The 4th Sunday after Pentecost [b] June 20, 2021
Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
In the Name of Jesus.
We are given to pray for our world. Our world, so afraid of death, yet so willing to sacrifice to death even the most vulnerable to gain a few more advantages in life.
Our world filled with kings and queens, princes and lords, presidents and governors placed in office to protect the weak and the innocent, and bring justice to the evildoer, set in office to uphold the Lord’s institution of the marriage of man and woman, of family and home, of property and wealth, yet so willing to negate their offices by doing the opposite—we are given to pray for our world.
The Apostle says to the Church,
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
[1 Timothy 2:1]
So we intercede for all. For good kings and bad, for those presidents and governors who protect the innocent and vulnerable and for those who don’t.
We have a prayer for our world. But what prayer? We can start with the Apostles out on that violent lake in a sinking boat. Jesus was there. But he was sleeping. Mark 4:38:
[Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. [The disciples] woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
A small prayer. Just nine words: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” But we may start with that prayer.
Teacher. They address Jesus as their teacher. From him they learn the words of eternal life.
From him they learn the fulness of their own sin, a fulness they will see fully displayed when he hangs bleeding on the cross because of the weight of their sins which he willingly took upon himself.
Our sins too. Do we know the fulness of our own sin—not just the outward sins so easily seen, but our sin in its fulness, deeply seated in our hearts, the sin of who we are—will we know the fulness of our own sin, except that we see it displayed as Jesus hangs dying for it the cross?
They address Jesus as Teacher. So do we. By his death, we are taught the depth of our sin.
But, it’s “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” This is not a prayer to the Teacher who came just to show us the depth of our sin; this is prayer to him who cares for us.
Does he care that the disciples are being brought to their death on that sinking boat? Does he care that we are being daily enmeshed in death in our own world? Does he care for our world, so afraid of death yet so willing to sacrifice the vulnerable for just a little more supposed happiness in life?
[Jesus] awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
[Mark 4:39]
What we chiefly must see in this sinking boat on a violent lake is not that Jesus has all power over wind and wave, over all creation—he does, he along with his Father created all things including the disciples, including us—but what we chiefly must see is not his power, but his care.
He cares that they are perishing. He cares that we are perishing. He cares that our world is perishing.
And he has a word for us. He is the one hearing our intercession, and as our teacher, he teaches us that all sin—of the disciples, of us, of our world—all this sin, no sin left out, he has taken upon himself.
He took it and put it to death in his own body on the cross.
He has taken it upon himself so that our sin—the sin we have already committed, the sin we wished we would not commit tomorrow but we find ourselves doing it anyway, the sin so deeply set in our heart we cannot even fathom its fulness except by looking to his death on the cross—he has taken it upon himself so that it belongs to him, not to us.
So what Jesus teaches the disciples in that boat to learn from him, what he teaches us to learn from him, is not chiefly that he has all power—though he does—but that he cares for us and forgives our sin.
Why not just learn the power of Jesus—learn the power he has over the waves, over the wind, even over death, is it not enough just to learn the power of Jesus?
No. Jesus is teaching us something much better.
When the disciples saw Jesus’ raw power, seeing him calm the waves and push back the wind, it brought them no comfort, it did not strengthen their faith—his display of power did not give them peace in their hearts.
[Jesus] awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
[Mark 4:40]
Seeing Jesus’ power does not create faith, it brings fear.
And why not? What should be more fearful to a sinner that to know that you stand at the face of holy God and he has all power and you don’t?
But Jesus says, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”
That’s what Jesus teaches us. Not chiefly his power. But his care, his forgiveness, his grace. And hearing Jesus’ word of grace and forgiveness bestows faith.
For that’s what a sinner must have faith in—a Lord who teaches grace, who forgives sin, a Lord who takes our death upon himself in order to bring us into his life.
So we pray for ourselves, for our families, even for our world: “[Jesus], do you not care that we are dying?”
He answers that prayer. He answers that he died for us, in our place, on our behalf, on the cross, because he cares for us.
His answer is that he continues to speak to us his Word of grace and life. He continues to gather us into his church. For he knows that we are in a perishing world, and he cares for us.
And his answer for our world, for any sinner in despair, for any person in fear, his answer is that he cares for you, he has mercy for you, and by his Word of Gospel, he has for you the gift of faith, and that is life.
In the Name of Jesus.