Loving God, you bring peace in the midst of the storm and courage in the midst of challenges.  Teach us to trust you in all things, and replace our fear with your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            You may have noticed that there is a lot of fear in today’s readings.  The disciples are afraid in the midst of a storm at sea, and are perhaps even more afraid once they see what Jesus can do!  And then we have Goliath the Philistine, who sends fear into the hearts of Saul’s army, and sends soldiers running in the opposite direction.  Many of us can relate to such fear.  Fear is a natural human response to danger – which in many instances serves to save us from harm.  However, at other times, fear can paralyze us, and stop us from doing anything at all.

         In the first reading, it seems to be the armies of Israel who are paralyzed by fear – and then, along comes David, who is young, and easily dismissed, and seems to be fearless.  David runs toward danger rather than away from it, and even makes this extraordinary statement: “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Sa. 17:37).  Either David has a very strong faith, or he is just plain reckless.  How do we know which is which?  After all, not everybody who claims to be fighting for God is actually doing so!

         In David’s case, the proof is in the pudding (as they say).  He defeats an opponent who appears to be superior in every way, using a sling, a stone, and his faith in God.  To be fair, there is at least one other element at play in David’s case.  As we heard last week, he was anointed by Samuel in the midst of his brothers, “and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” (1 Sa. 16:13).  And so, presumably, as David sees what is happening with Goliath, he is also being led and emboldened by the spirit of God.

         However, as we discover later on with Jesus, having the spirit of God is not an excuse to just randomly put yourself in harm’s way.  In fact, this was one of the temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness – “just throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple, and God will save you” (cf. Mt. 4:6).  Jesus is smart enough to know that it doesn’t work that way.  He needed to be seeking God’s will and being obedient to it at all times, and throwing himself off the pinnacle had nothing to do with God’s will.  Still, we are presented with many questions.

         It might be easy to say that the disciples weren’t going to drown because they were with Jesus and were engaged in God’s mission.  Yet, how many times have people who are engaged in God’s mission been killed while they are doing so?  There is this delicate balance where following Jesus might, in fact, be dangerous, yet those who trust in Jesus have nothing to fear.

         We have seen time and again that both the Old Testament prophets and the followers of Jesus were often imprisoned, or beaten, or persecuted, or even put to death.  Still, in the book of Acts, those who have received the Holy Spirit actually rejoice that they have been counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus, and Stephen gazes into heaven and prays for his killers as he dies.  These people do not suddenly have a death wish, but they do trust in Jesus enough that they do not fear persecution, or even death.

         Some of these people, however, are the same disciples who are in the boat with Jesus, and are afraid in the midst of the storm, and are even more afraid once they see what Jesus can do.  Keep in mind, though, that they have not yet received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. They have also never seen Jesus simply command the wind and the waves before.  And – to their credit – they do know who to ask for help!

         For our part, we are not so different from those first disciples, for we also need to learn along the way what God can actually do by the power of the Holy Spirit, through faith in Jesus Christ.  We, too, might be asked to do things that are kind of scary – like getting to know people who are foreign to us or different than us; like relying on the Holy Spirit rather than on our own strength and understanding; like daring to share the good news of Jesus in new ways with those who need it the most.

         There will be storms along the way – especially when we are paying attention to what God is calling us to do, for Jesus still has a way of stirring things up!  Still, as long as we are seeking to do God’s will, earnestly seeking God’s direction in all that we do, we do not need to fear.  For, Jesus is still in the boat with us, commanding “Peace! Be still!” (Mk. 4:39), and bringing calm in the midst of the storm.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lectionary 12(B)                              Mark 4:35-41

June 23, 2024                                  1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2024 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved