Sunday, June 20, 2021

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Job 38:1-11
Psalm 124
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41

They were greatly afraid, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

I am reading a book that honestly confronts the unfortunate scandals that have plagued some churches over the years. Every denomination in some way or another has been embarrassed by stories of pastors who took advantage of parishioners or staff that has embezzled funds. While the Church is meant to be a place where truth and goodness are the norm, the Church is also made of very human people who sin. And they don’t often turn to truth and goodness immediately; they try to cover up their sin. They authors described different techniques used in these circumstances like blaming the victim, making excuses, and denying the situation altogether. They put up a facade and hope no one will discover what is lurking behind it.

The facades fell in the cases mentioned in the book. The truth was revealed. Light shined on the evil. And then, the churches could begin the process of healing and reconciliation. A lot of harm was done and at times it seemed as though God was missing. Lives were ruined, both the victims and the perpetrators, and the world blamed God because He seemed to be missing.

It isn’t just in the church where people put on facades. It happens in politics, in families, and in workplaces. We don’t always realize what’s happening behind the scenes. Politicians take bribes, parents abuse children, and coworkers will do whatever it takes to get ahead, even if it means destroying someone else’s career. Human beings put up facades so that the world won’t see the truth.

One of the favorite TV genres is reality television; unfortunately, there isn’t much reality in those shows. One show helps a family find a new house. They are taken to three possibilities and then have to choose one in the end. I have never understood why anyone would give so much power over their lives to a television show. There’s always something wrong with each of the choices; I would never pick one of them. However, I recently read an article about this show that revealed the couple “searching” had already purchased the house of their dreams and the ones they visited during the show are often not even on the market. Their responses aren’t real; they are acting as they “oo and awe” or “hmm and haw” over the houses. They wear a façade.

The same acting takes place in so many of the competition shows. This becomes obvious as the show goes on season after season. You can’t help but see that certain contestants are kept on not for their talent, but for their character. And there are always characters. One contestant revealed long after his time on the show that the producers wanted him to act a certain way. “I did it, but you didn’t see the real me on that show.” He wore a façade.

The contestants seem to be encouraged to say things like “I really didn’t want to lose.” Well, no kidding. None of the contestants wanted to lose. Sometimes they say, “The judges were wrong, mine was better.” Of course they think theirs is better, but they aren’t the ones doing the judging. I don’t know how much of that talk is real or is the work of the producers creating drama, but we have always remember that though the word “reality” is in the genre title, most of it isn’t reality. Those arrogant statements might just be another façade to make the television show interesting.

Paul didn’t wear a facade; he said what he was thinking. He was often accused of being too blunt and arrogant. He told the readers what was happening in his life so that it would help the reader grow in faith and discipleship. His claims sometimes seem like boasts, even those claims of bad experiences. He suffered more than others. He had more to offer. He had the right message. Read enough of Paul and you might just wonder if he was the right man to be given the role of apostle.

But God doesn’t make mistakes. Paul was exactly the man He needed; God knew Paul’s heart. Paul’s words ring harshly on our ears sometimes, but perhaps he is saying exactly what we need to hear. We need to know that there is a cost to discipleship, that it isn’t an easy path to walk. We need to know there are expectations for those who claim to follow Christ. We need to know that we will suffer for our faith. We need to be encouraged to follow his example to be all that God is calling us to be. We have to realize we are sinners in need of a Savior and that the Savior has called us to a roller coaster life that will have highs and lows, joys and pains, lessons to learn and to teach. God does not want us to be people who wear masks or facades, but rather people that are willing to speak what our hearts know is true. Honesty and integrity matter, and while we may not always like the man Paul, we can trust that Paul is honest and that his ministry had integrity. A life of truth and goodness is what we are meant to live. It is especially important to remember this when we realize that we’ve been wearing a façade, especially one that hides our lack of trust in God.

The very things that bother us about Paul might just be the very things that God wants to change in our lives. Are we complaining about our suffering? Then we need to know that suffering produces perseverance, etc. Are we having trouble forgiving our neighbor? Then we need to know that forgiveness is the only way to peace. Are Paul’s words convicting us of our sin? Then we need to repent. We don’t like Paul sometimes because Paul says exactly what we don’t want to hear. He doesn’t whitewash the truth because he knew that the truth will set us free. Even if it seems like the truth will make things more difficult, we will find that truth and goodness can lead to healing and reconciliation.

In today’s epistle lesson, Paul tells us that today is the day of salvation. This is marvelous news, but we have to understand what this means. Salvation is present, but it doesn’t always seem that way, does it? We know that as saved children of God we have been adopted into His family, made heirs to His kingdom. It sure doesn’t seem like we are princes and princesses sometimes. We suffer. We fail. We are persecuted. Paul tells us that he was imprisoned, beaten, and faced hardship. He suffered sleepless nights and hunger, often at the hands of those he should have been able to trust. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, he endured these things and lived a life that did not take God’s grace in vain. “By glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true,” says Paul. The world may think we are wearing a façade, but if we live as God has called us to live, we can go forth doing His will without fear.

