Storms - Rev Allister Lane
READINGS: PSALM 9:9-14, MARK 5:35-41
Sermon on 20 June 2021
We saw just yesterday how (in Auckland) storms can start very quickly. Without warning violent and destructive winds and rain swept through a city.
Today, our Gospel story is about a storm that stopped very quickly. Some who hear this story of Jesus stilling a storm would have an almost automatic problem with it… it’s the supernatural in the story.
From our own observations, there isn’t much evidence that God interferes directly with the weather. At the same time, does our knowledge of natural weather patterns make this story untrue…? Perhaps a more interesting question than ‘was a storm supernaturally stopped?’ is: ‘Why does Mark tell this story?’
I’m not denying that there was a supernatural aspect to this story, I just don’t want us to miss the main point of this story. Our thinking is heavily influenced by scientific considerations – how did something happen? Could it have happened?
But these aren’t the only questions, and our openness to truth shouldn’t be conditional on having (narrow) scientific questions fully satisfied. For example, the story of Creation in Genesis is too often rejected as ‘unscientific’ – of course it is ‘unscientific’! And if we reject it for that reason, we miss the truth it expresses about God as the source of life, love and joy.
So, why does Mark tell this story?
The whole Gospel of Mark challenges its readers with a consistent question:
‘Who is this guy?’
Mark wants us to wrestle with the identity of Jesus. So many of the eyewitness stories present us with someone whose identity is unique. And with corresponding implications for our life.
Mark is asking ‘What if this guy is the Lord of your life?’
Jesus teaches with authority, and his listeners ask, ‘Who is this whose words make such an impact?’
Jesus heals the sick, and they ask ‘Who is this whose hands heal?’
Jesus calms the storm, and the disciples gasp: ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
Mark makes his readers face this question, and invites us to make a decision. In highlighting his identity, there is an implication that Jesus is allied to the original act of creation itself, and has authority over the natural world.
I love the way the Jesus Storybook Bible expresses it:
The wind and the waves recognised Jesus’ voice. (They had heard it before, of course–it was the same voice that made them, in the very beginning). They listened to Jesus and they did what he said.
Presented with these accounts of Jesus, who do you say he is? Is he the Lord of Creation? Is he the Lord of your life? Who is Jesus amidst our own experiences of ‘storms’ in life?
The disciples of Jesus found themselves ‘out of their depth’ (quite literally) Again, we heard in the Children’s Talk:
This storm was too big for them.
But the storm wasn’t too big for Jesus.
“Rescue us! Save us!” they shrieked. “Don’t you care?”
(Of course Jesus cared, and this was the very reason he had come – to rescue them and to save them.)
[After calming the storm}
Jesus turned to his wind-torn friends. “Why were you scared?” he asked. “Did you forget who I am? Did you believe your fears, instead of me?”
What happens when we remember who Jesus is? When we trust Jesus to be the Lord of our life?
We experience a peace.It’s a peace the world longs for.
There’s something I’ve learned in my pastoral care of others. People seldom feel comforted by me giving them theological or philosophical explanation (no matter how compelling I feel it might be!) People don’t need a compelling argument! What brings comfort is being with them.
The same is true of God… if you ask God why exactly is this or that storm happening in my life – you probably won’t get an answer from God.
Suffering is not primarily a philosophical question, it’s a personal problem – how are you going to get through it? Christianity is the only religion that claims that God has been with us in our suffering. Only Christianity claims that God has suffered.
Have you lost a child…? So has God (on the cross).
Have you been betrayed?
Are you experiencing pain in your body?
Are you facing death?
SO HAS GOD.
Not only has God experienced what you experience, God is present with you in your storm. If God is with us always, you can trust (fully trust) God with your ultimate well-being.
Today’s Psalm proclaims:
…those who know your name [God] put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9:10)
Very recently, I have been inspired by how people have responded in their own significant personal storms. I’ve seen these people intentionally drawing closer to God. In the midst of their storm, they recognise Jesus is their Lord.
What’s the evidence I’ve seen…?
Their thirst for God’s presence and peace grows.
Their prayers become more heartfelt and more frequent.
Their expectation of wanting to experience Jesus in their life exponentially increases…
Wake up! Quick, Jesus!
And there is one important aspect I’ve recognised in talking with these people, which I want to share with you as I conclude…
It’s about having hope. Together, we believe in hope and sharing it around. It’s in our St John’s Mission statement:
God gathers us to worship and grow our faith so we can live and share Christ’s hope for our world.
What do we mean by ‘hope’…? ‘Hope’ can mean we are wishing for something we aren’t sure will happen. But the hope of Christian faith is something else. In the Bible ‘hope’ means being absolutely certain something will happen.
Why?
Because of the unique person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. To follow him is to recognise his identity as the Son of God, and Lord of your life.
That’s what we mean in the Mission Statement by ‘Christ’s hope for our world’. Not ‘hope’ in the sense that Christ might (or might not) save us. Christ is the fulfilment of our hope; Christ is reliable. Christ is more real than everything …even the greatest storm.
Amidst the storm, the chaos, the uncertainty, hear the word of Jesus Christ for you today:
Peace! Be still!