We are continuing our series of sermons in the Gospel of Luke, and I'd ask you to turn with me to Luke chapter 8. We're going to take up our reading at verse 19 and read down through verse 28. Luke chapter 8, beginning our reading at verse 19. Let us hear God's own word. Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, your mother and your brothers are standing outside desiring to see you. But he answered them, my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. One day he got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, let us go across to the other side of the lake. So they set out, and as they sailed, he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing. And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased. And there was calm. He said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, Who then is this that he commands even winds and water? And they obeyed him. Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee, When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me. So far the reading of God's Word. One of the iconic images of summer for many people is sailing. Do you ever go sailing? Now, not that noisy business with a motorboat where there's all that diesel smell and people do crazy things like fishing. But I mean something really delightful, like a sail, quiet, beautiful, restful, challenging, uncertain. But it's one of those images, isn't it? You can almost picture, I'm sure, some kind of picture with a sailboat in a bay, beautiful sunny day. It is a kind of delightful image of relaxation, if you don't actually have to figure how to raise the sail and wash down the boat when you're done. But in Jesus' day, there wasn't so much sailing for pleasure. Almost everyone who sailed, sailed as a matter of work and purpose and need. And Jesus had called to him a number of disciples who were sailors, whose life had been sailing, again, not for pleasure, but for fishing and selling fish and supporting their family by selling fish. And these were men who were very experienced sailors, and they were very experienced sailing, particularly on the Sea of Galilee or the Lake of Galilee, as it's called in this part of the text. If you've ever been to Galilee, you see it's a big sea or lake, but it's also one you could easily see across. It's not so big that you would set out and not be able to see shore wherever you were going. But still, it's a sizable sea, and it's a difficult sea because it's relatively shallow, So if a storm comes, if the winds blow in a storm, it becomes very, very tumultuous. The sea quickly can rise in a storm. And you need to be an experienced sailor to anticipate the weather and know how to sail in a storm. And that's all background then to this scene where Jesus one day says to his disciples, let's go sailing. But you notice, he doesn't say, let's go sailing for fun. He says, let's go sailing to the other side of the lake. Jesus has a destination in mind. We're not immediately told what the destination is, but we are told he wants to sail across the lake. He doesn't want to just sail around in the middle of it. He probably pointed, we want to sail across the lake there. And we soon discover that he has planned to sail across the lake to the country of the Gerasenes. And as we approach this text, it seems to be very important that we keep in mind, Jesus is setting out for a place. That's important background, understanding what's happening in this story. It's probably about six miles from Capernaum, where they set out, to the country of the Gerasenes. A decent sail, not a huge long distance, but a decent sail. And this story is told for us very intentionally to press upon us the question that the disciples ask, who is this? As the gospel accounts in general, this specific story wants us to confront the question, who is this Jesus? Who is this Jesus? And his trip answers that in three ways. And the first is that this Jesus has a purpose. In all he does, he has a purpose. In this trip, he has a purpose. And the purpose of this trip is important for us to see who he is. He's going to the country of the Gerasenes. What do we know about the country of the Gerasenes? What we know is it's Gentile country. This is not part of the Holy Land. The west bank of the Sea of Galilee was part of the land of promise, still part of the Jewish people, but across Galilee was Gentile territory. And Jesus is heading for this Gentile territory. That is his purpose. And so this text right at the beginning is encouraging us to ask, What is Jesus' purpose for the Gentiles? And Luke has been preparing us to ask that question. Because several times in his gospel, he's raised the matter of Jesus and the Gentiles for us. Simeon, you remember, when Jesus as a baby was presented at the temple, Simeon declared on seeing the baby Jesus, My eyes have seen your salvation, Lord, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. So right from his first presentation in the temple as a baby, it was prophesied of him. He would bring the light of revelation to the Gentiles. The text from Isaiah, cited about John the Baptist, declared that through the work of John the Baptist and he for whom John prepared the way, all flesh would see the salvation of God. That's why Jesus came. Jesus came not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles. The mission to the Gentiles was not a secondary purpose. It was a primary purpose from the beginning. And we can look in the Old Testament and see various ways in which God had prophesied that he would come to the Gentiles with his great salvation. And Luke is preparing a way for us to see Jesus as the Savior, not only of Jews, but of Gentiles. That's the mission of Jesus, that his saving work on the cross, his dying to save sinners, his resurrection to life, his sending forth of the Holy Spirit, all those great works of Jesus were not intended just for one people, but to break through that people to the Gentiles, and we're seeing that being worked out here. Luke showed that even in his genealogy of Jesus. Genealogies are always a challenge, aren't they? What do we do with genealogies? The best thing to do with genealogies is to be slightly amused as the minister stumbles over the names he's not sure how to pronounce. But Luke has a purpose