THERE IS A FILM which was very popular nearly twenty years ago and it still seems to be shown on television regularly. The film is called “Twister” and it tells a story about a group of American meteorologists who follow tornados across the plains of Oklahoma. One of the principle characters is a young woman called Jo Thornton who began investigating tornados whilst at university. Her course of study was in response to an incident when she was only five years old. She witnessed her father being swept away in the midst of an exceptionally powerful tornado. By the time of the film, Jo is aged 32 and is creating a system for giving advance warning of a violent storm. In a way which could only seem to come in a film, there is a happy outcome for Jo – but I’ll not spoil the story by saying what happens! ‘Twister’ is fictitious. But we can all tell stories about storms which we have experienced in real life. Writers of our Bible often referred to storms.
In the Old Testament there is the most famous storm of all when rain fell for forty days and nights until the world was flooded and only Noah and his ark-load of survivors were left. Whether you take it literally or, as announced recently on television “It’s a great yarn”, we can be certain the storm caused change. All storms bring about change don’t they?
Consider that famous account of Jesus and some of his disciples sailing across the Sea of Galilee when a ferocious storm arose without warning and threatened to swamp their boat. Such was the violence of the wind that it seemed they would be overwhelmed and drown. Saint Mark tells us that Jesus told the wind “Be quiet” and the waves “Be still” which was followed immediately by a great calm. Coming in the closing verses of Chapter 4, we move into the next chapter where we learn how Jesus brought calm into people’s lives. These were not events caused by weather but were incidents where a man suffered from evil spirits, where a woman was plagued by illness and where a father was stricken by grief for his daughter. In each case Jesus turned the tables and from somebody’s personal storm there emerged calmness with a new way of living.
The first years of Christianity are known broadly as ‘The Early Church’ when believers must have existed in a dual way. During the era before Christianity was accepted officially in the Roman Empire, followers were often subjected to persecution. By professing their faith in Jesus Christ, they had to endure many storms.With faith burning in their hearts and a great desire to evangelize almost bursting out, it must have been such a difficult time. Wouldn’t it be assuring to think that those times have long since passed?
Yet “Kill the Christians”, a recent television documentary, pulled no punches when it showed Christians in the Middle East being attacked and driven from their homes by Islamic extremists. It is shocking to know some of the oldest Christian sites are under threat and may suffer destruction by misinformed and deluded thugs. As these people do not accept democracy and have a poisoned view of politics, they are very difficult to understand. We need to take heart from the example of Early Church members who survived the “storms” which beset them by showing that evil ultimately is unable to defend itself against good.
Please, this month, pray for our fellow Christians who are being battered by storms of intolerance, asking our Heavenly Father for His guidance to quell anger and restore calm.
Your Minister and friend, John