Have you ever seen images or film clips of the stock exchange- I think it would be an awfully chaotic environment – there seems to be noise and everyone out for themselves. There’s a similar environment sometimes in political debates in parliament – the speaker of the house on occasions having to cry order, order.
In our gospel reading Jesus brings order out of chaos. He calms the raging waters. He is not worried by the chaos, he’s asleep . It’s the disciples who seem terrified; first, at Jesus’ is inactivity and then by the fact that he could still the storm. Jesus’ question to them was why are you afraid? Have you still no faith? The disciples response? Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
It’s not uncommon for storms to whip up on the Sea of Galilee- today in the car parks on the waters edge on the north Coast there are warning signs against what can happen when sudden winds whip up, the waters can come in and damage the vehicles, maybe even put life at risk. Storms are a normal thing.
And as much as we might not want it to be true, metaphorical storms are also true of life. Things come along that can grip us with fear, change our world, knock us off our feet, turn us around. They might affect our confidence, feeling of safety and security and even our relationship with God. Have we ever questioned God why something was allowed to happen, have we questioned if God is there? Have we questioned his apparent inactivity? Being in a relationship with God through Jesus doesn’t exclude us from storms.
Jesus calming the storm is a miracle – demonstrating Jesus’ power over nature but I think it is in many ways also a parable. This miracle follows on from parables about Gods kingdom and is a physical representation of Jesus ushering in this new kingdom. Life, as we’ve discussed, can have a lot of chaos. Jesus, through this miracle, is aligning himself with the Creator God who brings order out of chaos. There is a lot of Old Testament imagery and ideas being used in Mark’s storytelling to demonstrate this.
The first creation account in Genesis 1 shows God in his creativity bringing about order, the rhythmic flow of the first account of the creation story conveys that sense of structure and order – everything has its place.
There are also echoes in this miracle of Jonah – the storm came up as Jonah was escaping his calling – there was a wrestle between the fears and powers at war within Jonah that prevented Gods word from being preached – when Jonah surrendered his life the storm calmed.
In the book of Daniel the sea is where monsters come from. For Jews, the sea came to symbolise for them the dark power of evil threatening to destroy God‘s good creation, God‘s people, God’s purposes. What threatens that in our life – fear? Apathy? thinking we aren’t good enough to share truths about Jesus?
The Psalms speak of the creator God who rules the raging sea, telling its rough and threatening waves to quiet down.
Psalm 65:7 – you silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the people
Psalm 89:9 – you rule the raging of the sea; when it’s waves rise, you still them
Psalm 93:3-4 – the floods have lifted up, O lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. More majestic than the thunders of mighty Waters, more majestic than the waves of the Sea, Majestic and high is the Lord!
So this miracle account would resonate with the listeners – here is Jesus aligning himself with creator God who calms the seas. ‘Just as in Daniel 7 the monsters have come up from the sea finally put to flight by ‘one like a son of man’ so here Jesus assumes the role of God’s agent in defeating the forces of chaos.’
Jesus’ confidence and trust in God lead to his ability to be asleep in the midst of a storm. ‘The forces of evil, are roused, angry and threatening, but Jesus is so confident of God‘s presence and power that he can fall asleep on a pillow.’
I think we can struggle with Jesus’ words : have you still no faith? They can feel a bit like an admonishment and I think sometimes as Christian’s we can use sentiments like that in a harmful way – if you have more faith then you wouldn’t be experiencing x y or z. I think Jesus’ statement here is much more filled with compassion – longing for their confidence to be in him that they will weather the storm because he is there with them in it.
Psalm 107:23-30 speaks into this – ‘someone went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty Waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven.; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity; they reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he brought them out from their distress; he made the storm be still and the waves of the sea hushed. Then they were glad because they had quiet and he brought them to their desired Haven.’
The Christian life is not one without hardship. Afflictions come but it is truth of who Jesus is – that he reveals time and time again throughout the gospel – a God of power who brings order out of chaos – that leads to eternal calm and rest.
JC Ryle writes: by affliction he teaches us many precious lessons which without it we should never learn. By affliction he shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws us to the throne of grace, purifies our affections, weans us from the world, makes us long for heaven.
I love v30 of psalm 107: Then they were glad because they had quiet and he brought them to their desired Haven.
Who then is Jesus? He is the one we trust in the storms of life, the one we can question and cry out to in our distress , the one who has power and brings order amongst the chaos – until he brings us to our eternal rest. Let’s hold on to him as we weather the storm knowing he is in the boat.
What are the storms you are experiencing whether in your own life- or because of situations you see in the world around you. What are your questions , doubts and fears ? We can bring them to him. And that’s what we’re going to do right now.
Sermon presented at St. George’s 23rd June 2024 by Claire
St. George's Church Ramsgate 