with his genealogy. He traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to being the son of Adam. Jesus is the son of Adam, not just the son of Abraham. And he's the son of Adam to say he's not just concerned about the line of promise that started with Abraham, but he's concerned about that promise made to Adam in the garden that he would come to save all people from their sins. Even the devil knew about this purpose. The second temptation, as we find it recorded in Luke, the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. and said, I'll give you these if you'll bow down and worship me. He knew that Jesus had come for all the kingdoms of the world. But of course, Jesus knew that the way to inherit the kingdoms was not by worshiping the devil, but by dying on the cross. And so we see this purpose in the background of Jesus and his coming. In that first sermon that he preached in Nazareth, he made that clear when he talked about God's care for the widow of Zarephath, a Gentile, and for Nahum, the Syrian general, a Gentile. He made it clear that God was saving not just Jews, but Gentiles. And what was the response? They turned on him. They loved to hear that he'd come to save them, but they were furious that he was going to save those dirty Gentiles. But that was his purpose. That was why he'd come. That was the care he had in his heart. That was his purpose. And Luke has recorded how Gentiles have come to hear him. In Luke 6, verse 7, we read that people from Tyre and Sidon had come to hear Jesus preach. And we started this series with Luke chapter 7, the centurion, the Roman centurion, a Gentile, coming to Jesus for help. So Jesus has come for the Gentiles. The Gentiles have come to him in Luke's gospel up to this point. But now for the very first time, Jesus is going to the Gentiles, crossing the sea. Not a huge trip, but a trip, fulfilling his purpose. Fulfilling his purpose. And he's taking his disciples along so that they'll see that purpose. Jesus knows the day is coming when the disciples must carry on his purpose to save Jews and Gentiles. And so he wants them to see that he himself has laid the foundations of this mission outreach. You remember, there's a boat story in Luke's Gospel before this one, chapter 5, there's a boat story when Jesus got in the boat and taught from the boat, and then had them set out to sea and do a little fishing, and Peter said, oh, you know, this is not the time to fish. We fished all night. We didn't catch any fish. There's no point in fishing, and Jesus said, fish, and they caught a huge catch of fish. And Jesus said, this is to show you I'm going to make you fishers of men. So now he's taking them in a boat once again to show that being fishers of men is not just a matter of ministering to the Jews, but ministering to the Gentiles as well. Jesus is showing his mission, but he's also preparing his missionaries. He has a purpose. This trip is a purposeful trip, and he's at peace with it. When you take a trip, are you at peace with it? Some people are worriers when they travel. Some people have good reason to be worriers. Trips are not always easy, are they? There are all sorts of unexpected things that come up. Jesus is at peace with his trip. He knows what he's doing. He knows where he's going, and he lays down and falls asleep. This has to be a somewhat sizable ship, doesn't it? We don't know exactly how many disciples went along. At least the 12, maybe some of the women who were with him as well. So there's a ship that can accommodate 15, 20 people. He's lying down. He's asleep. He's at peace. So the first thing that this text wants to show you, show us, is the purpose of the Savior. This is a purposeful trip. And that's crucial to what happens next because Jesus wants to show us that he not only has a purpose, but he has power. He has power to fulfill his purpose. This is not just a story of a raw display of power, but it's a story that shows power in the service of his purpose to bring good news to the Gentiles. While he's asleep, a big storm comes up. As I said, relatively common on the Sea of Galilee. And initially, the sailors were probably not too concerned. They're very experienced. It's a relatively large boat. And maybe they even started humming some psalms. This is possible. Don't look so skeptical. This is possible. Perhaps they hummed a little bit of Psalm 148. Praise the Lord, strong wind fulfilling his word. Or perhaps Psalm 135. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. So these sailors knew or should have known that the storms are in the hand of the Lord. And those psalms are easy to sing when the storm doesn't get too big. But this storm grew. This storm turned out to be more than anyone had expected. This storm turned out to be truly ferocious. And these sailors, experienced though they were, found that the storm was overwhelming their ability and their boat. And it was beginning to fill with water. You don't ever have to have been sailing or know anything about sailing to know if you're in a boat and it's filling with water, it's a bad thing. There they are. We don't know whether they could swim or not. It's amazing to read stories of the ancient world about people who lived by water and couldn't swim. People who even went on boats on water and couldn't swim. So we don't know for sure. But even if they could swim, this storm was so great, these waves were so huge, that a strong swimmer might well have had great trouble. And so they recognized their danger. And they cry out to him that they're perishing. They've really lost hope. They really think death awaits them in the waters. And so they cry, Master, Master. That title for Jesus is only used in Luke's gospel. I'm not sure exactly why. But it's a title that says, you have authority, help us in distress. In other words, it's being used right at the right moment. They have a measure of confidence in him. He maybe can do something. Master, master, we are perishing. And then Jesus does something so remarkable. He wakes up, and we're told he commands the winds and the waves. You notice that? He doesn't pray. I think this is really important to notice. He doesn't pray. He doesn't have to pray. Now, that's not to say that Jesus never prayed. We know he did pray. We know he