Sermon for Pentecost 4: "The Growth of the Kingdom" (Mark 4:26-34)

LISTEN

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground” (Mark 4:26).

 

Today, Jesus teaches us the Parable of the Automatic Growing Seed and the meaning of this parable is straightforward.

 

§  The “man” is Jesus. (Mark 4:26)

§  The “seed” is the Word of God. (Mark 4:27-28)

§  The “ground” are those living under God’s reign and rule. (Mark 4:26, 28)

§  The “seed” sprouts automatically – on its own. (Mark 4:27)

§  The “ground” with the “seed” in it produces fruit, that is the reign and rule of God being implemented in the lives of Christians. (Mark 4:27)

§  The “blade,” then the “ear,” and then the “full grain” shows the Christian’s growth and maturity. (Mark 4:28)

§  The “harvest” is the full goal of God’s plan. (Mark 4:29)

§  The “sickle” is the Final Judgment. (Mark 4:29)

§  For those in Christ, the harvest is beneficial for the “full grain,” so that by bearing fruits of faith, followers of Jesus will fare well at the Final Judgment.

 

As we are in the Green Season – the Season after Pentecost, we are focusing on our Christian spiritual growth. So, what do we make of this parable? What does this parable – the Parable of the Automatic Growing Seed – have to do with us?

 

What Jesus is teaching us today is a well-known fact about the growth of the seed, but He uses it to bring home to us a remarkable truth about the seed of the Word of God: “He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear” (Mark 4:27-28).

 

Now, over time, we have come to better know much about horticulture in how a seed sprouts into becoming a plant, but there is still so much that remains a mystery. 

 

We do not know or understand the power of life and growth inherent in a seed. Farmers trust that the seed simply germinates, develops, grows, and produces more seed. So, there is no need for farmers to worry about the seed in the ground, but instead to trust the seeds to develop and grow, so the farmer takes care of other work on his farm.

 

So, is Jesus teaching us to just sit down, relax, and do nothing? Well, yes – and no.

 

Look around you. Today’s attendance may not look like what you would want to see. Or today’s attendance may look like more than you thought. The Kingdom of God may look like a letdown. We know that we live in God’s Kingdom of grace, but when we look around, what do we see? Empty pews.

 

And to make matters even worse, we look at those sitting in the pews this morning. What do we see? Sinners! We see poor, miserable sinners. We see fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who aren’t as active in the church as we think they ought to be. We see people who don’t always treat us, or one another, as kindly as we think they should. We see people whose lives outside these church walls that don’t always rise to the standards we might set for them. And if we take an honest look at yourself, we must all admit that we, too, seem altogether out of place in the Kingdom of God.

 

Yes, we know that when we fellowship around God’s Word and Sacraments, the Kingdom of God is among us, but sometimes it is hard to believe. This just doesn’t look like what we think the Kingdom of God ought to look. Shouldn’t we do something?!

 

Again, Jesus says, “He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how” (Mark 4:27). But we want to know how! We want to find ways to grow! We want to know the sure way unbelievers and inactives can have the same certain hope and joy that we have in Jesus! We want to be able to explain church growth or decline! 

 

So, when it comes to the Kingdom of God, we want to learn the steps to make church growth happen! And there are plenty of programs out there designed to help churches grow. But more often than not, these church growth programs are not focused on Jesus and His Word, but on us: what I can do. The focus is on the self.

 

The truth behind how to grow the church or how to get loved ones to believe is not in exploring what we can do, but instead in what is already done. In other words, to ask what can be done is to assume that something is missing that we can work to supply or improve. We can begin to live as if Jesus was not sufficient to do what is to be accomplished. You see, the growth of the Kingdom of God is up to Jesus, not us.

 

God’s ministry is working. It needs no assistance. At once it is loose in the world, the reign of God has it in itself to grow. So, we don’t need to help the reign of God along. It will succeed. That is the meaning of this parable. 

