Mark 4:35-41
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “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?”
The story today is a story about fear and Jesus’ response to the fear shown by those around him. Jesus had been traveling about the region, preaching and healing people, and crowds came from all the surrounding towns and followed him. At the end of one long day he called for his disciples to bring their fishing boat around so they could push away from shore and all the crowds for a while.
That night a great storm arose and the waves threatened to swamp their boat. The frightened disciples woke the sleeping Jesus in fear that they would drown. When he woke, he spoke to the waves and told them to be still. The storm abated and all was calm. He then asked the disciples why they were afraid. Did they still have no faith?
So—why are we afraid? In this time of a pandemic which has killed almost 100,000 people in this country alone, we have good reason to be afraid, it seems to us. This story isn’t telling us to pretend we aren’t afraid, or to deny our fear. But fear leads to confusion and rushing about trying to “do something” or else simply running away — none of which are particularly helpful. When Jesus tells the waves to “be still,” he is also speaking to his frightened followers. “Be still,” and once you are stlll you can remember that God is here with us and we are not alone.
Years before, in Psalm 46, the Psalmist wrote these words: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult." Later in the same psalm we find one of the most calming lines in all of scripture: “Be still, and know that I am God!”
Be still, and know that whatever the world can throw at us, God is with us. We can pray for safety; we can pray for our loved ones; we can pray for wisdom — and we can move on in faith, even in the midst of our fear, even when things that appear to us to be bad things happen -- for God will always be with us, holding us in love and care.
That night a great storm arose and the waves threatened to swamp their boat. The frightened disciples woke the sleeping Jesus in fear that they would drown. When he woke, he spoke to the waves and told them to be still. The storm abated and all was calm. He then asked the disciples why they were afraid. Did they still have no faith?
So—why are we afraid? In this time of a pandemic which has killed almost 100,000 people in this country alone, we have good reason to be afraid, it seems to us. This story isn’t telling us to pretend we aren’t afraid, or to deny our fear. But fear leads to confusion and rushing about trying to “do something” or else simply running away — none of which are particularly helpful. When Jesus tells the waves to “be still,” he is also speaking to his frightened followers. “Be still,” and once you are stlll you can remember that God is here with us and we are not alone.
Years before, in Psalm 46, the Psalmist wrote these words: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult." Later in the same psalm we find one of the most calming lines in all of scripture: “Be still, and know that I am God!”
Be still, and know that whatever the world can throw at us, God is with us. We can pray for safety; we can pray for our loved ones; we can pray for wisdom — and we can move on in faith, even in the midst of our fear, even when things that appear to us to be bad things happen -- for God will always be with us, holding us in love and care.
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