Word to the Wise
Sunday, June 23, 2024 - 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B [2012: Birth of John the Baptist]
[Job 38:1, 8-11; 2 Cor 5:14-17; Mark 4:35-41]"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" [Jesus] woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?" [Mark]
There are at least a couple of ways one might approach the scene of the storm-tossed boat. One might, indeed, join the disciples in saying, "Who then is this whom even the wind and sea obey?" In the Gospel According to Mark, the disciples remain clueless until Jesus is crucified. Another way could focus on the question, "Do you not care that we are perishing?"
This latter question is one that many of us could ask at times of great trouble in our lives. "Does God care what is happening?" "Is God asleep on a cushion in my storm-tossed boat?"
It is this second question that I encounter most often in my pastoral life. What is "the other side" that Jesus referred to when getting in that boat to begin with? How am I/we going to make it? But, Jesus is, after all, in the boat and for some reason the disciples wait until the boat is about to sink before they wake him up! Why do we wait that long? He does more than pick up a bucket to help bail out a sinking boat! Our faith in him is a guarantee that he does care, even if our faith is limited, like that of the disciples. He will find a way to get us "to the other side" if we involve him in the situation!
A plaque someone gave me years ago stated: "Sometimes the Lord calms the storm, and sometimes the Lord lets the storm rage and calms his child." We can pray for both but one way or the other, God does care. AMEN