The (Demonic) Empire Strikes Back
Preaching
Your Faith Has Made You Well
Preaching The Miracles
Miracle Six
The (Demonic) Empire Strikes Back
The Text
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But 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?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Throughout chapter 4 Jesus has been teaching the crowds in parables. The general theme of the parables has been the inevitability of the kingdom of God. Jesus has been sitting in a boat while the crowd gathered at the sea. When Jesus leaves the crowd to go across the sea, a storm whips up -- perhaps a threat to the inevitability of the kingdom! Jesus is going to Gentile territory to expand his mission. To this point the demons have been altogether helpless against the ministry of Jesus. Now they seem to stage a frontal attack.
Background
Throughout much of the Old Testament the sea is more than just water. At the least the sea represents danger; at the most it is the home of chaotic and even demonic forces. In creation narratives, poetry, and vision reports, the Old Testament writers paint a dark, mysterious, and treacherous portrait of the sea.
As chapter 1 of Genesis opens, the dark, murky waters of chaos are raging and out of control. God's first act of creation is to bring calm and order to the tempestuous waters of chaos. God's life-giving breath (ruah) blows over the shapeless waters to create room for life. Although the water is unruly, God controls the water to enact God's purposes.
Isaiah 27:1 portrays the sea as the home of a fearsome, rebellious beast. "On that day, the Lord with his cruel and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea." Leviathan is a mythological beast, which appears in creation stories from the ancient near east that may have influenced the creation narratives and poems in the Old Testament. Leviathan in Isaiah is more than a sort of Hebrew Loch Ness monster. God's battle with Leviathan is a cosmic battle to rid the world of evil. Leviathan is mentioned in Psalm 74:13-14 and Job 41.
Daniel 7 is an apocalyptic text, written at a time of deep crisis for the Jewish community. Jerusalem was under severe persecution from the Syrian ruler, Antiochus IV. In chapter 7, Daniel has a dream in which four beasts arise from the sea. These beasts are ghastly in appearance, and the fourth is the most terrible of all. These beasts represent the four kingdoms of Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece. The beasts are the otherworldly counterparts to the four earthly kingdoms. Daniel 7 is proclaiming through the vision that the conflict on earth is part of a cosmic evil that only God can fight. The beasts arise from the sea, the home of evil beings.
Some texts represent the sea as dangerous, but not necessarily demonic. In the book of Jonah, the title character tries to flee from the presence of the Lord (an impossible task!) by sailing to Tarshish. The Lord has called him to go to Nineveh. While he is on the boat, a storm erupts which threatens to sink the boat. The cause of the storm is that God "hurled a great wind upon the sea" (Jonah 1:4). Despite the best efforts of the sailors, they cannot row against the storm. They are forced to throw Jonah overboard, at which point the sea grows calm. In this story, the sea is completely under the Lord's control. The sea performs God's will by preventing Jonah's flight.
Psalm 107 is a pilgrimage psalm celebrating the providence of the Lord in bringing the pilgrims safely to Jerusalem. Starting in verse 23, the psalm recounts the peril of sailors who encounter a storm on the sea. Without offering an explanation, the psalmist attributes the storm to the Lord's actions. "For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea" (v. 25). The sailors, physically unable to cope with the storm, grow frightened. The storm abates when they cry out to the Lord. After quieting the storm, the Lord brings them to their destination. The psalmist does not attribute the storm to the sinfulness of the sailors or the desire of the Lord to test their faith. Even though the Lord created the storm, the psalmist considers the Lord's protection and guidance in the storm to be an example of the Lord's "steadfast love" (v. 31).
Psalm 3 contains a verse that suggests peaceful sleep is a sign of one's trust in the Lord. "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me" (v. 5). Psalm 4:8 has a similar sentiment, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety." Perhaps Jesus' sleep in the boat in verse 38 indicates his trust in God.
