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Preaching Text: Mark 4.35-41
Living near Barrett Lake is a precious gift that just gets wasted on Kristin and me. I don't really like to fish. We don't own a boat, and we discovered on vacation last year that we can barely navigate a canoe together. I can't swim very well, and Kristin spends more time teaching water aerobics in Alexandria than she does in the water in Barrett.
I mention all of this because I’m terrified of drowning. I grew up in Nebraska, where there's only one man-made lake big enough that you can't see the other side. In my entire life I've never been on completely open water. For me, Freddie Kruger, Norman Bates and even Dracula don't hold a candle to the terror I feel watching "The Perfect Storm."
So when I read today's gospel reading from Mark, I can identify with the disciples. Fishing in Jesus' day wasn't anything like what goes on in New England today. Fishing boats rarely left sight of land. Traveling across the Mediterranean often meant traveling around the Mediterranean. Water was the great enemy. The people of the ancient Near East thought that the formless void of chaos that existed before creation was nothing more than open water, filling the entire universe. When God created the heavens and the earth, God actually separated the waters above and below the earth. Blue sky meant that there was a canopy holding back unrestrained water, and dry land was brought up from underneath more unrestrained water. When it rained, God was actually opening the canopy of heaven to let in some water. So, venturing out where you can't see land was like leaving creation for chaos, moving from a place where God is in charge to a place where you're at the mercy of chaos and disaster can strike at any time.
Is it any wonder, then, that the disciples were afraid when a storm blew them out into chaos and started to attack their boat? Is it any wonder that they thought Jesus was abandoning them to the mercy of the waters? They were beyond anything they could handle, in the midst of chaos, and their friend and teacher thought it was a perfect time for a nap. I probably would have been screaming right along with them.
I'm going to show you a video that has something to do with water, chaos and fear. Rob Bell is the pastor of Mars Hill church in Detroit, and "Rain" is the first video in a series called Nooma. I think he illustrates what God is actually doing in moments of chaos, and perhaps why Jesus felt safe enough to sleep while His friends were screaming.
At this point I played the video. You can find it at the Nooma website.
I can't say that I blame Trace Bell for being frightened. He had no idea where his father had taken him; he only knew that he was wet and afraid and he couldn't understand what was happening. We are not so different from that infant, you and I; we find ourselves far from home many times in our lives, lost in threatening, chaotic circumstances where we are at the mercy of the storms surrounding us, and we don't have any idea when it's all going to end.
Why, then, in the midst of all of this, was Jesus sleeping? He was very definitely in danger here. Jesus was completely divine AND completely human: He could have died from drowning as easily as He died of crucifixion. But He isn't worried: He's tired, and so He sleeps, and the disciples grow more and more worried about what's happening and whether or not they are going to make it home.
That last question the disciples ask is as important during the storm as it is after the storm. "Who is this, then, that even in the midst of chaos He can calmly sleep?"
Who is Jesus? He is a Son who has complete trust in His Father, enough that He can sleep while a storm is raging all around Him. He is a Son who can be calm in the chaos, completely confident that His Father will get Him where He needs to be.
Who is Jesus? He is also a teacher who listens to His disciples. He wasn't worried about the storm, but because His disciples were afraid, He calmed their fears and changed their reality. The disciples thought Jesus didn't care that they were in danger. He did care – enough that He calmed the storm. But Jesus was never afraid of the storm itself. It wasn't that He didn't care – He just wasn't worried.
The disciples at this point were still figuring out who Jesus really was. This story comes early in Mark's gospel, when Jesus was just beginning His ministry, and so the disciples were right to wonder about Jesus. But I'm also wondering this question: if Jesus trusted His Father so completely that He could sleep in the midst of the storm, what kind of Father does He have? What kind of love can inspire such ruthless trust? What kind of faith can create such calm in the chaos?
There are people who think that God causes storms to come into our lives, that chaos comes at God's command to teach or to restrain or to prevent even greater evil. I’m not convinced this is true, any more than I think that the sea is evil simply because it is more powerful than I. God created the sea as it is, and God set it free. Psalm 104 tells us that God created Leviathan, the great sea monster, for the sport of it! God made whales as big as submarines and giant squids who patrol the ocean depths and millions of other sea creatures just as they are, and God created the seas to hold them all and let them do what they do as God intended. Storms happen; God does not make storms.
Where then, is God in the midst of chaos? If God isn't behind the storm, what is God doing? God is in the boat with us. If you want to see the face of God in the midst of chaos, look for the real presence of God in Jesus Christ, who shares the danger with us. Look for the trusting presence of Jesus, who believes that His Father will never let Him venture into chaos alone. Look for the comforting presence of Jesus, who hears our cries and stays with us for the duration of the journey. Look for the transforming presence of Jesus, who listens to the prayers of our hearts and will sometimes calm the storm simply because we ask.
You are not alone in the ship that is your life. You have a Savior with you, One who will see you safely through to the other side, One who will never leave you alone, One who will give you calm in the midst of your chaos. Look for Him daily. Trust Him completely. Love Him unreservedly. As your ship sails into open waters, rest assured that because God is in the ship with you, you will safely reach the other side. Amen.
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