God Has Come Near
The story of Jesus calming the storm is recorded in Mark 4:35-41. I think you should read it.
Let’s cut to the chase. In the face of the disciples’ terror, Jesus speaks immediately and directly to the cosmic forces of wind and sea and rebukes them. To rebuke something is to express sharp disapproval or criticism because of their behavior or actions. Jesus rebukes the forces of death that prevent people from fully living, from fully flourishing, from living as God intended them. The wind stopped and there began to be a great calm.
What happens on the Sea of Galilee is no ordinary miracle story, but rather an exorcism story writ large. The reign of God has come near.
Recall that at the very beginning of time, when the cosmos was formed, the earth was a giant mass of chaos. God by God’s word spoke the chaos into order. And God said, let there be light, and there was light. In the world of Jesus’ time, the forces of the sea and weather were not things to be tamed, but things to be feared. Chaos. Jesus by his word speaks the chaos into order, the turmoil into calm. “Quiet down! Be silenced!” What is utterly untamable has been tamed by Jesus, simply by speaking a word.
We witness here a demonstration of divine power, an exorcism on a grand, cosmic scale. The world’s death-dealing forces affect us as a human community, like the all-encompassing storm that affected not just Jesus and his boat, but all the boats around them.
Jesus’ mission is to confront such forces — not with military might, but with a calm, courageous campaign of healing and liberation.
Though the pandemic seems to be in the rearview mirror here in Door County, across the country and around the world, the crisis continues. We live in a storm of communal inequalities, the continued marginalization of the LGBTQ community, a society poisoned with rancor, conspiracy theories, and despair.
The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus is with us in the boat. One of the earliest symbols of the church was a boat or an ark. It’s why a cathedral’s central section is called a “nave” — as in, “navy.” Jesus is God come among us. This is the one who is the one present and active in our lives and in our community, bringing order to chaos, driving out the death-dealing forces among us.
The world we inhabit is full of things both beautiful and terrible. Thankfully, we do not sail these dangerous waters alone. The One who stills the waters with a word has joined us in the boat.
Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Let’s cut to the chase. In the face of the disciples’ terror, Jesus speaks immediately and directly to the cosmic forces of wind and sea and rebukes them. To rebuke something is to express sharp disapproval or criticism because of their behavior or actions. Jesus rebukes the forces of death that prevent people from fully living, from fully flourishing, from living as God intended them. The wind stopped and there began to be a great calm.
What happens on the Sea of Galilee is no ordinary miracle story, but rather an exorcism story writ large. The reign of God has come near.
Recall that at the very beginning of time, when the cosmos was formed, the earth was a giant mass of chaos. God by God’s word spoke the chaos into order. And God said, let there be light, and there was light. In the world of Jesus’ time, the forces of the sea and weather were not things to be tamed, but things to be feared. Chaos. Jesus by his word speaks the chaos into order, the turmoil into calm. “Quiet down! Be silenced!” What is utterly untamable has been tamed by Jesus, simply by speaking a word.
We witness here a demonstration of divine power, an exorcism on a grand, cosmic scale. The world’s death-dealing forces affect us as a human community, like the all-encompassing storm that affected not just Jesus and his boat, but all the boats around them.
Jesus’ mission is to confront such forces — not with military might, but with a calm, courageous campaign of healing and liberation.
Though the pandemic seems to be in the rearview mirror here in Door County, across the country and around the world, the crisis continues. We live in a storm of communal inequalities, the continued marginalization of the LGBTQ community, a society poisoned with rancor, conspiracy theories, and despair.
The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus is with us in the boat. One of the earliest symbols of the church was a boat or an ark. It’s why a cathedral’s central section is called a “nave” — as in, “navy.” Jesus is God come among us. This is the one who is the one present and active in our lives and in our community, bringing order to chaos, driving out the death-dealing forces among us.
The world we inhabit is full of things both beautiful and terrible. Thankfully, we do not sail these dangerous waters alone. The One who stills the waters with a word has joined us in the boat.
Pastor Jim Honig
Shepherd of the Bay, Ellison Bay
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