Literary Analysis
This story is driven mostly by the action. The dialogue is sparse, even if it is important. The drama is conveyed through the skill of the narrator, who strikes a good balance between subtlety and powerful description.
The narrator sets the stage in verse 1. The day is drawing to a close. Jesus has spent the day preaching from a boat. The darkness of night creates a sinister mood (see Mark 15:33 for an example of darkness as an image of evil). Jesus directs the disciples to cross the sea to the other side. The fact that other boats are with them means that the demonic forces can wipe out not only Jesus, but also the whole movement in one fell swoop. The storm arises suddenly and unexpectedly. Wouldn't experienced fishermen have noticed signs of a potential storm? The narrator vividly describes the terror and power of the storm, "the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped" (v. 37).
In sharp contrast to the raging storm, Jesus sleeps peacefully in the stern. Whatever the historicity of this story, surely this detail is a literary technique. Who could sleep through such a storm? The disciples interpret Jesus' sleep as a lack of concern for their safety. They ask frantically, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (v. 38) Jesus' sleep seems to convey a sense of trust, a sense that Jesus does not feel threatened by the storm.
The narrator never says explicitly that the storm is the work of demons. The Old Testament background and the anxiety and hostility of the demons in the first four chapters of the book suggest that the storm has a deeper meaning. The biggest clue is that when Jesus wakes up, he "rebukes" the wind, and speaks to the sea, as though the sea were an entity. One translator even renders Jesus' words to the storm as "Silence! Shut up!"1 (The Anchor Bible, v. 39, compare the NRSV "Peace! Be still!") All of these clues add up to the conclusion that the storm is a demon or demonic force attempting to destroy Jesus. In a reversal of the Genesis 1 creation narrative, the sea seeks to revert to chaos. Now, both human forces (3:6) and demonic forces are trying to destroy Jesus, and maybe the disciples, as well.
Jesus' words to the disciples express a sense of exasperation. After all of the healings and exorcisms, they still did not have faith. To their credit, they did wake Jesus up, apparently under the assumption that he could calm the storm. One wonders what Jesus expected the disciples to do. Should they have simply continued in the face of the storm? Should they have tried to rebuke the storm themselves? Should they have spoken to Jesus with more calm and assurance, "Jesus, not that we're worried, but when you get a minute, could you calm down this storm?"
The text compares two types of fear. Jesus asks the disciples why they are afraid (v. 40). This fear is an act of unfaith, a lack of trust in Jesus' power. The narrator tells us that at the end of the incident, the disciples are filled with great awe. This is proper awe in the presence of the holy.
The disciples' rhetorical question at the end of the passage, "Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" is the question Mark wants to leave the reader asking. It sums up the story. The reader is forced to answer the question. Given what we know about the sea, who could possibly control it? The only answer is that the Son of God could, but the disciples are still not ready to give that answer.
Theological Reflection
The passage raises questions about how we understand our relationship to nature. Nature is part of God's creation. On the one hand, nature is a source of endless delight: forests, meadows, ponds, the beach, and adorable furry creatures. On the other hand, nature is dangerous and forbidding: hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and ferocious predators. People stand in an ambiguous relationship with nature. It is both friend and foe. We cannot separate ourselves from nature. We live in the midst of nature and must make our way within it.
We moderns are not comfortable saying that a storm is caused by demons. Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and other storms do seem almost cruel. We all understand when someone says a dark, cloudy sky looks "angry." Tornadoes seem almost vindictive in the damage they do. When we move beyond weather phenomena and look at the animal kingdom, we still see everything from nuisance to the fight for survival to downright cruelty (watch a cat with a rodent). My wife often asks me what God was thinking when flies, mosquitoes, and spiders were created. Beyond the nuisance factor of bugs, we see much disharmony in the animal kingdom. Carnivores exist by hunting and eating other creatures. Watch a nature documentary and notice the terror in the eyes of a rabbit about to be caught by predator. Sharks and snakes even have a malevolent visage.