 

Like the farmer has complete confidence in the seed, God’s Kingdom grows mysteriously of itself through the Word. So, we marvel at the mystery of all that Jesus describes: “The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear” (Mark 4:28). Automatically, it all happens. Life resides in the seed. Only when the seed is introduced into the soil does something happen. Apart from the seed, the soil of the sinner’s heart is dead, devoid of any spiritual life. Only when the living seed of the Word of God has been planted in the heart of the sinner can spiritual life be generated and sustained. So, the soil without the seed is dead. Likewise, the human heart without the Word of God is dead. 

 

So, what are we to do? Is there anything we can do? As followers of Christ, He has given us vocations – or callings in our daily living. And as Christians, we are seen as “little Christs.” We follow the Light of Christ and so His light is reflected onto us. Here, in the Divine Service, our faith in Christ takes root and is strengthened as it is fertilized, watered, and pruned through His Law and Gospel and in His forgiveness of our sins. Here, the Holy Spirit causes us to “Know and Grow” in Christ, so that we can “Go” to share the good news of salvation in Christ to others.

 

As the Christian faith has taken root and grown in our lives through Word and Sacrament, Jesus uses us in our daily vocations to bring that same seed – the Word of God – to others. St. Paul puts it this way, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6).

 

Like the “man” in our parable, we go about our day-to-day business as a child of God in our God-given vocations – in our homes, schools, workplaces, and communities. For we are a people who are called by the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism into Jesus’ death, formed by grace and forgiveness, shaped by mercy received at the Lord’s Table, who live by faith and prayer, patience and hope. 

So, we confidently ask God to grant the growth He wills for us, for those we love, for the one Holy Christian and apostolic Church throughout the world, and for those in whom the Kingdom of God is still but a seed.

 

Now, always take confidence in Jesus words here that the Word of God is the seed, and this Word of God is always powerful and reliable. All that needs to be done, and all that can be done, is to sow the seed, to proclaim the Word of God. The power is in the seed, the Word of God. It is sown; it sprouts; it matures; it is harvested. For God says, “So shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

 

The triune God grows His Kingdom. Though at times we may not see the results, there will be a harvest because the seed has God’s power within it.

 

This Parable of the Automatic Growing Seed was said by Jesus to steady His disciples, to comfort them, to assure them. Jesus said this parable to steady, comfort and assure us, too. 

 

Jesus is the One who sows the seed of the Word. His seed will go out and many will have ears to hear, many will receive a heart to humble itself and believe and follow. He keeps on sowing for the spiritual life and growth of His Kingdom – the Church, until the gracious time of sowing comes to a close at the Final Judgment. For us, who are in Christ, His Word produces spiritual fruit in Him, which will come to an end at our death – or if Christ returns first. Then comes the judgment, but this sickle of judgment holds no terror for us in Christ, since we are harvested and transformed from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant.

 

So rather than stress, know that when it comes to the growth of God’s Kingdom be like a farmer, who trusts in his seeds to produce. For by Jesus’ atoning death and bodily resurrection, God the Father will grant growth in His time and in His way. For now, just spread the seed of His Word, then sleep and rise night and day trusting that the Holy Spirit will sprout and grow those seeds while not knowing how. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Advent Midweek 2: "Peace to All, Near and Far" (Ephesians 2:12-18)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

The weeks before Christmas can be busy. The first days of December bring us closer to more people than perhaps any other time. The stores are full, and the lines are long. Your office Christmas celebration next week puts you into the same room with people you might see only once a year. Your family gets together the week before Christmas, and this year, your cousin with the smallest house is hosting. It’s going to be tight! Advent and Christmas bring us shoulder to shoulder with strangers, neighbors, family, and friends.

 

Is that your definition of peace? A long checkout line, a crowded party, and sharing a couch with one person too many? That’s no one’s picture of peace. Peace is the opposite image. Peace is open space, quiet, and calm. If only we could find it. That’s our picture tonight as we continue to see how the star of peace comes to us. This evening, we will look at the two middle points of the star. These points stretch out and say, “Peace is getting away!” If we can get far enough away, we’ll find peace. It’s a natural idea, and we can spend a great deal of time pursuing it. But once again, God knows the limits of our pursuit, spares us from a disappointing chase, and gives us more than we would have found for ourselves.

