Faith in the Storm

Mark 4: 35 - 41 (June 21, 2009)

1) The Text

35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

2) The Context

As witnesses to the events of Jesus life and death became old and died, the need arose for a written synopsis. Tradition has it that Mark, while in Rome, wrote down what Peter remembered. This book stresses the crucifixion and resurrection as keys to understanding who Jesus was. When other synoptic gospels were written, i.e. Matthew and Luke, they used the Gospel according to Mark as a source. Mark is most probably the John Mark mentioned in Acts 12:12: his mother's house was a meeting place for believers.

After teaching from a boat, with the crowds along the shore, he now suggests to the disciples that they “go across to the other side” (v. 35), to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. A flotilla of boats follow, but they scatter before the storm. (He is “just as he was”, v. 36, in the same posture as earlier, in the boat.) Squalls (“windstorm”, v. 37) are common on the Sea of Galilee, for the hills around it are high. Jesus is “in the stern”, v. 38, on the helmsman’s seat, well above the waves. He is “asleep”: he has complete confidence in God. The disciples see him as “teacher”; they do not yet know him fully. Jesus is awoken and rebukes (v. 39) the wind – as though it is a demon (see 1:25). To ancients, the sea symbolized the powers of chaos and evil. Jesus commands it to be still: only God can control nature. He castigates the disciples (v. 40): either they lack faith in God (do not follow Jesus’ example of trust in him) or in him (as a worker of wonders). Their question in v. 41 is an implicit confession of Jesus’ divinity: the sea obeys him as it does God in the Old Testament (Genesis 1:2). Jesus’ power extends even to power over natural disasters, then thought to be the work of the devil.

3) Interpretation

In many ancient myths, the god of the sea is the god of chaos. Most bodies of water can almost instantly turn from calm waters into deadly waves. We cannot control the water. The word used of Jesus "rebuking" the wind is commonly used of "rebuking" demonic spirits.

The background of these myths provides the answer to the disciples' closing question: "Who then is this?" This can be no other than God who has the power to tame the chaotic waters. Once again the readers know that Jesus is more than just a human being. He is Son of God (1:1, 11, 24), yet the disciples are unable to decipher the significance of Jesus' identity.

This theme can also lead to the idea that sometimes the storms in our lives are beyond our control. The chaos in our lives may be caused by people or situations or evil powers which we can do nothing about. Sometimes it is not our fault. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes even the world of faithful Christians comes crashing down. (Job might be brought in as an illustration that sometimes good people suffer unjustly.)

A contrast to the storms of life that are out of our control, one could also indicate that the reason the disciples are in such a mess is because they did what Jesus asked them to do: "Let's cross the lake"! A word of hope in this text (and Job and the Psalm) is that God has the power to control the chaos. God may not always do it according to our schedule. Sometimes God may appear to be sleeping in the boat while our world is falling apart, but that doesn't mean that God doesn't have the power to calm the storm.

The disciples' question of Jesus is interesting. They do not ask for a miracle. It appears that they wake him up to tell him that they are all going to die. Literally their question reads: "Teacher, is it not a care (or concern) to you that we are dying?" (v. 38). (The verb, "melei," can also carry the idea of "to be anxious about.")

The disciples' question can lead to a number of themes. Do we ever accuse God of not caring for us? What does it do to our faith and trust when we think that God no longer cares? How does God show that he cares for us? Must God always perform miracles -- remove us from dangerous storms for us to believe that God cares for us?

Using another definition of "melei," and Edwin Friedman's phrase ("Generation to Generation"), could Jesus become an example of a "non-anxious presence?" To paraphrase the disciples' question: "Why aren't you as anxious about dying as we are?" Pheme Perkins in "Mark" (New Interpreters' Bible) writes: "On the human level, we often act like the disciples. We expect others to share our panic or distress. If they seem detached from the situation, we accuse them of not caring about our suffering. Panic reactions can divide us from others who might help just as they can cause us to doubt God's love for us" [p. 581]

While we are more likely to picture ourselves as the scared disciples, I also think that we need to consider ourselves -- perhaps not individually, but as the church -- to be Christ. When does the church in the midst of chaotic times need to curl up and take a nap, be non-anxious, exhibit supreme trust in God -- which others are likely to interpreted as not caring?