This passage, as were the physical healings, is a manifestation of the coming near of the dominion of God. Mark might attribute the deadliness of nature to demons; we might not agree. Nevertheless, part of the coming near of the dominion of God is reconciliation between people and nature and the parts of nature. When the realm of God comes in its fullness, all of creation will be healed, including nature. The prophet Isaiah paints a beautiful picture of the reconciliation and redemption of nature. "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den" (Isaiah 11:6-8).
Scholars are agreed that the storm in this passage has layers of meaning. The storm represents the untamed forces of nature, as well as the efforts of demonic forces to wipe out Jesus and his followers. On another level, the storm represents persecution. The Gospel of Mark was likely written at a time when the church was undergoing persecution under Nero and the Roman society in general. In most areas of the Mediterranean world now separated from the synagogue and becoming an increasingly Gentile movement, the church was gradually losing the protection Rome had granted that ancient community. The boat was an early symbol of the church. Part of the message of this passage to the early church was to hang in there; the church will survive the storms of persecution. The "other boats" did not have Jesus in them, but (presumably) they survived the storm, too. The church no longer has Jesus present with it, but will survive the storms of the surrounding culture, which were likely to be hostile and even demonic. The church should have the faith Jesus expects of the disciples, even in rough waters.
Pastoral Reading
This passage raises once again the question of what it means to have faith. When the four men brought their paralyzed companion to Jesus, part of their faith was persistence (Mark 2:1-12). They took creative, bold, even pushy action. In this story, faith has to do with not being afraid in a storm. Jesus scolded the disciples for showing fear, which Jesus interpreted as a lack of faith (v. 40). We may wonder how we best can live out this kind of faith. At its most literal it would mean courage in a storm. Does faith mean that if you live in a coastal area, and a hurricane is coming your way, you stay put and don't evacuate? Beyond this whimsical example, where does courageous faith end and reckless disregard for danger begin?
The place where we need courageous faith the most is in the church's ministry. Often, a church (or larger body) has to step out into a ministry that is uncertain. A building campaign, a new outreach, or a change of location can bring risks. One area of ministry that always demands courage is standing up against injustice. As Old Testament prophets such as Micah and Amos and modern-day prophets such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Oscar Romero found out, taking a stand for justice involves risk. Faith does not guarantee that our ministry for justice will be "successful" as the world defines success. We will not be protected from the storms of anger, resistance, or even an assassin's bullet. Nevertheless, faith carries us through in these justice ministries, trusting God for the real success of the ministry.
The church, of course, is very active in ministries with people who have been affected by storms: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and the like. Churches help with emergency care, rebuilding homes, economic recovery, and a host of other ministries.
We can learn something from Jesus' sleep on the boat. The disciples interpret Jesus' sleep as a lack of concern. Sometimes, we face situations in which we can do nothing. We have taken our best shot, or circumstances prevent our intervention. In those cases, we can trust that God is active in ways we cannot see. H. Richard Niebuhr wrote an essay in the '30s titled, "The Grace of Doing Nothing." He was writing to defend a pacifist stance in the war between Japan and China. Whether one is a pacifist or not, some of what Niebuhr says is instructive. He contrasts the Christian way of doing nothing with pessimism, cynicism, and protecting the status quo. He declares that the Christian way of doing nothing "appears to be highly impracticable because it rests on the well-nigh obsolete faith that there is a real God."2 Niebuhr counsels patience in situations where we can do nothing. He says, though, that it is "a patience that is full of hope, and is based on faith."3 Jesus' sleep is not a lack of concern, but a trust in God. In situations where we feel helpless to act or change things, we can still trust in God, not naively, but in faith and hope.
Preaching Strategies
The different layers of meaning for the storm in this passage give the preacher many starting points for a sermon. Focusing on the storm as an act of nature could lead to a sermon on the way we experience nature as both friend and foe. We refresh ourselves in nature, but we also fear nature. Because nature is fearful, we long for God to redeem creation. The church has a ministry to those who are displaced, physically injured, or economically ruined by weather phenomena.