 

Let’s start with imagining that peace can be found in a place far away from where we are right now. What is your picture of that perfect place? Is it a cabin in the far north woods set on a quiet lake? You have the lake to yourself. There are no other cabins to spoil the view and no motors waking you up. The only sounds are the waves gently breaking on the shore and the geese calling one another. There’s no wind or waves, just the perfect reflection of the trees on the far shore. That’s peace. There are no phone calls, messages, or emails to be returned and no 24-hour cable news to remind you of the problems in the world. There is nothing but peace. Make some coffee, sit on the porch, and soak it all in.

 

That sounds wonderful, and if you can escape to that place and stay there, it sounds perfect. But what if you know that that’s never going to happen? You can’t leave your work and live in the woods. You can’t leave the people who depend on you. 

 

You need peace that fits life here and now. That’s the other dimension of peace that we often seek. It’s living here and now. But even here you can seek peace. That dimension of peace happens when we rearrange our past. Our past could use some change and distance. That’s because the past doesn’t stay in the past where it should be—silent and out of sight. 

 

Instead, the past intrudes into our present and threatens our future. The past has those people, those events, those harsh words, and those tears that never fully went away. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could erase that past and move its dusty memory as far from us as that cabin in the far north woods? What if we could deny the darkest parts of our past and retell our story with the best parts out in front? Let the worst parts be hidden under a mumbled sentence that no one can really hear. Pick up the past and move it out of sight. Then we’ve found our peace.

 

These are wonderful ways to escape our crowded, stressful world. Take either direction and go as far as you can. Deny your dark past and escape your overcrowded present. God stops us from going in either direction and brings us peace in the present. Jesus is our peace here and now, not in our separation from one another but in Himself. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul writes, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace” (Ephesians 2:13–15). Amid hostility and tension, Christ brings us peace.

 

Do you remember the disciples sailing in the boat while Jesus slept? The storm came on them, and they rowed furiously while Jesus was sleeping. Finally, they woke Him and asked, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38). Jesus rose, rebuked the wind and waves, and there was calm. And He asked them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40).

 

Where is our peace? Is it on a perfectly calm lake, or is it found in the middle of a storm? The lake may be calm now, but do you remember the storms of your past? Who knows what storms might still come? So, our peace is found in the One who is with us even in the middle of the stormy lake. He who creates calm within us even when the wind and waves roar is our peace.

 

He is our peace by reconciling us to one another. We try to bring peace to the conflicts of our past by retelling our story. We want to distance ourselves from those people and events. But Christ brings peace by bringing together all people through His birth, life, and death. From His birth in the stable to the gathering around His cross, His coming brought together those who otherwise would remain distant. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote, “And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:17–19).

 

Peace doesn’t come when we retell our story. Peace comes at the brokenness of Jesus at the moment of His death. Peace comes when we are completely forgiven. In His peace, He gathers us from far and near, regardless of who we are. We find peace in Jesus’ death and resurrection. In Christ, we don’t merely come out better. We come out forgiven and at peace.

 

So, dream if you wish of that perfect cabin by the always-calm lake. I’m not sure that it exists anywhere like it does in our dreams. But that’s all right. We don’t need to escape to the lake, and we don’t need to escape by a retelling of our past. In Christ alone, we find peace this Advent through Christ’s words of power and His words of calm. In Him, there’s forgiveness for the past and power to overcome the storms of today and the storms of tomorrow. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.   

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Pentecost 9: "Do Not Be Afraid!" (Genesis 9:8-17 & Mark 6:45-56)

 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

Eight people are left on earth. Noah and his family had witnessed the extinction of a world of men and beasts. They – along with two of every kind of creature – had been saved. They were surrounded by the evidence of the destruction worked by God in His righteous wrath against sin. Noah and his family were frightened. They were wondering: “What’s next?” What doom was on the horizon?

We also have the Twelve apostles. They, too, were terrified! As they were struggling against the currents upon the Sea of Galilee, they see what looks to be a specter or ghost or could it be the Leviathan? They all believed a watery grave awaited them.