There are times in our lives where trusting God means that we can take naps in a stormy boat. Another approach related to this theme could be the question: How do we show that we care for others? Sometimes it can be speaking an authoritative word to bring stability to chaos. Sometimes it can be doing nothing, hoping that the other will find the power within themselves to defeat the storms around them.

4) Thought Exercise

How does your faith in God get you through tough times?

How do you share that perspective with others when they face difficulties?

Praise the Lord!

Psalms 100 & 150 (June 14, 2009)

1) The Text

Psalm 100
1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. 2Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 150
1Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! 2Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! 3Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

2) The Context

Psalms is a collection of collections. The psalms were written over many centuries, stretching from the days of Solomon's temple (about 950 BC) to after the Exile (about 350 BC.) Psalms are of five types: hymns of praise, laments, thanksgiving psalms, royal psalms, and wisdom psalms. Within the book, there are five "books"; there is a doxology ("Blessed be ... Amen and Amen") at the end of each book.

Psalm 100: Perhaps this psalm was composed for use during the Festival of Booths, the autumn harvest thanksgiving for cereal crops and grapes. At that time, the Israelites also gave thanks for God’s protection during their years of wandering in the desert. Vv. 1-3 form one hymn and vv. 4-5 is another. All people everywhere (“all the earth”, v. 1) are invited to praise God, to be joyful in him. Why? Those processing to the Temple would, in “The Lord is God” (v. 3), be reminded of the first of the Ten Commandments. (That he is the only god is implied.) The covenant brought the people into a special relationship with God. V. 4 was probably spoken by the priests: they invite the faithful to enter the Temple to give thanks and praise. Both the Temple and royal palaces had “gates” (v. 4) and “courts”, so God the king, present in the Temple and reigning from there, is envisaged. God is goodness; he is eternally compassionate and faithful to those who keep his law and follow his ways. In the original context, his goodness was specifically his concrete acts of love promised in the Sinai covenant and shown to Israel.

Psalm 150: The psalm is a closing doxology both for the fifth book of the Psalms (Psalm 150:107-149) and for the Psalter as a whole. Temple musicians and dancers are called to lead all beings on earth and in heaven in praise of God. The psalm proclaims to whom praise shall be given, and where (Psalm 150:1); what praise shall be given, and why (Psalm 150:2); how praise shall be given (Psalm 150:3-5), and by whom (Psalm 150:6).

3) Interpretation

Psalm 100 was a call to worship. Actually, it was two calls to worship: 100:1-3 was a general call outside the Temple walls onto the outer courtyard, while 100:4-5 was a call to worship inside the Temple and a preparation for a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
100:1-3 was a call to joy. The leader would cry out to those in the Temple court, including those righteous Gentiles who came on pilgrimage to worship God (these non-Jews represented “all you lands” in 100:1b). 100:1b-2 was a three-time exhortation for celebration. 100:3 explained the reason for the joy; God was the creator of not only all people, he formed a unique people to be his own.

100:4-5 was a call to thanksgiving. These verses could have been the shout made at the thanksgiving sacrifice, a full immolation of a male farm animal or bird on the Temple altar. The act of worship blessed the name of God (and, thus, invoked his power); the blessing reminded the worshiping audience of God’s covenant with his people (expressed as “love” and “faithfulness.”)

The two parts of Psalm 100 reminds us that joy and thanksgiving are the proper attitudes for worship. We are to be happy when we present ourselves to God. We are to be thankful when we are in his presence. Other attitudes are possible (sorrow, need, intercession, surrender, peace, etc.) but joy and thanksgiving should be our primary focus.

The Lord is here. Be happy and give him thanks.

Psalm 150 says that we must shout to God. We must sing to him and make music. The Jews spoke Hebrew and wrote their psalms in Hebrew. The word hallelu is in every verse of this psalm in the Hebrew Bible. Many Christians still use the Hebrew word *hallelujah. This means: hallel (praise) – u (you) – jah (the Lord) or “Praise the Lord.” LORD is another name for God. It is his covenant name. A covenant is when two people, or groups of people, agree. Here, God agreed to love and send help to his people. His people agreed to love and obey God.

4) Thought Exercise

By what means do you praise the Lord?

How can we strengthen our covenant with God?

Love

I Corinthians 13: 1-13 (June 7, 2009)

1) The Text

13If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

2) The Context

Corinth was a major port which also commanded the land route from the Peloponnesus peninsula to central Greece. An industrial and ship-building centre, it was also a centre for the arts. Its inhabitants came from far and wide. In this epistle, Paul answers two letters he has received concerning lack of harmony and internal strife in the Corinthian church, a church he had founded. Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus (now in Turkey), probably in 57 AD.

