JESUS STILLS OUR STORMS Pentecost 4B (Proper 7) Mark 4:35-41 By Vicar Daniel Dockery. + In the Name of Jesus +

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1 1 JESUS STILLS OUR STORMS Pentecost 4B (Proper 7) Mark 4:35-41 By Vicar Daniel Dockery + In the Name of Jesus + In October, 1991, the commercial fishing boat Andrea Gail returned to port in Gloucester, Massachusetts, almost empty. Desperate for money, Captain Billy Tyne convinces the Andrea Gail s crew to join him for one more late season catch. Going far out beyond their usual fishing grounds, the crew is successful and heads back to shore quickly because their ice machine broke and their precious catch will soon begin to spoil. The crew knew they were heading through a thunderstorm, but what they didn t know was they were heading into a confluence of two powerful weather fronts and a hurricane the makings of a perfect storm! This true story of the Andrea Gail was made into a movie in 2000 and many of us watched in sheer terror as the 72-foot-long boat encountered ocean swells higher than the boat itself which capsized it to her doom sinking her to the bottom of the Atlantic. The Perfect Storm, indeed! In today s text, we are going to encounter another perfect storm a storm which could have proven deadly to the disciples, but our Lord commands the wind and the waves to obey him. JESUS STILLS OUR STORMS IN LIFE Let s join the disciples on that day so long ago. Jesus had been teaching the crowds about his Kingdom of grace the same Kingdom of grace which is ours as God s gift to every one through Holy Baptism. Because the

2 2 crowds were so large, Jesus spoke to them from a boat using parables or stories to illustrate his Kingdom. But, as twilight hover[ed] near at sunset, it was time for the crowds who had been filled with God s Word to head home with their hearts filled. As you heard in today s Gradual, On your wondrous works, I will meditate, and I will declare your greatness. How the people must have marveled at what they heard from Jesus that day! It had been a long day for Jesus and he was tired so the disciples, many of them experienced sailors, took him along just as he was for what promised to be an uneventful evening sail to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus went to the stern the back of the boat and crawled underneath the last seat or overhang and fell asleep on a pillow secure in his loving Father s care. The Sea of Galilee lay some 700 feet below sea level and is located in a geographical gorge between steep hills. As the cool winds blow down and mix with the warm and humid air of the sea, one finds the makings for sudden and violent storms. So to encounter rough seas was part of fishing and sailing for the disciples. But, this storm this storm was not a usual storm. Rather, a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was filling. (v. 37) A perfect storm was happening, the disciples were terrified, and Jesus Jesus was asleep! The disciples were frantic with fear as they woke him and cried out, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? (v. 38) These

3 3 seasoned fishermen, Jesus very own disciples, were terror-stricken as they did not know what to do. How can you sleep through this storm? Don t you know that we re going to die? Children of God, do you hear the words of today s Introit echoing throughout this moment? Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed. [Ps. 107:28-29] Jesus roused by these terrified men awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Shut Up. Be muzzled! [Voelz] And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (v. 39) JESUS STILLS OUR STORMS IN LIFE In the words of today s Psalm and many of the liturgies of the church, we acknowledge that Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. [Ps. 124:8] In an instant, it was over. Oh, the power of God s Word! Between the beats of the disciples pounding hearts, the Creator stilled the storm and hushed the waves. Jesus turns to them and says, Men of little faith, why are you so cowardly? (v. 40) With these words spoken by Jesus, Mark writes, And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey him? (v. 41) Let s not be too hard on the disciples because in their actions don t we often see ourselves? How often have we in relationships and marriages assumed the worst when things aren t going well. We have lashed out with

4 4 hurtful words because we are hurting inside or afraid of losing the ones we love. When we call the physician s office for the test results and the nurse says, The doctor wants to speak with you and will call you later with the results, don t we become frightened or angry with God? Why me God? What have I done? I have tried to do everything that you asked. I live a good life. Seated at the graveside and looking at the casket of a loved one for the last time, how many of us have cried out, Why God? We had so many plans and dreams. Why didn t you stop it? As we heard in today s epistle, St. Paul and the early Christians experienced many of these same losses because of sin afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings sleepless nights, hunger. [2 Cor. 6:4b-6] If we re honest with ourselves, we are just like the disciples because we think that God doesn t care about us. Even when we knowingly make the wrong choices, we blame God for not stopping us. We look at the impact of sin in our lives and the world and we blame God. Psychology calls it denial and projection. We call it the old Adam. Whether it be original sin from our first parents, a sin that we commit, or when we fail to do what God commands us to do; we blame God rather than ourselves. Whatever the cause, the result is the same. The wages of sin is death. Honestly, it is sometime hard to see how JESUS STILLS OUR STORMS. That feeling is not new to you or St. Paul or to me. It is the devil trying to find our soft underbelly and cause us to doubt God and his great

