DO YOU NOT CARE? 11 MARK 4:35-41 IT ALL STARTED QUIETLY ENOUGH BY THE SEASHORE.

Transcription

1 DO YOU NOT CARE? JOB 38: MARK 4: JUNE 24, 2018 TOM WHARTENBY IT ALL STARTED QUIETLY ENOUGH BY THE SEASHORE. Jesus began to teach a few folks about the kingdom of God as they were standing on the shore gazing out at the Sea of Galilee. They insisted on referring to it by its old name, not the new one their Roman occupiers had given it- The Sea of Tiberius. The more Jesus spoke the larger the crowds became, almost pushing him into the sea. Could this be the one to lead us against the hated Romans? Jesus stepped into Peter s boat and had him push off a bit from the shore. He continued to teach and preach until dusk. Peter and his brother Andrew held the boat steady and enjoyed the sun and cool breeze blowing in from the sea. They had made a good decision after all. Being a disciple of this man was going to be good duty. 1

2 AS THE SUN BEGAN TO SET, THE CROWDS BEGAN TO THIN. Man does not live by preaching alone. Stomachs growled and suppers beckoned most of the crowd home. Hopefully their Martha was in the kitchen working! Peter, Andrew, James, and John looked at Jesus hoping he knew a good place to grab a meal. Their jaws dropped when he turned to them and said, Let us go across to the other side. It was quite a long pull across, and there was nothing to eat in the boat. Soon they were well out to sea and darkness swallowed them like Jonah s whale. It was about to get worse. IT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE,, THE MOTHER OF ALL STORMS Lightening flashed, thunder crashed, and the sea began to boil over into their boat. It was obvious to these seasoned fishermen that they were in dire straits. Panicking, they awaken Jesus who was enjoying the sleep of the just in the stern of the boat. Did any of them quote Jesus the Psalm which proclaimed He who helps Israel never slumbers or sleeps? Had they placed their trust in the wrong man? Was this to be their punishment for 2

3 abandoning their families to become fishers of men? Were they to end their days sleeping with the fishes? The supreme irony. DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?! Jesus stirs. He rises. He pushes past the panicked disciples and thrusts his fist into the face of the storm. Silence, he commands, Be still! And as if someone had pulled the plug on a flat screen T.V., all the sound and fury ceased. In the sudden calm that wrapped around them like Linus s blanket, Jesus rebuked them. Why are you afraid, have you no faith? The men are so stunned by what Jesus has just done, that they don t even hear his question. Rather they begin to question one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him? ON THE LIPS OF THOSE DISCIPLES WE FIND THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION EVER ASKED. In truth Mark tells this story to raise that very question. It is the primary question his Gospel seeks to answer. Yes, Jesus is a human being. 3

4 Yes, he is a Jew, a Galilean as were most of his disciples. Yes Jesus is also an extraordinary teacher. He showed learning, wit, and courage in his duels with the Scribes of the Pharisees. True He possesses the gift of healing. But just now Jesus has demonstrated a power that belongs solely to God, the Living God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. How can this be? Who can Jesus be? One can almost see the twelve backing away from him in the boat. Just what had they gotten themselves into? OF COURSE YOU AND I KNOW THE ANSWER. We know Jesus is the Lord s Anointed, the long-awaited Messiah. We know that Jesus is the Son of God. Still, at times we act more like those panicked disciples on that night at sea: people who had no idea who Jesus was. When the storms of life sweep across us we are tempted to cry out with them, Do you not care that we are perishing?! Job had asked a similar question of God long before the disciples were given breath. God s answer to Job out of the whirlwind seems a bit evasive. Who are you to question me? But 4

5 when God spoke though Jesus on that terrible night at sea, His answer was clear: You ask me if I care. The answer is yes, more than you can imagine. MARK REVEALS SEVERAL THINGS ABOUT GOD THROUGH HIS SON IN THIS STORY. We learn that God hears our prayers. Ours is not a God of stone, deaf to our cries, indifferent to our pain. Our God is a living, personal God, not a ground of being indifferent to our plight. Our God is not some mindless energy or force field holding all things together. Ours is not some exotic nature god available to us only at the Summer Solstice or when we have our environment arranged just the right way. Ours is an always-listening, everavailable God. BUT THE GOD JESUS REVEALS DOES MORE THAN JUST LISTEN. God is not some kind of Divine Therapist, engaged in a heavenly listening therapy of some sort. I sense that you are concerned about the storm. 5

6 I hear you saying that you are afraid. Help me understand that. Uh huh. Mmmmmmm. I feel your pain. Tell me more. God cares about us. God hears us. But God also acts on our behalf. God sent Jesus to feed, to heal, to teach, to give hope, to give courage, to include the neglected, and to give dignity to the despised. Jesus sends his disciples out to do likewise, acting on behalf of our caring and acting God. God acts through the creature made in His image and likeness. MARK PROCLAIMS A GOD WHO CARES, WHO HEARS, AND WHO ACTS. The God whom Jesus reveals in Mark s Gospel is a God who does something. He mainly uses our hands of course but He has hands other than ours. God did not retire on the Seventh Day to fish and play golf. God is still active in His Creation. This is perhaps one of the most challenging assertions to our modern minds. Do we really believe that when we cry out to God, that He responds and actually does something? Or do we think of prayer as some sort of spiritual therapy we use on ourselves to calm our nerves and give us courage? Is there not a bit of the Jeffersonian 6

7 Deism in many of us? That is to say God is done acting directly in the world; it s now all up to us. FRED CRADOCK,, A GREAT TEACHER OF PREACHERS, TELLS A WONDERFUL STORY THAT ADDRESSES THIS QUESTION. One day a Pastor is visiting a member of his congregation in the hospital. The family has been called in. The man is near death, but he grabs his pastor s arm and begs his preacher to pray for him. Of course the minister does. Fred tells us that his prayer went something like this: Heavenly Father, shower your healing mercies upon your faithful servant who is near death. Restore his health so that he may return to his family. On the other hand, if that is not your will, we pray that he might be given a positive attitude and the courage to accept his situation. In Christ s name we make our prayer. The man whispers Amen. An immediately the dying man opens his eyes, throws his legs over the edge of the hospital bed, jumps up and shouts, I m healed! I m cured. Thank you preacher! Thank you Jesus! And off he runs to find his doctor so that he can be released from the hospital and go home. 7

8 The stunned pastor stumbles out of the hospital room and leaves without a word. He finds his car in the parking lot, gets in and locks the doors. He takes a very deep breath, looks up to the heavens and says, Don t you ever do that to me again! The minister was not prepared to be encountered by the God who cares, listens, and acts. But this is the God Jesus reveals. We are not alone in an uncaring and hostile universe. We have not been tossed into the deep end of the pool with only the words Sink or swim ringing in our ears. God is in the water with us and God cares. God acts. This is the Gospel. 8