Text: Mark 4:35-41
Theme: On board through the storm

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Intr – One night when my son was already in bed a thunderstorm broke out. After a very loud thunder, I heard him crying, and I went to his room to be with him and bring him comfort. He asked me then to stay with him until he would fall back asleep.

It was only when I was back in my bedroom I realized something: he didn’t ask me to make the thunderstorm go. He only asked me to stay with him.

To stay with us. This is what happens in the Gospel today. Jesus with the disciples calming a storm. We could apply this Gospel story to the fact that Christ calms many storms in our lives. However, the text is not a parable, is real life. It was a life threatening situation. It was wind and water. It was a not so big boat. It was danger. It could signify a life and death issue. And in the midst of that terrible situation, Jesus was there. Sleeping, for sure; however He was there.

This is the first thing for you to remember today. Are you in the midst of a storm that you don’t know how it will end? Are you in the midst of something you think might capsize your boat? Remember: Jesus is there. Right there, with you, in you. You may think he is sleeping and dreaming, but he is on board with you through your nightmare your nightmare.

We know he is there. Now, does he really care? This is what happened to the disciple. Even with Jesus onboard, they feared – to the point that they wake Him up they ask: “Do You not care?” This is one of those questions that already brings an affirmation in it. They thought Jesus wasn’t really caring about them. “Yes, Jesus, you don’t seem to care. Here we are fighting for our lives and You sleep. You don’t really seem to care.”

It is interesting: they knew the Messiah would be the Saviour of the World. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Now, why would they think that the whole promise of God since Eden, kept throughout the centuries and sent in flesh and bone would end up in a capsized boat? This is was excessive fear makes to us. Or worse, were they thinking what we hear sometimes, “if you are facing storms is because your faith is weak”. It seems they thought that Jesus would make a miracle and save himself while they would perish in the sea.

These are the types of questions and thoughts that storms may bring to our lives. “Do you not care, Jesus? Are you even there?”[1]

After questioning like the disciple, another problem may follow: we want to discover and explain God’s will in the storm. God’s thoughts; God’s feelings. We try to nail down what God intended with this, or that, if God is punishing so and so, or if God is absent of the life of so and so. We might have had at some point in our lives asked with the disciples then: does God really care?

Trying to explain God’s mind with our own mind may lead us to train of thoughts that may end up in train wrecks:

_If you’re suffering a storm, you must have a big hidden sin.
_If you’re suffering a storm, it’s because you don’t have enough faith
_If you face storms, it is because you didn’t pray enough, or read the Bible enough, or you might have been found in fault with your tithing.
_This storm is happening because of fate, or karma, the law of return, the laws of the universe, etc.

Are any of these through according to Biblical standards? No. storms do not come for the “bad” while the “good” are preserved of it. As sinners, we are all bad; we all suffer the consequences of it. But because Jesus is Good, his goodness is attributed to us, and so we are saved from sin and brought to God’s goodness; to His gracious hands of love, strength and protection, where we sail every sea with Jesus on board.

We must notice also that it is always easier to find explanation for storms when a “bad” person suffers. Not so easy though when a “good” one is under a thunderstorm in life. At least in our concept of what “bad” and “good” are.

Here we see that  we may be trying to play the game “I am the Sovereign Creator”. We think we can unpack the mind of God. We think we know what God is thinking. [2] But think about it: if we would be able to understand God’s mind, we would be God. We know that is not the truth. He is the Creator, we are His creatures, and by faith, His Children. If we want to put forth what God has in mind, the only source we have is His Word.

“Jesus, do you really care about my storm”. He does. HE cared for his disciples. He cared for you. HE cares for all. While we can’t unveil the mind of God in its fulness, we can learn from what he has revealed to us in His Word.

1.He is always on board. We may think He is sleeping, He is not. That may be: LAW – and GOSPEL.
2.He is always in control. Always.
3.He is the one we resort to when our skills, strengths and forces are over. The disciples were experienced sailors. How many thunderstorms like that one they’ve had possibly faced in their lives? While Jesus was a carpenter, less than a rookie when it comes to navigating. Even so they despair all their skills and call for the Master.[3]
4.Jesus calls them out because of their littleness of faith. They shouldn’t fear, because He is there. He calms the storm. We are never alone even when Jesus’ physical presence is not there.

