Spiritual Growth :: Sermons

Sunday, June 21, 2009.
Proper 7B RCL. The Rev. Sabeth Fitzgibbons

As part of the playfulness of my vacation this past week I was re-watching the last Harry Potter movie to get prepared for the one that comes out in mid-July In the extras on the DVD is a conversation that offers some analysis of the Harry Potter storylines overall One comment from that commentary sticks in my mind – “things are not always what they seem” He’s making reference to the fact that various characters, both people and objects, in the Harry Potter stories present one way at first and over time we discover that they are actually something else Sometimes the characters were always that way, and sometimes they are transformed This comment sticks in my mind, not because it’s so profound, but because it resonates so frequently with our human experiences and with our lives as people of faith

Today’s story of Jesus calming the sea is the first of two stories like this in Mark Jesus and the disciples have just finished some teaching by the shore of the sea of Galilee The beginning of chapter 4 includes the parables of the sower and the mustard seed Evening comes, Jesus must be tired from teaching, and he suggests to the disciples that they go on to the other side of the water They get in the boat, and Jesus promptly falls asleep, leaving the disciples to tend the journey The wind picks up, and the waves begin to pound the boat Up and down, in big troughs It’s scary It feels like the storm is going to swamp the boat

The disciples feel overwhelmed and frightened, and they wake Jesus Who rebukes the wind, which calms the sea, with the simple words “Peace! Be still!” And he then turns to the disciples and says ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ The disciples are too busy being awed by how the wind and sea responded to Jesus to answer him

The Sea in Hebrew literature is often associated with chaos and destruction Like the chaos of the waters in creation The destructiveness of the Great Flood The Psalms often have sea images that are about the dark deep or great sea monsters The stormy sea in Mark echoes this same association of the water as frightening, overwhelming, and chaotic

It’s easy to see ourselves and our own lives, individually and as a community, like the disciples in the boat At times, overwhelmed by the turbulence and unpredictability of life Unsettled, feeling beat around by the elements around us, like we might be swamped by forces out of our control at any moment

So many things can take us there The death of a spouse, child or friend A health issue, whether a sudden change our health or a chronic condition Loss of a job, or some other role that has helped us have an identity and place in the world Even something so simple as finding our chest freezer has failed, or day care is cancelled at the last minute

On the community level – The loss of a rector, a leader in whom we had placed hope and expectation Seeming unpredictability in our life together, in worship and in community Concerns about lingering conflicts and dynamics left unaddressed

Turbulence surrounds us, threatening our sense of safety Creating a feeling of danger and chaos, when all we really want is calm and control Like the disciples we find ourselves looking to God and hoping to find some force outside ourselves that can calm the sea

Perhaps things are not what they seem

Contemporary theologian Catherine Keller challenges the ideas that ‘chaos is evil itself’ and ‘God creates and redeems from the struggle with the chaos’ She uses the Hebrew word ‘tehom’ for chaos In Genesis the spirit of God moved over the tehom at creation Keller talks about ‘tehom’ as primal waters, like the salt water of the womb, generative and creative and creating Chaos ‘tehom’ carries forward from creation, through Jesus’ time and into the present

Speaking of the breath of God moving over the ‘tehom’ Wind plays a supporting role in the chaos of the stormy sea that the disciples experience The word for wind is often the same as the word for breath and spirit, The holy breath of God pushes and pulls the waters of our lives Whipping up what feels like chaos Whipping up a creative force

Things are not always what they seem at first

In Mark the disciples often don’t get what Jesus is saying Mark describes this by saying their hearts were hardened They were closed off from fully understanding, digesting and acting on Jesus’ teachings They have spent years with Jesus, following him around, listening, learning, participating in his ministry And yet they fail to understand the crux of his message God has created them whole and holy, partners in the on-going creation of God’s world They have the power and authority to teach about God, to live into their full agency and abilities to proclaim God’s healing and transforming love

In the face of a storm that threatens to overwhelm them, the disciples fail to grasp their own sufficiency to deal with the chaos and create something new out of it Not only do they not understand, they lack the courage to act Paralyzed by their fear, they forget (if they ever knew) their capabilities and look to Jesus to rescue them

And when he’s done rebuking the storm, Jesus rebukes the disciples “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Jesus is annoyed with their cowardice, not doubt Faith, in this definition, is not the lack of doubt, but courage Courage to act in the midst of chaos

Catherine Keller puts it this way: “Faith does not then expect God to calm the waters for us. Bear the fruit, use the talent, heal the sick, feed the hungry, uncover the flame, make the peace.” Faith = action, courage to use the agency God gives God wants us to do – to use our own gifts and convictions about Jesus’ message to act, to transform the world, to approach the chaos as possibility - not wait passively for God to do or to save us

Throughout Mark we see Jesus taking time out from his ministry to pray He encourages the disciples to get away from the crowds, away from their own ministries, to rest But he doesn’t directly exhort them to pray He models it, in his own escapes to pray – when he sends away the disciples and the crowd Is there a direct correlation between Jesus’ life of prayer and conversation with God and his ability to embrace chaos? Is the disciples lack of comprehension of their co-creating power, their agency, a gap that could be filled or nurtured to fullness through nurturing their own prayer lives?

Our challenges are same as those of disciples Acknowledge chaos and see it as a generative and life-giving force Act on our faith – have courage to step out, to lean on one another for support, to stop waiting for God to create some order in our lives or sense of control before we act Claim our own agency as co-creators with God – if the chaos around us is actually life-giving and spirit-filled, then we are inextricably part of that on-going creation and transformation Remain open to God’s communications with us – the invitation is in today’s lesson from 2 Corinthians – open wide your hearts – listen for God’s encouragement

Summer is a time for many of us when the rhythm of our lives shifts It presents a time when life is shifting anyway, why not spend some time opening our hearts? Examining where we are afraid or paralyzed by our fear Softening our defenses and opening our hearts Walking together and supporting one another in community as we find new sources of courage to embrace chaos as a source for co-creativity with God