This week for worship on Sunday we did a Cross+Gen Faith5-shaped worship service similar to what we did a few weeks ago. However, I did preach a “traditional” sermon for the Saturday service on June 23. So, here’s my sermon on Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:35-41.
Other readings for the day include Job 38:1-11 and Psalm 107:1-3 & 23-32. I found Professor Matt Skinner’s comments on WorkingPreacher helpful in my preparation. Here’s the sermon:
The kingdom of God, Jesus said, is like a mustard seed. God takes this little tiny seed, and causes it to grow up into a large plant. The greatest of all shrubs, Jesus calls it. With many such parables, Jesus spoke the word to the crowds of people around him. He spoke to the crowds with parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
That’s the ending of last week’s Gospel reading. Jesus is giving these little pictures of God’s kingdom to everyone, then explaining the meaning of the parables to his disciples. Today’s story continues later that same day, in the evening. Jesus tells his disciples it’s time to go off by themselves, to the other side of the lake.
They set off in a boat, and on the way, a storm comes up and it turns out that the disciples haven’t learned much of anything from Jesus’ teaching. If the whole thing about a mustard seed growing into a bush didn’t actually give you a clear picture of God’s power, you’re in good company.
It turns out it’s really hard to grasp God’s power. Our puny human brains are not capable of understanding the immensity of a being who is present everywhere, who is all powerful, let along ideas like God existing outside of time.
Throughout the Biblical history, there’s a struggle to try to articulate God’s power, God’s might in a way that people can grasp.
Part of the key to looking at these metaphors and parables is to remember that the point is to trust God, not to explain God. We are called to learn about God, but more importantly, we are called to trust God. Our closing hymn today is How Great Thou Art, and it uses a variety of metaphors to try to illustrate God’s greatness.
One of the metaphors that gets used over and over again in the Bible is the idea that God has dominion over the sea. That’s not just talking about the literal ocean, but about the sea representing chaos, disorder.
In the Bible, this image goes back to the creation story. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep. Creation starts with empty, formless chaos, and God brings order to it. God gathers the waters together so the dry land can appear.
At the other end of the Bible, all the way in Revelation 21, listen to how John describes his vision of the final coming of God’s kingdom. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” The sea, the ocean deeps, this symbol of darkness and chaos and monsters and stormy depths, the sea will be no more.
In God’s final, eternal kingdom, there is order, not chaos. There’s still water, but it’s the fresh water of life, flowing from the river of God, not the scary, chaos of the ocean.
Take a look at the back of your bulletin, at that first reading from Job. This is towards the end of the story of Job, and after 37 chapters of Job complaining about what God has done to him and demanding that God give him an explanation, God finally answers him.
For three chapters, God argues back to Job that he doesn’t need an explanation and he wouldn’t understand it anyway because Job is only a human and God is God and God’s ways are higher than Job’s reason.
The point is for Job and for us to trust God, to have faith. We’re not going to debate now whether or not Job’s suffering was just or fair. Instead, look at the language used to prove how powerful God is. It’s in the middle of that first reading. God rhetorically asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who determined its measurements? Who laid the cornerstone of the world?”
And then, in verse 8, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb…and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?” God sets limits on chaos and boundaries for the sea. It’s a powerful image, and unlike some images from the Bible, it still works today.
We obviously understand the sea and storms and water a lot better today scientifically, but rationally knowing the forecast doesn’t help a whole lot when you’re on a ship caught in a hurricane. Even today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the NOAA, says only 5% of the ocean has been explored. 95% is still a mystery to us. The chaos of the sea is still pretty powerful. We understand the concept of building walls and gates to contain the power of water. We just did it a few weeks ago with sandbags and HESCO barriers
It’s in the Psalm too. The psalm starts by telling us to give thanks to the Lord for he is good, and then it gives specific examples of God’s power and goodness, talking about God’s wondrous works in the deep, controlling the stormy wind and then rescuing the terrified sailors when they cried out in their trouble. The Lord stilled the storm to a whisper and quieted the waves of the sea. No one but God has the power to tame the wild chaos of the sea.
With all that in mind, let’s go back to the disciples and Jesus in their boat. They’re crossing to the other side of the sea of Galilee, and a storm comes up, and these men are terrified. It’s not just a storm, it’s a “great windstorm.” The Greek word is megale – it’s a “mega-storm.” Remember, several of these disciples are professional fishermen. They’re used to a few rough waves. This is a big storm. They’re convinced they are about to die.
And Jesus is asleep. There’s something symbolic there too, I think. Have you ever looked around at the storms of our lives and wondered where Jesus is, wondered if maybe he’s asleep? We have plenty of storms, don’t we? Just take a look at the news this week, and you’ll feel blown about. I’ve felt like I have whiplash just from trying to follow one issue, and that’s just one of the storms going on. You all know what it feels like to be blown around, to feel helpless or overwhelmed. Where is Jesus in the midst of our storms?
I love the disciples in this story, because they’re close, but they don’t quite get it. As terrified as they are, they have the head knowledge that he is the one to ask for help, but they don’t quite believe he can actually do something. You could say they have knowledge, but not faith.
And then Jesus does something only God can do. He says to the sea, to this threatening source of chaos, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. Literally, it’s a great calm, the same word megale that described the storm. A mega-peace.
The disciples ask each other, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Who is this Jesus who has the power that only God has? This won’t be the first time the disciples ask this kind of question. They won’t truly understand until Jesus demonstrates another power that belongs only to God by rising from the dead. But they’re starting to realize who Jesus is.
In the midst of our storms, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Jesus is with us. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day struggles, in our 24 hour news cycle, in the dramatic announcements that keep coming at us and telling us to be outraged over one thing or another, that we miss the most important part of the story. We can trust that Jesus is with us in the boat. We can trust that he cares for us.
God might not act the way we expect. God might not answer for 37 chapters, and we might not understand the answer even when it comes. It might seem like God is asleep. But ultimately, God does answer. Jesus does calm the storm, and he’s the only one who can.
Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? This is God with us. This is God in the flesh. Jesus is with you on your journey.
Amen