Our family doesn’t own a boat, only a little canoe. Some of you, I know, have owned or do own boats larger than that, with an outboard or inboard motor, and you’re familiar with the joys of boating on a lake, or maybe even on the open seas. And, if you’ve had much experience, you’re likely familiar with the dangers involved in boating when the weather turns ugly.
Now, I’m not a sailor, but I worked at a marina one summer renting, cleaning and driving small aluminum fishing boats. There were several times when I was out on the lake in one of these and needed to get it back to the marina. In the late afternoon the winds would sometimes pick up, and the surface of the lake could get pretty rough (for a small craft). I remember one time in particular when I was fighting high winds and something like one-and-a-half foot waves, and I was very aware that the elements could swamp the small boat if it weren’t kept pointed into the wind and perpendicular to those waves.
Each of our little boats was supplied with an anchor, which in reality was simply a hunk of concrete secured to a ten-foot line. It was only designed to hold the boat in place with a mild breeze and in a shallow area for fishing purposes. It certainly would have been useless in my situation.
Have you ever heard of a sea anchor? I’m not talking about the great big steel anchors that you see hanging from larger ocean-going vessels. A sea anchor is an anchor that, in essence, is a small parachute. It’s not designed to reach the bottom (think out on the ocean), but is thrown into the sea as a drag. When a small ship encounters a storm where the winds are dangerous and the waves are massive (towering over the vessel), the captain must keep the boat headed into the wind, and riding up and down the waves, so as not to be bowled over and swamped. A powerful motor and deft use of the rudder can accomplish this in most cases.
But what happens if the boat has engine trouble, or if the steering becomes disabled? In that case, a sea anchor can be used to save the ship. The sea anchor is attached to the bow of the boat (in the front) and thrown out into the sea. As the wind blows the ship, the sea anchor provides drag, keeping the bow pointed into the wind and facing the oncoming waves.
There are different types of anchors. The sea anchor is only one and serves a specific purpose. There is an account in Acts where anchors are used to save a ship in a storm. The apostle Paul had been in prison for over two years and, being a Roman citizen, had finally appealed to Caesar for the adjudication of his case. He was in the process of being transported on a merchant ship to Rome for trial, but pretty late in the season for sailing, when a violent storm called a northeaster came up, and the ship was being driven along before the wind. The crew took down the sails, and at last the “gear” or sea anchor was deployed.
Now, the sea anchor does not hold the ship in place, it only acts as a drag, pointing the ship into the wind and waves. For many days, Paul, his captors and the crew were driven along by the wind. As they neared an island during the night, taking soundings and finding that the water was becoming shallower, the crew threw out four anchors, hoping to keep the ship from being driven onto the rocks. The anchors held. In the morning light, they cut away the anchors, in an attempt to guide the ship onto a nearby beach. The ship, however, ran aground on a hidden reef and the ship began to break up from the pounding of the waves. In the end, everyone made it to shore safely. Read Acts 27 for the exciting details, including the appearance to St. Paul of an angel who promised that no one would perish.
Where is your anchor placed? To what is it holding? Is it just cast out into the milieu of this day and age? Are you drifting slowly along in the tempest of this life, with Satan and the world buffeting you on all sides, trying destroy your faith and driving you away from hoping and trusting in God? Is your future certain, or is it unknown? To what is your ship anchored?
Edward Mote (1797-1874) grew up without any religious training. He became a Christian at age 15. He was a cabinet maker, and loved to sing and write hymns. Sometime around 1834, Mote wrote one of our beloved hymns. The first verse goes like this:
My hope is built
on nothing less than
Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
No merit of my own I claim
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
The verse conveys the joyful Gospel news that our hope of being saved from the guilt of our sin, from the power of death and the devil, from the wrath of God and eternal suffering in hell, lies in the fact that His Son, Jesus, has come in our flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior, as we say in our liturgy. Our hope lies in the blood of Christ, blood that washes away our sin, blood that cleanses us of our guilt and makes us white as snow – forgiven and righteous in God’s sight.
Verse 2:
When darkness veils
His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
Here we see the anchor motif: “My anchor holds within the veil.” Our ship may be tossed about in this life, tossed by circumstances, by doubts, temptations, fears and the by the voice of the devil accusing us and muddying, or downright contradicting, the Word of God. But our anchor is not lodged in our good works. Our anchor is not grasping at the strength of our faith but at what our faith is holding onto. Our anchor holds solidly to the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
In the Tabernacle and in Solomon’s Temple there was a heavy curtain or veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant rested. On top of the Ark was the Mercy Seat, overshadowed by the wings of the Cherubim. Onto this Mercy Seat, once a year, the High Priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. This sprinkling of blood foreshadowed Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, who carried His own precious blood into the Most Holy Place, into heaven. His blood atones once for all. Hebrews 9:12 says, “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemp-tion.” Our anchor holds there, as it were, within the veil, at the mercy seat where the blood of the sacrifice is sprinkled. Our hope is built on the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for you and for me, nothing less.
This Sunday we celebrate the Reformation that occurred 500 years ago. It was a return to the sure and certain hope of salvation by the blood of Jesus – not on salvation dispensed at the will of Popes and Councils, not a salvation based on the decrees, thoughts and musings of men, but a salvation brought about by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Our anchor holds within the veil.
Halloween is not far off. It’s a day that precedes All Saints’ Day. Some see it as a day for scary costumes, darkness, ghosts and fear. But we are not afraid, even of death itself because our Savior, by his suffering and death, has brought us life and light. We are united with the Saints of every time and place who have gone before us, all those whose anchors held within the veil.
And, as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, we have more to give thanks for than just food and drink, house and home, family, etc., the temporal things of this life. We have something much greater for which we thank our heavenly Father: we are thankful that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. We are thankful and praise our God because in our baptism our anchor is set firmly there, within the veil, at the Mercy Seat of God, where Christ’s blood pleads for our justification, having paid the price and satisfied God’s wrath for sin.
If you’ve attended a service in our new building, you’ve likely noticed the shadow on the wall behind the altar, a shadow formed by the placement of the spotlights above the cross. Someone pointed out that the shadow reminded them of an anchor
I like that image, especially since it was there, on the cross, that the blood of Jesus was shed for us, and at the altar we receive into our mouths that very blood, on which the sure and certain hope of our salvation is built.
Verse 4:
When He shall come
with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in
His righteousness alone,
redeemed to stand
before His throne!
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
Give thanks in this season for the blood of Christ that has purchased for us forgiveness and life. Anchor your faith there. There is no better harbor.
God be with you all,
Pastor