A focus on the storm as an allusion to persecution in the early church could lead to a sermon on the ways in which the church continues to experience persecution. In many countries the church is persecuted violently. Often the church encounters backlash in its struggle to pursue justice. The rich, powerful, and comfortable resist attempts to produce equitable division of economic resources, goods, and services. Martin Luther King, Jr., tells of his early days in the Montgomery bus boycott. Acknowledging that he had led a sheltered life until he began his pastorate in Alabama, King relates how stressful the resistance to justice was during the boycott. Because of his leadership in the boycott he began to receive threatening phone calls. One night, after a particularly hateful call, he could not go back to sleep. He entered into intense, nearly desperate prayer. In response to his prayer, he experienced a genuine sense of God's presence. Shortly after King's night of prayer, his home was bombed. Even with such danger, the feeling of God's presence persisted. King shares the epiphany: "My experience with God had given me a new strength and trust. I knew now that God is able to give us the interior resources to face the storms and problems of life."4 King uses the metaphor of storms to describe the backlash against his quest for justice. His sense of peace reminds us of Jesus' faithful sleep in the boat.
One can interpret the storm in this passage as an outbreak of demonic hostility toward Jesus and his disciples. The demonic forces seek to destroy Jesus and his disciples. On this level, the demonic forces use God's creation against the Son of God. This level of meaning reminds the church that it is in a constant spiritual battle. The demonic forces use every tool to corrupt and thwart the work of the church, and to resist God's will for creation. Even the structures of the church itself can be used against the church. The church's weapons in this spiritual battle are prayer, worship, the sacraments, and faith.
____________
1.ÊJoel Marcus, Mark 1-8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Bible), ed. William Foxwell Albright and David Noel Freedman, no. 27 (New York: Doubleday, 1999), p. 332.
2.ÊChristian Century, 49 March 23, 1932, p. 379, article 378-380.
3.ÊIbid., p. 380.
4.ÊStrength to Love (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1963), p. 114.
The (Demonic) Empire Strikes Back
The Text
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But 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?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Throughout chapter 4 Jesus has been teaching the crowds in parables. The general theme of the parables has been the inevitability of the kingdom of God. Jesus has been sitting in a boat while the crowd gathered at the sea. When Jesus leaves the crowd to go across the sea, a storm whips up -- perhaps a threat to the inevitability of the kingdom! Jesus is going to Gentile territory to expand his mission. To this point the demons have been altogether helpless against the ministry of Jesus. Now they seem to stage a frontal attack.
Background
Throughout much of the Old Testament the sea is more than just water. At the least the sea represents danger; at the most it is the home of chaotic and even demonic forces. In creation narratives, poetry, and vision reports, the Old Testament writers paint a dark, mysterious, and treacherous portrait of the sea.
As chapter 1 of Genesis opens, the dark, murky waters of chaos are raging and out of control. God's first act of creation is to bring calm and order to the tempestuous waters of chaos. God's life-giving breath (ruah) blows over the shapeless waters to create room for life. Although the water is unruly, God controls the water to enact God's purposes.
Isaiah 27:1 portrays the sea as the home of a fearsome, rebellious beast. "On that day, the Lord with his cruel and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea." Leviathan is a mythological beast, which appears in creation stories from the ancient near east that may have influenced the creation narratives and poems in the Old Testament. Leviathan in Isaiah is more than a sort of Hebrew Loch Ness monster. God's battle with Leviathan is a cosmic battle to rid the world of evil. Leviathan is mentioned in Psalm 74:13-14 and Job 41.
Daniel 7 is an apocalyptic text, written at a time of deep crisis for the Jewish community. Jerusalem was under severe persecution from the Syrian ruler, Antiochus IV. In chapter 7, Daniel has a dream in which four beasts arise from the sea. These beasts are ghastly in appearance, and the fourth is the most terrible of all. These beasts represent the four kingdoms of Babylon, Media, Persia, and Greece. The beasts are the otherworldly counterparts to the four earthly kingdoms. Daniel 7 is proclaiming through the vision that the conflict on earth is part of a cosmic evil that only God can fight. The beasts arise from the sea, the home of evil beings.
