Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Cycle B, June 21, 2015
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49, Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 , Mark 4:35-41
Grace and peace to you from the Lord our God who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
As you might have heard, 4 days ago, there was a shooting in Charleston, SC. Immanuel AME Church has Wednesday Bible study meeting and a young white man came and joined them. After one hour, suddenly the young man stood up and started shooting toward the Bible study group. 9 people including 3 pastors died and 3 people survived. Before he opened fire on them, he might have prayed with them and he might have learned the Bible and shared his thoughts and listened to the other’s thoughts during that one hour. People were shocked not only by the killings but that the violence occurred in a house of worship, a house of God.
People often ask why Christians suffer from all kinds of tragedies and sufferings and where God is in those situations— why God doesn’t care about their sufferings and why God merely watch and do nothing.
We can find the exactly same situation in today’s Gospel lesson. The disciples woke Jesus up in the deadly storm and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” They were so afraid of the storm because some of them were fishermen and they knew from their experience how dangerous this storm was and that they could be killed in the midst of this situation. At first, they might have tried their best to survive and used their knowledge and skills to save the boat and their life. But soon they were terrified and didn’t know what to do and finally, they went to sleeping Jesus to wake him up.
In this scene, we can see two types of characteristics to deal with such desperate situations. One is terrified disciples in the storm and another is sleeping Jesus in the midst of turbulence. We all know that we are just like the disciples when we face hardships and difficulties. We are easily distressed, anxious and troubled in that kind of moment. We see the situation through our experiences and our limited knowledge. We think with our logic and human capacity. Sometimes, we believe that God has abandoned us or we even think that God is not able to fix the situation. And we lose our faith in God.
Then, what should we do? Today’s Gospel lesson gives us a good model which is Jesus. So today, we are going to see and learn how to overcome our difficulties and maintain peace in our mind from Jesus.
Some might say that Jesus was too tired from the busy schedule that he wasn’t able to notice the stormy situation. Yes, Jesus would have been tired; we can guess that Jesus taught people all day long in the boat. He traveled town to town with his disciples and he couldn’t eat well and he couldn’t rest well. When evening came, Jesus told his disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee to go to another town. Before he started his new mission in the new town, he might have tried to get some rest in the boat.
Or some might think that Jesus was the Son of God and the Creator of nature that he was not afraid of anything. He knew that he would not die even in the deadly storm. And the confidence gave peace in him.
If we simply think in these two ways, we cannot learn anything from Jesus. But Jesus rebuked his disciples by saying “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” What was Jesus’ expectation toward them? It was “faith.” Perhaps Jesus was already awake, but he decided to see whether or not his disciples proved their faith toward God and how they confronted that situation without Jesus’ help. But they failed to overcome their fear and complained to Jesus that he was not concerned about them but was sleeping in the boat.
Then, what kind of faith was Jesus expecting from his disciples? First, it is the faith that they have the Son of God, Jesus Christ, with them in the boat even though he was sleeping. The disciples have seen Jesus’ miraculous acts such as healing the sick, raising the dead, driving out the demons. They have also heard his remarkable teaching and profound instructions. So they believed Jesus as the Son of God and followed him wherever he went. However, when they faced a death-dealing situation, they lost their faith and remained in panic.
I invite you to examine our mind and heart to see if we do the same thing. We meet so many storms and turbulences in our life such as financial difficulties, job loss, marriage problem, bodily injuries, deaths of beloved one just like the Charleston shooting victim’s family and on and on.. In these situations, what do you do? Do you remain in fear? Sadness? Despair? OR Do you believe in God who is with you and who is able to calm the storm for you? We have to acknowledge that there is storm in our faith journey. Sometimes we wonder why Christians fall into such a devastated situation and we complain to God about not protecting us from the situation. But remember that God is with us.
Four weeks ago, it was Pentecost Sunday on which we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he promised that he will be with us to the end of the age and that he will send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God so that he keeps the promise of being with you and in you. But sometimes we forget that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Especially, when we encounter difficult problems, just as the disciples felt, we feel that Jesus is sleeping and not helping the trouble. Whenever you feel as such, remember today’s Gospel lesson! Jesus is in your life boat. And he is well able to calm down the deadly storm with one word or two. “Quiet! Be still!” Let’s not stop here but think further. What happens if we apply these words, “Quiet! Be Still!” not only to the storm but also to our souls? This will take us to our next point: Jesus expects the faith that we can calm down the storm.
