Being afraid is not a sin. A sermon for Sunday June 23rd 2024
Being afraid is not a sin
A sermon on fear, reason and getting wet feet for Sunday June 23rd 2024
Life, like the Bible can be challenging, it can seem like we are in the middle
of a storm, and it can help when faith helps us weather a storm, but perhaps there’s
a bit more going on.
Jesus'
calming of a stormy sea is both dramatic and familiar, and it’s the fear of
the disciples asking Jesus if he cares, which resonated with me. I felt empathy
for them because boats aren’t my thing, which I’ve probably mentioned before,
and I’ve heard that some people do like messing about in boats, however odd
this seems.
I
may have told you before about the time we went to St Michael’s Mount and as we
left, it was clear the sea was about to cover the causeway, but the little
ferry boats were rocking up and down and from side to side. Louise and James
were quite happy to wait for a boat, but despite knowing they were doomed, I
said, I’m walking, and set off. The last hundred yards or so yielded wet feet
from incoming waves but I was able to meet them as they miraculously survived
on the other side.
As
context, today’s Gospel is similar in very few ways. The Sea of Galilee, is a
body of water 680 feet below sea level, surrounded by hills, and prone to
sudden, violent windstorms. The time is evening.
Storms
in stories like this can represent difficult times in our lives, we seek to
weather the storm of illness or loss, but it’s important to note that Jesus
says to the guys, let us go across, effectively leading them into a storm, but
he didn’t create the storm, and we don’t know if he knew it would happen, in
the same way, when bad things happen now, they aren’t created by God, but God
goes with us into them, we are not left alone.
This
is reflected in Paul’s letter to Corinth, where the trials experienced by the
new followers were not created by God, but were weathered and through faith,
their hearts were opened wide.
In those days, boats were wooden, handmade, and very few people
could swim. Weather was not understood, and while the Sea of Galilee often looks
beautiful and calm, even today, and even though it is surrounded by chaos and
war now, it is a lush green place in dry land.
Knowing of its sudden fierce weather changes, many biblical
writers described' it as an abyss, a fearsome place of darkness and chaos.
Stormy winds come from the east and west, sometimes the south,
one writer said this, “In the narrow, long, and winding wadis of this
semi-mountainous area on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, gusts of wind
form rapidly, forcefully entering between steep cliffs and descending with
increasing power onto the lake, situated 600 ft below sea level. In minutes,
these gusts of wind transform the smooth surface into a seething and roaring
cauldron. The storm rushes with mighty force onto the Sea of Galilee; the
hurricane collides with the mountains that close off the eastern shore and
merge with winds that continue blowing, such that a hurricane can form in an
instant”
Cornelis de Wael - Calming the storm c. 1650
After a long day spent preaching to the multitudes, Jesus is asleep.
Suddenly, winds pick up, huge waves swamp the boat,
and disciples, while seasoned fishermen, fear for their lives.
Perhaps they knew storms were common in the evening
but didn’t want to disobey Jesus. Perhaps Jesus is simply doing as Psalm 107:29
describes, “He calms the storm, so that its waves are still”
In a desperation, they wake Jesus: "Teacher,
don't you care that we are drowning?"
Jesus says nothing. But stands up,
rebukes the wind, and calms the sea, saying, “Peace, Be Still”. Then
turns to the disciples and responds: "Why are you afraid? Do
you still have no faith?”
The disciples don’t answer. Instead,
Mark writes, they "fear a great fear." "Who is this
man?" they ask. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"
A more truthful translation could be that Jesus is
calling the disciples cowardly, and instead of having no faith, its, have you
not got faith yet?
Which is a little more reassuring, as someone whose
faith has slowly built up over time, rather than with a sudden epiphany.
Does it matter if the disciples are afraid? Of
course not, they're afraid of drowning, gigantic waves are scary, and we were
created with the necessary capacity to feel fear, it’s a defence mechanism.
In addition, some of us are pre-disposed us to
experience times of crippling anxiety, and I’ve been there and resent the idea
it is from a lack of faith.
Then if we extend the meaning of
"drowning" to include all the ways in which we can find ourselves in
over our heads or overwhelmed, fear feels more reasonable.
Of course, we feel
afraid as we face climate change and news of war in the news,
Of course, we are afraid when we hear scare
mongering politicians tell us to be afraid of people in boats, stoking division
and fear between us and them when really, most people are just friends we
haven’t met yet.
Surely our faith compels us to vote with compassion
for those most in need, to not be afraid when we’re told to, but to trust our
hearts.
Of course, we feel afraid when broken marriages,
sick children, unfriendly neighbours, grinding jobs, loss and financial
uncertainty threaten our lives.
Of course, we feel afraid when our biology or
trauma betray us into anxiety, panic, and depression.