Some texts represent the sea as dangerous, but not necessarily demonic. In the book of Jonah, the title character tries to flee from the presence of the Lord (an impossible task!) by sailing to Tarshish. The Lord has called him to go to Nineveh. While he is on the boat, a storm erupts which threatens to sink the boat. The cause of the storm is that God "hurled a great wind upon the sea" (Jonah 1:4). Despite the best efforts of the sailors, they cannot row against the storm. They are forced to throw Jonah overboard, at which point the sea grows calm. In this story, the sea is completely under the Lord's control. The sea performs God's will by preventing Jonah's flight.
Psalm 107 is a pilgrimage psalm celebrating the providence of the Lord in bringing the pilgrims safely to Jerusalem. Starting in verse 23, the psalm recounts the peril of sailors who encounter a storm on the sea. Without offering an explanation, the psalmist attributes the storm to the Lord's actions. "For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea" (v. 25). The sailors, physically unable to cope with the storm, grow frightened. The storm abates when they cry out to the Lord. After quieting the storm, the Lord brings them to their destination. The psalmist does not attribute the storm to the sinfulness of the sailors or the desire of the Lord to test their faith. Even though the Lord created the storm, the psalmist considers the Lord's protection and guidance in the storm to be an example of the Lord's "steadfast love" (v. 31).
Psalm 3 contains a verse that suggests peaceful sleep is a sign of one's trust in the Lord. "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me" (v. 5). Psalm 4:8 has a similar sentiment, "I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety." Perhaps Jesus' sleep in the boat in verse 38 indicates his trust in God.
Literary Analysis
This story is driven mostly by the action. The dialogue is sparse, even if it is important. The drama is conveyed through the skill of the narrator, who strikes a good balance between subtlety and powerful description.
The narrator sets the stage in verse 1. The day is drawing to a close. Jesus has spent the day preaching from a boat. The darkness of night creates a sinister mood (see Mark 15:33 for an example of darkness as an image of evil). Jesus directs the disciples to cross the sea to the other side. The fact that other boats are with them means that the demonic forces can wipe out not only Jesus, but also the whole movement in one fell swoop. The storm arises suddenly and unexpectedly. Wouldn't experienced fishermen have noticed signs of a potential storm? The narrator vividly describes the terror and power of the storm, "the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped" (v. 37).
In sharp contrast to the raging storm, Jesus sleeps peacefully in the stern. Whatever the historicity of this story, surely this detail is a literary technique. Who could sleep through such a storm? The disciples interpret Jesus' sleep as a lack of concern for their safety. They ask frantically, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (v. 38) Jesus' sleep seems to convey a sense of trust, a sense that Jesus does not feel threatened by the storm.
The narrator never says explicitly that the storm is the work of demons. The Old Testament background and the anxiety and hostility of the demons in the first four chapters of the book suggest that the storm has a deeper meaning. The biggest clue is that when Jesus wakes up, he "rebukes" the wind, and speaks to the sea, as though the sea were an entity. One translator even renders Jesus' words to the storm as "Silence! Shut up!"1 (The Anchor Bible, v. 39, compare the NRSV "Peace! Be still!") All of these clues add up to the conclusion that the storm is a demon or demonic force attempting to destroy Jesus. In a reversal of the Genesis 1 creation narrative, the sea seeks to revert to chaos. Now, both human forces (3:6) and demonic forces are trying to destroy Jesus, and maybe the disciples, as well.
Jesus' words to the disciples express a sense of exasperation. After all of the healings and exorcisms, they still did not have faith. To their credit, they did wake Jesus up, apparently under the assumption that he could calm the storm. One wonders what Jesus expected the disciples to do. Should they have simply continued in the face of the storm? Should they have tried to rebuke the storm themselves? Should they have spoken to Jesus with more calm and assurance, "Jesus, not that we're worried, but when you get a minute, could you calm down this storm?"