In Matthew chapter 17, Jesus said “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Just like Jesus rebuked the wind by saying “Quiet! Be still,” the disciples could have told the wind to stop and calm down. Then, the wind would be quiet.
The meaning of “faith” in the Bible can be translated in so many different words such as confidence, assurance, conviction, reliance, trust, courage, and so much more. Faith is one of the words that is difficult to tie down to one simple definition but it is considered to have all the meanings that I just mentioned. Faith is a channel of living trust, without any suspicion, and an assurance that stretches from man to God.
Jesus made the wind and waves to obey and calm down not only because he was the Son of God, but also because he had the living trust in God who is truthful and trustworthy. Jesus showed his disciples a good model that they don’t have to worry in such situation but to have faith in which nothing will be impossible.
Today, Jesus Christ is asking you if you have faith in various circumstances where your trust in God is at stake. Back to Charleston shooting, two days later on Friday, gunman showed up in the court and heard words of forgiveness from the victim’s families. One of the family member said “I forgive you. You took something very precious from me. I will never talk to her again. I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you.” And one of the survivors of the church shooting said “Every fiber in my body hurts. But as we said in the Bible study, we enjoyed you, may God have mercy on you.”
The victim’s family could have lost their faith in God because they were in the church studying the Bible and praying and worshipping God, and God didn’t protect them from the merciless shooting. But rather, they decided not to bare hatred toward the young man but to forgive him and wished him God’s mercy and forgiveness. Their action out of their firm faith calmed down the storm and shined God’s love not only toward the young man but also to all the people who heard the news.
Jesus is asking you and me to have faith—to have faith in the never changing Truth, the Truth within which the whole creation works and lives. Sometimes our faith is tested by seemingly simple things. Don’t ignore this, because that seemingly simple things may be the biggest thing that blocks you from trusting in Jesus with your whole heart. Now, let us ask ourselves. Let us listen to Jesus asking us: Do you have that faith?
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49, Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 , Mark 4:35-41
Grace and peace to you from the Lord our God who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
As you might have heard, 4 days ago, there was a shooting in Charleston, SC. Immanuel AME Church has Wednesday Bible study meeting and a young white man came and joined them. After one hour, suddenly the young man stood up and started shooting toward the Bible study group. 9 people including 3 pastors died and 3 people survived. Before he opened fire on them, he might have prayed with them and he might have learned the Bible and shared his thoughts and listened to the other’s thoughts during that one hour. People were shocked not only by the killings but that the violence occurred in a house of worship, a house of God.
People often ask why Christians suffer from all kinds of tragedies and sufferings and where God is in those situations— why God doesn’t care about their sufferings and why God merely watch and do nothing.
We can find the exactly same situation in today’s Gospel lesson. The disciples woke Jesus up in the deadly storm and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” They were so afraid of the storm because some of them were fishermen and they knew from their experience how dangerous this storm was and that they could be killed in the midst of this situation. At first, they might have tried their best to survive and used their knowledge and skills to save the boat and their life. But soon they were terrified and didn’t know what to do and finally, they went to sleeping Jesus to wake him up.
In this scene, we can see two types of characteristics to deal with such desperate situations. One is terrified disciples in the storm and another is sleeping Jesus in the midst of turbulence. We all know that we are just like the disciples when we face hardships and difficulties. We are easily distressed, anxious and troubled in that kind of moment. We see the situation through our experiences and our limited knowledge. We think with our logic and human capacity. Sometimes, we believe that God has abandoned us or we even think that God is not able to fix the situation. And we lose our faith in God.
Then, what should we do? Today’s Gospel lesson gives us a good model which is Jesus. So today, we are going to see and learn how to overcome our difficulties and maintain peace in our mind from Jesus.
Some might say that Jesus was too tired from the busy schedule that he wasn’t able to notice the stormy situation. Yes, Jesus would have been tired; we can guess that Jesus taught people all day long in the boat. He traveled town to town with his disciples and he couldn’t eat well and he couldn’t rest well. When evening came, Jesus told his disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee to go to another town. Before he started his new mission in the new town, he might have tried to get some rest in the boat.