These twenty people – the eight on the ark and the 12 on the boat – all were full of fear and trembling.

On this Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, God’s voice comes to calm all fear as He says, “I establish my covenant with you. Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid!” (Genesis 9:9, Mark 6:50)

[God’s Covenant]

Only eight people are left on the earth. They had seen the perils of water, but now they have seen God’s delivery from water. They had seen God’s righteous wrath against sin. Now, it is God Himself who makes the most solemn and binding promise that He can make to man.

God spoke: “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:9-11).

This divine covenant is not anything that we can pledge. This is a pledge to us from God. This covenant is bound to God Himself to carry out. And this covenant was not made only to Noah and his sons, but this covenant includes every one of their descendants: you and me!

God did not stop there, He gave Noah, his family, you and me an additional proof and guarantee that He would execute His covenant with Himself. God spoke saying, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations. I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. … When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between [Me] and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:12-13, 16).

As Noah and his family were in need of assurance, God gave them this assurance: He would never again cause the extinction of the world through a world-wide flood.

We can only imagine what Noah and his family were thinking. Certainly, they were in awe of the words of God and of His covenant promise as He spoke: “Whenever the rainbow appears in the sky, I will remember my covenant between Me and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:16).

Now, why would God need a way to remember His covenant promise? How could God forget? Of course, God never forgets His promises. This is God saying that the terms of His covenant between Himself and us would always be before Him.

But, unlike the triune God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – we are prone to forget. Today, how many in society, when they see a rainbow in the sky recall God’s covenant promise to Noah and us? Many may think of the Great Flood, but it is likely that most will not recall God’s covenant promise that He made to you and me.

In recent times, the sinful culture has pronounced a new meaning to the rainbow. It is no longer about God’s covenant with us. It is now a pronouncement that there is no need to lead a chaste and decent life with what we say and do. The culture pronounces that those who live contrary to God’s intention of marriage are in fact “born this way.” Now, I used to argue against the phrase “born this way,” but now I understand it. I actually agree with it. Yes, we are all born “this way,” we – you, me, and every person upon this earth – are born as enemies of God (Romans 5:10), due to sin, which every human being inherited from our first parents: Adam and Eve.

But while we were God’s enemy, He sent His Son to reconcile us to Himself – and all by grace through faith in His Son. Now, this doesn’t mean that we continue to live in our sin. Instead, we repent and confess our sins to God and receive His forgiveness.

You see, sin at its core, separates us from God. Sin separates us from His everlasting covenant with you and me.

The Sixth Commandment “You shall not commit adultery” does not apply to only husbands and wives. This commandment applies to all human beings, whether married or not, or cohabitating, and to all kinds of sexual desire and activity. God says that we are to fear and love Him by refraining from lustful desire or activity of any kind, whether heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or otherwise. We are to live sexually pure lives in modesty and in self-control. And our identity is not in our sexual preference, whether that be gay, straight, or otherwise.

Remember, our identity is in our Baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection (for which we have witnessed again here this morning, as God adopted Aiden). Through our Baptism into Christ, we are God’s children and thus, heirs of heaven. Since our identity is in Christ, we trust in God’s grace knowing that it is sufficient for us, and we look to Christ daily for forgiveness, strength, and contentment.

So, let God’s rainbow in the sky help us remember that He has kept His covenant promise these many centuries. There has been no world-wide flood. He has kept His promise, and He keeps every promise. Even the promise of the Savior.

[Terror Upon the Sea]

As God calmed the fears of Noah, the Twelve disciples thought they were about to be succumbed to a watery grave. Now, unlike when Jesus calmed the storm previously in Mark 4(:35-41), the disciples this time had no danger of drowning. The Sea of Galilee this night was just being unfavorable. You see, the sea is not the problem. What terrifies them is seeing Jesus and not understanding who He is.

After the disciples had struggled for hours upon the sea, Jesus makes His way to them – as He walked upon the sea.

It is likely the disciples yearned for Jesus as they fought the sea currents, but when Jesus finally arrives, every disciple comes to fear and trembling. “It is a ghost!”