The world calls us deceivers because we have faith in a God that they think should be blamed for our suffering. Yet, what the world thinks does not matter; what matters is that today is the day of salvation and we are called to live in the grace of God through the difficult times, always growing into the people He has saved us to be, glorifying God through it all. It won’t be easy. The tasks are sometimes impossible. The burdens are too heavy to carry. And we don’t always do what is right, because we are sinners in need of a Savior. But God has saved us. We are called to work in this world whatever the circumstances so that God’s grace is not in vain. We do not have to wear a façade to hide our failure because God sees our hearts and He has promised to make all things right in the end.

In today’s Gospel lesson, the disciples cried for Jesus to help. They were caught in a terrible storm and the boat was rocking in the waves. I imagine that the bottom of the boat was flooded with water, threatening the stability of the vessel. The disciples, many of whom were trained fishermen, knew the dangers they faced. The boat could capsize or sink at any moment. Every hand was probably necessary to protect their lives. Even the best swimmers would have difficulty surviving those waves. But Jesus slept, and His disciples asked, “Teacher Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?” This is a cry for help. “Help us or we will die.” And Jesus helped.

I don’t know about you, but I never understood how Jesus could sleep through that storm. I have trouble sleeping when I’m in a safe, warm house during a thunderstorm. I’m often wakened by the flashes of lightning and booming thunder, and I end up pacing around the house checking to be sure everything is alright. Sometimes I turn on the television, to make sure there is no chance for tornadoes or hail, ready to wake my family and move them to a safer place in the house if necessary. If I can’t sleep in the house during a storm, I’m sure I’d never be able to sleep on a boat. But Jesus slept.

Jesus heard their cry and answered their fear by rebuking the storm and causing the wind to cease. He did something that put them at ease, but in the process He caused them another sort of fear, an awe-inspired fear of something far more powerful than themselves. They probably just wanted Him to grab a bucket to bail out water, but He proved His control over nature by rebuking a storm. Then He rebuked them for being afraid. He rebuked them for not having faith.

How do we look at our own troubles: through fear or the eyes of faith? We might want to think that this lesson teaches us that Jesus will stop all our storms, but we all know that faith does not guarantee that we will avoid suffering. Water pours into our boats sometimes. There is plenty in our world about which we can be afraid, some of it brought on by our own failures. We tend to be like the disciples and pray to Jesus, “Why don’t you care about how we are floundering here?” and hope that He will tell the wind and the rain to stop. But the wind and the rain don’t always stop just because we’ve prayed for it to do so. Sometimes the storm is the very way that God helps us to grow and learn and mature. Remember Jonah. This isn’t a story about God doing our bidding.

There is a story about a man who slipped and fell off a cliff while hiking on a mountaintop. On his way down he grabbed a branch. He was twenty feet from the top and a long way from the bottom. He feared for his life and cried for help. “A booming voice spoke up, ‘I am here, and I will save you if you believe in me.’ ‘I believe, I believe,’ yelled back the man. ‘If you believe me, let go of the branch and then I will save you.’” The man’s fear of death was so great he yelled, “s there anyone else who can help?” What he didn’t know is that he was just feet from a shelf; if he let go he would land and it would be easier to save him. We don’t always believe the voice. It takes faith to let go and trust that our Lord will save us.

Today’s Gospel story is also about being like Jesus in the midst of those storms. He asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” He was right there. He was not going to let them die. As we face our storms, it might seem to us that Jesus is sleeping on a cushion at the end of the boat, but He knows what’s happening. He is with us. We might have to suffer, as we bail out the boat or hang on for dear life, but He won’t let go of us. The lesson is to have faith in the midst of those storms, to know that He is with us, to trust Him even when it seems like the world around us is falling apart.

The world looks at this kind of faith and thinks we must be wearing a façade. We appear “as deceivers, and yet true.” They can’t believe that our faith is real. Faith gives us the courage to stand on truth and goodness even when the world around us is falling apart. The book I’m reading gave some extreme examples of people in the church hiding their sinfulness, but we are all sinners who need to let down our facades and recognize our own sinfulness so that we can seek healing and reconciliation. It is never easy, but in the end God will be glorified when the world sees His people trusting in Him to get them through all our storms. God is glorified when we trust in Him.

Every generation has a “Where were you?” question. Where were you when Pearl Harbor was bombed? Where were you when JFK was shot? Where were you when the astronauts walked on the moon? Where were you when the Challenger exploded? Where were you on 9/11? People can generally remember where they were when these history changing moments happened, or at least they knew where they were when they heard about it. These stories usually end up with families, friends or coworkers gathered around a television.

We ask the question about more personal events in people’s lives. Where were you when you met your spouse? Where were you married? Where were you when you decided what you wanted to be when you grew up? Where were you when you became a Christian? For those of us in the military, and other transient communities, knowing where we were helps us to remember when something happened. Where were we when Zack broke his finger? Where were we when we bought that piece of furniture? Where were we when the song or movie or television show was popular?