communicated with his Father. But what this text is saying to us is that Jesus didn't have to ask God to do something because he was God. He is displaying his essential nature here. He is displaying that he's not only man, but he's also God. And therefore, as God, he is able simply to command the wind and the waves to be calm. And they were calm. It's amazing. Are you amazed? I mean, once again, we are here with a story that is so familiar to most of us that the amazement sort of washes over us. It's a good image at this occasion. we say, oh yeah, he calms the storm. There's nothing, oh yeah, about calming a storm. It's absolutely amazing. Storms, when they really get going, don't just end. They have to play themselves out. It takes time. But Jesus rebuked them. That's really interesting. Rebuke is usually a moral category. The wind and the waves we don't usually think of as moral beings. We need to be rebuked because we're moral beings and we do things wrong. There's nothing really wrong with waves being waves and wind being wind, is there? The reason Jesus rebukes them is because they are opposing his purpose. And he wants to make clear, this is one of the great points of this text, one of the things that's so important for us, he wants to make clear that his purpose cannot be stopped. The winds can't stop his purpose. The waves can't stop his purpose. A hurricane could not stop his purpose. An earthquake could not stop his purpose. All of the demons in hell could not stop his purpose. He has a purpose that he will fulfill, and he has the power to fulfill that purpose. That's why this story is so important for us. This little story, these few verses are so important for us because they're encouraging us always to remember that the purpose of the Lord cannot be impeded by anything that might seem to oppose him. That's what we sang in Psalm 107. The Lord made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Now, that's poetry in the Old Testament. But we see how that poetry so easily turns into a prophecy. Who was it that Psalm 107 celebrated as the calmer of storms, as the savior of sailors, as the one who brought them safely into harbor? The psalm makes clear it's the Lord who does that. It's God who does that. It's God who is the savior of sailors at sea. And so Jesus is displaying here the divine power that he has within himself. He is indeed God who has come to visit his people. Now, he's also human. This is part of why they were so surprised. He had to climb into the boat just the way the rest of us would have to climb into the boat. He probably got his feet wet climbing into the boat. He got tired climbing into the boat. He took a nap. You see how thoroughly human he is. When you lie down for a nap this afternoon, think that you're following in the footsteps of the Savior. But we must never allow the true humanity of Christ to blur our appreciation for the fullness of His divinity and of His power. And that's part of, I think, what He's teaching His disciples at that time. Do they understand His power? Do they understand the resources that he will make available for them in the doing of their work? And as happens so often in the Gospels, when this power of Jesus is displayed so magnificently, their reaction is fear. Their reaction is fear. When Peter caught the great catch of fish in Luke chapter 5, how did Peter respond? He responded by saying to Jesus, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. He was afraid. And these disciples here are afraid. They had been afraid of the storm, but now they're afraid of Jesus. They're afraid to be this close to God. they're afraid of their own uncertainty in their hearts. Who is this that even the winds and the waves obey him? And that's why Jesus, thirdly, not only shows us his purpose and his power, but he shows us his plea to his disciples and in pleading to them, to each one of us. Where is your faith? Where is your faith? It's a kind of interesting question, isn't it? Where is your faith? Not, why don't you have more faith? Or, what kind of faith do you have? Why isn't your faith stronger? Where is it? Where has it gone? I bet you've had that experience. One minute you're full of faith, and then, where did it go? Suddenly, I'm filled with fear and wondering and doubting and questioning. Where's your faith, Jesus says to you? Where's your faith? Don't you know who I am? Haven't you recognized me? Haven't you seen that in everything I do, I have the power to accomplish my purpose? Did you really think a little storm was going to stop me? Where is your faith? Of course, part of our problem, isn't it, part of our struggle, is that we want Jesus to do things the way we want him to do things. We want Jesus to use his power to fulfill our purposes. And what Jesus is saying is he uses his power to fulfill his purposes. Now, his purposes are good for us. He promises that everywhere in his word. But it may not be always obvious to us right at the outset that his purposes are good. So often we want to direct his purpose to our purpose. And he's saying, trust me, trust my purpose, trust my power, trust that what I'm doing is good. trust that I am building a kingdom in which you'll have a part. And that's what he's doing here in this little text. He's saying, I'm on my way. Are you coming with me? I know where I'm going. Are you coming with me? I have the power to get there. Are you coming with me? I'm showing you that God is building his kingdom of Jews and Gentiles. Are you coming with me to trust my wisdom, to trust my word, to trust my power? I hope all of us have asked this morning, who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him? And the answer is, he's our Savior. He's our King. He's the Lord's Messiah. He's the God-man. He's the one who will accomplish his purpose. God grant that we all have faith in that Savior. Amen. Let us pray. The Lord our God, we are thankful that you revealed to us the character of our Savior. his saving purpose, and his saving power. And we pray that we will heed his plea to trust him, to live for him, to rely more on his word than on our experience, and so that we may be growing in faith and in grace and in joy as part of the Savior's family. Hear us and bless us, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.