In The Storm

I stood there staring.  My tire wide and squishy against the pavement.  Most weeks this probably wouldn’t have been a huge deal – but this week had been a week.  I was exhausted and overwhelmed.  At the end of my mental rope.   My father was coming to visit soon (although I went to college 1000 miles from home, I was smart enough to go somewhere close enough to where my father could visit when he occasionally had to travel for work) and so I decided he could help me deal with the flat tire sitting outside my college dorm.

He, however, was having nothing of it.  “I’m not going to take care of that.  You need to deal with it,” was his response.  And my reaction – don’t you care about me?

In this morning’s reading, Jesus and the disciples set out in boats to cross the lake.  Jesus is catching up on some shut eye when a violent squall came upon them.  Afraid, the disciples turn to Jesus for help – but he’s still asleep.  Their reaction, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  Jesus does his thing and the storm dissipates but he rebukes the disciples, “Why are you afraid, have you no faith?”

James Boyce, Emeritus professor at Luther Seminary has this to say about the passage

[The disciples] cry is the ultimate cry of fear, of doubt and abandonment, repeated often in the stories of God’s people, as for example in the psalms. Where is God in the midst of my distress? Has God abandoned his people? It is a cry repeated in so many ways in the midst of the terrors and distresses of our world today. If God is so great and powerful a creator, if God really cares about this world, then why do events in the world and in my life go so badly. The ready response: either God has no power, or God does not care for us or the creation.

He goes on to say this about Jesus response to the disiciples:

The issue is that of “fear.” In Jesus’ question “Have you yet no faith,” the disciples in the story, and we as its hearers today, are called to recognition between two vastly different worlds that we might inhabit. In these two words we are called to see the gulf between two vastly different worlds that face those who are called to acknowledge the kingdom of God, the presence and rule of God in our midst. One can continue to live in the world of fear and chaos, seeing oneself orphaned or alone without the power of God, living in a world controlled by the power of satan or the demonic. Or one can be open to hearing the message and promise of this Jesus in whom we are told that the kingdom of God has come into our midst and now offers a whole new future for our world and for our lives.

The line between these two worlds is thin and risky. But in between them stands the gift and power of the good news of God’s Messiah, Jesus.

One way to think about this story is as a reminder.  Following Jesus does not guarantee that our lives will be without storms, without difficulty.  That’s not the promise from God.  The promise from God is that he is always with us in the boat.

But more than that, just because God is in the boat does not mean that we should look to weather the storm just by shouting out to God.  As I read this story, I could not let go of the line – do you not care that we are perishing?  There’s just something about it.  I realized it made me think that the disciples were ignoring their own agency – they were just looking for someone else to do the work, for someone else to save them.  And their justification – don’t you care?

While, of course, a flat tire is not nearly as perilous as the sudden squall upon the lake – I did the same thing with my flat tire.  I just wanted someone else to take care or it.  And when my father refused my response – don’t you care about me?  Of course my father cared about me.  He also knew I could take care of this issue.  A quick phone call to AAA would do the trick.  I had the resources I needed – but I still wanted someone else to solve the problem.

Our world can feel like one gigantic storm at the moment.  Whether it’s natural disasters, violence, politics, climate change – it can feel overwhelming to the point where we just want to cry out – God, don’t you care about us?

The message from this morning’s reading is yes, of course God cares.  And we also need to actively ground ourselves in faith – the faith that Jesus is talking about.  The faith that keeps fear from overwhelming our hope.  The faith that allows us to move in the world differently from those who don’t believe.

One of my favorite songs to calm myself when I feel overwhelmed and afraid is Peace Be Still.  The lyrics are as follows:

Peace be still.  Peace be still.  The storm rages.  Peace be still.

While I wish we lived in a world without so many storms – that is not the case.  And cursing God or waiting for a miraculous intervention will likely not be the thing that helps us weather the storm.  But remembering God’s presence and promise and using that to walk in the world despite the storms – that’s the agency God wants for us.  Though the storm rages – peace be still.