Calming the Storm (Mark 6:45-52)

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Whitestown UMC on July 21, 2024

Calming the Storm (Mark 6:45-52)

A fisherman drives his boat up to a swanky dockside restaurant. The dock hand told him, “I’m sorry, sir, this establishment requires you to wear neckties. I can’t let you dock here.” He went down below the deck and came up wearing jumper cables around his neck. The dock hand shrugged and said, “Alright. I’ll let you go in, but don’t start anything!”

Our gospel lesson follows the feeding of the 5000. As Jesus dismissed the crowd, he urged his disciples to take the boat back across the Sea of Galilee. They had taken the boat together to get away from the crowds, but the crowds followed them there. They had no time to rest. Jesus was insistent that his disciples get away. He stayed behind.

After the crowds left, Jesus went up a mountain to pray. His desire to pray is related to the Greek word used to describe the Holy Spirit in John’s gospel, The Advocate, one who comes along side of you. Jesus needed to come along side His Father in prayer after expending so much energy caring for the sick and hungry that had come to him.

When you think of your habit of prayer, how would you describe it? Many approach prayer like a gumball machine. They drop in a prayer request and expect a sweet solution to come rolling out. Others treat prayer like a fire alarm, only in case of emergencies. Still others use prayer as a like a personal calendar, going over their plans with God, or a shopping list, telling God every little thing they want.

Jesus models what prayer is meant to be, a recharging and recentering of our spirits with God. Prayer is about spending time with our Heavenly Father. It’s a chance to express our love for God with our whole heart. And it’s a chance to receive love and life-giving energy from God in that time together. Jesus needed to recharge, and so he went up the mountain to pray alone.

The Sea of Galilee has high bluffs that overlook the water on both sides. As a result of that terrain, strong windstorms can suddenly whip up the water with very little warning. Such a storm hit the disciples as they rowed across. Jesus saw them struggling against the wind. The Greek word used to describe struggle is the same word used by the demon-possessed man of Garasa in Mark 5, when he pleaded to Jesus, “…do not torment me.” The word means to torment, or torture, or test one’s metal. The disciples were being tested by the waters that surrounded them in the midst of the storm-tossed sea.

We may remember the first boat story in Mark 4 when they experienced one of these storms. Jesus was sleeping in the stern and the disciples feared drowning. They shouted to Jesus, “Don’t you care if we die?” Jesus got up and commanded the winds to cease, “Peace, be still!” And the winds quieted, and the sea grew calm. The disciples sat with their mouths open in wonder! “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?!

 

Our call to worship this morning in your bulletins is from Job 9. Job describes the creator God of Israel as one who tramples upon the sea.

 

he alone stretched out the heavens
    and trampled the waves of the Sea; (Job 1:8)

 

The mythic imagery depicts God crushing underfoot the sea dragon, Tiamat. The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh tells how the earth and heavens were created. Tiamat, a cosmic agent of chaos, is defeated in battle by the hero Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh kills the sea dragon and splits her body in two. With one half, he made the heavens, with the other he made the earth. The Hebrews lived in exile in Babylon. They were aware of the myth of Gilgamesh and the imagery is referenced in Job 9 and also in our story in Mark 6.

Who is this that even the wind and waves obey his command? He is none other than the creator God of Israel, in the flesh.

Jesus decides to trample upon the stormy sea of Galilee. As he begins to pass by the boat, the disciples see him, and think they’re looking at a ghost! And they are terrified!

 Last week we had Zombie John, the headless prophet back from the dead, or so King Herod feared. This week we’ve got ghosts! Who you gonna call?

 Seriously though, when you struggle against the chaotic events that challenge your life, who are you going to call upon for help? The psalmist answers.

 

I lift up my eyes to the hills—

    from where will my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

    who made heaven and earth. (Psa 121:1-2)

 

It’s interesting that Mark tells us that Jesus intended to pass by the struggling disciples in the boat. It’s an odd detail. It’s something that causes the reader to ask, “Doesn’t he care?”

Notice the language used in Job 9.

 

Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;

    he moves on, but I do not perceive him. (Job 9:11)

The disciples surely did not perceive it was Jesus until he called out to them. “Take heart, it is I, don’t be afraid!”

But there’s something else from the Old Testament implied here. When Moses asked to witness God’s glory, God told Moses,

“…there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by…” (Ex 33:21-22)

A similar event occurred at Mt Horeb when the prophet Elijah experienced the glory of God. Queen Jezebel had issued a death warrant for Elijah, so he fled into the wilderness. Frightened for his life he hid in a cave upon the mountain of God. And the Lord spoke to him. 1 Kings 19:11-12

“Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. (1Kg 19:11-12)

Both stories speak of the glory of God revealed to Moses and Elijah in a wonderous event in which the Lord passed by. I think that is why Mark tells us Jesus intended to pass by the disciples struggling in the boat. His divine glory was revealed to them!

Jesus climbed into the boat and the wind grew still. The disciples again were utterly astounded. Who is this man? That’s the $64,000 question, isn’t it? And it’s a question filled with irony. For Jesus is not simply a man, not simply a prophet. He is the Son of the living God. He is the divine creative Word made flesh.

The letter to the Colossians states,

 Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col 1:15-17)

When Jesus climbs into the boat with us, there will be calm. For He is the God who treads upon the sea. He is the creator who speaks a word of command and creation obeys His voice. He is the Savior who sees our struggles and calls to us, “Peace, Be still, and know that I am God.”