St. Michael and All Angels
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June 20, 2021 - Proper 7 (4th Sunday after Pentecost)

How will we respond to Jesus in our lives today?

Today’s Gospel opens with the phrase, “On that day.” It is so brief that we could almost ignore it. But this short transitory phrase is important for setting the stage for today’s familiar story of the calming of the storm. 

I did some further research into the original Greek text of the Gospel... From my research, it looks like the original Greek would have read something like, “and he continued to speak to them on that day…” The important fact here is that it reminds us that this story comes right on the heels of Jesus’ teaching to his disciples about God’s kingdom on earth -- on its characterization that the kingdom is hidden and secret and requires a special gift to comprehend. It shouldn’t surprise us that the journey of discipleship and the course of our journeys during this season of Pentecost should at times be fraught with unexpected dangers and risks.

Today’s Gospel reading shows Jesus’ power in a miracle that joins all the other miracles of healing that the writer of Mark has already detailed. On another level, it might serve as a parable of discipleship. We begin with a call -- “Let us go across to the other side,” -- reminiscent of Jesus’ call of his first disciples to follow him -- “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” (Mark 1:17) His disciples obediently respond, taking him “along with them in the boat.” It’s not difficult to draw a parallel here to the “residents” of Noah’s ark, adrift in the sea, with utter chaos ensuing. But now the band of followers are under the protection of Jesus, safe and secure.

Like a great murder mystery or drama written for the movie screen, events change suddenly. With no transition in the story, we hear, “A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.” So much for the implied safety in this boat with Jesus!

Meanwhile “he” -- notice it’s not Jesus, but he -- is in the stern, sleeping peacefully on a pillow. Typically, the stern -- or back portion of the boat -- is where the person who steers is located. They awaken him and shout, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” [Notice that they say Teacher, not Master, or Messiah, or Lord.]

Their cry is the ultimate cry of fear, of doubt, of abandonment. And it is repeated often in the stories of God’s people. 

We hear it over and over in the Psalms: Where is God in the midst of my distress? Has God abandoned his people?

We repeat it so many ways in the midst of the terrors and distresses of today’s world. Why did God let this happen? We must imagine that it was repeated many times by those protesting in Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York City, and other places, and by all of us being affected by the shootings of so many who have made news in just the past few weeks. The woman whose husband was rushed to the hospital because he was unable to breathe and never regained consciousness cried out in anguish wondering why God had neglected her needs, her life. The parents and friends of a child who was taken too soon must have wondered where God was in the midst of their devastation.

If God is so great and powerful a creator, if God REALLY cares about this world, then why do events in the world and in our lives go so badly? The quick and ready response: either God has no power, or God does not care for us or for his creation.

We can all identify with the glimpse of death experienced by the disciples in the story. It’s an honest assessment of the situation when we’re cast adrift in the storms of the world without God’s presence and care. The disciples’ cry amounts to a prayer for deliverance, and it is immediately and directly answered. Jesus does not scold them or reason with their fears. He does not seek to remind them of the whole tradition of God’s care for the people of Israel. Instead, he immediately arose and rebuked the winds with the command “Be silent! Be still!” The response of the winds was immediate. The wind ceased just as suddenly and is it had begun, and there arose a great calm.

The rescue has been accomplished; the sea is calm. And now it’s time to give the disciples some much needed instruction. We often joke about how “dense” the disciples were, but we’re more like them than we care to admit. Jesus moves to interpret this parable for the disciples whose ability to discern the true meaning is weak without the gift of their master’s presence and care.

The Lord’s care has already been demonstrated to the disciples. The issue here is that of fear. Jesus asks, “Have you STILL no faith?” The disciples in the story, and we -- as its hearers today -- are called to recognize the two vastly different worlds that we might inhabit. We are called to see the abyss between the two worlds that face those who are called to acknowledge the kingdom of God -- the presence and rule of God in our midst. We can continue to live in the world of fear and chaos, seeing ourselves alone without the power of God, living in a world controlled by the power of Satan. Or we can be open to hearing the message and promise of this Jesus, in whom we are told that the kingdom of God has come into our midst and offers a whole new future for our world and for our lives.

The line between these two worlds is thin and risky. The thin line of fear and faith is that place between the two worlds where the gift and power of the good news of God’s Messiah, Jesus, exists.

So at the end of the story, the great question of this parable of discipleship is put into our laps. The disciples ask, “Who then is this?” Their question is described as one of “great awe.” When God comes among us, how will we respond? In today’s Gospel story, no answer is given to the disciples’ question. The question of how we will respond to this Jesus, whom “even the wind and the sea obey” is left open.

There is time for the answer to take shape in our lives as we journey with Jesus in this season of Pentecost. Perhaps in the journey, the power and presence of the Good News of God’s kingdom will shape our lives in the crucial turn from fear to faith. This is the great call and promise of Jesus at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel -- “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Friends, storms don’t worry Jesus. He’s right there with us during them, but he’s perfectly calm about them. He isn’t terrified; he isn’t impatient; he isn’t worried. In fact, he’s so calm, he’s asleep. We wonder why on earth he doesn’t get up and do something. We start to wonder whether he even knows the trouble we’re in. Whether he cares. Whether he can even do anything about it. Whether he’s really all he’s cracked up to be.

Like the disciples, we believe he’s there. In the disciples’ case, they could actually see him lying there asleep. We don’t have that luxury. We believe he’s there, but most of the time he seems just as asleep as he was during the storm that day on the Sea of Galilee.

The not-so-obvious lesson in today’s Gospel reading is that Jesus was just as much in control, and the disciples were just as safe in his hands, while he was asleep, as while he was awake. Most of the time, life seems like a relentless voyage from one storm to the next. 

But even if Jesus doesn’t wake up and calm the storm, we’re safe with him. And if Jesus does wake up and quiet the storm, he’s probably going to say, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 

God’s power isn’t in the control of creation or of people, but in being in relationship with them. God’s power isn’t in imposing the divine will but in being WITH US as we fumble around and make our way in the world. God’s power is not in miraculous interventions, but in inviting us to build a kingdom out of love, peace and justice with God. God’s power is not in the obliterating of what is bad in the world, but in empowering us to build something good in this world.

And isn’t this true power? Instead of enforcing control and directing the world, God’s power is revealed in coming alongside us, journeying with us, suffering with us, and even staying with us in the boat when the storms come. The question for each of us today is, “How will we respond to Jesus in our lives today? What good things is God empowering each of us to build in the world?