of all the world, was laid on Christ.

"Don’t you care?"

And there on the cross the Creator,

the Creator suffered for the creature.

The Creator died for the creature.

The creator took the punishment for the creature.

The creator forgave the sins of the creature, who sinned against Him.

"God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ,

not counting men’s sins against them."

Because of what happened on the cross, the Creator does not hold your sins against you! We can’t reconcile ourselves to God. But, God reconciled Himself to us. He made peace with us, through His Son, who paid for all of our sins. And so, when the disciples asked, "Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?" That was a ridiculous question. Oh how the Lord cares! Look at what He has done for you!

And so, when the wind, the waves, the rain, the thunder and the lightening, or the drought, or the sickness, or whatever difficulties nature may bring our way, in our hearts, let us not say, "Don’t you care?" But, let us turn to Him and understand that the very hands that have the nail marks are the very hands that control the wind, the waves, the rain, the sun, the dark, the light, and anything else nature may bring our way. So we can say, as the psalmist said, in Psalm 46,

"God is our refuge and strength

and ever present help in trouble,

therefore we will not fear.

though the earth give way,

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though the waters roar and foam,

and the mountains quake with their surging,

(through nature in all its fierceness, what does it say?

It says),

"We will not fear."

We will not fear. Why won’t we be afraid? It says because God is our refuge.

God is our refuge.

We have a safe place to go hide in the storms. And what safer place is there to hide, than in the hands that spread themselves out and died for us? Those are the very hands that also control the wind and the waves, and will not let the wind and the waves do anything to the people He has redeemed, that would hurt or harm us spiritually.

God is our refuge.

God is our strength.

We don’t have the strength to control the wind and waves, anymore than an ant does. But our Redeemer, who cares for us so dearly, is our strength and therefore we will not fear. He won’t let the lightening, or the wind, or the waves, or anything in nature do anything to His people that would hurt or harm us spiritually.

God is our refuge

and our strength,

our ever present help in every trouble.

The God who is in the lightening is also in your home. He is with your children. He is with your loved one. When your sons and daughters are out on the road in the darkened night, in the pouring rain, and you worry about their car. God, the Redeemer, their ever present in help in every trouble is with them, the One who paid a great price for them.

Therefore we will not fear.

God knows what He is doing. And through the course of history we know that God has used some terrifying things in nature for the good of His people. You know about a terrible storm that struck a 21-year-old college student, after he had visited his parents and was on his way back home to college. The sky drew dark. The thunders cracked, the lightening was flashing, and the rain was pouring. And then a lightening bolt came so close that it literally blew this 21-year college student off of his feet! This college student was named Martin Luther. Were it not for that lightening storm, which terrified Martin Luther, and then caused him to realize his utter dependence on God, he would not have become a monk, the Reformation may very well not have happened, and the church may still not realize that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Then, there was a terrible storm at sea, where a young man by the name of John Wesley, who was on a ship where he was very fearful that he was going to die, and fearful of God’s judgment. And on that same ship were a group of Christians, standing on the deck of the ship, during this terrible storm, singing hymns to God, unafraid! And John Wesley wished that he could have that same comfort and that same peace. He went back home to England and went into a church where he heard, of all things, a reading from one of the writings of Martin Luther! He came to realize that he was saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And, he could have peace in the midst of any storm. He went out and became a great preacher as a result.

In today’s scripture reading, the disciples’ faith in Christ was strengthened through the storm. We don’t have to be afraid, because the Lord, who has redeemed us, will use nature for the good of His people.

When I was a young man, on the day I got confirmed, my uncle gave me a book that has been with me for the rest of my life. It is a great book. It is called the Lutheran Book of Prayer. In this prayer book there are many prayers for many different occasions in your day-to-day life. One of them is entitled In a Storm. It is a great prayer. It summarizes everything that we have been talking about. And so, I want to close with this prayer.

Heavenly Father,

I know Thy greatness and my weakness, Thy majesty, and my unworthiness. O Lord, I am helpless and in need of Thy protection. For Jesus’ sake, abide with me. Test me not beyond my strength in this fearful hour of danger. Protect our home, or our ship, and my dear ones, especially those who are weak and helpless. Give me faith to cast my anxieties and cares on Thee who stills storms and guides the souls of men through every danger.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen.