Calming the Waters
sermon based on Mark 4:35-41
by Rev. Randy Quinn

One of the comments my wife Ronda has made about me is that whatever book I just read is always the most important book I’ve read.  It probably seems that way at times; but the truth is that whatever book I just read is always the one I remember the most.  (My memory doesn’t allow me to remember too many things at one time, I guess.)

Having said that, the book I just finished reading, The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner, made me ask a different set of questions as I looked at our text for today.  Glassner makes a strong case for the role of the media in the kinds of fears we have – fears that often have no basis in reality.

As he explored the social and psychological reasons we become afraid of things, he concludes that we are often willingly duped into fearing the wrong things because we don’t want to face the things we really ought to fear.

That made me wonder what the Disciples were really afraid of the night the storm came.  And I was struck by an interesting part of the story that I hadn’t really noticed before.

Jesus is the one who tells them to go to the other side of the Lake (v. 35).  They are the ones who choose the means of transportation – a logical answer to the question of how to get there.  But Jesus is a carpenter.  Many of the disciples are fishermen.  And there are several boats that accompany them (v. 36).

And not a one of them, not one of the sailors in the crowd, balks at the suggestion that Jesus get into the boat.  No one is afraid of the dark, and no one seems to be afraid of whatever storm may already be brewing.

Now, it’s possible that the storm came up suddenly.  I mean, strange things do happen at sea.

One of the most amazing recent things to happen at sea happened to some Japanese fishermen.  They were fortunate enough to be picked up out of the water after their boat capsized and sank[1].

But when the maritime officials asked them what happened, they were all put in jail.  Every single sailor on that boat said a cow had fallen out of the sky and when it landed on their boat the cow caused it to tip over and sink.  Their story convinced everyone that they had been out at sea while under the influence of alcohol.  And so they were arrested.

After almost two years, they were found to be innocent.

That was after the Russian Ambassador reported to the Japanese officials that a Russian aircrew had tried to steal a cow from a rural airport runway.  They thought they would have enough beef for everyone on board the cargo plane – as well as their families.  But the bull kicked and fought so much they were afraid it would puncture the aircraft so they dropped it out of the sky from 30,000 feet into the Sea of Japan.

Strange things happen at sea.

But what is not so unusual is the tendency to shift the blame.

The Disciples are the supposed experts on the water.  They are the ones who own the boats.  They are the ones who have learned how to fish and where to fish.  They are the ones who decided the best way to get to the other side is by water.  Why are they afraid and why are they blaming Jesus for it?

Ah.  That is where we find an interesting fact in the story.  Jesus told them to go “to the other side,” to the land of the Gentiles.  He is telling them to go to a place they find frightening.  Maybe it isn’t the storm as much as it is the destination that they fear.

In his early years of ministry, John Wesley made his way to Georgia.  He came to evangelize the Indians and to serve the British citizens who had settled in the new colony.  But Wesley wasn’t sure about his own faith yet.  He wasn’t sure he could be a missionary.  He had serious doubts about the voyage.

On the way there, a storm came up.  If you read his diary of the event, you will likely recognize the description of a hurricane.  Fierce winds came blowing from one direction for a full day.  Then there was a dead calm before the winds began to blow from the other direction.

It was a terrifying experience for the crew.  But Wesley noticed a group of Moravians who were on board.  They sat quietly in their chairs, singing psalms and praising God.  There was no sense of fear that he could detect.

Unlike Wesley, they were not afraid of their destination.  If it was Georgia or the bottom of the sea, they were convinced God would be with them.  They were willing to trust God no matter what happened. 

(Now, I am not suggesting that we all become stoics and leave everything to fate.  The Moravians were not sailors.  They could not assist the crew in keeping the ship afloat – although I am convinced that any sailor who was a Moravian would work hard to save the ship while trusting God to bring them to a safe harbor.)

The Disciples are afraid of what’s on the other side of Galilee.  Like all fears, it is illogical, but they are afraid to face the Gentiles who live there.

It may be they are afraid of what people will think of them for having associated with the Gentiles.  It may be they are afraid Jesus will offer the same message of salvation to the Gentiles – a fear based in a sense of God’s limited resources that will somehow diminish what they received from God.  It may be they are afraid the Gentiles will reject them and they will be chased away.

Whatever it is, I am convinced they are more afraid of the destination than they are the storm.  Storms they have seen before; a visit to Gentile territory is an adventure over which they have no control and no previous experience.  So they simply shift the focus of their fear as they shift the blame onto Jesus.

“Don’t you care if we drown?” they ask (v. 38).

Notice the sailors ask the carpenter for help.  What do they expect him to do?

I think they expect him to say, “You’re right.  Let’s go back.  It’s not a good idea to go to Gentile territory.  I’ve changed my mind.”

But instead of turning the boats around, he calms the sea.  And instead of calming their fears, their fears are increased.  “Who is this man!?” they ask with a sense of awe and fear (v. 41).

As I said earlier, all of our fears are irrational.  But we all have them.  Some of us are more afraid of one thing than another, but we all have fears.  And there are also some common fears among us.

Ø  Like the disciples, we are often afraid of people who are different than we are.

Ø  Like John Wesley, we are often afraid of nature’s fury.

Ø  Most of us are afraid of change.

But what often happens, according to Glassner, is we shift our focus from the real fear to something else.  In many United Methodist Churches, for example, this Sunday is the last Sunday with one pastor and next Sunday will be the first for a new pastor.  There is a fear of change that comes with a change of pastors.

But rather than dealing with the fear, many congregations will shift the focus of their fear so they become angry at the Bishop or the Annual Conference or even the pastor who is leaving.  It’s easier to be angry than it is to be afraid.  And we don’t even realize we are doing it, either.

The disciples are afraid of the Gentiles.  So they shift the focus of their fear and become angry with Jesus who has brought them out into the middle of the lake in the middle of the night.

I am convinced that God has some exciting things in store for this church.  I don’t know what those things are, exactly.  But I believe God has something in mind.  Our role, our task is to listen to God’s voice and follow God’s direction.

We may be afraid of what it will look like.

We may be afraid of what it might require of us.

We may be afraid of relinquishing control and letting go of the outcome.

But God will be with us.  Jesus was in the boat with the disciples.  We can trust in God to lead us.  We can let God determine our future for us.

And while I am convinced God has some exciting things in store for us, I am also convinced that along the way there will come storms and opportunities to shift the blame and to point fingers.  In those times it will be especially important to remember that God is with us.  Jesus is in the boat.  We will not sink – and even if we do, we can learn from the Moravians what John Wesley learned – that God is with us.

During Bible Study this week, Helen told the story of her son playing ball.  She almost missed one game during his last year of High School – almost.  By a series of events that can only be described as miraculous, she arrived in time to see her son play.

It was years later that she learned from him that he always started the game by looking to see if his mother was in the stands.  Once he saw her, he didn’t need to look again.  He could play with confidence.

God is with us.  We don’t need to look in the stands for evidence of God’s presence.  We know it’s true, today and always.

God is with us.

Thanks be to God.  Ame

---

[1]  I vaguely remember the story; it was retold in a sermon I found in Lectionary Homiletics (2003), p. 29.