In the Gospel we just heard, that last line contains a question which is meant for us to answer, it said, “They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”” Who then is this…? Well, the answer that the Church gives us through the other readings is clear: this is God. Only God can control the wind and the sea, therefore Jesus is God.
His disciples were just figuring this out, but we’ve read the whole story, we know who Jesus is, right… or do we? So when we are going through the storms of our lives, do we know God is with us in it? Do we know Jesus is present in the storm, or do we think He has forgotten us, asleep somewhere in Heaven?
When we think of the sea, or a big lake as the Sea of Galilee really is, most of the time it is peaceful, serene and beautiful, and we are drawn to it. Waterfront, lakefront property is some of the most expensive property in the world, we all want that peace and calm.
But we know, sooner or later, there is going to be a storm, and that peaceful water turns destructive, we know it is only a matter of time. In the same way, we know we are going to go through storms in our own lives, we all long for that peace and calm, but the storms will inevitably come.
So my encouragement is to ask Jesus for help sooner. Think about it - that storm on the Sea of Galilee, it didn’t come up instantly, it built gradually, like any storm does, you can see it happening, you can see it coming.
All too often though, we just wait until it gets really terrible before we call out to God for help. With “nowhere else to turn” and “nothing to lose,” we finally turn to God, but why don’t we turn to Him sooner? Why don’t we ask Him for help right away when things start to turn bad, at the first sign of the storm?
See, God wants to help us, but He is also very gentle, very respectful of us and our free will. Even if it is clearly bad for us, Jesus will stay out of it until we call on Him, just like those disciples did once they realized they were at risk of dying.
Jesus is God, but do we trust that? Do we really believe He is ultimately in control? I was talking to my Deacon Dad about this Gospel and he read a part of it and he immediately said, “I think it is the people that are asleep, not Jesus.”
Interesting take, I thought, there isn’t evidence of that in the scripture, but it is possible, and it would make sense of how it got so bad before they finally woke Jesus up, you know maybe a bunch of them were asleep too.
But I was doing some research and I realized that this is what St. Augustine actually believed too, that it was the people’s faith that was asleep.
Doctor of the Church St. Augustine said, “You are afraid because you are asleep; you are tossed about on the stormy desires raised by the breath of those who tempt you to do evil because your faith is asleep. ‘Your faith is asleep’ means you have forgotten your faith. To wake Christ means to awaken your faith, to recall what you believe. Remember your faith; wake Christ within you. Your faith will immediately [calm] the frightening winds and waves of those who tempt you to do evil.”
Like my Dad had said, St. Augustine asserts it is our faith, not Jesus, that goes to sleep. We forget those times when Jesus was present. We let our beliefs go, and give in to temptations, we let our faith be lulled to sleep, and that is when the storm comes.
When our faith is fully awake, our life is peaceful and calm, the little things never even have a chance to turn into big storms, our faith cuts them off before they can get to that point.
God does not abandon us in the storms of our lives. He is with us always, waiting for us to turn to Him, to awaken our faith. He loves us, He created us with free will, He waits for us to reach out to Him. And when we do wake Christ within ourselves, inevitably He will calm the storms for us as well.