Sermon for June 21, 2015

Sermon for June 21, 2015

The Reading

Mark 4:35-41

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."  And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"  And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

The Message

Last Saturday, there was a fundraiser for the upcoming trip to the national youth gathering at Grace Lutheran Church in Forest Hills.  During the event, I had a chance to take a tour of the church and different spaces.  (I had been there many times but I never knew there was a second floor, with some meeting rooms and a space for Sunday school).  The Sunday School and youth area had a wooden model boat for the children to sit and play in. It was built and given to the church in loving memory of a young girl in the congregation who died from cancer a few years before.  I was talking to bob, who gave me the tour, and I mentioned how good I thought it was to have that boat in a room meant for teaching children about the bible.  Many of us do not have too much experience with life on the water and so many of Jesus stories involve fishing and the sea. It was great to have that boat for children to sit in and help them better visualize and understand the things that Jesus was talking about.  I could imagine all the different ways this boat could be used to talk about Jesus walking on water, fishing for people,  traveling around to tell everyone the good news of God’s love, or even today’s story on calming the storm.  

This morning, our Gospel reading is one of those many stories in Jesus ministry that involved the sea. In this case it was a storm that suddenly arose and frightened Jesus disciples.  I have not spent a lot of time on boats and never really experienced a storm at sea. Friends and relatives who have tell me it can be incredibly scary, confusing and disorienting.  Perhaps the worst part is that after a certain point there is not much you can do except ride it out and hope the boat holds up.  Even with all of today’s technology, GPS, communication systems and weather updates, there is often little you can do.     

Like the boat in the classroom can help children understand the events and stories of Jesus, we can look at the storms of life to help us understand how very important Jesus word’s “peace, be still” are for us.  The first time I heard someone talk about the storms of life was at the funeral service for Norman, a friend and mentor who first welcomed me to the Lutheran Church. Norman loved the water and spent most of life serving in the Navy, working on boats and fishing.  During the memorial service, the pastor read today’s gospel about Jesus calming the storm. After the reading, he talked about Norman’s friends and family being in the sadness and  storm of mourning but that Jesus was with us, offering comfort with the words, peace, be still.  Since then, this is a message that I have shared at several funeral services, especially at times of deep mourning and tragic events.     

For me, when I think of the storms of life, I often think of my father.  He passed away about 20 years ago when my brother and I were 15. Since then, Father’s Day has always been a little sad and awkward. I am never really quite sure what to do with the day and whatever I end up doing, always seems wrong. My dad’s life was a storm.  He had a very rough and abusive childhood (the details of which no one ever really talked to my brother and I about).   He also had a virtually life long struggle with Alcoholism, which is what lead to his sickness and early death. Even with us, he never really figured out where he belonged, how he fit in, who actually cared about him or who he could trust.  Between his experiences and addiction, life always seemed like a storm.  At the same time, my Dad did find some moments of peace and stillness.  In his case, it was keeping to the principle that he would not treat his children the way he was treated, that he would support his family, keep us safe and make sure we were raised better than he was.  This is a promise and commitment that he kept throughout all the storms of his life. Now, 20 years after his death, it’s the thing that we remember, honor and celebrate about him.

I dare say, everyone here has their own storm stories, probably not on the sea in the wind and rain but times when you faced things you could not handle, times when you were unprepared for a rush of events that you could not control, times when things seemed completely hopeless, times when stuff just did not make sense and times when all you could do is wonder “why me” or “why now”.  None of us always do the right thing, make the right decisions, get what we deserve or see things happen exactly the way we want them to.  The world offers us lots of ways to deal with these things, to avoid the realities that we cannot control everything and that bad things happen. The world offers us unhealthy things like drugs, alcohol, power, wealth, status, gambling, hatred of others, violence and abuse (since I am a pastor at church, I am not going to mention which ones I fall to sometimes).  There are also some good ones like community, nature, and caring relationships.   

This morning, our Gospel reading shows us God’s way for us to deal with the storms. Jesus reminds us that God is present with us. That is God’s promise in the midst of life’s storms.  God does not offer us coupons to get out of suffering free, tickets we can use to get second chances and undo mistakes or some magic power to escape the storms of life undamaged.  Instead, God promises to be with in the storms, to remind us that we are not really in danger, to say peace, be still.     

(Here I talked about the church shooting at Emmanuel AME in South Carolina, I tried to type up what I said) A few days ago, we saw a profound example of a community that knows God is with them in the storms of life.  I believe all of you have heard about the shooting at a church prayer service and bible study where 9 people were killed at Emmanuel AME.  This morning that community and churches all around the country are gathered in prayer for those who have died, those who mourn, those working for change and those who feel a little less safe at church this Sunday than they did last Sunday.   News headlines are already filled with words of forgiveness for the murderer and hope for a better world. In this storm of really unimaginable violence here in the United States, Jesus words “Peace, be still” are being declared.