And yet. Is, “do you still have no faith
a silly question? What if its meaning changes dramatically when we
read it through the lens of the first question — the one
the disciples ask Jesus as the waves threaten to capsize their boat? “Teacher,
don’t you care that we are drowning?”
Perhaps Jesus asks about their faith as a direct reply
to his friends asking if he cares. Their question is very human, if this man
truly was all powerful, why are we in danger in the first place?
When we struggle, it can be easy to think where is
Jesus when I need him?
Surely if he cared, he’d fix this situation without
me needing to ask.
Trust and faith mean that Jesus is always present,
but his help may not be what we expect or have asked for.
A great deal of Jesus teaching is about the Kingdom
of God, in Marks Gospel, before calming the sea, He describes the kingdom of
God as small, secretive, and quiet, like a tiny mustard seed, or like a sower
scattering vulnerable seeds, or that it may only be discerned by those ready to
see it, like a lamp under a basket.
After calming the sea, however, Jesus manifests a
kingdom of dramatic, supernatural power. He casts out demons, raises a
little girl from the dead, heals a haemorrhaging woman, feeds five thousand
people with a few handfuls of bread and fish, and walks on water.
Almost to prove to them that he does have the power
to save, perhaps having seen the disciples doubts in that boat meant he had to
be much bolder in his teaching and actions.
To truly trust Jesus, then, is to hold two pictures
of the kingdom in tension. Yes, sometimes Jesus demonstrates his
power in miraculous ways; we're not wrong to hope for such
demonstrations. At other times, we need to trust that his quiet, abiding
presence in our lives is enough for the circumstances we
face. Sometimes, Jesus' power is paradoxical; it comes to us in what
looks like vulnerability, like weakness, like “sleep.” The
hiddenness of God, is simply that. Hiddenness, not absence.
When Jesus
asks the disciples why they’re afraid, what he’s really asking is: are you
afraid of me? do you still not trust
that I love you, that I am with you, for you, in you, and around
you? After all this time, why do you suspect my heart, my
intentions, my good will?
Thankfully, the disciples do “cross over” in this
story. Not just from one shore to another, but from deep distrust to
trembling awe. The question that ends is a question grounded in curious
wonder: “Who is this man?”
Before the storm breaks, the disciples think they know
Jesus. They think they know what to expect of him. But
they're wrong. He is powerful, yes. But he is also far more
restrained, mysterious, unpredictable, and hidden than they have
imagined.
A conclusion to this is a reassurance that that
fear isn't always an enemy. No human emotion, created by
God, is an enemy. Suppressing emotions is to hide who we are and
that isn’t what God wants at all.
We need to be careful to temper fear with reason
though, it can lead to distrust of God and others, so we must keep on working to
balance our fear, with open hearts and with love that it may be transformed
into inner peace, trust and faith.
Let’s hope to always be able to cross over from fear to awe, from suspicion to trust, from certainty to wonder. No matter how high the storm waves in our lives, knowing some storms many of us are enduring even today, may we always rest in God’s presence as we cross to the other side because every storm always ends and the sun always reappears, and we realise we were never alone after all.
Some resources referred to in preparation, especially with thanks to the first one:
https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/1813-crossing-to-the-other-side
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/21-june/faith/sunday-s-readings/4th-sunday-after-trinity
https://www.jewishjewels.org/blog/storms/
https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/when-storms-come-article
https://www.saxum.org/the-storms-at-the-sea-of-galilee/
Readings for June 23rd 2024. The Fourth
Sunday after Trinity
Psalm 107.1–3, 23–32*
1 O
give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious, ♦︎
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
2 Let
the redeemed of the Lord say this, ♦︎
those he redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
3 And
gathered out of the lands
from the east and from the west, ♦︎
from the north and from the south.
23 Those
who go down to the sea in ships ♦︎
and ply their trade in great waters,
24 These
have seen the works of the Lord ♦︎
and his wonders in the deep.
25 For
at his word the stormy wind arose ♦︎
and lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They
were carried up to the heavens
and down again to the deep; ♦︎
their soul melted away in their peril.
27 They
reeled and staggered like a drunkard ♦︎
and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then
they cried to the Lord in their trouble, ♦︎
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He
made the storm be still ♦︎
and the waves of the sea were calmed.
30 Then
were they glad because they were at rest, ♦︎
and he brought them to the haven they desired.
31 Let
them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness ♦︎
and the wonders he does for his children.
32 Let
them exalt him in the congregation of the people ♦︎
and praise him in the council of the elders.
As we work together with him, we urge you
also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2For
he says,
‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3We
are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our
ministry, 4but as servants of God we have commended ourselves
in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships,
calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless
nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness
of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful speech, and the power
of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the
left; 8in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good
repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as
unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished,
and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet
making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our
heart is wide open to you. 12There is no restriction in our
affections, but only in yours. 13In return—I speak as to
children—open wide your hearts also.
Mark 4.35–41
35 On 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 gale 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?’
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