Storms

Storms

Mark 4:35-41

Have you been watching the weather this past week?  I saw the radar pictures of Iselle and Julio heading toward Hawaii and thought it belonged in a science fiction film rather than a news report.  Imagine knowing that two hurricanes were bearing down on your home; that before you could cleanup from the first, the second would hit.  If all the hype over Sharknado 2 tempted us to forget that “real” storms can be fearsome, those pictures brought us back to reality.

I’ve heard many a dear Christian say how much they would have liked to have had the privilege of sitting on the hillside to hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount or to have sat with Mary of Bethany to hear Jesus teach.   As they imagine being among those original disciples, they usually forget that the disciples had some tough days as well.  They were sometimes so hungry they had to grab food out of a farmer’s field they were passing.   They apparently “slept rough” sometimes because no one offered them a bed.  Then, of course, they sometimes faced stormy weather.

As we prepare to look at this story, keep this in mind.  Even though we sometimes use this story to talk about going through “the storms of life,” the story is about a real storm with wind, thunder, lightening, and potential disaster.  Don’t forget that.  Now, let me offer a couple observations about what this story has to say regarding those storms of life.  I’m not going to spend a lot of time on these observations but I hope you will when you get the chances.

--Some of the biggest storms we face can come when we’re in the middle of doing something good.  The disciples were on the road (or water) with Jesus spreading the gospel of the Kingdom; it was a good thing to do.  Yet, the storm came.

--Even if you know about storms you can still feel afraid.  Of course, maybe it was because the disciples knew about storms that they were so afraid.  On a more, psychological note, you can know the dynamics of life’s storms and still feel their impact.  You may be able to recite the stages of grief and, yet, still experience grief when you lose a loved one.  You may know the symptoms of depression and still not be able to ward off the “black dog.”

With that in mind, let’s look at this story.  As I see it, the story revolves around three questions.

It begins when, at the end of long day of teaching, Jesus tells the disciples it’s time to go to the east side of the lake.  It was evening but the twelve mile trip wouldn’t take long.  Besides, the disciples didn’t mind because they would be with Jesus. 

They enjoyed being with Jesus.  Everyone was talking about him and they were his closest associates.  To their minds, the future looked bright.  Maybe some of them were thinking Jesus would be the downfall of the Romans.  When the disciples got on that boat, they were on an emotional high.

Of course, when emotion rules, we stand on slippery ground.   They hadn’t been on the boat long when someone noticed the wind was picking up.

They were assaulted by a violent storm.  Some translations refer to it as a “windstorm,” others as “a fierce storm.”  The word Mark uses is sometimes translated as “whirlwind.”  In a relatively small boat on a relatively big lake, it was not a pleasant place to be.  The sea roiled and water began to fill the little boat.

From time to time researchers find the remains of boats at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee.  Some date from the days of Jesus.  No doubt the disciples—especially those who had made their living on the sea—had heard of such shipwrecks and may had known friends and neighbors who had drowned during just the kind of storm they were experiencing. 

“Where’s Jesus?” someone asked.  Jesus was sleeping.  The long day of teaching had left him exhausted.  These little pictures of Jesus sleeping and eating are reminders of his real humanity. 

The disciples gathered round him, someone shook him and as he came awake they cried out,   “Rabbi, don’t you care that we’re perishing in this storm?”

The disciples didn’t yet have the insight we have.  We know Jesus came precisely because he did care we were perishing.  Still years before the cross, the disciples were only concerned about the raging sea and the sinking boat.

Yet, let’s not be too hard on the disciples.  When we allow our emotions to overrule our faith, we may think things just as foolish.  In midst of our “storm” we may cry out, “God, don’t you care?”

The question may come in differing forms:  Lord, my loved one has died; don’t you care how lonely I feel?  Lord, my dream has crumbled around me; don’t you care how bleak the future looks?  Lord, I’ve lost my job; don’t you care how useless I feel?  Lord, the doctor used the C-word; don’t you care how frightened I am?

Jesus didn’t offer an answer.  Instead, he roused himself and “ordered the wind to stop, and said to the sea, ‘Be still, absolutely still!’”  Literally, the words mean, “be muzzled.”  Some scholars point out that this is the same language Jesus sometimes used in dealing with the demonic.  That’s interesting but to me it sounds more like the language you’d use in dealing with an unruly child.  In any case, the moment showed Jesus power.  Whatever the disciples expected when they awakened Jesus, they probably didn’t expect that.

We could all gather down on the shore of Antrim Lake, when a gentle breeze was rippling the water, and collectively shout, ‘’be still,” and nothing, absolutely nothing, would happen.  Well, of course, the gentle breeze would continue to blow across the lake.  You and I just do not have that kind of power.

With the sea around them smooth as glass, Jesus responded to their question with a question of his own.   He said, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

The second question was a corrective, a reproof, to those he cared about and would eventually entrust with his great mission.  They would need a fearless faith.

Keep in mind that Jesus’ rebuke looked back to the time before he had stilled the storm.  Jesus was not rebuking the disciples for failing to believe he would stop the storm; his rebuke was aimed at their failure to believe he could take care of them during the storm.  Jesus didn’t need a calm sea to protect his disciples.  He could do so while the wind blew and the sea raged.

The antidote to the disciples’ problem was not fair weather, it was faith.  Think of faith as informed trust.  In that case, reliance on God is rooted in knowledge of his power and purpose.  And the disciples already had enough knowledge of his power and purpose.  They had seen Jesus do remarkable things, things that should have instilled faith.  This is why The Voice paraphrases the question, “After all you have seen, where is your faith?”

Recall what Mark has recounted so far:

--they had seen Jesus exorcize the demonic,

--they had seen Jesus heal a leper,

--they had seen Jesus heal Peter’s mother-in-law,

--they had seen Jesus heal a paralytic man, whose friends brought him to Jesus,

--beyond these specific examples, they saw Jesus heal many others.

That empirical knowledge should have inspired trust and confidence in any circumstance.  It didn’t.  Instead, it was as if all they knew was suddenly forgotten.  Their emotions ruled. 

Again, we should be careful against judging the disciples too harshly.  Only if we’ve never allowed our emotions to silence what we know about God’s power and his care can we justly criticize those have. 

Jesus’ question was not designed to discourage his disciples or to imply they were of no further use to him.  His reproof was intended to make them think.

This led to the third of the questions that play so crucial a role in this story.  The disciples asked themselves, “Who is this man that even the wind and sea obey?” 

You have to appreciate the context of this question.  One translation says they asked it as “they were afraid with a terrible terror.”  In other words, back when the boat seemed about to sink, they only thought they were afraid.  What they had just seen shook them to the core.  The answer to the question “Who is this guy?” would change their whole worldview and give them a driving purpose for the rest of their lives.  The answer to that question would fire the imagination of countless men and women who would hear and retell this story throughout the world.

Of course, this would not be the last time this question echoed in the disciples’ minds.  Within a few days they would see Jesus defeat the power of Satan in a graveyard in Gadera, they would see him heal a woman who had been sick for twelve years, they would see him raise a young girl from the dead.  Each of these events would prompt that question—Who is this?   And as they formed their answer they always remembered they had not only witnessed his power, they had experienced it.

The question they raised on that boat would lead to a greater understanding of Jesus, an understanding that would not have been theirs had there been no storm. 

In the same way when we get through whatever storm we may be facing, we should come away with a greater understanding of God’s love and grace.  But it requires the storm.  And it requires us to keep our emotions, our feelings, in check.

It’s possible, though, that we never bring our emotions into check.  If we don’t, if we say we’ll never take another “trip” with Jesus, we’ll never see his power displayed in even more dramatic ways.

So, when storms come, focus on what you know, not on what you feel.

Stormy weather is not easy to face.  But, by faith, we don’t have to face the stormy weather alone.  Jesus is with us.  If we’re traveling with Jesus, it doesn’t matter if the waves are raging or the sea is calm.