Jesus Calms the Storm

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Mark 4:35-41

    In the 1980s, the University of Arizona attempted to build a closed artificial ecosystem in the Arizona desert that you can still visit today called the Biosphere 2, to see if we could one day build some kind of self-sustaining ecosystem in outer-space so that a few people could live within it a few years with all the necessary oxygen, food, water, and so on that humans would need.  They never quite succeeded in part because of how complex life really is – turns out it is pretty difficult to create a world! There were multiple problems.  For just one example, many of the trees planted to create this ecosystem grew fast but fell over while they were still young.  These scientists discovered that trees actually need wind to grow – the stress of wind bending the young trees strengthens the roots and structure of the wood cells so that the whole tree becomes stronger and firmer – sometimes called reaction or stress wood.  Trees exposed to strong winds early in life can withstand even stronger winds when fully grown, but any tree grown in a protected environment like a greenhouse is vulnerable to falling over from its own weight. (The Anxious Generation:  How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.  Jonathan Haidt.  New York:  Penguin Press, 2024, pp. 122-23 in ebook version).
    When we think of God’s creation, we most often think of breathtaking mountain vistas, relaxing on a beautiful white sandy beach, marveling at the sunset or the changing seasons.  Our scripture readings for today, however, remind us that God’s creation includes whirlwinds, floods, and storms.  Sometimes Mother Nature is frightening.  And just like trees, unless we completely insulate ourselves from any dangers in life (which would be very difficult to do), human beings encounter suffering and storms, both literal and metaphorical.   I wonder, as I reflect on our readings for today, is the saying true, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?”  How do we make sense of the reality of suffering in our lives?
We, like Job, like Paul, like the disciples frightened in the boat along with Jesus, struggle to make sense of the suffering we encounter in life.  “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  the disciples cry out to Jesus when they wake him up.  Where is God in the midst of suffering?  What purpose might suffering have?  We have been asking these questions since the beginning of time here on Earth.  I also wonder, like trees, how would we be different without the suffering we have encountered in life?  How does our faith in Christ help make us stronger, especially when the storms of life rage all around us?
    In our first reading for this morning, God’s simple answer to Job who is asking God about the purpose of all his suffering is basically that humans will never fully understand the ways of God.  Suffering is a part of the mystery of faith.  In our second reading from 2 Corinthians, Paul encourages these early Christian believers who have endured much – “afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger!”  Despite their suffering, God is with them.  “We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see – we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything,” Paul says, famously.  Even when to the world it looks like God is against us because of what we are going through and the bad things we may be enduring, our faith makes us stronger and keeps us going – we may not have anything, but we possess everything when we know Christ and Christ’s love and salvation. Paul points us to the cross, as a reminder that God in Jesus Christ himself appears to be defeated and suffers unto death for us, and in that ultimate act of suffering gives us everything – eternal life and salvation.
    And then we come to our gospel for today in Mark 4.  Keep in mind, at least about half of the disciples are professional fishermen.  They’ve been in a boat a time or two, and likely have endured a storm on the water before.  There are other boats on the water, Mark tells us – other people who are following Jesus across the water because they’ve probably already seen a lot of life, including suffering, and Jesus has healed them, taught them, forgave them, and comforted them.  They know what Jesus can do for them, and so they follow him in the boat just to be near him a little longer.  They trusted Jesus that much, anyway.  
But then the wind comes up, the boat is already being swamped, and they wonder if they can withstand the storm.  Other storms and suffering in life may have strengthened their trust in God before, but their faith at this very moment is put to the test.  “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Jesus asks them.  The wind stops.  There’s a dead calm.  Now they start to see even more clearly that Jesus isn’t just a great teacher or healer, Jesus also has power over the wind and the sea.  Maybe Jesus is actually who he says he is – Son of God and Son of Man.  Maybe Jesus isn’t just a really cool human being but also divine!  Maybe now, as they get out of the boat, they can begin to trust in him even more that no matter where he leads them next, he will be right there in the boat with them, giving them peace, stilling their hearts, calming the storms.
    The winds and storms of life can be terrifying.  We live in very anxious times and we are anxious people, overall: anxiety, depression, and other mental illness rates are skyrocketing globally, in fact.  We could list many, many reasons why this is so.  We have plenty to be afraid of and anxious about.  But maybe the work and practice of faith is to remember that we are kind of like trees.  We are also God’s good creation, fearfully and wonderfully made.  We have endured suffering and storms before, and our faith getting through those periods of life has made us stronger.  We have seen how God has been with us in the past to get us to where we are today.  Jesus is right there in the boat with us, just like he was with the disciples.  In the midst of our anxieties, Jesus says, “Peace, be still.”  And we are filled with awe.  Amen.