In the name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
This has always been one
of my favorite stories about Jesus in the Bible. There are so many facets that
catch my attention. I grew up in south Florida, so perhaps the vision a violent
storm popping up out of the blue is familiar to me and is why I identify with
it. Today though I’m going to focus just on one aspect of the story- the
calming presence of Jesus.
This passage comes in the
beginning of Mark when Jesus is just beginning his ministry. Mark has been telling
stories about the miracles that Jesus performs. Jesus calms the storm in this
reading, but will also cast out a demon from a possessed man and will heal
people of their infirmities in the following chapter.
Mark is writing with the
purpose of showing that Jesus is more than a religious man; he is more than a
prophet. Instead, Jesus is the Son of God. The divinity of Jesus is of
paramount concern in Mark. So we see miracles of Jesus showing great power over
evil spirits, nature, and in his ability to heal people. Our focus this morning
is on the calming of a storm on the Sea of Galilee.
Calming a storm in the
Biblical worldview is quite the feat. The religious thought of the Ancient Near
East was that only the gods had power over the seas. And not even every god
could do that, just the supreme gods. Often only the gods who had the power to
create the world were seen as being capable of having power over the seas.
Think of the way Poseidon stands out in Greek mythology along with Zeus as the
most powerful of the gods. Even in the Old Testament, there are references to
sea serpents and battles over stormy seas which reflect this world view.
Mark is building on this
worldview to show the power of Jesus. The text says that this was a big storm;
the Greek calls it a “mega” storm. And this must have been quite the storm.
After all, remember that several of Jesus’ disciples used to be fishermen.
Their life’s work was to be out on the Sea of Galilee fishing day in and day
out. And they would have experienced their fair share of storms. The disciples
though are afraid; this must have been a big one.
But Jesus was sleeping
through the whole thing. Jesus had a sort of trusting relationship with God
that allowed him to remain calm not only in this, but in many other circumstances.
The disciples though had not yet learned how to practice this sort of trusting
reliance on God. So they wake Jesus up and they ask him if he cares that
they’re about to die. Jesus responds by getting up and commanding the sea to be
still and it obeys. Not only does it obey, but the Greek again uses the word
“mega” to describe the calm that followed. It was a complete 180 from all of
the chaos and fear which the storm stirred up. A surreal sort of calm followed;
their fear turned to wonder. The disciples were amazed and pondered who Jesus
might be. After all, this wasn’t the sort of thing that just anyone could do;
this was something that only the power of God could accomplish. Mark is making
a strong statement about Jesus by having him calm a storm so easily.
Unlike the disciples, we
have the benefit of time on our side. The disciples had just been introduced to
Jesus and were trying to figure him out. We have 2,000 years of witness to go
along with our personal experiences of the Resurrected Jesus in our attempts to
understand and follow him. As unnerving as it might be, when I read a few commentaries
on this passage, several scholars doubted the historicity of this passage.
While I realize that there is literary license taken in the writing of the
gospels, I do think that something of this nature did happen with Jesus and his
disciples. Even if it wasn’t the storm that abated, but rather their fear that
diminished when Jesus was with them, a miracle happened that day. The specific
facts of history are not why we are here this morning; we are here because of
the continuing implications of these stories on our lives.
Mark included this story
in his account of the Good News because he wanted to show that Jesus was not
just a run of the mill holy person. Jesus was not a man who had some talent and
charisms; he was more than that: he was and is the Son of God. And as the Son
of God who lived, died and was resurrected he still has the power to calm the
storms of our lives.
There is a contemporary
Christian band called Casting Crowns and they have a song called “Praise You In
This Storm.” It starts by saying “I was sure by now, God,/ that you would have
reached down/ and wiped our tears away,/ stepped in and saved the day.// But
once again, I say amen/ and it’s still raining// as the thunder rolls/ I barely
hear you whisper through the rain,/ I’m with you.” I don’t have to list all the
storms that you could possibly have in your life. The experiences of the death
of a loved one, battling health issues, divorce, losing a job, addiction or
even good things such as moving to a new town can be a stormy experience. They
turn day to night, they toss us about and make us exclaim, like the disciples, “God,
why are you letting me suffer?” This is question the song begins with, “God, I
thought you would have done something about this by now.” Sometimes God
miraculously calms the storm through an answered prayer, a change of circumstance,
or a caring friend. But sometimes the storm in us is what is contained. The key
is in knowing that calming a storm doesn’t always mean that the rain stops,
sometimes the calm is found in our hearts as the storm rages outside.
And even if the rain
continues to fall, we can take refuge knowing that the calming power of Jesus
can overcome all. When the storm continues, Jesus will be with us as we weather
the storm. I remember growing up in Florida that sometimes you run from a
hurricane, but sometimes you hunker down. Some hurricanes will be calmed and
will avoid a disastrous landfall, but sometimes you just have to wait it out. And
sometimes you have to pick up the pieces after the storm passes. The message of
the Gospel this morning is that Jesus’ calming presence and power can overcome
any storm- sometimes calming the storm, and other times in calming us to get
through it and helping us to rebuild. May God be with us all as we navigate the
seas of life and run into stormy waters.
Amen.