You would think that when Jesus finally comes that the disciples would become calm. This is the same Jesus who displayed His divine mastery to the disciples over wind and wave just recently. It appears that they forgot.

Instead as Jesus comes closer to them, they all cry out, “It is a ghost!”

You see, the disciples believed that Jesus was a ghost, or worse! This is what is terrifying them. It is not a matter of the sea. There are no crashing waves. There is no storm. It is only Jesus. The Twelve believed that a watery grave was their fate.

In their fear, Jesus speaks to them, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Mark 6:50). Here, Jesus speaks His covenant name: I am. This is the same name that God spoke to Moses. This is the same name God spoke to Noah and his family. “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” This is the incarnate God speaking to His disciples and to us saying, “Wherever you are, you are never away from My care. If I am with you, you have nothing to fear.”

Now, who or what are your ghosts? What do you fear? Are we trusting in something or someone that is not helpful for you? If we are trusting in anything other than the one true God, then we should be very afraid. But when Jesus is there – when we call upon Him for security – we have nothing to be afraid of at all. So, when “It is I” – the “I” being Jesus, the “I am” – then we have nothing to fear.

[Little Faith]

After witnessing the feeding of the 5,000, and so many other signs and miracles performed by Jesus right in front of their very eyes, the disciples should have understood so much more than they did. They should not have been so “utterly astounded” (Mark 6:51) at witnessing Jesus walk upon the sea. They should have comprehended that the One who had multiplied the loaves of bread, calmed the sea, healed the sick, and raised the dead, could really walk on the water.

Just as it was when Jesus calmed the storm, as we heard just weeks ago, the disciples still do not understand who Jesus is. Like the crowds – who “ate and were satisfied” (Mark 6:42) when Christ fed the 5,000 – His disciples couldn’t see what was right before their very eyes. Some thought He was just a prophet, some thought He was a bread king, others thought He was just a great teacher. Who is Jesus? As Jesus earlier spoke to them after calming the sea saying, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40), we hear today that the disciples’ hearts were hardened. Now, this has nothing to do with rejecting God’s truth. Rather, this “hardening” is the spiritual condition of the disciples, which is the “littleness of faith.” Indeed, they have some faith – a little faith – but this faith needs to grow into understanding who Jesus truly is: God in the flesh.

We, too, often have little faith. We – like the disciples – often don’t see what is right in front of us. We often turn to fear. We begin to trust in people or things that promise relief and safety, but in reality, they only promise what they could never fulfil. Even in our little faith, God the Father doesn’t give up on us. Despite our little faith, He sent Jesus to be our Savior from sin, eternal death, and hell.

So, turn to the one true God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who always fulfills His promises and says: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

God comes to us today to serve us as He did Noah and the disciples. He serves us through His Word and Sacraments. He comes to us today to take upon Himself our fears and increase our faith.

Unlike the triune God who never forgets His covenant promise, He comes to us today to remind us that the powers of sin, death, and Satan are defeated through the power of Jesus’ atoning death upon the Cross and His bodily resurrection from the dead! This we need to hear repeatedly, because unlike God, we are prone to forget. We are prone to forget how God so loves us so much that He took it upon Himself to save us from sin's power, which is eternal death. He comes to us today speaking this promise of forgiveness of sins, which guarantees eternal life and salvation. He comes to us today reminding us all that we have nothing to fear, since we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone!

In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus pledges Himself to you and me as He says He will never leave us or forsake us. All we have to do is trust in Him. Through the very Words of Christ, “This is My body” and “This is My blood,” Jesus speaks to us another special covenant promise: that in this Sacrament, Christ’s saving death is proclaimed, and the fruits of His atonement are distributed for the forgiveness of our sins. “For as often as [we] eat this bread and drink the cup, [we] proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Unlike the sick at Gennesaret – who undoubtedly heard about the miracle healing of the woman with the 12 years of the flow of blood (Mark 5:25-34) – we don’t get to touch only a fringe of Christ’s garment for our healing. Instead, Jesus invites us to touch Him and taste Him as He takes our sins away through our eating and drinking of His body and blood under the bread and wine.