Or some might think that Jesus was the Son of God and the Creator of nature that he was not afraid of anything. He knew that he would not die even in the deadly storm. And the confidence gave peace in him.
If we simply think in these two ways, we cannot learn anything from Jesus. But Jesus rebuked his disciples by saying “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” What was Jesus’ expectation toward them? It was “faith.” Perhaps Jesus was already awake, but he decided to see whether or not his disciples proved their faith toward God and how they confronted that situation without Jesus’ help. But they failed to overcome their fear and complained to Jesus that he was not concerned about them but was sleeping in the boat.
Then, what kind of faith was Jesus expecting from his disciples? First, it is the faith that they have the Son of God, Jesus Christ, with them in the boat even though he was sleeping. The disciples have seen Jesus’ miraculous acts such as healing the sick, raising the dead, driving out the demons. They have also heard his remarkable teaching and profound instructions. So they believed Jesus as the Son of God and followed him wherever he went. However, when they faced a death-dealing situation, they lost their faith and remained in panic.
I invite you to examine our mind and heart to see if we do the same thing. We meet so many storms and turbulences in our life such as financial difficulties, job loss, marriage problem, bodily injuries, deaths of beloved one just like the Charleston shooting victim’s family and on and on.. In these situations, what do you do? Do you remain in fear? Sadness? Despair? OR Do you believe in God who is with you and who is able to calm the storm for you? We have to acknowledge that there is storm in our faith journey. Sometimes we wonder why Christians fall into such a devastated situation and we complain to God about not protecting us from the situation. But remember that God is with us.
Four weeks ago, it was Pentecost Sunday on which we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he promised that he will be with us to the end of the age and that he will send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God so that he keeps the promise of being with you and in you. But sometimes we forget that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Especially, when we encounter difficult problems, just as the disciples felt, we feel that Jesus is sleeping and not helping the trouble. Whenever you feel as such, remember today’s Gospel lesson! Jesus is in your life boat. And he is well able to calm down the deadly storm with one word or two. “Quiet! Be still!” Let’s not stop here but think further. What happens if we apply these words, “Quiet! Be Still!” not only to the storm but also to our souls? This will take us to our next point: Jesus expects the faith that we can calm down the storm.
In Matthew chapter 17, Jesus said “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Just like Jesus rebuked the wind by saying “Quiet! Be still,” the disciples could have told the wind to stop and calm down. Then, the wind would be quiet.
The meaning of “faith” in the Bible can be translated in so many different words such as confidence, assurance, conviction, reliance, trust, courage, and so much more. Faith is one of the words that is difficult to tie down to one simple definition but it is considered to have all the meanings that I just mentioned. Faith is a channel of living trust, without any suspicion, and an assurance that stretches from man to God.
Jesus made the wind and waves to obey and calm down not only because he was the Son of God, but also because he had the living trust in God who is truthful and trustworthy. Jesus showed his disciples a good model that they don’t have to worry in such situation but to have faith in which nothing will be impossible.
Today, Jesus Christ is asking you if you have faith in various circumstances where your trust in God is at stake. Back to Charleston shooting, two days later on Friday, gunman showed up in the court and heard words of forgiveness from the victim’s families. One of the family member said “I forgive you. You took something very precious from me. I will never talk to her again. I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you.” And one of the survivors of the church shooting said “Every fiber in my body hurts. But as we said in the Bible study, we enjoyed you, may God have mercy on you.”
The victim’s family could have lost their faith in God because they were in the church studying the Bible and praying and worshipping God, and God didn’t protect them from the merciless shooting. But rather, they decided not to bare hatred toward the young man but to forgive him and wished him God’s mercy and forgiveness. Their action out of their firm faith calmed down the storm and shined God’s love not only toward the young man but also to all the people who heard the news.
Jesus is asking you and me to have faith—to have faith in the never changing Truth, the Truth within which the whole creation works and lives. Sometimes our faith is tested by seemingly simple things. Don’t ignore this, because that seemingly simple things may be the biggest thing that blocks you from trusting in Jesus with your whole heart. Now, let us ask ourselves. Let us listen to Jesus asking us: Do you have that faith?