Sermon Preached By: Rev. Fran Park
Date: June 21, 2009
Scripture: Mark 4:35–41
Sermon Title:

"Peace, Be Still"

In Jesus’ day, the Sea of Galilee was one of the busiest and most beautiful places in the world… it still is. Sometimes the Sea of Galilee was called the Lake of Tiberias, because Tiberias was the largest town on its shore. Sometimes it was called the Lake of Genneseret for the area on its western shore. Sometimes its called Lake Kinneret because it’s shape is supposedly like David’s harp.

The beauty, climate, and vegetation – all combine to make Galilee a very prosperous place.

The area of Galilee and the Sea of Galilee owed both their beauty and their peril to the geography. The surface of the Sea of Galilee is 680 feet below sea level. The lake and the area around it, is like a deep basin in the earth. It’s so far below sea level that in places its climate is almost tropical. But it’s for that reason that the Sea of Galilee is a dangerous body of water. It’s not very large: only 13 miles long, 8 miles wide and 150 feet deep. But because the lake is surrounded by steep hills, if a cold wind comes up, from the Mediterranean, it can move over onto the lake very suddenly. They’ve seen 10-foot waves, so that the calm of one moment might well be a raging storm the next. All land–locked lakes have this danger, but the Sea of Galilee is often subject to these squalls – which are so dangerous because of their suddenness – threatening the life of the fishermen.

Many of Jesus’ acquaintances were fishermen and when Jesus wanted a little peace and quiet to refresh his soul with God, he would sail with them to the other side of the lake. So on this occasion also they set sail. At the stern of the boat was a little platform–like seat with the cushion. Jesus was sitting in the stern on that cushion – and being very tired he fell asleep.

That tells us two things about Jesus. It tells us how exhausting his ministry was. Preaching and teaching really took it out of him – as he spent himself for other people. It also shows us he trusted his men. He knew the dangers of the Sea of Galilee as well as anyone – yet he slept in peace because he trusted the resourcefulness of his friends.

This little episode sort of reminded me of when I knew my dad trusted me driving the car. He read the Sunday paper we had picked up on our way home from church.

Jesus and his disciples had not gone very far before one of those sudden storms hit.

So fierce were the waves and the wind, that they were in danger of being swamped. But Jesus slept on. In their terror, the disciples woke him, asking if he didn’t’ care that they were all about to die. So he woke up, and as we’re told, he stilled the waves and the wind with a word – and there was a calm. Then he asked them where was their faith and trust – why had they lost their nerve?

This is really quite a story. There is far more here in this story than simply telling of an episode that took place once, on a day in Galilee when Jesus stilled a storm. If that was all this story meant – it would be a nice event and a wonderful tale – but it would have very little meaning for us. If that’s all it meant, we could read it with a great deal of amazement, but we’d also be aware that things like that just don’t happen any more.

But that’s not what the story means. Its meaning affects every one of us. It indicates that whenever God comes into a life, the storms of life become manageable, even calm. It means that God can and does and will … bring peace to us in the midst of any of the storms that come our way.

What are the storms that assail you and try to swamp your boat on the sea of life?

What is it that you confront, that challenges your capacity? What attacks your sense of peace and security? What throws you for a loop and leaves you frustrated and anxious?

Is your storm one of doubt, or stress or uncertainty? The problems of life are real and we can’t allow them to be swept under the rug. There are clearly times when we don’t know what to do – when we stand at some crossroads in life and don’t know which way to take. If we can involve God in our planning and thought process I think we’ll find the possibility for a solution. We won’t normally get a blue print or a road map – but we will receive the awareness that we’re not making decisions all on our own.

(After Pentecost: no casting of lots – “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”)

We allow God into our thought process.

But quite often the real issue is not that we don’t know what to do or which path to take – the issue quite often is that we don’t want to take that way at all. It may be more difficult or costly or time consuming. The real tragedy is that we don’t want to follow the guidance we sense God’s spirit is offering us.

When the storms of anxiety strike, assailing us about ourselves, or the future, or those we love – we need to remember the peace that God can provide in the midst of the storm.

There are storms of worry and fear. It’s almost impossible to go through life and not become frightened and scared sometimes. But we’re much more likely to cope with those storms if we are with someone – than if we feel like we’re having to deal with something all by ourselves. Prayer is our means of remembering that there is nowhere we can go – and that there is nothing that can happen to us – where we’re not accompanied by the loving God’s presence, forgiveness and compassion.

That’s what Jesus came to tell us and illustrate for us… that we can never be separated from the love of God or the presence of God. That’s what Jesus meant when he said, I will not leave you desolate or when he said I will send you another counselor to guide you. That’s what the Psalmist meant when he said the Lord is a stronghold in times of trouble. And if we can remember that – then we also will be able to be calm in the midst of the storms of life.

The disciples never forgot that day on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus turned the storm of their fear into the certainty of faith and trust – simply by his presence.

The issue is – what God did once, can be done again. What God did for the disciples then – God can do for the disciples now. That’s why Matthew, Mark and Luke each incorporated this story into their gospel message. If it was that important to them – it should also be important to us. The Living God came among us in Jesus to show us the intimate relationship we are able to have – that provides a peace and a presence that knows no limit and never leaves us. Especially as we face our future.

The issues that will confront us are indeed significant and if we are to deal with them creatively we need to be aware of all the resources that are available to us – if we will only use them. Just think of the issues we face in the not too distant future: we know about budgets, health care, global warming, refugees, immigration, wars and bomb building – whole host of things – but here are a few we might not think of:
• China will soon become the No. 1 English speaking nation in the world.
• 25 percent of India’s population with the highest IQ is greater than our U.S total population
• There is more information available to us today than in the previous 5,000 years
• New technical information doubles every two years
• In two years a super computer will excel the human brain’s capacity
• In 40 years a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational skills of the entire human species
• In the last 5 minutes, 67 babies were born in the U.S.; 274 in China; and 395 in India

The changes that are developing in this world are staggering and could be overwhelming.

This is where our faith and our religion are brought into play. There’s a real temptation to exaggerate religions capacity to solve all the world’s issues. So we need to be cautious about our claims. A religion professor at Wake Forest has identified some warning signs of corruption in religion: declaring absolute truth; expecting blind obedience; identifying that the end justifies the means; and declaring holy war.

You and I need to know that when Jesus says, Peace, be still – he’s calming our lives from restlessness and allowing us to see clearly – from God’s perspective – what’s really important.

We need to use the resources available to us to help solve the issues that we can – to not be frustrated by the issues we can’t solve… and have the wisdom to know the difference.

Peace, be still – and know that the Lord is God. We are here to be strengthened to meet the needs God shows us – with the resources God provides us. Peace, be still.