Although God never forgets His covenant promise, there is something that God does forget. You see, when we repent of our sins – all that we have done against God in our thoughts, words, or deeds – He immediately forgets that sin. God the Father immediately sees us as He sees His Son as perfectly righteous. It is by faith in Christ alone that our sin and fear are taken away! In response to this grace, we “give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).

Yes, God’s steadfast love endures forever and so does His covenant, so “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid!” (Mark 6:50) Amen!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

Sermon for Pentecost 4: "Calming the Storms" (Mark 4:35-41)

 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

As a ship is nearing a coast, or just entering a harbor, oftentimes a maritime pilot is ready if that ship’s captain is in need of assistance. Although ship captains have a lot of sea experience, they don’t always know the local hazards just off a coast or in a harbor when a sudden storm emerges.

In the event of a sudden storm, a maritime pilot comes on board via a small boat or is lowered from a helicopter and takes over the ship with the captain’s permission. What makes these pilots so skilled is that they know the immense details of the local waterways, such as the depth, the currents, the hazards, as well as the expertise in handling ships of all types and sizes.

They know what to do to get the ship to safe harbor when the weather suddenly changes.

Today on this Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Jesus and His disciples find themselves aboard a boat during a great windstorm with waves breaking into the boat as it begins to fill with water. But by His powerful Word, Jesus calms not just the storm brought on by the sea, but also the storm in the disciples’ hearts.

[God Rested]

“On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side’ (of the Sea of Galilee). And leaving the crowd (as He continued to teach), (the disciples) took Him with them in the boat” (Mark 4:35).

Now, this day was a long day for Jesus. Jesus was exhausted. Earlier in the day, He healed a leper, He healed a centurion’s servant, He healed Peter’s mother-in-law, He cured demon-possessed people, and He healed many from various diseases and illnesses (Matthew 8:1-22).  Although Jesus is fully God, He is still fully human, and He needed His rest.

This tired condition is what caused Jesus to say: “Let us go across to the other side (of the sea)” (Mark 4:35). In time, Jesus began to rest and He soon fell asleep on a cushion.

Now, Jesus was familiar to rest. You see, even before He took upon Himself our human flesh, He rested. He rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3) after He – with the Father and the Holy Spirit – had created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them: the waters, the dry land, the plants, the stars, the angels, the water creatures, the land creatures (Genesis 1:1-31).

In fact, in our Old Testament reading, this is what the triune God spoke to Job about. You see, when Job was experiencing his personal storm – his doubts – as he questioned the Creator of the heavens and the earth, God comforted him and said to Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Who determined its measurements – surely you know! Who laid its cornerstone? Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment? Who prescribed limits for it and said, ‘Thus far you come, and no farther’?” (Job 38:1-11)

Like Job, we fail to understand the known and unknown, the seen and unseen, but God is always there to comfort us in our good times and bad times as we turn to His Word as revealed in the Scriptures and in the Sacrament.

[The Storm]

For the disciples, this boat trip upon the Sea of Galilee was about to go from calm to stormy.

Suddenly, “a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling” (Mark 4:37).

Now, storms are entirely in keeping with the topography. Since the Sea of Galilee is about 700 feet below sea level and lies between high hills, so sudden squalls would often come roaring through and would churn up waves to a height like those in much larger bodies of water. But some may wonder, could there be something more going on here? After all, Jesus is resting from a long day of healings. So, this might indicate that the storm and the raging seas constitute an attack by spiritual forces opposed to God. We don’t know this for a fact, but it may cause us to wonder: is there something more going on here?

As the storm was raging, Jesus was fast asleep. So, in this hour of danger the disciples woke Him saying, “Save us, Lord!” (Matthew 8:25b) “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38c)

Some questions may arise: Weren’t some of these disciples expert fishermen who must have gone through similar furious storms on the lake? And: wasn’t Jesus inexperienced in handling a boat? Why, then, did they come to Jesus?

Though their faith was not perfect, they did reveal faith in this hour. They do seem to think that Jesus is special and that He can help. Although at this time, they do not fully understand who He is, what He is truly like, and what He is all about, but they turn to Jesus and rely on His power to help.

