The “I” of the Storm

June 21, 2009

Mark 4:35-41 & 2 Corinthians 6:1-10

The water around Jesus was nothing like the water that grazed Abby’s and Will’s foreheads with God’s grace.

This water is peaceful and safe. That water was stormy and rough. Like you didn’t know. You heard it and felt it Thursday night into Friday morning, right?

An evening cruise on the Sea of Galilee, turned into a 3-hour tour, “a 3-hour tour …”

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed …

Ta da da da, ta da da da …

It was all hands on deck … except for Jesus, who was sleeping.

When the storm finally let up and they set foot on firm ground on Gilligan’s Island – er, the Galilean shore – a man was waiting to step out of the tombs and accost them … a man with an unclean spirit.

That’s how it was with Jesus: always going from one storm to the next, one crisis to another.

Whether touching a leper or befriending a foreigner, his life was a series of dangerous crossings – a continual perilous crossing of boundaries, customs and rules. (The concept of “dangerous crossings” comes from Kate Layzer, Christian Century, 6/16/2009, p. 18.)

• The Son of God, born in human flesh (a boundary crossed between heaven and earth),

• Speaking to women, though it was strictly forbidden (another boundary),

• Picking grain on the sabbath

• Eating with the poor and outcast,

• Welcoming sinners and forgiving their sins,

• Calling God “Father” – and not just “Father,” but “Abba,” which means “Daddy” (which sounds nice on this Father’s Day, but was blasphemy to the ears of the Pharisees and scribes),

• Speaking with authority greater than the temple priests and educated elites,

• Dying between criminals,

• And rising to life …

His whole existence was one risky crossing after another. A guy could get crucified doing stuff like that. That’s another story.

* *

What matters today is that Jesus speaks and God’s word is revealed. Jesus speaks, and the wind and sea bend to his will. He speaks, and God’s work of creation is reenacted, chaos is put to flight and order is given.

Do you remember Genesis 1, verse 2? “Darkness covered the face of the deep,” – Jesus was crossing in darkness – “and a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said …”

Only now, Jesus said. And everything changed. Jesus shouted “Peace! Be still!” Or maybe he whispered. In any case he got Nature’s attention. And the world was transformed.

The sea grew calm. And the sailor’s pulse quickened. They were in awe.

Once upon a time, God separated water from water for the second day of creation. Once upon a time, God rolled back waves, so that Israel could get away from Pharaoh. Once upon a time, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “When you pass through the waters, [do not fear]; I will be with you.”

Only now, “once upon a time” is right before their eyes. It isn’t a fairy tale any more, if ever it was.

When Jesus spoke over and into the water, the sailor’s knew it was that same voice that thundered over the water in Genesis 1. The same voice that told Pharaoh, “Set my people free.” The same voice that they thought was reserved exclusively for the prophets to hear. Only now that Voice was in the back of the boat beside them, echoing over the eons, from a time before time.

They were in awe, overcome with amazement and wonder. “Who is this,” they asked, “that the wind and water obey?”

But they knew. It was the same One who said to Moses, “I am who I am.”

There in the boat, right beside them, sat the great “I am” – the “I” of the storm.

* *

It would be nice if all our religious experiences had the same “bop-me-upside-the-head” quality. But they don’t. Or maybe we just don’t believe it when they do. We can’t believe that great God Almighty would stoop low and gentle enough to do that for us.

But the point is made. God is present in our storms. We are not alone.

I think that’s what the Apostle Paul is saying too, though I never have appreciated his linear thinking style quite as much as I enjoy the Gospels. I prefer a story over the moral.

Even so, Paul reminds us that God is not far away. “Now is the acceptable time,” he declares. “Now is the day of salvation.”

Right now.

Yes, there are “afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, [hard] labor, sleepless nights and hunger” – all of which the Apostle had had to endure first hand.

Yet in the midst of those storms (metaphorical, though they were), God helped Paul and other first century Christians to survive. Though, as Mark says, “the boat was already being swamped,” they did not have to jump ship.

My question therefore, for all of you today, is this: When Abby and Will run into “storms” in their lives, will they see only the troubled waters around them? Or will they remember the peaceful water of their baptism? Will they feel “sunk,” or will they know they are not alone? Will they be afraid and devoid of all faith, or will they row for shore?

Okay. I said I had one question, and that’s a bunch. I’ll reduce them to this: “What about you?

(By the way, there’s an old Russian proverb, I think I’ve shared it with you before. It says, “Pray to God, but row for shore.”)

We’ve had our share of storms lately, and I’m not just talking about Thursday night. Economic storms. Political storms. Medical storms. Household storms. Storms that follow the death of loved ones. Read the paper. Watch the news. You don’t even have to wait for the weather to come on. Talk to someone sitting beside you in the pew.

Like Jesus, our lives are one perilous crossing after another.

Can we remember through it all that Jesus is in the boat with us? The “I” of the storm has made his way to us?

Yes, there will be other storms, even if he stills this one. The same storm may come back to hit us again. Those who have been in the eye of other storms know that’s how it is, sometimes.

But we are not alone. Through thick and thin, we are accompanied by the One who says, “Peace!” and “Be calm!” … “Take it easy!” not only to the storm, but also to us. And who can back it up in ways that cause us to say, “Whoa-ho!” and “Wow!”

Moreover, there are other boats in the same water with us. Mark says that. (What a curious detail!) “Other boats were there with him,” he says.

If you ever feel like Jesus is not in your boat, maybe he’s in one of the other boats near by … Looking out for us all … Causing the wind and waves to obey …

And reminding us that we too can care about those other boats and the people in them.

We’re not Christian simply to hoard Christ’s benefits exclusively for ourselves. We are Christian, because we know he takes care of us all.

So we don’t have to panic. We don’t have to be cynical and bitter, negative or rude. We can live by the same grace that splashed out of troubled water onto Will’s and Abby’s face a short time ago.

* *

It takes faith to be able to do that. Faith to trust God during our perilous crossings. Faith in the future that God continues to create.

But it also takes good memory of the past. We’ve always made it to the other shore. Time and time again, we have lived to tell the story. We need to remember that.

Awesome and amazing as it may sound, we haven’t gone under. Not yet.

Thanks be to God!