God of the Storm (Proper 7 B)

God of the Storm
Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7)
21th June 2009
Morrison Chapel, Macau
10:00 a.m. Eucharist with reserved sacrament
Job 38:1-11, 16-18; Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Mark 4:35-41

God, breathe into us a desire to change— take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.

Thank you all for welcoming me once again to Morrison Chapel.

In the north transept of St. John’s cathedral in Hong Kong, there is a beautiful stained glass window of Jesus calming the seas, the story we read today in the Gospel. Beside the portrayal of Jesus in the small boat with his disciples in the middle of Lake Tiberias, you find other figures: on one side is an English seaman, complete with navy blue peacoat, dufflebag, and pipe, looking as if at a shipping vessel preparing to load at the dock. On the other is a Southern Chinese woman in traditional clothing and woven grass rain hat looking to mend nets for fishing. The point is clear—here along the South China coast where sea faring is such a part of the economy and where risking one’s life by plying one’s trade out on the waters is a part of many people’s daily life, Jesus as a savior who can calm rough waters is truly important.


The story of Jesus calming the storm is more than just a recitation of a miraculous act of Jesus that demonstrates his authority. It is a story underscoring that Jesus is compassionate, and wholly worthy of trust and being relied on when we are in trouble.


The writers of the Gospel stories about Jesus calming the storm probably had in mind the description of the God who calls the storms and then calms them which we chanted today from Psalm 107. In Churches and parishes in port towns and in military chaplaincies for the Navy, we often hear the section of this Psalm that we chanted today, the part about “those who go down to the sea in ships.”

But what is interesting to me is this—Psalm 107 is not just about sailors. It has several different sections describing people in many different extreme situations, where they need to rely on God. The whole Psalm could be entitled, “God, the Savior of People in Distress.”

Part (vv. 4-9) talks about people who get lost in the desert and run out of water. God there leads them back to an oasis.

Another part (vv. 10-16) describes prisoners in a dark dungeon. God leads them from darkness to light, from bondage to freedom.

Yet another (vv. 17-22) talks about people suffering from horrible illness, as the Psalmist says, “because of their wicked ways.” They are near the gates of death because they cannot eat food anymore, because it has become so distasteful to them in their illness. One wonders whether whether the Psalmist has venereal disease, alcoholism or drug addiction, or some other ailment in mind, but the bit about not wanting to eat any nourishing food brings all these to mind. In the Psalmist's era, people thought disease came as punishment from God rather than from infection microbes. God heals these people when they call on him.

Finally, we see the part about those who go out upon the sea and get caught in a storm (vv. 23-32). Again, God calms the storm when they call on him. The psalm ends (vv. 33-41) by saying that God can change a river into a desert, and rich springs into dusty and arid ground. He can turn fruitful land into a salt marsh, and a desert into pools of water. The point is that God is a reliable savior in any hardship.

So the next time we hear the story about Jesus calming the storm, let’s not just think about Jesus helping mariners only.

Think about the drug addicts and alcoholics who have been helped by Jesus when they call upon him and surrender to him. And that, whatever name they might use to call Jesus, or image they might have of their “higher power.”

Think about the physically ill who have found healing and comfort in Jesus.

Think about how his message can help those lost in mental illness, or harmful ego.

Think about the poor that Jesus calls us to serve and assist.

Think about how he helps those lost in sin and self-deception, ourselves included, and lost in exploitation and deception of others.

“Master, don’t you care that we are perishing?” the disciples in the boat cry when they find him sleeping in the storm.

Before replying, Jesus calms the storm. Then he asks, “Why are you terrified? Where’s your trust in God? Where’s your faith?”

When I heard this story as a young boy, I heard this line and thought that Jesus here was condemning the disciples. "Oh ye of little faith." "If only you had faith, Peter, you could not only walk on water but also calm the sea itself." "If you have faith the size of a tiny mustard seed, you could not only move mountains, but calm the oceans too." All this conspired to make me want to say, "I'm unworthy, unworthy."

But that is not what the story is trying to say. Remember that this is the Jesus who spent his days with drunkards and prostitutes, and when criticized for this replied, "sick people need a doctor, not healthy ones." It is the same Jesus who told the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

The point is this--if we are forced by our circumstances to think we need God, then we should realize that it is God that we are in need of. God is trustworthy. God, in the idea of the Psalm we chanted today, is the savior of all in distress. Relying on God leaves little room for fear. Regardless of how things turn out, we know that, in the words of the prayer, God "is doing for us more that we can ask or imagine."

That's why Jesus calms the sea before he asks his disciples why they were afraid. He sympathizes and understands them, but wants to turn their rough fear and general sense of needing into a directed desire for the help of the One who is wholly trustworthy.

Jesus cares, and can help. We need to trust him.

In the name of God, Amen.