Immediately, Jesus arose from His cushion and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39). Just as it was in this morning’s Introit from Psalm 107, as those men were crying to the Lord, Jesus delivered them by calming the storm and the waves. As was declared by the Psalmist and as He spoke to Job, it is only God who is able to control nature, including the wind and the sea. It is the Lord Himself, Jesus Christ, who has the power to command the wind and calm the waves.

You see, God’s spoken Word is performative, that is, when God speaks, things happen. Just as it was in the beginning, when God spoke, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), there was light. It was through the power of His voice that God created the heavens and the earth. And, when Christ said, “Follow Me” to His future apostles, they never thought about it, they each immediately dropped everything and followed Him. So, when God speaks, things happen.

Now, some people these days have the idea that they have the power to control the wind and the sea. They say, “If we only change this or that” in our lives, the climate would improve. The thing is, only God has this power. By saying they have power to control the future of climate, they are really claiming God’s authority. Now, we should care for our environment, as God said to our first parents, “Subdue (the earth), and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28), but we only have the authority to preserve the earth. We don’t have the authority to save the earth. We don’t have the authority to control the weather. Only God has this power. This is why the disciples asked, “Who is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:41)

After Jesus calmed the sea, He spoke to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40) Now, they had enough faith to wake up Jesus, but their faith was far from perfect. Yes, they woke Him up, but they do not have a faith that rests confidently in Jesus. You see, the disciples still worry very much about their welfare as they said, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38), even though their Lord is present with them.

Now, what if Jesus did not wake up? Or, what if Jesus had not been in the boat with them when the windstorm arrived? Would the disciples have had a right to be terrified? Remember, Jesus had taught them – as He teaches us the same – “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). So, no matter what, Jesus teaches us that by grace through faith in Him alone, we always stand in the Father’s constant, loving care, so that we have no need to fear or to worry.

Yet, we do fear and worry. We worry as Job worried. We worry as the disciples worried. We worry about the unknown. We worry about the unseen. It seems like we are catechized and trained to worry. Causing worry is big business for some. Turn on the evening news. Read the headlines in today’s newspaper. We are catechized each and every day to worry.

But even if the disciples had drowned in that stormy water, they still would have had no cause to fear. So even in the hour of death, God the Father would not forsake them. So, with that promise comes the assurance that there is no cause for fear since we have eternal life. In Christ, we all have this same promise and assurance!

[The Calm]

As the sinful world around us tosses us all around, God the Father comes to us to brings us back to safety. This is what He accomplished for us by sending His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to bear our sins and be our Savior as He willingly suffered and died for our sins upon the cross. He did this to save us from the power of sin, eternal death, and Satan. He did this so we would receive – by grace through faith in Christ alone – forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation!

This is the meaning of Christ calming the storm. He calmed to storm to establish Himself as the ruler of the wind and sea. He is truly the only divine Savior, who has unlimited grace and power to save lost sinners.

By Jesus calming the storm that day may have another meaning. We may think of the church as a boat, the disciples as believers as they are navigating the sea of life, the wind and the waves as the storms of life, the pleas of the disciples as the prayers of believers for help, and Jesus as the Lord of both the church and the world. The meaning being that the Lord of the Church, though seemingly to be asleep and uncaring about what His people are enduring, will arise in due time to bring them salvation.

This is what happens here in the Divine Service! He comes to us to calm our hearts as He speaks to us His sure and certain Word and gives us forgiveness and strength for our weak faith through His Means of Grace – in Word and Sacrament.

Christ speaks to us today with the same power He spoke creation into being. He speaks to us today with the same power He calmed the stormy sea. He speaks to us today saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” He speaks to us today saying, “Take, eat. This is My body, which is given for you. Take, drink. This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” This is Christ speaking. He is speaking to us as He calms our personal storms.

It has been said that Jesus calmed two storms that day: the one in the disciples’ hearts and the other raging in nature. Jesus reproved the winds and the waves saying, “Peace! Be still!” (Mark 4:39b) Here we see Jesus exercising the same power with which He created the world and the same power with which He also saved the world. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T