Pentecost II, Cycle B

June 22, 2003

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Lessons:  Job 38:1-11;  2 Corinthians 6:1-13;  St. Mark 4:35-41

     How are the seas, around the boat of your life, today?  Calm?  Peaceful, like rippled glass on a clear day?  Or are the seas around the boat of your life, choppy?  Stirred up?  Tumultuous?  And do you feel safe and secure, in life?  Or are you frightened?  Anxious?  Terrified?  In fear of going under?

     We hear today, in our gospel lesson, about a time when Jesus and his disciples got into a boat, and were heading across to the other side.  And as they were going, a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was being swamped--at least, the disciples thought it was being swamped.  The disciples were freaked out--they were panicking--they were afraid--of going under!  And boy, can some of us relate to that!  Boy, does that hit home for some of us, today--I imagine!

     The reality is, that on any given Sunday, some of us come to church, calm and at peace.  Things are going well, and we're at a good place in life.  My guess is that there are some few of us who feel that way this morning.  But my pastoral sensitivity says--the number is very few--fewer than we might imagine.  Oh, I can look out at each of you, and you all come to church looking pretty controlled and at ease.  Who wants to come to church looking--wacked out?  We're good at appearing, comfortable and in control.  When inside, our stomachs are churning, as if we are right there in that rolling, rocking boat, on the storm-tossed sea, with the disciples!  When I was first in the ministry, I thought the way folks APPEARED at church was an accurate reflection of how they really were, in life.  But I've learned--oh, I've learned that there may some very few of us who are calm and peaceful--but most of us--in some sense, are right there in the boat with Peter, James and John and all the rest!  I've learned most of us, at any given time, feel the boat of our lives is being pounded on by the waves, and thrown up and down on the sea, so violently, that we wonder, if we will survive?  We wonder, if we can make it through, this storm, this hurricane, this upheaval?  And what are these winds and waves that assail us?  What is it that leaves us feeling so, fearful and anxious in life?

     Stresses in your marriage.  Sometimes, a difficulty and a distance that leads to an affair--and then, the pain and shame that comes after.  Parenting--whether it's the challenge of keeping up with preschoolers, or the pressure of juggling schedules and homework and team practices, or the gut-wrenching experience of trying to help your teenager through depression, or mental illness, or low self-esteem, or alcoholism or drug abuse.  Employment, or unemployment.  Grief over the loss of a parent, or a beloved friend, and the big empty hole their passing leaves in us.  Financial worries in a depressed economy.  A spouse deployed to Iraq.  Uncertainty as you wait for medical tests.  An unexplained lump in your breast.  Going back to school--graduating from school and looking for a job.  Leaving the military--moving overseas--returning from an overseas assignment.  September 11th--the threat of continuing terrorism--worries about travel, here and abroad.  Any one of these, alone, can stir up the waves around our boat--but, the reality is, rarely do any one of these come, alone.  Unemployment usually brings uncertainty, and financial stress, and marital strains.  A spouse deployed, often means struggle for children in the family, and that means greater pressure on the parent still at home.  A teenager who's using marijuana usually means a change in personality, and fighting in the home, and a drain on the parent's energy and ability to deal with other family issues.  It's rarely one big wind and wave that crashes quickly into our boat, and then leaves us calm again.  It seems like it can be thunder, and lightning, and wave after wave, and rain, and wind that keep after us, so that it can seem like our boat is filling up, and we do indeed, fear that we will be swamped!  And the real kicker is--when we find ourselves in storms like that, in life--our fear, begins to raise questions and doubts--about ourselves--but even worse, about Jesus.  Who hasn't wondered, if only for a fleeting moment, in the midst of a horrible storm in life, whether in fact, Jesus is asleep in the stern.  We question whether Jesus is at all aware of what we're going through?  We wonder, if he even cares--that we seem to be sinking!  In spite of the great windstorms that beat on us--the most devastating of all--is the worry, that maybe, we're all alone in the boat.  That while we're struggling, and anxious, and upset in life, Jesus is asleep, all comfortable on a cushion-y cloud up in heaven.  Which, as we know, cognitively, intellectually, is not true. But fear, worry, anxiety, is rarely based in fact, or truth--it's irrational, based on how we feel in our gut.  We feel alone and forsaken, so we wonder if maybe, after all, Jesus isn't our Lord and Savior.   We're experiencing great storms in life, so we question whether Jesus IS with us, always, even to the close of the age.  And this experience of the disciples, with Jesus, in the boat, on the raging sea, aims to reassure us, that though Jesus may be silent for a time--though it may appear to us, that Jesus doesn't care that we feel we are perishing--He is, still, with us in the boat.  Jesus is still, with you, today, as the storms and wind and waves, whirl around you, and within you.  And our lesson assures us, when you call upon him, He responds.  Our lesson assures us, that Jesus is Lord, not only of your life, but He is Lord of the storms and the winds and the waves.  As Lord and God, he can calm them.  But even more importantly,  he can calm us.  He can calm you…with just a word…"Peace!  Be still!"  If Jesus can control the windstorms of life, then of course, he can control our fear and worry and agitation.  In the account of the disciples in the boat in the windstorm, the focus is not, on the disciples, nor on the storm, nor, necessarily, on the fear and lack of faith of the disciples.  Yes, Jesus challenges the fear of the disciples, because in Jesus' eyes, fear is the enemy of faith--fear keeps us from faith--faith, casts out fear.  Yes, Jesus makes it clear that the more we trust Him, the less we will fear.  But then, He shows us why we can trust Him--why He is worthy of our faith, as He calms the storm--with but, His words…"Peace!  Be still!" And just as the wind ceased, and there was a complete calm--Jesus' words have that same power, to calm you and me, and bring us peace.  And we hear Jesus' words, today, not to inform us about a past event--not to teach us about Jesus' life on earth, 2000 years ago--but so that in our hearing, His powerful words will work their power, again, in us.  We hear Jesus' words today, so that they will be for us--so that His command will still the storms inside us, calm our irrational fears, bring us peace--a peace, indeed, which surpasses all human understanding.  We hear Jesus' words today, so that, in our hearing them, the wind inside us will cease, and there will come upon us, a complete calm.  Jesus speaks, to you, today--saying, "Peace!  Be still!"  And we echo those words, when we say to one another, "the peace of the Lord be with you always."  So that, when we hear those words--when we experience the peace, the stillness, the calm of the Lord--we will not have to ask, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"  We will know, it is the Lord.  The Lord is with us--with you--now--and will be with you, as you set out after church to row the boat of your life, through the week ahead, to next Sunday's worship, on the other side.  He is with you, and will go with you, to bring you, whenever you need it--His peace--His calm--His stability, even while the storms of life assail you.  So, if you need it today--if today, storms in life are assailing you--if you hear anything, this morning, as we gather, hear these, powerful, commanding, life-transforming words of Jesus, "Peace--Be still!"  And, the peace of the Lord, be with you, always.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.