Holy Imagination and Calming the Storm (Free Version)
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (Year B)- 1 Samuel 17:32-49, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13, Mark 4:35-41
So far this season, our texts have challenged us to see past the way things appear and to see God in unlikely places. This week continues in that theme.
In 1 Samuel 17:32-49, David is a shepherd boy who has been anointed king (see last week’s story), but who has yet to be revealed as the future king. Goliath stands as an embodiment of evil. David stands as a representative of the God who conquers evil in a subversive way. It is clear that God is doing something through David.
When the Philistines attacked the Israelites, despising and cursing YHWH, God did not use Israel’s strength. He worked outside of their categories. It wasn’t the strong, dominating military leader who conquered Goliath. It was the hopeful shepherd boy who represented them, cutting evil off at the head. By the stone, evil is stunned. And then, by cutting off Goliath’s head, evil is undone.
When Paul faced hardships (2 Corinthians 6:1-13), both physical and related to his reputation, he did not lash out, and he didn’t pretend like everything was ok. His strength came through his weakness. In fact, he turned all of his troubles on their heads. When people rejected the apostles, the apostles knew that God accepted them. They held their lives and their possessions loosely because they knew that there was more than just this life. In the midst of their sorrows, they could rejoice because they knew that their sorrows (as real as they are) do not have the final word.
In our gospel text (Mark 4:35-41), the windstorm rises up the waves beat the boat, and it is being swamped. In the midst of it all, Jesus is asleep in the stern. He is not moved by the storm. Apparently, Jesus is so at peace that he could sleep through it, and it ticked off the disciples. They wake him up… “Jesus, don’t you care that we are going to drown?” Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea and says “Peace, be Still!”
And then, what does he say to the disciples? “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Jesus calls out the disciples fear. Didn’t you know that I was the Lord over the chaos? Didn’t you know that you are in the best place possible when you are with me?
When the storms raged and the disciples’ fight-or-flight kicked in, Jesus, the sleeping one, was the one who calmed the storm. This is a glimpse into the reality that the one who rests on the cross, is the one who calms the storm of sin and death.
Today’s gospel story is kind of a microcosm of Jesus’ life. All around Jesus the forces of evil are raging: demon possessed people, religious leaders plotting, political leaders capturing Jesus and putting him to death. And, when all of this chaos seems to reach its peak, we see Jesus slumped over, not on a cushion, but on the cross.
And all along he is urging his followers, “Why are you afraid? Don’t you believe?” And, on the third day, the storm is still, the tomb is empty.
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