The text compares two types of fear. Jesus asks the disciples why they are afraid (v. 40). This fear is an act of unfaith, a lack of trust in Jesus' power. The narrator tells us that at the end of the incident, the disciples are filled with great awe. This is proper awe in the presence of the holy.
The disciples' rhetorical question at the end of the passage, "Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" is the question Mark wants to leave the reader asking. It sums up the story. The reader is forced to answer the question. Given what we know about the sea, who could possibly control it? The only answer is that the Son of God could, but the disciples are still not ready to give that answer.
Theological Reflection
The passage raises questions about how we understand our relationship to nature. Nature is part of God's creation. On the one hand, nature is a source of endless delight: forests, meadows, ponds, the beach, and adorable furry creatures. On the other hand, nature is dangerous and forbidding: hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and ferocious predators. People stand in an ambiguous relationship with nature. It is both friend and foe. We cannot separate ourselves from nature. We live in the midst of nature and must make our way within it.
We moderns are not comfortable saying that a storm is caused by demons. Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and other storms do seem almost cruel. We all understand when someone says a dark, cloudy sky looks "angry." Tornadoes seem almost vindictive in the damage they do. When we move beyond weather phenomena and look at the animal kingdom, we still see everything from nuisance to the fight for survival to downright cruelty (watch a cat with a rodent). My wife often asks me what God was thinking when flies, mosquitoes, and spiders were created. Beyond the nuisance factor of bugs, we see much disharmony in the animal kingdom. Carnivores exist by hunting and eating other creatures. Watch a nature documentary and notice the terror in the eyes of a rabbit about to be caught by predator. Sharks and snakes even have a malevolent visage.
This passage, as were the physical healings, is a manifestation of the coming near of the dominion of God. Mark might attribute the deadliness of nature to demons; we might not agree. Nevertheless, part of the coming near of the dominion of God is reconciliation between people and nature and the parts of nature. When the realm of God comes in its fullness, all of creation will be healed, including nature. The prophet Isaiah paints a beautiful picture of the reconciliation and redemption of nature. "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den" (Isaiah 11:6-8).
Scholars are agreed that the storm in this passage has layers of meaning. The storm represents the untamed forces of nature, as well as the efforts of demonic forces to wipe out Jesus and his followers. On another level, the storm represents persecution. The Gospel of Mark was likely written at a time when the church was undergoing persecution under Nero and the Roman society in general. In most areas of the Mediterranean world now separated from the synagogue and becoming an increasingly Gentile movement, the church was gradually losing the protection Rome had granted that ancient community. The boat was an early symbol of the church. Part of the message of this passage to the early church was to hang in there; the church will survive the storms of persecution. The "other boats" did not have Jesus in them, but (presumably) they survived the storm, too. The church no longer has Jesus present with it, but will survive the storms of the surrounding culture, which were likely to be hostile and even demonic. The church should have the faith Jesus expects of the disciples, even in rough waters.
Pastoral Reading
This passage raises once again the question of what it means to have faith. When the four men brought their paralyzed companion to Jesus, part of their faith was persistence (Mark 2:1-12). They took creative, bold, even pushy action. In this story, faith has to do with not being afraid in a storm. Jesus scolded the disciples for showing fear, which Jesus interpreted as a lack of faith (v. 40). We may wonder how we best can live out this kind of faith. At its most literal it would mean courage in a storm. Does faith mean that if you live in a coastal area, and a hurricane is coming your way, you stay put and don't evacuate? Beyond this whimsical example, where does courageous faith end and reckless disregard for danger begin?
