Sixth Sunday after Pentecost July 12, 2009 "Calming the Storm of Fear" Reverend Michael D. Powell Mark 4:35-41

This morning's Gospel lesson is a story about you and me. It's a story about those times when you’ve felt like you were on troubled waters, and it's about the fear we all experience when our faith falters. Have you ever felt like you were swamped? Have you ever wondered if God knew or cared that you were in over your head and perhaps going down for the third time? I know you have, just as I have, and that's why this is our story.

Holy Scripture is meant to be read on many levels. The literal level, while it may or may not be true enough in its own right, is never the deepest level. A literal understanding of scripture, no matter how true it may be, is still a little shallow, spiritually speaking. It's at the level of symbols that scripture speaks most profoundly to our souls. Symbols take us far beneath the surface of our daily distractions and petty preoccupations. Symbols speak to the living truth that moves beneath the surface superficialities. Immediately preceding this morning's story Mark has recounted that Jesus "did not say anything to them without using a parable.”

“But when he was alone with his disciples he explained everything." It's not only his teachings that come to us as parables. Even the literal, historical events of Christ's ministry are living parables that reveal supernatural truths. This morning's passage is a perfect example. Listen to these words of our Gospel story.

"That day when evening came." Allow the story to open your imagination. It's dark. The common, everyday preoccupations, the natural projections and unquestioned assumptions of normal outer vision are obscured. Our perspective changes, the eyes of our heart are opened and immediately we find ourselves in the subterranean, nocturnal, inner spiritual dimension, the realm of dreams, imagination and symbolic revelation.

"Let us go over to the other side," Jesus says. Literally he's talking about the Sea of Galilee but spiritually speaking, we all must set out upon the deep waters of life. The great sea of human consciousness is a gulf we must cross and our passage to the "other side" is every person's voyage of life and living. Notice that it's at Christ's invitation that we embark upon this spiritual journey of discovery. That's important. We are being invited. We are being accompanied. Christ is in the boat with us.

"Leaving the crowd behind." That's an important first step on the spiritual journey of growth and discovery. We must leave the crowd behind. The goals, the destination, the values of soul growth and development are not the goals, destination and values of the world. Our spiritual consciousness can only go deeper and grow broader as we learn to leave crowd consciousness behind and sail out into deeper water.

"They took him along, just as he was, in the boat." This is one of the greatest metaphors of the Bible. The church is a boat. Even the architecture of the church is expressed in nautical language. You're sitting in the nave, which is Latin for ship, as in navy. We're all in the same boat, just as Noah and his family were all on the same ark. As a community of faith it's Christ's presence that makes the church a vessel of salvation. There are always other vessels around us, but the church is made unique by Christ's presence.

"A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped." On a literal level it's certainly true that the Sea of Galilee is particularly susceptible to sudden, violent storms, for which there are natural geographical and atmospheric reasons. Those of us who have been there will remember that it's situated in a basin surrounded by mountains. Cool air from the Mediterranean is drawn down through the narrow mountain passes and clashes with the hot, humid air lying over the lake. Now, don't those physical facts bring warmth and comfort to your heart? On a deeper level, this story expresses the essence of what it means to be alive in the world. We are always being assailed by storms, and they come in so many forms.

I suspect that most of us would agree that some of the worst storms we'd endured are the inner, emotional and spiritual storms of doubt, depression and fear. "When the storms of life are raging," read the words of that great old hymn, "stand by me. When the world is tossing me, like a ship upon the sea, stand by me . . . in the midst of tribulation, in the midst of faults and failures . . . in the midst of persecution . . . when I've done the best I can . . . thou who knowest all about me, stand by me." Isn't that your prayer as well? When the storms of life are raging, we call out to the one who calms the wind and sea.

Jesus is with us through it all, but here's the catch, here's the deeper teaching: "Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion." Do you really think Jesus was sleeping? I don't. This is another symbol. The stern is where the rudder is. The stern is where your guidance and direction comes from. It isn't Christ who falls asleep; it's our own Christ consciousness, our spiritual awareness that Christ is the captain of our ship. It's our faith and trust that dozes off, our faith and trust in an all-knowing and all-powerful God who is the master of our destiny, our faith and trust in one who never slumbers and never sleeps. In other words, it's our awareness of Christ's presence, our consciousness of God's control that's asleep at the tiller. That's why we experience fear. That's why we find ourselves succumbing to the storms.

"The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?'" I've asked that question. I've prayed that prayer, haven't you? Haven't you ever wondered what it's all about, how God could allow the innocent to suffer, the righteous to be persecuted? To their credit, the disciples woke Jesus up. They may have been fearful and confused, but they knew where to look for answers. That's what made them disciples. That's what it means for you to be a disciple. We're all in the same boat and Christ is right here with us. Christ is within us. We have only to wake up and take our fears to the Lord is prayer.

"He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." Listen to the healing beauty, the welcome relief of those sacred words, "and it was completely calm." Have you ever had that experience, of being caught up in the storm of anxiety, of doubt and fear, and then suddenly been blessed with the absolute certainty that's its going to be all right? That is a gift of God, the presence of grace. It's a holy moment when we recognize the power of God and call upon Christ to calm the storms of our fear.

And, finally, there is that gentle chastisement, that realization that comes when we recognize that once again the Christ within has proved his presence and his power. Christ was never absent or asleep. Anni and I have a needlepoint hanging that reads, "Give your troubles to God when you go to bed at night. God stays up all night anyway." I know that, but there are nights I just forget. We're continually forgetting, aren't we? We're forever having to relearn, forever having to re-ask ourselves: "Why are you so afraid? Do you have no faith?" I think most of us can identify with the man who, when Jesus promised that "all things are possible for those who believe," responded with the heartfelt plea: "Lord, I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief!" [Mark 9:24]

Isn't that your prayer as well? Call upon the Lord. Give your troubles to God. Awaken the sleeping Christ within. Give him the rudder of your boat and let him guide your life. He can calm the storm of your fear. In Christ's name we gather, give thanks and pray. Amen.