A Word about the Master of Nature

 

Today I want to share a word about the Master of Nature as I comment on passages from Luke 5 and Matthew 8 and 14. Let’s begin by reading Luke 5:1-11:

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.  And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.  And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Today, we will go sailing. We’re going to spend some time in boats today, and small boats at that.  As with many subjects, boats can cause people to have some strong emotions.  For example:

A man put a post on social media to try to meet a new girlfriend.  The ad said, “Looking for adventurous, out-doors oriented lady with boat and motor.  Send photo of boat and motor.” Of course, from the opposite perspective, one wife’s definition of a boat is “a hole in the water into which you pour money.”

All joking aside, one emotion that boats can cause is fear. This fear does not come from the boat itself, but from the way sailing is so dominated by weather.  Even a minor storm can seem big in a small boat, and even the biggest ships are vulnerable to the overwhelming forces of nature. 

When the Great Lakes ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald was launched in 1958 it was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, and it remained so until 1971.  She weighed 13,632 tons empty, and she was 729 feet long.  Called “Big Fitz,” she regularly carried twice her own weight of iron ore to steel mills in the US.  She was so big and powerful she seemed to shrug off the forces of nature, that is, until November 1975. On the 9th day of that month, while bound for Detroit, MI with 26,000 tons of iron ore, Edmund Fitzgerald was overcome by a winter storm and disappeared with the loss of all 29 crew members.

If anyone has doubts about the power of nature, they should go to the Mississippi gulf shore.  At the sea front you will find a tall pole on which is marked the height of the storm surge of the many large hurricanes that have come ashore there.  I had always heard about Hurricane Camille, and I was disappointed that the storm surge wasn’t marked, but I was wrong. Up near the top of the pole there is a mark that showed a wave of nearly thirty feet in height had crashed ashore there.

The forces of nature are far beyond the control of we mere mortals, but we will see today that they don’t even compare to the powers of the Master of Nature.

THE MASTER OF CREATURES:

In our passage from Luke 5, we see Jesus as the Master of Creatures. 

No one likes it when people butt into their business. As the old saying goes, “Those of you who think they know it all really irritate those of us who do!” The truth is that some people think they know more than the experts. Just as often, these folks act on their “knowledge.” Usually when they do, disaster strikes. 

An example of this is the leadership of a police department which took it upon themselves to install a temporary traffic light at an intersection without properly consulting traffic engineers. A fatal traffic accident was the result.

Jesus should not have known about fishing. Jesus was a trained carpenter and a religious teacher. This kind of fishing was not done by just anyone. These fishermen were highly skilled and had long training. Catching fish with a net isn’t easy; it is an industrial process. Yet, Jesus did know more about these creatures than these expert fishermen did.

Jesus is the Master of Creatures because He is the Creator as revealed by the very beginning of the Apostle John’s Gospel.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

Because Jesus is the Creator, we need to honor His knowledge.  We need to follow His instructions to have dominion over this world and to be good stewards of it. If we violate His guidance we risk losing out on His abundance.

THE MASTER OF STORMS:

Let’s continue by reading Matthew 8:23-27:

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

In this passage we find our expert mariners and our supposedly landlubber carpenter on the Sea of Galilee, which was actually a very large lake. It was a lake, but that didn’t make it less dangerous. The terrain is such that a funnel effect is created that causes very strong winds that can create severe storms. like the one which sank the Edmund Fitzgerald on another large lake. Though the dangers were real, the Sea of Galilee was a key element in the economy and culture of northern Israel.  Without the Sea, it would not have been the same place.

The Sea of Galilee was a major transportation route, and Jesus and His disciples had sailed upon it to reach the other side, where Jesus had an appointment to meet with the Gadarene Demoniac, although the disciples did not know that yet. While on the way, a typical storm of great violence descended upon them. The disciples, who knew boats and the lake, were deathly afraid. Jesus, of course, was sleeping. Do you think Jesus didn’t know what was happening? Of course He did, but He was not worried because He is the Master of Storms. 

When He was awakened, Jesus rebuked the Disciples for their fear. He then rebuked the wind and waves, and calm came over the sea. The disciples marveled the same way we marvel at a magician, but then being surprised by how simple the solution was after it has been revealed to us.

THE MASTER OF PHYSICS:

For experienced fishermen, it seems that the disciples had a tendency to get caught at sea in severe storms. The next time this happened, in Matthew 14:24-33, we learn that Jesus was the Master of Physics:

But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

God created our world, and He designed it to run in certain ways: He created the laws of biology. He created the laws of chemistry. He created the laws of oceanography, and He created the laws of physics. The belief of Christians in the existence of an intelligent creator prompted us to systematically study nature, because if there was a design behind the creation, we could discover it and discover how creation works. Even though science now often seems to despise our faith, in truth, science came out of our faith!

God’s design was perfect and was only marred by human sin. The Laws of Physics are largely immutable. They work the same way every time. We can use them for our own purposes, but we can’t alter them.  When we use the laws of physics properly, we can do wonderful things like fly an airplane. When you violate the laws of physics you pay the price. People often perpetuate the myth that bumble bees violate the laws of physics.  Nothing that flies can violate the laws of physics; however, if you jump off a building with an open umbrella you will violate them, and the results will be painful!

Jesus showed us in these verses that He is the Master of Physics. A man cannot walk on water, but Jesus could. And not only could Jesus walk on water, but He could also empower Peter to do so as well!

 MASTER OF OUR FEARS: 

Because human sin has marred God’s perfect creation, the world is a dangerous place. This causes people to experience fear. 

People are often afraid of creatures. Sometimes these are four-footed creatures, like the young lady who, when she was a child, had been knocked down by a dog who stole her graham cracker snack. Years later, as an adult, she was frightened by the barking of a German Shepherd. She frantically ran away from the dog, only to fall and hurt herself.  People are also afraid of two-footed creatures, like the mother who would always call her daughter when a convict had escaped, or if the local police were looking for a fugitive. 

Jesus, of course, is the Master of Creatures, whether they have two feet, or four feet, or slither upon the ground. We need to let Him be the Master of our fears about creatures.

People are often afraid of storms, too. Storms are violent and can cause destruction and death. I know a family whose home was once hit by lightning and caught fire. They never left their house unoccupied again. Someone was always at home just in case lightning might strike in the same place twice.  Jesus demonstrated that He is the Master of Storms and He needs to be the Master of our fear of storms, too.

People also have what is called on social media, FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. Like children who don’t want to nap or go to bed at night because they are afraid that they are going to miss out on something:

• We often think that God’s way is not the best way.
• We try to find ways around the rules of creation. 
• We try to find pleasure in ways God didn’t intend.
• We try to find power in ways that God didn’t intend.
• We rebel against His plan and when we do it costs us.

Jesus is the Master of Creation and He needs to be our master as well. We need to seek His abundant life, not our false abundance.

CONCLUSION:

Jesus is the Master of Nature. He created nature for our blessing. The way we are most blessed is by allowing Him to be our master, too! Have we done this today? Or are we still trying to be our own master? Surrender to Him today!