Saint John’s Episcopal Church
June 25, 2006 3 Pentecost
Father McGinn
It is kind of a difficult day to talk about storms, especially when we have experienced one here the last couple of days. I want to share with you an experience I once had. Back in the 1980’s I was on a sailboat, about a thirty foot sailboat, off the coast of Westerly, RI. It was a wonderful day, and I was with a man named Charlie who was a professor of Geology at Connecticut College and he was quite a good sailor. We were out and all of a sudden we noticed that the sky was changing, it was getting dark, and that was when this wonderful sailing day turned into a nightmare. The first thing we did was get the sails down and the waves began to increase. There was thunder and lightening and I have to tell you I was frightened. Thank goodness Charlie was a wonderful captain and he somehow got us pointed in the right direction. The storm blew itself out and we finally got into shore, but you know, storms come.
Sometimes they come violently and unexpectedly and the one I mentioned today. Sometimes they tear your world apart. As Jesus and his disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, suddenly a furious squall came up. “And the waves broke over the boat nearly swallowing it. Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion and the disciples woke him and said to him: ‘Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?’ And Jesus got up and he rebuked the wind and said to the waves ‘Peace. Be still.’ And then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ And they were now more terrified and they asked each other ‘Who is this that the wind and the waves obey him?’”
Storms come.
Storms may not always come in the form of a furious squall or a hurricane. And sometimes they come in the form of a phone call from a doctor confirming a diagnosis, from a police officer telling you of an automobile accident. Storms come in many forms; A note from a spouse saying she is leaving, a pink slip from an employer. Storms come just as they came to those disciples on the Sea of Galilee. And here is what I think is frustrating: sometimes when storms come it seems as if god is asleep. “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?” asked his frightened disciple. And sometimes when we are going through a crisis, it does seem like either god doesn’t hear or God doesn’t care.
You may remember Robert Browning’s famous poem “The lark is on the wing, the snails on the thorn. God is in His heaven, all’s right with the world.” Browning wrote those words in the mid nineteenth century, an era of boundless optimism. But after two world wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Holocaust, and numerous genocides around the world as well as the terrible specter of international terrorism and the wars we now face in Iraq and Afghanistan, few people would dare to say “All’s right with the world.” Worse, God seems to stay in his heaven despite all that is wrong with the world. Why doesn’t God do something?
Sometimes storms come up in our lives and we turn to God and all we find is an awful silence. We cry out like the disciples of Jesus, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?” In the Gospel reading from today, Jesus does stir from his slumber. “He rebukes the wind and says to the waves ‘Peace. Be still.” And when the wind dies down he asks his disciples “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” And this I believe is the crux of the scripture reading today. We know that storms come, we believe that Jesus has the power to calm those storms, then why are we afraid to en to trust God’s promises? Jesus knew that his disciples were human beings, given to fear. He knew they were still growing in their faith. His retort to them sounds harsh, but it is the retort of a coach who wants his players to get the routine down so precisely so that when they are tested they will be able to respond as they were coached. Jesus wants to help us with our fear. For the greater tragedy than the storms in our lives is the inadequacy of the response that we make. Let me make some brief suggestions this morning about how we can cope with life in the midst of storms.
First of all, prepare for them. That makes sense. If we know storms are going to come, don’t you think we should prepare for them? I we hear a storm is coming on the news or the radio; we try to prepare in many ways. Whether it is just picking up some furniture that is outside, or putting plywood over windows, we prepare. And if we are trying to prepare personally for a storm, we make sure that our relationships are strong, our family relationships, and our relationships with friends because it helps when you are going through a storm to have others there with you. You may not be blessed with a family but you can build your relationships here in the church so that you will have people who will serve as your support group. Ask someone who has gone through the storm of an illness, or the loss of a loved one, whether close relationships made a difference. They do.
We can also prepare for the storm physically and mentally and spiritually. For example: Does your general health make a difference in a storm? How you have taken care of yourself can make a huge difference when you are struck with a catastrophic illness. We don’t talk about this much a church, but maybe we ought to. A person undergoing surgery or chemotherapy will generally do better if his/her health is good. Being in good physical health is also is also a good way to deal with the depression that inevitably comes with a terrible loss. Prepare for life’s storms by keeping yourself fit, don’t wait until the storm comes. Mentally and spiritually, we prepare ourselves by building our lives on the rock. There comes a time in our lives when we decide what we believe, and how we will live. I will live according to God’s building code, we decide. I will live a life of quality trusting in God’s promises. There are other ways to live that might give us more sensual gratification, and less sacrifice, but we believe that our lives have purpose and meaning. That a loving Creator has intended our lives for something more than mere animal satisfaction. And so we seek to live our lives according to God’s code, so that when the storms of life come, we respond reflexively with faith and not fear. Just as a well trained athlete responds in a contest as he or she has been coached.
This is not to say that we cease to be human. We still may go through all the steps associated with grief and loss: denial, anger, rejection and guilt, bargaining and depression, confusion and acceptance. But we go through the process without being overwhelmed. Then eventually when the storm has run its course, as all storms do, we see how God has guided us through that storm. We had despaired at times that we could possibly make it, but we do make it and we give God the glory. And if we are wise we reflect on the lessons we have learned from this experience. For this is the purpose of storms; to produce growth.
Storms come.
Some of you are young, and it seems to you that you will live forever. That is wonderful. But if you are smart, you will prepare yourself for that time when life sends us the unexpected squall. Prepare yourself by building strong relationships. Prepare yourself by keeping yourself fit physically and mentally and spiritually. And decide to build your life on the rock of faith.
In the early 1970’s, a terrible ice storm hit central Connecticut, where I was living at the time. Manchester is not far from the Connecticut River, and the storm hit the entire Connecticut River valley, and it was horrendous. It brought down trees and knocked out power for seven or eight days. And I remember after the storm, with the wind and the ice it seemed like the end of the world for many days. The night after the storm, I remember walking in my backyard and I could hear trees cracking and falling, but as I looked up I could see the stars. I guess I have seen the stars many timed in my life, but this night more than any other I appreciated the beauty of the stars. And I wonder if something like that didn’t happen that night to the disciples after what they experienced. After Jesus had calmed the storm, there was a great calm, but the wind had cleared the air in a wonderful way. And as they gazed at the heavens, they could see the stars as they had never seen them before. And they reflected on this man who had power over the wind and the waves. And they learned the meaning of a life built on God. Amen