In this passage, Paul instructs the Christians at Corinth about the gifts of the Spirit. It seems that they value the gift of tongues too highly. Three groups of gifted people are especially important – “apostles” (12:28, spreading the good news), “prophets” (telling new insights into the faith) and “teachers” (of the faith) – but now he says that the most important gift is love, the expression in the community of Christ’s love for us. The statements in vv. 1-3 are all on the same model. Whatever is spoken, if said without love, is like the clatter of pagan worship. (At the time, rabbis debated what language “angels” spoke.) Prophecy is important but without love of one’s fellows it is “nothing” (v. 2). Even helping others to the extent of self-denial is worthless without love.

In vv. 4-7, he tells his readers how their behavior contrasts with the qualities of this love: it is the reverse of their proud, contemptuous, divisive attitudes. “Truth” (v. 6) is integrity, ethical living. Love, he says, is different from God’s other gifts (v. 8); unlike them (“prophecies”, “tongues”, “knowledge”), it never ends: it is transcendent, continuing beyond this era, into the time when we will be one with Christ. In the present age, all that we do through the Spirit is “partial” (v. 10), incomplete, immature. Mirrors then, being polished metal, gave a fuzzy image, but in the age to come (“then”, v. 12) we will see God clearly. We will know him fully, as God knows Paul now. “Love” (v. 13) is the “greatest” because it will continue unchanged, while “faith” will become sight and “hope” will become certainty.

3) Interpretation

Paul has been concerned in 1 Corinthians 12 about people's approach to spiritual gifts. He makes the point that the life of the Spirit is about building up community, not about getting carried away with one's own experiences in ways that undermine community. Some in the community do appear to have been carried away with speaking in tongues. Paul spends the next chapter addressing the problem. So his assertion that speaking in tongues is just a lot of noise if love does not have highest priority confronts a certain kind of religiosity. The same happens in the statements which follow. Prophecy, understanding mysteries, knowledge, faith to move mountains, all count for nothing if love is not present. Paul is attacking approaches to spirituality that have missed the point of what Christianity is about.

Matthew gives us a picture of Jesus making a similar point when he declares: "Not every one who says, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my father who is in heaven" (7:21). He continues by pointing out that people will report their wonderful deeds, miracles, prophecy and the like, only to be told they have no real relationship with Jesus at all. Similarly in the parable of the sheep and the goats, Matthew reports that the sheep are those who exercised compassion in their lives (25:31-48). That is ultimately what counts.
Mark also seems to have had to counter a triumphant kind of spirituality which focused mainly on Jesus' miracles. He does so by setting them within the context of Jesus' love and his willingness to go all the way, even to death, for people. John has something similar. His Jesus refuses those who believe in his name because of his miracles (2:23-25).

Not even apparent acts of generosity and bravery count for much if love is not the source (13:3). In 13:4-7 Paul gives us a timeless summary. Does love really believe or endure all things? Perhaps a better interpretation says that love is unrestrained in its willingness to do all these things. The notion that love means the afflicted and violated should just put up with everything is anything but loving. There are other dangers. If love becomes an ideal, then a set of guidelines, and then a set of rules, we are in danger of creating a series of "oughts", which will mostly end up either being discarded as unrealistic ideals or being directly counterproductive because they tie people up in guilt. While we can make conscious decisions to act in ways that express love and care, ultimately love seeks a deeper motivation. It needs to have a life of its own which flows from within. This is why Paul speaks of the Spirit elsewhere as a fruit (Gal 5:22). Spirituality is about gardening: attending to the plant, the soil and the setting to enable the fruit to be born.

The second half of the passage seems only marginally related to love - until we get to 13:13. Paul wants to put other things in their place. Only love really endures (13:8). The point of 13:9-12 is to assert human vulnerability. We have not arrived. So here in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul is trying to bring people down to earth to stop the arrogance. Paul does not need to pretend that he is in control, that he knows everything, that he is superior. It is OK to be a human being who still has a long way to go. In this way Paul is at least preparing the kind of soil in which love might have a chance to take root. It often can't get much of a start until we acknowledge our need of it.

4) Thought Exercise

Is love the source of our outreach efforts?

How can we grow love to fuel our efforts individually and as a community?