The Joshua Victor Theory

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Back in January I compared the size of the “Sea” of Galilee to our island of Maui. I estimate it would stretch roughly lengthwise from the base of West Maui mountains up to Makawao, and from Kahului Harbor to Maalaea Harbor—13 miles by 8 miles. Small, but big enough to get caught in a storm. Especially if you imagine crossing that distance on a small fishing boat against a driving wind, when you’re exhausted after rowing till 3-4 AM in the darkness. It was no joke. Today in the Gospel, we’re back at the Sea of Galilee for another of Jesus’ miracles, showing that He is God who rules over the storms. You know how weathermen describe the “eye” of a hurricane? In the center of a massive spinning storm with high-speed winds circling for hundreds of miles, there’s a small pocket of calm. The “eye” of the storm. While no hurricanes hit the tiny Sea of Galilee, sudden windstorms from the...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Did you notice in our Gospel reading, that everything was calm and fine before Jesus and His disciples entered into the fishing boat, to cross the Sea of Galilee? Jesus was leading them into the storm. It reminds me of how the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness after His baptism, to be tempted. Undoubtedly Jesus did so for this reason—to test their faith, and show them who He was in a yet more marvelous way. Do we acknowledge that God may intentionally lead us into some rough sailing, some real, humbling difficulties in life? Not because He wants to harm us, or even that everything has a hidden “life-lesson”, but that God in His own mysterious ways, has crosses for us to bear, and wants us to lean completely on Him? If Jesus lead them into the storm, you see there is no promise or guarantee that we will be spared the storms and dangers of life, or even that we will be rescued f...