DO YOU NOT CARE?        

By Dr. Eric C. Stumpf, Senior Pastor

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church – Munster, IN

Mark 4:35-41 + Pentecost 3 (B)  +

June 20 & 21, 2009

                  Lt. Christopher Walker was flying a trainer at night from the Pensacola Naval Base over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico when his engine malfunctioned.  He was too low to glide back to land.  His training kicked in and he did all he could to restart the engine, but it wouldn’t start.  He hit the evacuate button and called out to God in prayer.  The canopy was thrown back and he safely ejected from the doomed plane.  He landed in the water, stripped off the parachute and other things, unfortunately, the inflatable life vest malfunctioned.  He had to swim rather than float.  In the darkness he could make out the occasional lights along the coast and began swimming towards them.  Never a good swimmer it seemed like hours of struggle had passed and he felt he was no closer to the shore.  He again prayed to God.  His thoughts about his wife and baby son, his parents, gave him the will to use strength he did not know he had, but even then, his body could not go on.  Finally, totally exhausted and cramping up, he began to sink in the calm warm waters.  Just as his chin was level with the water, thinking he was going down for the last time, his feet hit the bottom.  He was standing on a sand bar that went far into the waters and he was able to walk to shore an hour later.

                Many of us like Christopher Walker go through life struggling and straining, worrying and being afraid, when all the while God is with us.  God calls us through the Word to put our faith, trust, and love in Him above all things.

 Jesus Calms The Storm

                Please take out your bulletin and follow the Gospel lesson with me.  In verse 35 Mark wrote, evening had come.  It was a long day, Jesus had taught a great crowd near the shore.  The crowds grew and pressed on him so that Jesus was forced to get into a boat and preach from there.  But now the day was over.  Jesus told the disciples to make for the opposite end of the lake, from northwest to southeast, a distance of some 14 miles.  Verse 37 tells us that a sudden squall came up.  This was quite common on the Sea of Galilee.  The lake is 600 feet below sea level.  Just to the north by some twenty miles is Mount Hermon, about 4,000 feet above sea level.  Even in the summer it has snow on the top.  A shift of the winds can bring cold dry air sweeping down through the gorges to the warm humid air caught in the bowl configuration of the Sea of Galilee.  Around here this would be the perfect recipe for a tornado.  Suddenly the winds picked up, the waves began pounding the fishing boat.  Some fifteen years ago a fishing boat from the first century was found incased in mud in the Sea of Galilee.  Archaeologist carefully unearthed it and preserved it.  The major finding from this boat was how low the gunwales or sides of the boat were, much lower than people supposed.  While it was helpful for pulling up nets of fish, it was hazardous when waves came crashing against the boat.  Verse 38, where was Jesus?  Mark added the human touch, he was asleep on a cushion at the stern.  Here Jesus’ humanity could be seen, exhausted from the day, but calmly sleeping because of his complete trust in God the Father.

                Jesus was awaken by the panic cries of the disciples.  Do you not care that we are perishing?  Jesus was a carpenter’s son, not a fisherman, so what the disciples thought Jesus could do is questionable.  Well, at least he could bail or get panicky like them.  Verse 39, Jesus rebucked the wind and sea, as a father would rebuke a wayward child, as at creation when God told the waters to separate.  Suddenly everything was calm, the surface like a sheet of glass.  Only their wet faces and clothes would assure the disciples they had not imagined it all.  Verse 40, Why are you so afraid?  Have you still no faith? The Greek word for afraid is deiloi, which means cowardly or timid.  Jesus was saying their faith was too immature, too timid to believe they were under God’s protection.  After all Jesus said let us go over to the other side, not let’s go drown.  Verse 41, they were filled with great fear or terrified.  Again in Greek we catch the flavor of the word, it means they feared with great fear.  Their awe was even a greater emotion than the panic they had just minutes before.  Here they learned what we learned as children about the First Commandment, We should fear, love, and trust God above all things.

The Disciples

                What did this mean for the disciples?  This was early in their journey of faith.  Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were still a long way off.  Their timidity of faith was due to their lack of experience with Jesus.  When they cried out to Jesus it was more for another human pair of hands to bail than for real salvation.  They would learn Jesus was more than another person, but God’s own Son set for the salvation of the world.

                Yet all the time the disciples were under God’s care.  Perhaps it was easier to see that when they saw the great crowd of people listening to Jesus.  Success always seems like a blessing.  But in the mouth of the storm it was different.  Here their lives were threatened, they felt utterly helpless and their lives were out of control.  It is then that God seems far away, but he is not.  God is there in the midst of disappointment, heartache, and bad news.  His ultimate salvation is as certain when we feel success as it is when we feel despondent.

 Us

                What does this mean for us?  We pass through storms quite often.  They may be as fierce as some that come through our region or they may be figurative like illness, business problems, family troubles, etc.  Like Job we may wonder why my life is out of control and see things only from our perspective.  It is the stirring words of hope our God speaks to us, words of hope that reassure us that we shall stand because we know our Redeemer lives.  Instead of treating God like a fire extinguisher, seeking him only when all else fails, we need to seek him first.  In faith we come to him to guide us and save us.  While we cannot, at this time, understand why things are the way they are, we have faith  in God to work good for those who love him.  Luther once said, “It is well with those who find water breaking into their ship, for this moves them to seek help from God.”

                Jesus words of hope should be our foundation to face both good and ill, and surely, I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.  Mt. 28:20.  Amen.

 In Christ,

 Dr. Eric C. Stumpf

Senior Pastor

SDG