Sanctus 01.21.10

Jesus Stills a Storm Mark 4.35-41

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Jesus Stills the Storm

There it sits, bobbing up and down like an apple in a bucket at a Halloween party. As you walk closer to it, you glance off to the west and see the colors of orange, red, and violet are turning into blue and black as a storm seems to be approaching.

After an hour or so you and your comrades are in the middle of the lake and the storm clouds are right above you now. The tiny hairs on your neck begin to rise as the first sound of thunder cools off the bright lights of the lighting bolt which just displayed the gray clouds which hover above your soon to be rained on head.

Chills soon follow as the first drop of rain finds itself on the bare skin of your neck and slides down your back.

You sit now in the boat, with the storm starting, and you begin to feel your heart start racing and the thumping sounds louder than the bass drum of a middle school band. Your legs begin to get weak and your feel the adrenaline beginning to pump…

First in your knocking knees, then in your thy, your arms get heavy, and your numb fingers begin to tremble…

Where are you now in the boat?

You scrounge through your bag looking for your yellow rain coat, only to remember you left on the kitchen chair and now this though goes away with the first splash from the waves spilling into the boat.

The howling and gusting winds is a terrifying sound, reminding you of wolves crying out in the wilderness.

You get thrown from the left and then to the right. Finally after a long tug of war with your seat, your grip, which was accompanied by your white knuckles by now, gives out and you are thrown onto the floor of the boat…

How do you feel now?
Where are you?

Crawling in a pool of lake water, you try rising to your feet and with the after taste of salt residing in your mouth, you cry out only to be knocked off your feet again, this time to your knees…

What do you say?

Your eyes open and you begin to frantically look for help. You know he is on this boat, somewhere. He was on it when you left, after all it was he who suggested, “Let us go to the other side.” Yes your friends are there but when you look at them, you see the terror and fear in their eyes, a reflection of your face…

What do you feel after looking at them?

Their looks of terror are no comfort to you…

What then do you say?

As screams begin to resonate in the hull of this small fishing boat, your eyes catch a glimpse of him…

What do you see?

Still grasping tightly to the nets, which smell of rotten fish, you try to somehow steady yourself, you take a deep breath as you cry out to Him…

What is it you cry out to him?

Your eyes lock with his and your fingers release their grip on the net, and your hands no longer hurt. You try to look away but you are captivated by the peacefulness on his face. Sternly he looks at you but in the words he tells with his eyes, you are comforted…

What do you feel?

Like a ghost, he gently moves to you and extends out his hand and says, “Peace! Be still!” You grasp his warm, wet hand and your body once filled with an uncomfortable rush of adrenaline, now tingles in delight.

How do you respond?

Things stop moving. The boat sits peacefully on the water, whose appearance looks like a sheet of glass. No less than a minute ago your life was in limbo, being tossed to and fro, and now, peace.

As soon as you realize this, a smile comes over your face…

Smile. How does it feel now to smile?

But as soon as your pearly white teeth appear from your vice-gripped tight mouth, Jesus says to you, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”

And your smile fades…

What happens to you now?

Peace is here.
Even amidst the storms, Christ stills them.

What storm are you currently in?

Do you see storm clouds on the horizon?

Where do you see the sunset and the light from the sun?

We are quick to ask, “God don’t you care?”, yet are quicker to forget that God is in the boat with us…somewhere. In our own times of distress and in the sharing of the disciple’s anxieties, Christ reassures us of his presence with us, concerned even when we can pin-point exactly where He may be.

So, what now?

Psalm 139.11-12
1If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night’,
12even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

To say we’ve never been in a storm or we have never seen one, would sell ourselves short of telling of our stories of how God’s grace has met us and overwhelmed us. “Storms” happen, not only in our lives but the lives of the world too. We know God does not cause these storms but they still happen and God is still God, even in the thickest of foggy weather. God offers a beacon of light to those in the darkest parts of the storm; God offers calm waters to those who are frantically swimming in dangerous waves; God offers a life preserver when we find ourselves gasping for air. God wants us to …

Be still…
Look for peace…
And know, God’s present with us in the storm.

Where then now, in your life, can you find peace?