The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7B), June 21, 2015 　[Father’s Day]

Mark 4:35–41
35On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

There are two famous stories in the New Testament where Jesus stills storms. The first is today’s Gospel reading in Mark 4 and the other is in Mark 6. In Mark 4 Jesus is sleeping in the boat and is awakened by the disciples and then stills the storm. In Mark 6 only the disciples are in the boat and Jesus comes walking on the water and then still the storm. We love these stories because they give us hope that Jesus will still the storms in our lives. We see the power that Jesus has. He can control nature because he is God. He can help us because he loves us and cares for us. Like walking on the water, he comes to us when we need him the most. Like Jesus peacefully sleeping in the boat, he is not worried, and so we trust Jesus to be with us in the midst of our storms and so it takes away our worries and fears.

So the main points are
★ that Jesus has power over nature,
★ that Jesus can help and does help and so can save his disciples and us when in distress,
★ that we can trust Jesus,
★ that if it seems that Jesus is asleep it is because he knows the future and knows that things will be all-right, and
★ that in our fears and troubles we should pray to Jesus because we know that he does care that we are perishing.

So, what storms in life have almost sunk your boats? What problems have you had? Accidents, natural disasters, fires, sickness, arguments, battles, regrets, worries, typhoons, etc. etc. etc. How has Jesus helped and saved you.

Now comes the time in the sermon when the preacher should give a witness in his life where Jesus has saved him from near death. There have many been times when I have panicked and prayed and then praised the Lord who was pleased to protect me. But I do not have any interesting, or dramatic stories to tell.

And so, this is the time for a preacher to open his book of sermon illustrations to find a nice story or to go on line to a place like sermon-stories.com or something. Many good preachers do this, and I have to admit that I enjoy a good story that shows God working in someone’s life. It also helps to make the sermon longer or more interesting.

If this morning were a Bible study session rather than a sermon, I would want to go around the table and ask people to tell about a time when God stilled a storm in their lives. It would make a good topic for us to talk about during coffee time after church. The theme would be “from panic to prayer and then to praising the Lord.”

We can also look in the Bible. We get courage from the Apostle Paul. In his ministry he suffered many hardships which he wrote about in today’s Second Reading. And yet he has confidence in the promise of God. St. Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 in 2 Corinthians 6:2. “Thus says the LORD, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ”

Sometimes we pray and pray but it seems that Jesus is just sleeping in the back of the boat. I think that at a time like that, Jesus is sending a message that we should not worry, because he is not worried. He knows our problems and knows that we can handle them by the talents and gifts of the Holy Spirit he has already given us.

Sometimes Jesus sends help in the form of another person: a father, a friend, a lifeguard, a life jacket, the coast guard, a doctor, a minister, etc. Jesus helps us through many different ways.

There is something that I personally think is interesting. After the panic and prayer, there is the anticipation of how God is going to perform his saving miracle. To pray is to place our problems into God providence, into his hands. If you have never tried that, you should. It puts hope and trust and confidence and even a bit of amusement into the disasters that come upon us. We pray, “Okay, God. How are you going to solve this problem? What miracle are you going to perform? Because it will take a miracle to calm this storm.” And then when we do see God’s mercy and love, it is time to praise him again.

Often God sends a person to help us. But there are times when no human can help us. Then only God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit can help us. First, such a time is when we are loaded down with sin that is going to drown us. When we sin against another person, we can ask them for forgiveness and we can work to calm the storm of argument or fighting between us. But there is some sin that is not against another person, rather it is only against God, and such sin can only be forgiven by God. Those are the sins of our heart. Going down the list of the Ten Commandments: unbelief, idolatry, cursing, missing church and prayer and the Bible, disrespect for parents and authorities, hate and anger, lusts, cheating, lying, and coveting and not trusting God. Some of those sins are deep in our hearts, and deeply worry us and can disrupt our lives. If they are secret sins, only God can forgive them. Only God can calm our fears that sin creates. Only God can take away that burden.

We said before that Jesus often acts through people around us. To forgive our sin, God acts through the Sacraments – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper -- which forgive us and sanctify us. The word of forgiveness, the declaration of absolution spoken by the pastor is a powerful declaration that removes sin and calms the soul.

There is one more time when only God can help us. That is when the boat sinks. When we die. But remember, Jesus is in the boat with us. It is pure Gospel that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day. Not just sleep, Jesus died. And then he rose again. If we die with Jesus, we will rise with Jesus. And so when that last storm of life comes, we know we are with Jesus. That gives us peace.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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