Huddled Together

My name is Andy Odom, pastor of Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church in Richardson, Texas. Joe Albright invited me to give the Dial Hope message for today. We begin with a reading from Matthew 8…

Then Jesus got in the boat, his disciples with him. The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat – and he was sound asleep! They roused him, pleading, “Master, save us! We’re going down!”
(Matthew 8:23-25)

A strong storm can put everyone on edge. Those certain times of the year when weather patterns are unpredictable cause us to be more alert than at other times. Perhaps like me, when a strong storm comes, you too find yourself recalling the scripture cited above when the disciples, terrified of the storm, run down and flock to Jesus for help. I picture them all there, arm in arm in the boat with Jesus reminding them of their faith as the storms pass by.

A few years back, a big storm blew through my neighborhood in the middle of the night. Normally I sleep through storms, but this one woke up my whole family with a lightning strike that hit fairly close, rattling the entire house. Before my wife and I could blink, there were our kids at the foot of our bed, terrified.

“It’s alright,” we told them. “Would you like to get in bed with…” but before we could even finish speaking, up they jumped to nestle themselves between us. There we were all piled on top of each other like those frightened disciples trying to weather the storm.

And I thought to myself: What a great image of the church this is: all the masses huddled together arm in arm to face whatever the world may bring, and there Christ is to help calm the storms in our lives.

Let us pray: Storms will come, O God. We know that storms will come. Our prayer as we huddle together is that you keep us calm and secure in the midst of the wind and the rain. Amen.