On October 30 and 31, 1991, a fierce convergence of weather rose up along the Atlantic coast, it was first called the "Halloween Nor’easter". According to reports of the event, "winds blasted over the ocean at more than 100 miles per hour. Ocean waves peaked at 100 feet, the height of 10 story buildings. Waves 30 feet high battered the New England coast, destroying 200 homes. Nine people died, including the six-man crew of a swordfish boat, the Andrea Gail, from Gloucester, Massachusetts" (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/06/030/perfect.storm).

David Vallee, a forecaster with the National Weather Service described how "three pieces of energy" came together to form the deadly storm.

"The first was what Vallee called, ‘a little, innocuous’ low-pressure system that formed over the Great Lakes, then followed the usual path of North American weather: west to east, from Chicago to Maine, and on past Nova Scotia. En route, it met the second piece of energy: an icy cold high-pressure system drafting down from Canada. The two systems combined into a storm in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Nova Scotia. The third piece of energy was a late-season hurricane, Grace, blowing from the south.

"It was a colossal collision of two seasons: winter and summer. ‘Arctic energy from Canada was driving steadily southward, while this ball of tropical energy from the hurricane was moving northward. In weather terms, when the systems converged, they caused the storm to explode. The satellite image of the storm, showed a white whirlpool, 2,000 miles wide that reached from Jamaica to the coast of Labrador. ‘It had almost a mystical beauty’, Vallee said" (archives/cnn.com).

If you read Sebastian Junger’s book or saw the movie starring George Clooney that was based on the book, you know that this particular storm has given a new phrase to our culture. Now we talk about the way events come together in a certain way as "a the perfect storm". The disciples faced their perfect storm, just as we know some perfectly stormy times in our lives.

Their storm happened like this. Jesus has been teaching in Galilee, telling the people about the coming reign of God. Now at the end of a long day, Jesus and his disciples, including Peter and Andrew, James and John, those two pair of fisherman brothers get into a boat to cross to the other side of the lake. Jesus is tired, all of that walking, all of that talking, all of that teaching, all of that ministry has left him tired. And so he does what many of us do when we are tired and we have to travel, and we are not driving. We lean back and go to sleep. Jesus makes his way to the back of t he boat and takes a nap.

Then the wind starts to blow, the rain begins to fall, and the boat begins to rock and roll, and take on water.

But the storm was more than they had ever seen in their lives, they were panicked, the wind is blowing hard, and Jesus is asleep. One songwriter, Mary Baker, describes the disciples thoughts and probably our own as the waters rise.

Have you ever been that scared? If you’ve ever been in a big ship when the waters got rough, you know that unsteady, stomach churning, queasiness that surrounds your whole being. Now, imagine that you are on a small boat, the ship is rocking, water is coming into the boat, and you are beyond scared. That is how it was for me one storm tossed morning when I was on a semester at sea program called World Campus Afloat. I was not going to leave my room till the storm was over, but what made me truly nervous was when the announcement came over the intercom that men who regularly use razors should probably not shave.

That’s how it is in life. Even if we do not have direct experience with a physical storm, we know storms. Job changes toss us, family matters swamp us, life shakes us up and we wonder sometimes, why is Jesus sleeping? Why isn’t he taking care of me? Where is he when I need him? I feel alienated and separated. Does he not care that some part of me is dying?

When the storms of life come, and they will, we just want the winds to stop blowing, the ship to stop rocking, and the water to go back into the sea where it belongs. We want the family to be a loving unit, the church to be a sign of God’s unity and love, the broken relationships to be put back together, and we want our faith to be strong, but Jesus as far as we can see is not able to rouse himself from his nap, and when we cannot get him, we are prone to panic and negativity.

But, believe this good news, Jesus is on the boat, and he wakes with perfect timing. He knows just what to do. At just the right moment, he gets up, stretches, rubs the sleep from his eyes, wipes the water from his face and says just three words to the roiling sea, "Peace, be still". He speaks to the storm in the sea and to the storms in our lives in the same way he speaks to the demonic powers that threaten to overwhelm us. His words mean literally, "be silent! Be muzzled, be quiet, be calm, in the name of God, shut up!". He is saying, that the storms will not overcome his presence, their power is diminished when Jesus is there (Interpretation series. Mark. Lamar Williamson, Jr. Atlanta. John Knox Press, 1983, p.102).

Jesus rebukes the storm and the roiling seas are calm. He challenges the disciples, not for their fear, the storm was frightening, the boat really was being overrun with water, but for their lack of faith in the middle of the rough water.

Their fear was understandable. But they let their fear momentarily lead them away from faith in Jesus. And when our fear replaces our faith, we are in trouble indeed. We lose focus, we reach for the quick fix instead of doing what we can for the long haul. We forget that even in the most fierce, wettest, tempest tossed point in the storm, in our lives, in the church, even a drowsy Jesus has power. Jesus the living Christ, is with us.

"Jesus asks them, have you no faith?", "Are you still without faith?" (v.40). So he challenges the disciples and calls them to renewed trust and faith and he leads them to ask an awe-struck question: "who is this that even the wind and water obey him?"

Storm clouds will cover us, the winds will blow, disappointment and discouragement will come. That is what happens even to God’s faithful people. But Jesus is on the boat and he can and will rebuke the winds, still the storms, and keep us believing that calm will return. Who is this?

This is the one who, at his voice, helps us to re-imagine the perfect storm from fear and chaos to faithfulness and calm.

At its best, rain and wind cleanses and clarifies; it washes away the debris that entangles us, it cools the air we breathe, it helps us gain a clarity of vision. Jesus is on the boat, the water is calm, and the horizon can be seen in the distance, and we are moving toward it. Don’t live in fear, claim the faith that overwhelms our fears, and helps us to move forward.

The wind and the water that threaten us are real and strong. But we live in the eternal reality of the hope-filled and trust-filled word and presence of Jesus Christ to cover and protect us, no matter what else is happening.

The chorus of Mary Baker’s hymn proclaims the perfectly good storm of faith in the word and presence of Jesus:

Thanks be to God. Amen.