Boats only sink when the water gets inside - Daniel Mosby

Boats don’t sink because of the water surrounding them. They sink when the water gets inside.

Let’s think about this by reading from Mark’s Gospel.

Mark 4

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Why were the disciples worried?

There was a lot of water around the boat? Boats are designed to be around water; the water itself wasn’t the problem.

There was a storm? These were experienced fishermen, they knew storms, the boat was likely designed to keep out most storms.

It wasn’t the water, or even that there was a storm outside the boat that was making the disciples scared. It was that the boat was starting to let the storm water inside.

Boats don’t sink because of the water surrounding them.

They sink when the water gets inside.

In the boat there were two very different reactions to the storm: Jesus made the storm external noise and didn’t let it disturb him, he was sleeping peacefully. The disciples had forgotten who was in the boat with them and had let the fear from their circumstances get inside. It was making them afraid, upset and angry.

When the disciples broke into Jesus’s peace, Jesus simply commanded the storm to be quiet and it did. Jesus was able to keep the water out, to be calm in difficult circumstances because he knew the power he had as God’s child. The disciples could have prayed, I bet if they had ordered the storm to stop it would have done.  But they let the fear and stress of their circumstances get inside them and forget that like Jesus they are God’s children and had the power to stop the storm.

Our world can be stormy at times, perhaps most of the time. Troubles in the world, health scares, worries about people we care about, finances, jobs, relationships, the list is endless. But we need to remember that we are God’s children, we are powerful beings, we have the holy spirit, we are made in God’s image. We remember these things and we keep the storm outside, we don’t allow it to overcome us. We keep the storm as external noise.

I remember once looking for a group of children doing a hiking expedition, it was stormy, and I wasn’t sure where this group of children had got to. I was getting worried, soaked through and couldn’t see them. Then I looked over a wall and saw this orange tent-like structure. The group had put up their emergency shelter and were happy, dry and warm inside, laughing and playing cards. They kept the storm outside and didn’t allow it to become their reality. That’s not easy to do, it takes great bravery to not allow your circumstances to affect, you it takes deep security in your identity as God’s child.

So how can we make it easier for ourselves when the storms come along. To keep the analogy going, we can secure our boat, batten down the hatches. We can make our boat less of a open top row boat and more of an all weather life boat. Lifeboats are practically unsinkable, unless you open the door and let the water inside.

How do we that, it’s about being secure in our foundations, being confident in our identity as people loved by God and made in his image.

• Spend time with God, in prayer, meditation, worship, reading scriptures.

• Live out your identity by loving others helping, serving encouraging others.

• Be part of a church community that loves affirms, accepts and builds you up. Not one that judges and makes you feel worse about yourself.

• In the good times, don’t let negative thoughts get a foothold. A small leak in the boat in the calm can quickly sink you in the storm. Reject those negative comments from others, reject those negative thoughts of your own. No, that is not who I am, I won’t let those in, I am a child of God, negativity is not on the agenda. You know the age old comment “Do you know who I am?” I’m not letting that comment get inside of me.

Matthew 14

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Peter had an extraordinary moment there when he kept the water out, certain of his identity, he walked on the water just like Jesus did. He knew he was on the water, he knew he was doing something miraculous, but he kept the negativity out. But then he let the water in, he let fear get the better of him and he started to sink. Jesus still looked after him and kept him safe through.

Now let me get to the best bit. That phrase, “Boats don’t sink because of the water outside”, has been around for ages. It’s not a Christian quote, and lots of people, regardless of faith, use it for motivation. I love that. But I believe that, as people working in partnership with the creator, we can do even better.

In that boat, Jesus didn’t just keep the storm out. He calmed the storm. Why? Because he knew his identity, because her kept the water out he had the peace of mind, the presence of mind, the security to go I’m not accepting this external reality. “Storm be quiet”.

“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

We also have the ability to calm the storm. We are God’s children, made in his image with all the power and responsibility that comes with that position.

If we train ourselves to keep the water out and to remain calm and assured in the storm then the next step is to reach out and order the storm to be quiet.

If, like Peter, as he walked on the water, you struggle with that, like Peter you can still reach out and Jesus will pull you back into the boat. But our aim as Christians has to be, being Christ like. Shutting out the noise, remaining calm and assured and ordering the storm be quiet.

I’d like to do a thought exercise now.

Imagine you’re out walking on beautiful summers day, it’s somewhere special to you. Can you hear the birds chirping, can you feel the heat of the sun a gentle cooling breeze. What can you smell?

But then the sky starts to darken, the temperature drops, the humidity increases, the wind picks up, a storm is brewing. As you feel the first drops of rain you remember you’re prepared for this, you take out your rain coat, put on your waterproof trousers, remember you are always wearing good quality ell maintained, waterproof boots. You’re assured you’ve got this.

You put in your ear phones with your favourite music on and don’t just survive the storm, you’re dancing in the rain. The odd drop of water might get through your coat but that’s OK we’ve got confidence.

Now imagine that storm as representing things in your life, baggage from the past,  worries about intolerance in the world, health issues, finance, friends, tough romantic relationships. All of that is all around you, it would be enough to take most people out. But you say, I am God’s child, I am made in his image, I am powerful, I know who I am. I’m going to keep the storm on the outside, I’m going to dance in the rain.

As you dance, you gain the confidence to say “be quiet” and even the wind and the waves obey you.

You take down your hood, take out your ear phones and other people starts to stand up around you, you hadn’t even noticed them before, they were crouched down hiding from the storm, they were wet through. But your command didn’t just tell your storm to be quiet it told their storm to be quiet.

That’s the power we have through our connection to the creator.

Boats don’t sink because of the water surrounding them. They sink when the water gets inside.

Prepare, make it so you can keep the storm out, but also be confident enough to tell the storm to be quiet.