Loving God, you come to us in love, inviting us to find ourselves safe in your arms through our faith in Jesus Christ. As we gather together today, help us to know your presence and power through the Holy Spirit; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In the reading that we heard from Job today and also in Psalm 107, we were given some enduring images of God’s absolute power over earth and sea. In Job, God speaks out of the whirlwind and describes setting the boundaries for the sea at the time of creation (Job 38:1-11). In the Psalm, God speaks and a stormy wind results (Ps. 107:25), whipping up the waves on the sea. However, God has equal power to calm the storm and to silence the waves, as the storm stills to a whisper (Ps. 107:29).

Although I would suspect that not many of us have ever been in a storm at sea, there are some movie images that give us a pretty good idea of what it would be like. The Perfect Storm is the movie that comes to mind for me right away, which leaves no doubt about the awesome power of a storm at sea. In that movie, of course, the power of the storm is too much, and there is no miraculous calming of the wind and the waves. Yet, we can imagine how it would have been a much different story if the people involved had cried out to God in faith and had experienced a sudden calm.

Of course, in the movie Forrest Gump, it is not a sudden calm that shows God’s presence, but a hurricane -- right after Lt. Dan asks where God is. God shows up in a hurricane, and everything changes both for Forrest and for Lt. Dan. And so it seems that sometimes God speaks in the wind and in the storm, and sometimes God speaks in the calm and in the silence. Either way, God’s voice has the power to produce a stormy wind or to silence the wind and the waves.

And then, of course, we come to today’s gospel, where Jesus and his disciples are out on the Sea of Galilee in a boat. A great windstorm arises, and the waves are coming into the boat to such a degree that it is almost totally swamped. It is at this point that the disciples wake Jesus up and say, “Look – we’re in trouble here!” And so Jesus rebukes the wind and says to the sea, “Put a lid on it!” – “Peace! Be still!... And there was a dead calm” (Mk. 4:39). If Jesus can silence the wind and the waves, who must Jesus be? He seems to speak with the authority of God’s voice!

While today’s gospel does teach us about who Jesus is, there is definitely more to be found there. For one thing, there is the question that is spoken into the stillness: “Why are you afraid?” While it may seem self-evident that anybody might be afraid if they’re out in a boat that’s being swamped in a storm, Jesus quite obviously is not. In fact, what is it that enables Jesus to sleep so soundly in a boat that’s being tossed about on the waves with water crashing over the sides?

We could probably suggest any number of explanations, like he was overtired or an unusually sound sleeper. However, it seems far more likely that Jesus’ peaceful sleep in the midst of chaos is the direct result of his relationship with God his Father. It is a relationship of trust and a relationship of perfect love. Jesus knows that there is nothing to fear, for God has the power over life and death and over the wind and the waves. “Why are you afraid?”

Some of us might be quick to assume that it was different for Jesus. After all, he is the Son of God, so of course he’s going to have that perfect trust and love. And yet, this is the kind of relationship that God desires to have with each and every one of us – a relationship of trust and love where we do not need to be afraid.

There is a marvellous description of this relationship in a book by William Young called The Shack. The story contains one of the most interesting depictions of the Trinity that I have ever seen – the God who lives and relates in perfect trust and love. In The Shack, God shows up as three people living in a log cabin on a lake in the woods: a large black woman named Elousia, or Papa, a Middle Eastern man named Jesus, and a slight Asian woman named Sarayu. These are, of course, simply the forms that God has chosen to take – chosen in order to show the fullness of God and in order to break any stereotypes.

The main character in the book – Mack – has the most trouble relating to the African woman he is to call “Papa.” Of course, one reason is the whole male / female thing, as God seems to like mixing metaphors and breaking stereotypes. However, the other more important reason is that Mack had an abusive father. He would have never called his own father “papa,” and so it is a big stretch for him to think of God in that way. Yet, God says to him, “If you let me, Mack, I’ll be the papa you never had” (The Shack, 2007: Windblown Media, p. 94).

When we think about some of the traditional roles associated with being a father, perhaps we can see how God acts in the same way toward us. Fathers are often thought of as protectors and as providers. Fathers are teachers and mentors. Fathers are proud of their children when they do well and saddened when their children make choices that are harmful or misguided. God relates to us in these ways and yet is so much more than any earthly father or mother would ever be.

In the case of Mack, he was feeling like a failure as a father, unable to protect and look out for his children in the manner that he wanted to. At the same time, he was carrying the pain from his own childhood growing up with an abusive father. All of this was going together to prevent Mack from truly knowing and loving God.

Yet, when Mack encounters God at the shack, he witnesses the relationship of total love and trust that Jesus has with his Papa and is told that God desires to have that same kind of relationship with him. It is a relationship where the love never wavered – not even on the cross. In the same way, God’s love and care for us never wavers – even when we pass through tragedies in our own lives.

While we might never be in a storm at sea, all of us will likely have things happen in our lives that feel just like being tossed about on the waves as the water spills into the boat. Today we are being reminded that panic and fear are not the only ways to respond. It is possible to be asleep in the back of the boat, secure in the knowledge that life and death, wind and waves, are all in God’s care and under God’s power.

Our God does love and care for us more than any human parent ever will, and invites us into a relationship of trust and love through Jesus Christ. May each one of us continue to grow – in trust, in love, and in peace – as we also grow in our relationships with the God who loves us. Amen.

Lectionary 12 (B)      Mark 4:35-41
June 21, 2009      Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church      Job 38:1-11
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2009 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved