May 20, 2023

Discipleship like a Boat (Throwback Sunday Series)

by Toby Lofton in Discipleship0 Comments

This is a story about a tiny boat named Tubby. Tubby had been working hard one day. He had been afloat for several hours, nearly all day.

The waters had been calm on this day, but there were other boats all around him. Tubby had to be careful, or he would run into another boat.

He was carrying a special guest today, apparently a very important guest. There were so many people who wanted to see this man that the man had to climb aboard Tubby just to keep from being swamped by the people. The man could also speak to the people from the boat, allowing them to hear.

It was not long before people commandeered their own boats and came out closer to Tubby’s special guest. Tubby realized he was carrying someone very special. Tubby had heard about this man before. Today, he listened to him speak all day long.

Tubby’s guest was simply amazing. The man spoke of great wonders in a place called heaven and paradise. He also talked about how these people were to get to heaven.

Tubby was getting exhausted and so was his guest. The guest commanded them to float across to the other side of the lake so they could get rest.

As they sailed across, a storm came in. This was nothing unusual. Because of the hillsides and where this lake was, it funneled the wind between the hills and through narrow channels. When the wind reached the water, often it could make for some rough sailing.

Tubby had been in such winds before. But this storm was quite unusual. It was horrific.

Tubby did all that he could to stay afloat. The wind was crashing in upon him, causing the waters to come up over his bow and sides. Tubby was getting quite fearful. He was taking on a lot of water. If he took on much more, he would sink.

The waters continued to crash in upon him, and he took on more and more water. Amazingly, Tubby thought, the very special guest did not even seem to care. He was asleep, with no care in the world.

“How could he sleep through a storm like this, in such peril?” Tubby thought.

Tubby could not take it anymore and cried out to his guest. The guest rolled over, looked around, then waved his hand. With a few spoken words, the seas and the winds became still.

The guest turned to Tubby and said, “Why are you afraid? Did you not realize I was on board? Or did you have no faith in me?”

Tubby, not realizing who this great guest was, became even more fearful. Tubby was fearful, not because of the winds, but because he did not understand who this man was.

That’s an interesting twist to a story in the Bible about Jesus. Mark 4:35-41 tells a similar story, though the focus isn’t on the boat. Mark’s focus is on the disciples of Jesus. The disciples are in a boat with Jesus when a severe storm occurs. Like Tubby, they become afraid and call on Jesus to do something. Jesus, of course, is resting peacefully. Jesus gets up, calms the storm, and questions his disciples about their faith.

Most of us have never looked at this story from the perspective of the boat. We view the story from a disciples’ perspective. As a disciple, we are merely co-passengers with Jesus.

Try to see this story from Tubby’s perspective. If we see ourselves as the boat, this means that Jesus is in us. Jesus in us isn’t too far off base. In fact, it’s biblical.

John 17 records a prayer of Jesus. Jesus prayed to his father, “As you are in me, and I in you, I am in them” (verse 21).

Paul writes that, “It is not I that lives, but Christ that lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

1 John repeatedly asserts that if we believe in Christ, God dwells within us.

So yes! We are vessels under God, vessels under Christ. As Christians, we are not passengers with Jesus in this world; we are the very boat he rides within.

As boats, we really do not control what the waters of this world are going to do. At any moment, we may find ourselves in very rough seas. The storms of life may gust upon us, and the waters of life may fill us.

We may find ourselves overwhelmed by temptations and struggles. We might not know if we can take anymore. Even with Jesus in our lives, we sometimes think we can’t stay afloat any longer. We are certain that we will give into the temptation of sin.

We think just like little Tubby did, and the disciples. How can Jesus sleep during this point of our lives? We aren’t sure that Jesus cares. In those moments of trouble, it does not seem that Jesus is anywhere nearby. We wonder what happened to the promise, “I will be with you always, even to the ends of the earth.”

In our story, Tubby had fought those waters until he could fight no more. He struggled as long as he could, then he called on Jesus.

I do not question why he called on Jesus. I do question why he waited so long to do it.

The disciples did the same thing. They had obviously been in the storm for some time. The storm was sinking the boat. It was almost full. Then they called on him.

We should not wait until we are almost sunk to call out to Jesus. When the storms of life are threatening us, we should call on Jesus first. Why wait until we are almost sunk? We don’t wait for our car to run out of gas before we fill it up, at least not intentionally. Why wait to call on Jesus?

Jesus has the power to calm the storms of our life. In the story, Jesus arose and commanded the wind to be still. The wind ceased. The storm was no longer a threat.

“The storm arose, and it was vicious; Jesus arose, and it was calm.”—author unknown.

A little boy and his father were hiking in a national forest. They had misjudged the time and had become a little lost.

It was getting dark and almost impossible to see. It was certain they would not make it out that night. The boy was frantic and cried, “Daddy, we are lost! We will never find our way home!”

The father, as calm as he could, held his son close and said to him, “Hush now. Lay here and go to sleep.”

The next morning the sun rose, the boy stirred awake. There before his eyes, not even 200 yards away, was their camp.

Why is it you are so fearful? As a Christian, Jesus dwells within you. You are his vessel. He is your captain. With Jesus as your captain, there are no seas or storms that you cannot survive.

Jesus is not asleep. He is simply in control. Knowing he is in control is enough to calm anybody.

Paul writes we are not to worry about anything. Rather, we are to trust in the Lord (Philippians 4:6).

With Jesus, you have complete trust and faith that no matter what happens, Jesus is there with you, guiding your every step. Whatever temptation the world blows your way, if you have faith in Jesus, you can overcome every trial and temptation.

(Initially preached in 1999. Edited and revised for this blog-post.)

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