The question is also used in the courtroom. A defense attorney will ask his client, “Where were you on the night this crime happened?” The question is meant to establish an alibi for the accused. Other questions help to establish his or her whereabouts on other important moments, like when a gun was purchased. The lawyer is trying to prove that the defendant could not be guilty because he or she was not there. The questions might be asked by the prosecutor to put the defendant in the right place at the right time, thus proving them guilty.

Job was a righteous man who had fallen prey to the adversary. He lost everything; he lost his wealth, his health and his family. The book describes his lament and shows us how even the most righteous can find themselves in the midst of a storm of doubt and uncertainty while undergoing suffering. Job began to blame God for his troubles, his response to the questions raised by his losses. “Where was God? How could the Almighty allow this to happen to me? Why?”

I don’t think there is anyone who hasn’t uttered those words at some point in their life. We all wonder where God is when we are facing some desert, darkness, sickness or storm. When a tornado destroys and entire town or a gunman shoots a dozen victims at a school, we ask why God didn’t do something to stop it. When cancer destroys someone we love or we face unemployment because the company can’t survive the economic conditions of the day, we wonder how God could allow it to happen. Why would we be any different than Job? If he could doubt, we can, too.

God asks Job the “where were you” question in today’s Old Testament passage. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” In this case, the question is meant to establish that Job has no right to question the will and purpose of God. Job was not even a glimmer in his mother’s eye when God spoke creation into existence. God has been from before the beginning and will be after the end. Human beings are simply unable to know or understand everything about the God we worship. He wouldn’t be worthy of worship if we could.

However, we struggle when God allows terrible things to happen in our lives. We want to be angry. We want to go to court with God, to question Him, to insist on answers to our questions. We want to blame Him for our suffering. God reminds us that we weren’t there when He established the foundation of the earth and we’ll never fully understand Him. What seems to be bad from our point of view may lead to something beyond our imagination. He simply asks that we trust Him.

God is faithful. We can rest in God’s promises even when it seems like we are dying. Where were we when God laid the foundations of the earth? We did not yet exist in the flesh, but we were loved even then. Of this we can be sure.

The disciples were fishermen. They knew how to handle a boat. They had experienced rough seas. The Sea of Galilee is known for sudden squalls that seem to come out of nowhere. It would have been somewhat frightening to face such a force of nature, but not unheard of for men in that profession. They knew how to handle the water, the nets and their boat, to get into safe harbor. What did they expect from Jesus? He was a carpenter and they were the experienced fishermen. He did not know how to handle a boat, even in calm waters. If He had not been with them, they would have gotten right to work to keep the boat afloat and steer it toward shore. Yet, because they had come to rely on Him for so much, they turned to Him in their fear.

“Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?” Jesus seems to have had more faith in fallible man than the disciples had in their God. Jesus trusted that his disciples would use their talents to do what was necessary. He had no fear of the storm because He knew they could deal with it. “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” Jesus did not come to do all the work. He didn’t come to feed them or clothe them. He did not come to take care of all their problems or make their lives easy. He came to teach them how to trust God and to walk in faith doing the work they were called to do with the gifts, skills, and talents God gave them.

We are just like Job and the disciples. We forget that God has the power to control the world around us because He laid the foundations long before we were born. Instead of trusting in Him, we try to control the world on our own and we fail. When we suffer the consequences of our faithlessness, we blame God. We worry. We are afraid. We are desperate. It is when we are desperate that we finally remember God; it is then that we cry out to Him. Thankfully, He hears us and answers. He hasn’t abandoned us. He hasn’t been sleeping. He is there, always ready to save us.

We don’t know God’s mind; we don’t know His plans. God asked Job, “Where were you when I...?” Job was not there in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth. We only know what He has revealed to us, and though Job was close to God, he can’t speak for Him. God’s ways are truly higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than ours. We can only walk in faith, trusting that God is in control.

That’s what Jesus wanted from the disciples that night on the sea. He wanted them to trust God, even when God seemed to be missing. God does not call us to do anything He hasn’t equipped us to do. Jesus suggested that they cross the lake, perhaps even knowing that the storm would come. He knew they were capable to handle whatever would come. Then He went to rest, leaving the work of taming the sea to those qualified to do it.

We, too, cry out in our pain and suffering, but we are answered with the question, “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” Have we not heard the lessons of Jesus’ stories? Do we not know that God is in control? Even when the struggles come because we have sinned, He has promised forgiveness to those who let down our facades and repent; He has promised healing and reconciliation for those who live in truth and goodness.

At the end of our Gospel lesson the disciples asked, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The disciples never quite get it; they never quite get that Jesus is LORD. He is Lord of the Sea, Lord of the storm, Lord over our fears. Jesus is more than just someone who can speak the parables of the kingdom of God; He was the Word that was wrapped up in all those stories.

We ask the “Where were you?” questions and remember all those important moments in our lives, but there is another moe important question for Christians to ask. How we respond to the difficulties of life will depend on our answer to the most important question: “Who is this?” Is Jesus Lord? If the answer is “Yes,” then trust that He isn’t sleeping. He is with you and He will carry you through all your storms.