SCRIPTURES and SERMON: Proper 7, Year B, June 24, 2012 St. Alban s Episcopal Church of Bexley, Ohio (The Rev.) Susan Marie Smith, Ph.D. Job 38:1-11 Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 Mark 4:35-41 O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your lovingkindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Job 38:1-11 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements-- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? -- when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, `Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'? Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 Page 746, BCP 1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, * and his mercy endures for ever. 2 Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim * that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe. 3 He gathered them out of the lands; * from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 23 Some went down to the sea in ships * and plied their trade in deep waters; 24 They beheld the works of the LORD * and his wonders in the deep. 1
25 Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose, * which tossed high the waves of the sea. 26 They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths; * their hearts melted because of their peril. 27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards * and were at their wits' end. 28 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 29 He stilled the storm to a whisper * and quieted the waves of the sea. 30 Then were they glad because of the calm, * and he brought them to the harbor they were bound for. 31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy * and the wonders he does for his children. 32 Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people * and praise him in the council of the elders. 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, "At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you." See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return-- I speak as to children-- open wide your hearts also. Mark 4:35-41 When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, "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?" Holy God, still our hearts that we might trust you in all things. Amen. 2
I. INTRODUCTION Peace! Be still! Or, as in some translations, Silence! Be still! What do you do when you re terrified? How do you respond when the situation you re in is completely out of your control, and there s nothing you can do? In my family, neither silence nor being still are even on the list. My grandmother was known to be a worrier. She would try not to talk about what was on her mind, but her whole focus was on whatever it was that upset or frightened her. So in the midst of a conversation about the family tree or dinner tonight would suddenly be inserted, What if the test results come back positive? What will I do if my finances don t hold out? How am I going to live as a blind person if this macular degeneration continues? Indeed, those are good questions! And her mind would turn them over this way, and that way, looking for an answer or if not an answer, at least an explanation, or an option. You could see her mind churn and turn in tighter and tighter circles. Her world would become smaller, focused on the source of anxiety, over which she had no control, but could cause her life to change utterly. Another member of my family s approach is to start talking, blocking out any conversation or input, repeating the worry, and trying out newly-imagined negative consequences extended out over time. Well, she didn t come home on time last night. She ll probably come home later and later until I never see her again. One of these days I ll be called down to the police station to haul her out of jail. What will I do if she turns my kitchen into a meth lab? I ll have deformed grandchildren. It reminds me a bit of what we do in a scary basement or haunted house we talk, if not to relieve, at least to mask our terror. But Jesus calls us to silence. BE STILL. He said it to the sea. But then to the disciples, he says, Why are you afraid? Have you no faith? But if the boat had turned over, they could all have been killed. Why wouldn t they be afraid? I don t think Jesus means that they were wrong to react to a life-threatening situation. But he calls us to cultivate a different response than panic, or worry, or talkative churning. He is calling us to respond to situations beyond our control with peace. With silence. With stillness. I almost think, with awe. Perhaps with a kind of humility. I feel he s calling us to trust God, even in the midst of fear and danger. 3
II. JOB AND OVERWHELMING SITUATIONS Of course, if the situation is too terrible, or too holy, there are no words at all. That was the case with Job. He had poured out his whole heart to the Lord, asking for answers, explanations, and options. It isn t fair, God. I did not deserve to lose my family and my land and to have my body racked by such pain and sickness. What in the world are you doing to me?! My family didn t think to talk to God in their worry, but I know lots of people perhaps you do, too who not only blame God but demand that God answer for not having listened to their prayers. It s almost as if they re saying, God, I prayed for this! [I told you what to do!] and you didn t do it. And now look! What s the matter with you?! Or in Job s case, I thought better of you, God. You let me down. And in this beautiful and famous passage, God answers: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements-- surely you know!.. or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? -- when I. and prescribed bounds for it, and said, `Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'? It s not only the sea that has proud waves. We have plans. We have standards. We have expectations. And we don t like them to be thwarted. We think, If you had asked us, God, we could have told you how to make the world a better place, Lord. Skip the mosquitoes. Drop winter. Make the cottonwood trees and the tulip trees less messy, and while you re at it, could you soften the blue-jays edgy shout? Get rid of the dandelions and set it up so that house-lots along the creek don t erode we need to keep our property value. But to our proud waves, the Lord says, SILENCE. BE STILL. Or, in its literal meaning, be muzzled. STOP TALKING, WORRYING, THINKING. Be silent. Turn everything over to the one who laid the foundation of the earth, who created the morning stars to sing together, and the heavenly beings to shout for joy. 4
Still your churning mind and shift your focus to the bigger picture. It s not all about you. There are powers at work here you do not see. And there are reasons for rejoicing you have not noticed. I do not owe you an explanation, says the Lord. But do you not see that you are alive? That you are part of this wondrous universe? Can you notice that you may have been punished, but are not killed. Can you be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing? be poor, yet make many rich? Can you have nothing, and yet realize that you possess everything? Is it possible for you to give thanks, says the Lord, even in the midst of tragedy? I want to share with you a teaching poem from the northwest native Americans. This has been rendered in to English by David Waggoner. A young boy asks an elder the question that most terrifies him: What ever will I do if I get lost in the woods? And here is the elder s answer: Stand still. The trees around you and bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called. Here. And you must treat it as a powerful stranger: must ask permission to know it and be known. Listen! The forest breathes. It says, I have made this place around you; and if you leave it, you may come back again, saying, Here. No two trees are the same to raven. No two branches are the same to wren. If what a tree or branch does is lost on you, then you are truly lost. Stand still. The forest knows where you are. You must let it find you. Susan Marie Smith 5