Something important to note is also that even if Jesus wasn’t physically there, even if their boat would sink and they would die, the same word remains: have no fear. Yes, have no fear. Whereas Jesus calms many storms in our life, there will come a storm that would make us sink: we know we will all die. So that’s when we can be despaired and be fearful because that one won’t be calmed down? Surely not. He is still there with us. He is still on board with us. He is still giving us strength and His love ‘til our last breath.

Remember what happened to Jesus? The greatest storm ever was about to fall upon His head. He was in the Gethsemane. He asks the Father, if possible, to pass that cup from Him. But He also says “Thy will, not mine, be done”. The storm came. He was arrested, beaten, condemned, and eventually died. He faced the storm because He wanted to save us from the worst we could go – be sent away from God for eternity.

So pastor, storms will happen anyways. Should I still we pray to God to calm the storms? Yes, definitely. Here’s what a one of my former confirmands wrote about prayer in her confirmation essay: “I chose the topic of the Lord’s Prayer because throughout my time at confirmation and learning all about prayer, it has helped me realize how powerful prayer really can be. Prayer helps me through good, bad, lonely, and even exciting times. The Lord’s Prayer to me, is the most powerful prayer of them all. This is because they are God’s words, and he created this prayer.”[4] Jesus always listens. We can call upon Him, even when we would ask from Him is not for lighter burdens, but for larger shoulders to bear them. Strength through the storm. The consequences of sin are all around in the world, and they hit us. Sometimes, they hit us hard. But He is always on board. He is always near.[5] He stays with us until the storm goes away.[6]

Cc –  Here’s one more illustration about going through hard times in life. Parents who already had the experience of taking their children to the first day of the first year of pre-school  or school know that it can be a challenging experience for the kids. That’s the moment when they are removed from the safe ambient of home and family to a place which through the lens of the little one could be described as lonely and hostile.

From the adults’ point of view it’s not a big deal. They drop the toddler off in the morning and pick them up mid afternoon. An adult’s life runs fast, and it’s just a little over 6 hours of separation. But for the kid… that’s different. Do you remember that as a kid the time notion was completely different? Everything seems to go slower. For him or her, it may look like a never-ending day. That’s when it may run through their little mind doubts, and anxiety and fear. “Where is my father, where is my mother? Why did they abandon me in this place? Did they turn their back on me, did they forget me altogether?”

After what seems to have been eternity for them, comes 3pm, when their parent is there to pick them up. Relieve. Peace. Safeness inside the family car, in their loving presence and care.

We can remember this illustration when we go through lonely and hard times in our existence, when the idea of a back-turned, dropping-off-anywhere Heavenly Father comes to the mind and the heart. Our time notion is different from His. We may become anxious, insecure, lost. Fear’s shadow may grow incredibly large.

The Father has never forgotten us though. Jesus never takes His presence away from our lives, not even for a second. He was there all the time. He will always be [7] on board with us through the storms. Because he cares about us.

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[1]Those might have been Job’s thoughts during the suffering he underwent. He lost children, property, even his health was under jeopardy. His wife actually arrived to that conclusion. She asks him to curse God and die. Job doesn’t do so, but he is still puzzled by the fact that being a just man he would be suffering so much. In our OT reading today, we see God talking with him. Asking him to think for a minute if he is able to understand God’s mind. DAMAL You tube Channel –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b33zDO29ODM&feature=youtu.be

[2] Creator and Creation by the way is a transversal theme in the readings for today. Psalm 124 mentions God “who created heaven and earth”, as we say in our liturgy. When talking to Job God describes the Creation and asks Job where he was back then. In the Gospel we see Jesus exercising power over the Creation. Even in the Epistle, when Paul says “now is the day of salvation”, it resounds with Psalm 118 where we read: “This is the Day the Lord has created; let’s rejoice and be glad in it”.

[3] Lenski, Commentary on Mark.

[4] Teal McCauley, “Lord’s Prayer”, Confirmation essay 2024.

[5] Also, knowing that He is the Creator gives us extra comfort and care. We know we are not here by chance. We were created and redeemed by a God who loves us, cares for us, creates hope and strength deep inside our hearts.

[6] Amid your storms in life, join St. Paul in his confidence in Jesus through severe hardships: “4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”

[7] “Ele nao esquece”– http://toquedevida.blogspot.com/2014/10/ele-nao-esquece.html