Lectionary 12B 2021
Grace Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
June 20, 2021
Job 38:1-11
Psalm 107 (various)
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:36-41
I speak to you in the name of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Please pray with me – May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
There was that day. That day in late Spring in Minnesota. I remember it as a weekend because all of us were at home. And there were storms around – rain and thunder and lightning. But then I spied with my very own eye that the skies were changing and the winds were shifting. And the sky became a funny color of pea green, yellowish – not the usual dark grey of thunderstorms. And the winds shifted direction. It was all very unusual.
And then the Air Raid Sirens went off – not because there were incoming enemy bombing attacks but because there could be tornados in the area. I was very alarmed and became only increasingly so as the minutes and then the hours drug on. Mom and Dad weren’t.
They kept on reading the paper, listening to music, putzing in the kitchen. I listened to the sirens and I was terrified.
The fact of the matter is that on that day 2 EF4 tornadoes tore through a neighboring suburb, killing 150, injuring hundreds more, destroying homes and business, schools and community centers. I remember where I was sitting when the sirens first went off, I remember looking to Dad and Mom for assurance, I remember my fear.
And in today’s Gospel reading there is no shortage of fear. The nature of the Sea of Galilee is that storms can come up quite suddenly and they can be violent and raging storms. This storm that raged in today’s Gospel was one of those. And Jesus and his disciples were out in the middle of it. His disciples – many of whom were very experienced fishermen who knew these waters, who were familiar with the storms that can come.
And here they were – in the dark of night – no flashlights or auxiliary lighting to mark the way. And the disciples come to Jesus crying out – don’t you care that we are dying??!! They already knew the end of the story. Death.
What is it to be afraid, to be fearful? Fear is a natural part of the way we are made. It is a protection mechanism. It comes from the oldest part of our brain, the part responsible for our “fight or flight” response. When we feel threatened, when we're afraid, our hair stands on end, we get a burst of adrenalin and we either fight against our attacker or we take flight to run from the threat. Either way, we respond to protect ourselves and our families until the threat has passed. This, I would argue, is a healthy fear. A quick alarm bell that calls us into action. God gifted us with this response to help us preserve our life.
But not all threats need a quick alarm and a “fight or flight” response. There is a second type of fear fraught with anxiety. When a marriage ends, one may fear the future – who am I now? When there is a financial crisis, one may worry – how will I provide for myself and my family? When we don’t get the job that we so wanted and thought we were perfect for – what now? Have I misperceived so many things for so long?
Fear in the face of life events. Fears that generations upon generations have experienced. Fear that propel us to the arms of each other and the arms of God who embraces us and encourages us and sustains us through these storms of life.
And, I think that there is even a third kind of fear -- a fear that is not a response to an immediate threat to our selves or our families. Not a fear because of a major life change or crisis. It is a fear that eats away at our very being. It is a fear that creates a nagging sense of distress and dismay.
It can even change our personality in dramatic ways. It is a fear of coming in last in the game of life. It is a fear that someone else may win and take what we really know to be ours. It is the fear that prompts us to cry out – what about ME?? ALL lives matter! It is a fear that has gripped our society, particularly in recent times.
It is a fear that is being stoked and stirred and prodded and urged by any number of forces around us. This fear is based on a belief that life really IS a game of us vs them, of getting what is mine whether it is wealth or a job or public recognition or status before someone else gets it and I lose. A zero-sum game – if someone else wins, that means I lose and so, at any cost, I better stop them from winning so that there’s enough for me.
This fear paralyzes us, make us act as if we're out of our minds. It causes us to over react and we become defensive, or suspicious of those around us. This fear overtakes us and leads us to think only of ourselves. Me first.
We become unable or unwilling to love our neighbor as ourselves. We begin to think the worst of those around us. Rather than being open and wondering we become skeptical and jaded. And this fear – the fear of losing at the game of life, the fear of missing out on what should be mine – this fear prompts Jesus to cry out to us – don’t you care that you are dying inside my child?
Yet, today’s Gospel – today’s good news -- is the story not only of fear but also of faith
Know this my friends, in the midst of all of our fears, Jesus is persistently present. It is to Jesus that we call out. And, it is Jesus who comes along side of us as we are terrified and fearful and wondering and worried. Jesus. The savior of our souls. Jesus, our companion on the journey. Jesus. The source of our faith. We read in the Scriptures that perfect love casts out fear. Well, I know this for sure – I do not love perfectly. But – Jesus does
Now, we need to talk about one more thing. When Jesus and the disciples were on one side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus said, OK then, time to go to the other side.
Away from Capernaum, their home town, away from that which was familiar, towards the country of the Geraseenes – those “other” folks. You see, Jesus seems rather dissatisfied with letting us live on our side of the lake for very long. So he takes the disciples to the other side. Outside their comfort zones so to speak. And as we have seen, getting to the other side was no easy trip. Nor should we expect that to be the case.
Getting to the other side means a boat ride for sure, a torrential downpour, and dead calm. That’s what happens when Jesus moves us from one place to another. And that’s also the nature of change.
We too are called to set out for the other side. And we too have fears. There is a climate of fear in this country and even in the church to talk about any number of things – the sin of racism and the scourge of poverty. I was this many years old when I learned about Juneteenth and I was this many years old when I learned about the massacre in Tulsa. The educational institutions that taught me for twenty-five years failed in some dramatic ways. We often neglect the care for the stranger among us as Jesus himself taught. We're afraid of offending our friends or members of our family. We seek to rationalize or justify or excuse our inattention. We’re afraid of “stirring things up,” as if things aren't stirred up already.
But Jesus tells us that in the midst of our fears and worries, we are to live in the faith that is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is not of our own creation. It is one more of God’s gifts to us.
You see, when Jesus says, “Let us go across to the other side,” he isn't sending us across on our own. He promises to be with us every step of the way. And when he says “Where is your faith?” he isn't trying to belittle us. He's telling us that faith empowers us so that we are not paralyzed by our fear, that we are emboldened to be disciples and followers of Jesus as we set out on the Sea to the other side. Knowing that Jesus and his perfect love go with us.
The challenges we face – both individually and as the Church -- are many – gun violence is at an all time high, hate crimes are at an all time high, people are assaulted because someone asks them to adjust their face mask to cover their nose, racism rears its ugly head across our country in more ways than can be counted.
So yes, 6 years ago a young white man was invited into a Bible Study and he killed the 9 other black people present because he hoped to start a race war. Five years ago 49 people were killed at the Pulse Night Club a mere 50 miles from here because they were of the LGBTQ+ community. Four years ago at the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, neo-Nazis and white nationalists demonstrated and violence broke out and one person intentionally drove into a crowd and killed. And this year has seen a record number of mass shootings this year, 247 as of May 31st, leaving 283 dead and over 1000 injured.
The storms are many, let there be no doubt. And sometimes we may be fearful that they will overwhelm us. Yet we are called to step out, to shine the light of Christ, to be bearers of the kingdom of heaven, to be peacemakers, to be truth-tellers, to be brave, and to do this together.
When Jesus told the disciples, “let's go across to the other side,” nobody asked, “what if there are storms?” They knew that storms were a real possibility. Nobody asked, “Why, what's over there? Is it really worth all the trouble?” – all they knew is that Jesus was telling them to go.
Let us set out, with Jesus leading the way.
Please pray with me – O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And all God’s people said: Amen.
