In the gospel lesson today, we find a story of Jesus out on the hillside in Galilee as he was day after day, preaching to the crowds and healing people. Everywhere, the crowds were pressing around him. They came from near and far to hear him and to bring people who needed healing. Jesus would reach out and touch them; speak to them and bring healing.

Now you can imagine that if crowds had followed you all day long how tired you would get. On this particular day Jesus and the crowd were on the side of a lake. Jesus saw a boat and he said to his disciples, "Let's get into the boat and go to the other side." And so they did.

It was so peaceful and quiet on the lake, so much so that Jesus fell asleep in the back of the boat with his head on a pillow. The air and the water were still. And in the calm of the evening, the disciples started to relax too. But the stillness was the calm before the storm and a breeze started to blow. Suddenly, the air temperature dropped and the breeze became a wind, and then the wind became a gale and then it began to rain. Some of the disciples were fishermen, and they knew about the kind of dangerous storms that hit this lake. Waves began to break over the boat and it was rocking up and down and to and fro. And the disciples got scared.

They called to Jesus but he didn't hear them. One of the disciples, who was near the back of the boat, noticed that Jesus was asleep. Asleep through all this, if you can image. And the disciple went down to him and shook him awake and said, "Jesus, don't you care that we are going to die here! A storm has picked up and we are bailing water! Don't you care?!"

The disciples were terrified - terrified because to them the sea was possessed. Israelites' faith was deeply connected to the land, not water. Water was thought to be the domain of demons, and the sea itself was under the sway of Satan. The Israelites feared the sea. They prefer to stay on dry land in the security of God's power. To the Israelites, God was at war with the wild forces that ruled the sea.

Even though, some of the disciples were fishermen and made their living on the sea, their faith was limited to the God of the Land. And so the disciples were desperately afraid. But Jesus wasn't. Jesus was sleeping. Wake up they call to him. Don't you care that we are perishing?

And so, after rubbing his eyes Jesus sat up from the cushion he was lying on and said to his sea: "Be still." To his winds, he uttered, "Peace." And a calm overcame his friends. They had been angry about his indifference. They had felt abandoned by their Lord. They had scolded him for not caring. But to them he answered, "Why?" Why were they afraid and he rebuked them for their lack of faith.

Fear is an emotion. Fear is neither good nor bad, it just is. You can't stop feeling fearful. You just are. How can you get rid of fear?

You fear that someone may break into your house, so you get a furious guard dog to protect your home and family, but you are still fearful.

You watch "Cops" on TV and see the evening news out of Detroit or Spokane or Toronto or Edmonton and you see the violent crime that exists elsewhere and so you are afraid to leave your home or you get an alarm system or a weapon of some sort. But you are still fearful.

You grew up in an unstable home or a poor home and you never want to go back to living like that. So, you work hard, maybe work two jobs and save all your money, and invest in RRSP's. But, you are still fearful - fearful of being poor, even though your not.

The only way to deal with fear is with faith. Jesus often connects fear with not having faith. Jesus rebukes the disciples for being fearful. They are paralyzed in their fear. We all have fear, but are we going to be controlled and limited by it or are we going to have the faith that Christ is with us always. Christ will protect us from the storms of life. With faith we need not even fear death. We don't need to worry about our RRSP, we need to put our energies and concerns in our relationship with Christ - our Eternal Life Savings Plan.

When I was a photographer for a small newspaper in Northern Nova Scotia I met a man who had just survived a wind like the wind in this passage. The man, his brother and his son were sailing from Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia when a gust of wind took hold of their sailboat and over-turned it. The three clung onto it for dear life for about two hours. Finally, the man decided to risk the security of the over turned boat and he set out to swim for shore. It was about ten o'clock at night and dark. Of the water, he could see nothing, but on the shore, about two miles away, he could see the tall, white, church steeple in the moonlight. He focused on the church steeple. He focused on each stroke he took. He focused on making it to shore.

Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Why are you sleeping? Look, the boat has turned over and the Coast Guard has not found us. And I am afraid. And...

Was Christ asleep in that boat? No, he was in the voice, inside the man, that said, "I'm going to start swimming they'll never find us." Was Christ asleep in that boat? No, he was in the moonlight that shone on the steeple that guided the man home. Was Christ asleep in that boat? No, he was in the people from the village who banded together, who in faith, got in their boats and looked and searched and would not give up.

Yes, we all have fears, some are more fearful that others but to be controlled and limited by them is what Jesus challenges us not to do.

I'd like to end with a familiar poem. A poem that deals with this basic question, where is Christ is when life becomes difficult.

Footsteps.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes, from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the paths of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you the most you would leave me."
The Lord replied, "My son, My Precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints it was then that I carried you."

The only way to deal with fear is with faith. We all have fear, but in faith we trust that Christ is with us always. Christ will protect us from the storms of life. Christ will carry us. Amen.

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