Stilling the Storms of Life

Sermon for Sunday, June 21, 2009 The Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 7 Text:  Mark 4:35-41 Title:  Stilling the Storms of Life A.   Welcome to Father's Day, 2009!   You know, it's not easy being a Dad, just like it's not easy being a mom.  You may have heard the story of the fellow who was in the living room one evening engrossed in the football game when his little daughter brought her Daddy a cup of make-believe 'tea.'  It was only plain water, contained in a teeny, tiny toy cup.  After several cups of this tea and lots of praise from Dad for making such a yummy concoction, the little girl's Mom came into the room.   Dad got Mom to watch their eighteen-month-old bring him a cup of tea, because it was "just the cutest thing!"  Well, Mom waited, and sure enough, here the girl came down the hall with a cup of tea for her Daddy.  Mom watched Dad drink this special tea, and then smiled as she asked, "Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the toilet?"   It's not easy being a Dad, but in this very challenging world in which our children grow up, it has never been more important to have good, Christian dads, as well as good Christian moms who can provide proper parenting.  Not every biological father is a good Dad.  Today there are step-dads who are facing the challenge of being a Dad to children who may or may not be ready to accept them.  There are grandfathers who are filling the role of surrogate Dads.  This is a new world, particularly with regard to the family.  Today we sincerely salute all those men who are conscientiously seeking to provide a wholesome Christian environment to young people, in whatever role they may be, just as we saluted Christian women a few weeks ago.   B.   You are probably wondering what Father's day has to do with this morning's Gospel passage.  Well, I'm going to wait to discuss that connection until the end of this message, but suffice it to say there is a connection.  Before we get to that, let's look at Mark's story of Jesus stilling the storm on the Sea of Galilee.   Last week we talked about Jesus' Kingdom of God parables, which in a nutshell say that God's rule in the world is absolute, but also subtle.  The Kingdom grows slowly in the world, like planted seeds, empowered by God and outside the control of we disciples, but also shared with us as co-workers in the Kingdom.  This flew in the face of popular opinion among Jews of the day – they wanted and waited for a Messiah who would raise up an army and establish the Kingdom of God by force.  It was the evening of that same day; Jesus had given the disciples a special tutorial on the parables He had spoken to the crowds.  It was now time for Jesus to connect His preaching with His actions.  He proposed to His followers that they all cross the Sea of Galilee, so Jesus might be in ministry to the people on the other side.    A couple of things should be noted here.  First of all, the Sea of Galilee is a pretty large body of water.  One can see across it, but barely, and only on an especially clear day.  The boat they used to cross the Sea was tiny, no more than 20 feet long.  It was just a fishing vessel.   Perhaps most important to notice is that the land to which they were headed was Gad.  That means nothing to us today but everything to the folks in Jesus' day.  Originally the territory of the Hebrew tribe by the same name, repeated foreign conquests had resulted in racial intermixing.  In the process, much of Gad's Jewish heritage had been lost, and it had become pagan territory.  It was rumored that this was a forbidden land, a land of strange and evil things.  One notices that when Jesus and the disciples land on the other side of the Lake in chapter 5, they indeed do meet up with a man possessed by a legion of demons, living among the tombs.  But Jesus needed to go there, to bring God's love and salvation even to this strange land.      Violent storms are common on the Sea of Galilee.  The reason is meteorological.  Warm, moist air, blowing in from the Mediterranean, hits the mountains surrounding the Sea, which sits in the valley like a bowl, and condenses into violent storms.  I have been there when these storms have blown up, and they are quick to form, equally quick to dissipate, and tremendously destructive.  A small vessel like a fishing boat would be swamped in no time during such weather conditions.  And that is what happened to those hapless disciples, scaring them out of their wits!   Now remember that the people of the ancient near east knew nothing of weather patterns and how they produce violent storms.  To them the stormy sea was much more than an uncontrollable, unpredictable action of nature.  In the mindset of the day, storms such as these were the result of malevolent demonic powers.  The disciples thought the forces of evil were out to get Jesus, and this storm demon wouldn't be happy until they were dead!  So Jesus' sleepy indifference to the storm shows that the forces of evil didn't concern Him one bit – Jesus is in charge.   Rudely awakened by his disciples with the sarcastic, "Do you not care that we are perishing?"  Jesus addresses the violent wind and water:  "Peace, be still!"   Jesus speaks to the raging elements as though they were a personal demonic entity.   The word for "storm" used here in the original Greek is also the word for "whirlwind" in the Book of Job.  It carries overtones of supernatural power.  So Jesus' command to the storm exorcises the demonic force behind it, leaving a "dead calm" where there had only moments before been a "great windstorm."  Clearly Jesus demonstrates a creative power akin to that of the Lord, who in the 1st chapter of Genesis creates order out of disorder.  "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth."  But Jesus' control over these destructive, life-threatening forces is an opportunity for His disciples to grow their faith.   The Master immediately confronts his companions with their fear, a fear that still clung to their soggy, salt-streaked faces. Notice that the disciples do not cheer and rejoice when Jesus calms the storm -- indeed they appear as silent and still as the waters that now surround them.   They are in awe and amazement at what had just happened, as if they had been asleep through Jesus' ministry, miracles, and preaching.  Jesus' words to them are thus both chastening and didactic.  "Why are you afraid?  Have you no faith?"  In scolding the disciples for their fear and faithlessness, Jesus suggests to them what their appropriate response to witnessing this miracle should be -- confidence and utter faith in Jesus' abilities and powers.  They are "filled with great awe," but not with faith.  It is ironic that Jesus' power over the wind and sea seems to make more of an impression on the disciples than does anything else He has done up to this point. But according to Jewish tradition, the powers Jesus has just displayed decisively demonstrate His divine nature. The disciples' question, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" is key to this story.  