Readings
Job 38:1-11
Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41
Whether looking at our current political state, our current social state, or the state of the environment it is, for many of us, hard not to be afraid. We live in a country that is deeply divided politically and socially. We need not look far in our news sources (regardless of which source you choose) to see the fabric of our society fraying, with some within our society ready and willing to resort to violence to achieve their ends. In the environment we continue to see the impacts of our choices, whether that be the loss of biodiversity, deforestation, or the ever-increasing amount of plastics polluting our land and our water. And if that weren’t enough the truth of the global climate crisis is becoming increasingly evident as we look at another season of high temperatures and raging wildfires. Yes, friends, it is hard not to be afraid and an increasing number of us are asking the question, “where is the hope?”
Today’s Gospel passage, if we take time to look at it, has something to say that may be of help to us in our current circumstances. In today’s Gospel story Jesus and his disciples are on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus commends them to take a boat with the intent of crossing to the other side. While they are making the journey a windstorm comes up that is so severe that the boat is taking on water and in danger of being swamped. Jesus, however, is asleep in the stern of the boat despite everything that is going on. We can almost hear the incredulity of the disciples as they wake him and ask “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Now, Jesus wakes up and rebukes the wind and says to the sea “Peace, be still!” And at once the storm goes away and they are in the midst of a dead calm. Jesus then chides the disciples for their lack of faith and the disciples are struck with awe and a different kind of fear as they wonder at who Jesus is that he can command the wind and the waves.
It would be easy for us to dumb down this story to a simple miracle story that once again proves that Jesus is God. But if we do that we miss an important teaching going on. For weeks now we have been hearing Jesus’ teaching about the nature of God, the nearness of the Kingdom, and the importance of faith. Today’s passage brings into stark relief the power of faith and what the antithesis of faith looks like.
The issue at hand in the boat, the issue that Jesus names as the pinch point, is not the disciples’ doubt. The issue is their fear. Their fear is why Jesus’ asks them why they have no faith. Rather than trusting the witness of Jesus and his calm in the stern of the boat they are captivated by their fear that the boat is sinking and that they are going to die.
If you are like me, then you grew up probably thinking that the opposite of faith is doubt. You probably grew up thinking that doubt or uncertainty is the great enemy of faith.
But in today’s Gospel fear is the antithesis of faith, not doubt. The disciples are so captivated by their fear that they cannot trust what is being witnessed right before them. Jesus, even in the midst of the storm, sleeps. His behavior communicates something. Namely, that all shall be well.
But what do the disciples see when they look at Jesus in the midst of the storm? At best they see indifference. It isn’t until he performs a miracle that they are reoriented.
One of the most common epithets in the Bible when God choose to reveal himself to others is “fear not.” Have you ever stopped to wonder about that?
If we stop and think about it fear is one of the most primitive emotions we have. In its proper context it is there to insure our survival. Fear helps us to get focused, helps us to make one of two decisions: do I run or do I fight. Fear kicks in our adrenaline and all of our neuroreceptors that heighten our senses. So, fear is a good thing when our life is on the line, when faced with something like a dangerous animal in the wild.
But fear has its limitations too. In order to accomplish all that it does, it has to shut down the rest of our brain and redirect all our resources to the fight or flight response. It lends itself to black and white thinking. It eliminates our creativity. All of our higher functions go missing. In short, while captive to fear, we devolve into a more animal state and lose much of our humanity.
Faith, on the other hand, energizes and excites our higher functions. Faith gets us imagining all the possibilities that God has for us and the world about us. Faith relies not simply on yes/no, black/white, right/wrong thinking. Faith calls us into a world of grace and beauty, a world in which there are far more questions than answers. A world in which we are made in the image of God and partners with Christ in ushering in the Kingdom of God.
You see, if the disciples had chosen faith over fear, perhaps they would have recognized that there was nothing to be afraid of. Perhaps they would have trusted in the witness of Jesus sleeping. Perhaps they would have recognized their ability to ride out the storm and survive. Perhaps, even, they would have found it within themselves to calm the storm. Remember, Jesus tells the disciples in the Gospel of Matthew “if you have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move.”
Now does that mean that the situation they found themselves in wasn’t serious? No, by all accounts they were in pretty dire circumstances. The issue, however, was their lack of faith. The issue was them allowing themselves to become captive to their fear.
Now, to go back to where we started. We too find ourselves in pretty serious circumstances. We are in the midst of our own proverbial storm. But we would do well to learn from the story we have just examined. We would do well to remember that we are called to be people of faith, not fear. Are we willing to set aside our fears enough to imagine the world as if God is in charge? Are we willing to recognize that through Jesus there is an alternative narrative to the one we are getting from our social and secular sources?
Imagine what the world might be like if we took our faith and applied to all those things that elicit our fear. Imagine if we approached the questions plaguing our world right now from a place of faith instead of fear. Perhaps we would discover that we are not enemies. Perhaps we would discover that we can make a difference. Perhaps we would discover that God is not asleep in the stern but ready, through us, to calm the winds and still the waters.
And if all of that leaves you filled with doubts about how to move ahead, that’s okay. Remember doubt is not the antithesis of faith, fear is. Doubt, in its proper context, can sharpen our faith and lead us to deeper faith. Our questions only lead us to deeper faith.
Even as we sit on our small boat in the midst of the storm, may we not fear. May we, as we work against the storm find the grace to not just survive but to thrive. May we see in the calmness of our Lord, not a lack of care or indifference, but a call to our own faith and calm. And may we be people of faith, who when called to act are like Jesus. May God, through our faith, bless this world and all our lives within it.