Proper 7, Year B 2018

Grace Episcopal Church, Galveston
Gospel:  Mark 4:35-41
24 June 2018

"The Storm on the Sea of Galilee"
Painting by Rembrandt (1633)

There was a time when the sea was the final frontier, the boundary beyond which was wilderness and danger.  Our spiritual ancestors passed on the belief that God is with us even when we must cross the threshold beyond civilization.  There is no place where we might go (or be taken) where God cannot hear us. Our loving God remains with us even as we traverse the “uncharted waters” of life. 

Today's reading from the Book of Job includes a reference to God’s creation of the sea.  The appointed psalm mentions the sailors whose work involved crossing this dangerous frontier.  Repeatedly riding-out storms on the sea taught these hardy folks to place their trust in God.  In our Gospel reading, the disciples are crossing the sea in the midst of a windstorm.  Their teacher is asleep on a cushion.  Driven by fear, they wake Jesus and cry out to him.  Much to his disciples’ amazement, the storm is calmed as Jesus gives direct instruction to the winds to stop blowing.  The danger passes, but then the disciples are left wondering about their teacher and friend, and what it could mean that even the wind and the sea obey him.

The book of Job is a story about a person of faith who encounters unimaginable tragedy.   As the book begins, Job is a person of wealth and means; a person of faith who gives thanks to God for the blessings of family and abundance.  But then the winds of fortune change as Job enters the uncharted waters of one loss after the other.  He loses his wealth, his children, and eventually even his health.  Job and his well-meaning friends all try to make sense of this loss but no one seems to be able to explain why bad things happen to such a good person.  Job believes he has been unjustly punished and cries out to God for answers.

Our reading picks up with the divine response to Job.  The Lord indicates that Job is asking for something beyond human comprehension; no wisdom is given that will enable Job, or us, to wrap our finite heads around evil.  Some things just do not make sense.  

Do you recall Descartes’ famous statement proving his existence? “I think therefore, I am.”  Madeleine L'Engle, speaking at a conference at Kanuga, once describe a postcard showing a man in 17th Century clothing walking in front of his horse leading it with reins in hand.  The caption below the image read...."Putting Descartes Before the Horse." Get it?  So there you have some mental "Velcro" to help you remember that you heard René Descartes quoted in this sermon!

At the same conference, L'Engle said, “René Descartes wrote ‘I think, therefore I am,’ and in writing this, he set back Christian spirituality by 500 years.”  Now, Episcopalians have high regard for human reason, and I often extol this in sermons.  But we should not forget reason is held as an authority only alongside scripture and tradition.  Reason itself must have checks and balances.  L’Engle was saying our spirituality is diminished when we think that we can with our own minds understand all things both in heaven and earth.  Perhaps, she had made this point indirectly many years earlier by imagining a disembodied brain as the antagonist in her novel “A Wrinkle in Time.”  Spirituality is about wholeness, mind, body, and spirit.  Sometimes our drive to make sense out of life can distort reality.  This is especially so when it comes to Job’s question of why good and bad things happen to people.  

On some level I tend to think Layne has this uncanny ability, rain or shine, to score a great parking space at the Kroger.  Now, when I drive to the grocery, on the other hand, I feel I’m always trolling for a spot up and down the rows of vehicles.  When Layne pulls into her usual super convenient parking spot, I often say out loud, “You are living right!”  Yes, I’m joking but the sentiment that belies this humor pervades our culture.  When something very good or very bad happens to someone, our brains want it to make sense.  We do not want to live in chaos, so we work it out that the unfortunate must be getting what they deserve. It is as if these thoughts get served-up right from the deep unconscious part of our psyche.  Yet, experience shows that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

The image of the boat traversing the waters with Jesus and the disciples is also an image of the Church.  One thing I’ve learned from the Gospel According to Mark, is that Jesus is a teacher.  His lessons are parables of word and of action.  So today, Jesus calms the storm in order to teach his disciples including us.  He did not establish his Church as a weather-control ministry nor leave instructions for his disciples to rebuke tornados.  Jesus was showing first that the Church must traverse unknown territory. In each generation, we must figure out how to communicate the Love of God in new and changing circumstances.  Secondly, Jesus was revealing his identity as one with God.  Like the Creator in Job setting limits on the sea, Jesus is able to command the winds to stop.  And thirdly, Jesus shows that he is with us in life’s storms.  As a weaker fourth point, I did consider adding something about the power of a "cat nap"...it’s not just for Gracie and Molly (Grace Episcopal Church’s resident felines).  That might be a stretch….oh well, why not?  Jesus modeled "cat naps"...that's my fourth point!

Jesus heard the disciples’ prayers even when the words sounded a lot more like alarm and anxiety...these aren’t the types of prayer you learn in Confirmation class...but they are authentic and from the heart....no one has to teach these words.  When we are scared sometimes we lash out at God, and yet we are still received with compassion.  God did not answer Job’s question the way he wanted….but the story makes crystal clear that God walks with those who suffer.  Jesus gave no explanation of the storm, but we know he did nothing to deserve one and neither has anyone else.  AMEN.