Mark 4.35-41(2)

STORMY WATERS

(Mark 4.35-41)

In the year 64AD, a fire broke out in Rome which destroyed much of that city. Many of its citizens accused the Emperor Nero as being responsible for it.

In order to maintain his declining popularity, Nero in turn blamed the small Christian community for causing the fire and proceeded to punish them.

The historian, Tacitus, tells us that Nero slayed his victims with barbaric cruelty and even used some of them as human torches to light up his garden.

Thus began the first wave of organised persecution against the early Christian church, which was to continue, on and off, until the Emperor Constantine came to the throne in the 4th Century.

It is against that background of organised persecution that St. Mark wrote his gospel, possibly as soon as a year later, relying upon the first-hand knowledge of St. Peter, whose feast day we observe on 29 June.

And it is against that same background of persecution that we should also interpret the story of the Stilling of the Storm.

It is a story which is very well known.

Jesus decided to go across the Sea of Galilee in a boat, together with his disciples. As is often the case on that lake, even today, a sudden and violent storm sprang up and the waves began to fill their boat with water. When the disciples turned to Jesus for help, they found him sound asleep, unaware of what was happening. So they woke him up and he calmed the storm and said to them: "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith? "

To understand the significance of the story, it is important to recall that the first early Christians had been brought up on the Old Testament, and especially on the psalms which were used regularly in synagogue worship. Thus the imagery of the story would have been easily understood by them.

Firstly, in the Old Testament, God was seen as one who had the ability to control the sea and subdue the tempests.

Hence the psalmist writes:-

"O Lord God of hosts,

who is as mighty as you, O Lord?

Your faithfulness surrounds you.

You rule the raging of the sea;

when its waves rise, you still them.” (Psalm 89.8-9

Secondly, in the Old Testament, the image of a storm or of great waters was used as a metaphor for the evil forces in the world, and particularly for the sufferings of the righteous.

So the psalmist says:

"Save me O God.

for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in deep mire

where there is no foothold.

I have come into deep waters,

and the floods sweep over me". (Psalm 69.1-2)

And, thirdly, in the Old Testament, the ability to sleep peacefully and untroubled, was a sign of perfect trust in the sustaining and protective power of God.

So the psalmist writes:

"I will both lie down and sleep in peace;

for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety". (Psalm 4.8)

Thus the Old Testament symbols of sea, of storm and of sleep, as expressed in the psalms, reminded the early Christian church, suffering persecution, of a God who is still able to control events, despite the sufferings currently being experienced, provided they put their complete faith in Him.

The climax of the above Gospel reading then is the words of Jesus "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” The climax of the story is the contrast of the complete faith of Jesus with that of the little faith of the disciples.

When the storm arose which threatened to fill the ship, the disciples became terrified, and were so far from showing Jesus' untroubled faith that they mistook it for careless indifference and woke him up with the rebuke "Teacher do you not care that we are perishing? "

The good news of St. Mark then, to the persecuted Christians at Rome, to whom he addressed his gospel, is simply this: "Put your faith in Almighty God and he will see you through your present sufferings".

And that is the same message of St. Mark for us today.

Fortunately for us in England, we are not subject to persecution, though many of our brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world continue to experience persecution.

Nevertheless, few, if any of us, can expect to get through life without encountering some stormy water.

I refer not just to those everyday "storms" of self-doubt, anxiety and uncertainty, of disappointment, frustration, and despair, but also those more dramatic storms of a separation and divorce, of prolonged illness, or the untimely death of a partner or a child.

Such experiences of pain and anguish can so easily overwhelm us that we feel we are drowning beneath the weight of them.

As we struggle to survive against such odds, it is very easy to think that God is indifferent to our situation. That God is asleep, whilst we are being buffeted to and fro as one calamity upon another falls upon us.

But, my friends, God is not indifferent. He is not asleep. He does come, and furthermore, He is there to support us, and give us the necessary buoyancy to enable us to survive, and rise above those troubled waters, provided we are prepared to put our complete faith in Him.

Now that does not mean that the self-doubt, anxiety and uncertainty, nor the disappointment, frustration or despair will necessarily go away. It does not mean that the marriage will not break up, the prolonged illness will go away or that the partner or child will not die.

But it does mean that we will be given the necessary strength with which to endure those "storms of life". Just as the disciples experienced a great calm, so we too can know of that same great calm in the midst of the troubles of life. And that is the real miracle. God is always there with us, to sustain us and support us in the midst of those troubles.

So we can say with the psalmist:-

"They cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he brought them out from their distress;

He made the storm be still,

and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad because they had quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven". (Psalm 107.28-30)

May your faith become a burning torch to light up the lives of those around you, as you encounter the storms of life. Amen.