Who is this Man, who calms the storms of life?  Who is this man who controls the sometimes-devastating events of life?  Answering the second question – Who is this man? – will automatically answer the first – Do you not care if we perish?   C.   These two key questions addressed to Jesus not only bracket this passage, but oftentimes bracket our lives as well.  When the storm threatens to swamp the boat and end the lives of the disciples in one fell swoop, they rush to the Lord and implore Him, "Do you not care if we perish?"  And at the end of this story, they wonder within their hearts and to themselves, "Who then is this, and even wind and waves obey Him?"  One question expresses fear; the other faith.  Fear and faith bracket the lives of all of us at some time or other, and every disciple of Jesus.  Sudden illness can render us afraid of life, because we don't know what the future might bring.  The death of a marriage can lead to a deep depression.  The loss of a job can result in fear of an uncertain financial fate.  A wrong decision can leave fearful scars in a loved one forever.  Many, many situations in life threaten to take away the life we know, leaving us fearful.   We can understand the disciples rushing to the Master and asking in both fear and anger, "Do you not care that we perish?"  I've been there, and I suspect you have too.  We wonder who this Jesus is, and if He can indeed still the raging storms of life.  We wonder whether or not there is a God at all, and if so, is He aware of my problem and does He care about me.  We wonder if He is on the boat with us, present with us and concerned for us even when we do not perceive His presence or His care.   The miracle Jesus wanted to show the disciples – and us, of course --  is not so much the miracle of calming the storm but the miracle of calming them in the storm.  This story at its core is an appeal to the reader to trust in Jesus in every circumstance in life.  Nothing can overcome God, nothing in life, not even death.  The Resurrection reminds us that we need no longer fear anything, not even death itself, because God is in control. It was 1818 in France, and Louis, a boy of 9, was sitting in his father's workshop. The father was a harness-maker and the boy loved to watch his father work the leather. "Someday Father," said Louis, "I want to be a harness-maker, just like you." "Why not start now?" said the father. He took a piece of leather and drew a design on it. "Now, my son," he said, "take the hole- puncher and a hammer and follow this design, but be careful that you don't hit your hand."  Excited, the boy began to work, but when he hit the hole-puncher, it flew out of his hand and pierced his eye! He lost the sight of that eye immediately. Later, sight in the other eye failed.  Louis was now totally blind.  A few years later, Louis was sitting in the family garden when a friend handed him a pinecone. As he ran his sensitive fingers over the cone, an idea came to him.  He became enthusiastic and began to create an alphabet of raised dots on paper so that the blind could feel and interpret what was written. Thus, Louis Braille opened up a whole new world for the blind--all because of an accident!  Out of tragedy came good.  God was indeed in control, not causing the evil, but working good from it. The miracle story of Jesus' calming the storm at sea testifies to two truths. First, as the divine Son of God, there is nothing Jesus cannot do to keep us from ultimate harm.  As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians "All things work together for good for those who love Jesus."   This is true because He is the ruler of all nature, and the ruler over everything in our lives.  He even has ultimate power over the Devil and the demonic forces of life.  He can say to them "Peace!  Be Still".  This is not easy to keep in mind when the storms of life are threatening to swamp the boats of everyday existence, sending us into oblivion.  But always, every day, in every circumstance, He is as close as our very breathing.  Jesus could sleep through a storm at sea because He knew He had ultimate power over that storm.  The disciples had to learn that truth.  Sometimes we have to learn how much Jesus loves us and how close He really is through those times when He seems to be asleep, or a million miles away! The Second truth that this passage presents to us is related to the first.   Notice that it was Jesus who suggested they all go over to the other side of the Lake at that time!  He knew the storm was coming.  But He also knew that the disciples had to go through the storm, so they could learn a very important life lesson.  The storm doesn't blow around their boat just because Jesus is on board. It hits them full force.  Nowhere does Jesus promise his followers anything different.  A peaceful voyage is not the ticket Christians travel on.  But a peace-filled journey, with Christ always present, is the type of journey that is promised. Jesus Christ's promise is not to sail us around every storm but is to bring us through all storms.  This is the only way we strong-willed disciples are going to learn some things we have to learn to grow in the faith.  Life is bracketed by fear and danger on one side, but by faith on the other side.  We have to experience the bad to learn the good.  We have to know fear before we can fully realize that peace, salvation, and spiritual growth come through faith.  Our faith is strengthened only through tribulation.  As Jesus' disciples living in a sinful, imperfect world, we are in for some rough times. But after we go through the rough times, we see that Jesus was there with us all along. On December 29, 1987, a Soviet cosmonaut returned to the earth after 326 days in orbit.  Amazingly he was in good health. Five years earlier, touching down after 211 days in space, two cosmonauts suffered from dizziness, high pulse rates, and heart palpitations. They couldn't walk for a week, and after 30 days, they were still undergoing therapy for atrophied muscles and weakened hearts.  At zero gravity, the muscles of the body begin to waste away because there is no resistance. To counteract this, the Soviets prescribed a vigorous exercise program for the cosmonauts. They invented a running suit laced with elastic bands that resists every move the cosmonauts make, forcing them to exert their strength. Apparently the regimen is working.   Despite the fact that we want an easy, stress-free life, the easier our life, the weaker our spiritual fiber becomes, for strength of any kind grows only by exertion.  So now how does this relate to Father's Day?  Dads, the Bible says that our primary job in the family is to teach the faith to the children.  There is probably no better story than this one to teach the essence of the faith.  Today, we might get a cool Dad's Day gift, but the best gift is what we give back to our children, through instruction that asserts that the only true life is lived in faithful relationship to God.  Amen.     Keith Almond P.O. Box 4388 Leesburg, VA  20177 703-344-3569 almond_keith@yahoo.com