5 5 love for us. We find these feelings in the oldest book in the Bible, Job. Although the circumstances are different, Job laments over his many losses and asks the Lord to answer him. [Job 23] In a whirlwind, the Lord answers Job in our Old Testament reading: Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements surely you know! Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out of its womb and said, Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed. [Job 38:4-5, 8, 11] JESUS STILLS OUR STORMS St. Augustine, one of the great church fathers, wrote: When your heart is in this troubled state, do not let the waves overwhelm you. If, since, we are only human, the driving wind should stir up in us a tumult of emotions, let us not despair but awaken Christ, so that we may sail in quiet waters, and reach our heavenly home. It is precisely in these moments of fear and doubt and worry that we need to turn to Jesus in faith. The Mighty God who created all things has come to us in human flesh to be our savior and to be our brother. Our Mighty God tells us, Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. [Isaiah 43:1] There was another stormy day a day marked by darkness and earthquake and death. This was another Perfect Storm in which our Lord met sin, death, and the devil on the cross at Calvary. For on this dark day, the innocent Lamb of God, Jesus, was nailed to a cross to suffer and to die for you and for me and for all. In a

6 6 blessed exchange, all of the filthiness of our sin was heaped on Jesus so that he might die our death. The raging sea of sin engulfed our Lord and God the Father could not rescue him, if he wanted to rescue us. He could not deliver him from the nails, the crown of thorns, and the wood of the cross. The chastisement that brought us peace required his life to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil. God has redeemed each of us, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. Child of God, you are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. God calls you by name and gives you his name. In the waters of Holy Baptism, God has put his name both on your forehead and upon your heart. Therefore, you are holy. You belong to God! With mere words, Jesus hushed the raging of the sea that night and calmed the disciples hearts. With the death of his innocent son, he has calmed your hearts and made you his own. Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. [Ps. 50:15] There is no sin so great or drifting away from God in the storms of this life that he will not forgive. With love so great for you, he stretched out his arms on the cross to die your eternal death and give to you eternal life with him in heaven. And, all this is yours by God s grace his underserved love and mercy. The Holy Spirit has called you by Gospel to faith and enlightened you with his gifts. The disciples would not understand this faith until after our Lord s death and resurrection. But, you have that gift now and forever! JESUS STILLS OUR STORMS I want to leave you with one last point. Gathered around you this day are your brothers and sisters in the faith fellow disciples of Christ. They are gathered

7 7 here in God s house which, if you look up, appears to be an inverted boat. You are sitting in the part of the church called the Nave. It is no accident that Jesus modern day disciples are gathered in a boat with him. We rest secure inside even as the storm of sin and the waves of the cold evil world outside tosses and batters the side of our ship in the seas of this life. For here in this church, we meet the same Jesus through the Means of Grace. In the words that you hear from Scripture and that you speak back to God in the liturgy of praise, God is here in this Divine Service. With the disciples of old, we confess our faith and receive the absolution of our sins from the same Jesus. Each and every time that we confess our sins, we renew our baptismal covenant and live a life of Christian discipleship. For through baptism, we were buried into Christ death and his resurrection. Death has no power over us. Here, Jesus comes to us in bread and wine to nourish and sustain us on life s journey a journey that will take us to our heavenly home and unite us with all of the saints. And, when we leave this place refreshed and renewed and ready to meet the storms of life, we depart in God s peace in the words of the Benediction God s word of blessings. As we so confidently sang in the words of today s sermon hymn: Ills that still grieve me Soon are to leave me; Though billows tower And winds gain power, After the storm the fair sun shows its face Joys e er increasing And peace never ceasing; These shall I treasure And share in full measure When in His mansions God grants me a place. - LSB 726, v. 3 In Jesus name. Amen.