The place where we need courageous faith the most is in the church's ministry. Often, a church (or larger body) has to step out into a ministry that is uncertain. A building campaign, a new outreach, or a change of location can bring risks. One area of ministry that always demands courage is standing up against injustice. As Old Testament prophets such as Micah and Amos and modern-day prophets such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Oscar Romero found out, taking a stand for justice involves risk. Faith does not guarantee that our ministry for justice will be "successful" as the world defines success. We will not be protected from the storms of anger, resistance, or even an assassin's bullet. Nevertheless, faith carries us through in these justice ministries, trusting God for the real success of the ministry.
The church, of course, is very active in ministries with people who have been affected by storms: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and the like. Churches help with emergency care, rebuilding homes, economic recovery, and a host of other ministries.
We can learn something from Jesus' sleep on the boat. The disciples interpret Jesus' sleep as a lack of concern. Sometimes, we face situations in which we can do nothing. We have taken our best shot, or circumstances prevent our intervention. In those cases, we can trust that God is active in ways we cannot see. H. Richard Niebuhr wrote an essay in the '30s titled, "The Grace of Doing Nothing." He was writing to defend a pacifist stance in the war between Japan and China. Whether one is a pacifist or not, some of what Niebuhr says is instructive. He contrasts the Christian way of doing nothing with pessimism, cynicism, and protecting the status quo. He declares that the Christian way of doing nothing "appears to be highly impracticable because it rests on the well-nigh obsolete faith that there is a real God."2 Niebuhr counsels patience in situations where we can do nothing. He says, though, that it is "a patience that is full of hope, and is based on faith."3 Jesus' sleep is not a lack of concern, but a trust in God. In situations where we feel helpless to act or change things, we can still trust in God, not naively, but in faith and hope.
Preaching Strategies
The different layers of meaning for the storm in this passage give the preacher many starting points for a sermon. Focusing on the storm as an act of nature could lead to a sermon on the way we experience nature as both friend and foe. We refresh ourselves in nature, but we also fear nature. Because nature is fearful, we long for God to redeem creation. The church has a ministry to those who are displaced, physically injured, or economically ruined by weather phenomena.
A focus on the storm as an allusion to persecution in the early church could lead to a sermon on the ways in which the church continues to experience persecution. In many countries the church is persecuted violently. Often the church encounters backlash in its struggle to pursue justice. The rich, powerful, and comfortable resist attempts to produce equitable division of economic resources, goods, and services. Martin Luther King, Jr., tells of his early days in the Montgomery bus boycott. Acknowledging that he had led a sheltered life until he began his pastorate in Alabama, King relates how stressful the resistance to justice was during the boycott. Because of his leadership in the boycott he began to receive threatening phone calls. One night, after a particularly hateful call, he could not go back to sleep. He entered into intense, nearly desperate prayer. In response to his prayer, he experienced a genuine sense of God's presence. Shortly after King's night of prayer, his home was bombed. Even with such danger, the feeling of God's presence persisted. King shares the epiphany: "My experience with God had given me a new strength and trust. I knew now that God is able to give us the interior resources to face the storms and problems of life."4 King uses the metaphor of storms to describe the backlash against his quest for justice. His sense of peace reminds us of Jesus' faithful sleep in the boat.
One can interpret the storm in this passage as an outbreak of demonic hostility toward Jesus and his disciples. The demonic forces seek to destroy Jesus and his disciples. On this level, the demonic forces use God's creation against the Son of God. This level of meaning reminds the church that it is in a constant spiritual battle. The demonic forces use every tool to corrupt and thwart the work of the church, and to resist God's will for creation. Even the structures of the church itself can be used against the church. The church's weapons in this spiritual battle are prayer, worship, the sacraments, and faith.
____________
1.ÊJoel Marcus, Mark 1-8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Bible), ed. William Foxwell Albright and David Noel Freedman, no. 27 (New York: Doubleday, 1999), p. 332.
2.ÊChristian Century, 49 March 23, 1932, p. 379, article 378-380.
3.ÊIbid., p. 380.
4.ÊStrength to Love (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1963), p. 114.
