“Why Are You Afraid?”

Meditation on Mark 4:35-41

Sunday June 24, 2012

                                             

                                     

       “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.

         A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’

     Jesus woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’

     Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.

     Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’

     And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ ”  (Mark 4:35-41)

   

***

    I was about a month shy of my 7^th birthday on June 17, 1972, when my mother woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to come downstairs.  Now.  My dad needed my help!

    Though I heard the wind howling and rain pounding on the roof and windowpanes, I could not imagine what my father needed a 7 year old’s help with in the middle of the night.  But my mother had never awakened me with such a request.  And I had never heard that anxious tone in her voice.

    So I jumped out of bed and ran in my bare feet down the wooden stairs to our unfinished basement, the place where I spent many afternoons during our hot, humid summers in Maryland.  All of my best toys were down there—spread out on the floor or in cardboard boxes on metal shelves.  The basement was the coolest place in our un-air-conditioned house.  It was the place to roller skate, ride my bike, play with model trains and Hotwheels cars, or curl up on the old sofa to read. 

   But at the bottom of the stairs, I saw that our basement had become a pond. My sister and brother were already there, as was my father. They were filling buckets and wading through the water to the washroom to empty them down the old washtub sink.

   Someone handed me a bucket and told me to do the same.

   I did. The water was cold and immediately soaked through my nightgown that stuck to my legs and made walking difficult.  I could barely lift the metal bucket when it was filled with water, but somehow I got it to the drain.  And did it again.  And again.

    I remember feeling tired but still we had to keep working because the water kept pouring in through the cement block walls. We labored most of the night, until finally the pond had shrunk to a large puddle and some of our belongings that could be rescued were moved to the first floor.  We were fortunate in that we only sustained damage to our basement.

     The tropical system that hit the Mid-Atlantic 40 years ago was Hurricane Agnes.  It produced winds up to 94 miles per hour and 14 inches of rain or more within 3 days. In the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, 34 people died; 103 homes were destroyed. Roads and bridges were washed away. Crops were ruined.

     The hardest hit was the Susquehanna River valley in Pennsylvania—the area from which my husband and I moved when I accepted the call to ministry in Renville. Forty-eight people died. Fire or flood destroyed 68,000 homes and 3,000 businesses; 220, 000 Pennsylvanians were left homeless.

    Agnes was a storm to be feared.  A storm that, to this day, mere mention stirs powerful memories and emotions for people who witnessed the terrible things wind and water can do.

***

    The disciples in their little boat had their own memorable experience with a terrific storm. They were certain they were all going to die.  And there was Jesus—asleep in the boat.

    They woke Him, screaming, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?!”

    They did not understand that their wise “Teacher” was also the Son of God. 

    And they lacked the faith that Jesus was trying to build in them.

    It seems strange to me that Jesus was “asleep” at the time of the crisis. Maybe the Lord only appeared to be asleep to those who were frantic with fear. Doesn’t the Lord always seem to be asleep or far away from us when danger is approaching and we are in a panic?

    The disciples assume that Jesus doesn’t care about them when He doesn’t react like they do to the powerful wind and waves.  

     But Jesus trusts His Heavenly Father, the Creator of wind and sea and human beings, in His image. He knows that God is in control of all things—and that God loves us.

     Jesus rebukes the storm. Calm is immediately restored.

     He scolds His disciples for their lack of faith. He asks them, “Why are you afraid?!

     And they are in awe of the one they call “Teacher.”

    “Who is this,” they marvel, “that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

***

  

     My mother told me years after Hurricane Agnes that my father had never gone to bed that night 40 years ago.  He stayed up—watching and waiting—while we went to bed, unsuspecting of the dangerous storm that had been predicted.

    My parents had sent us to bed without telling us what they knew.  They didn’t want us to be afraid.

     Looking back, I don’t remember being afraid.  I was tired, cold, and wet, but not scared, though I should have been, seeing the water pour in as it did. And hearing the wind howl like I had never heard it before. 

    I had an overwhelming sense of peace that night. I trusted that my father, in his wisdom, could rescue us from the storm, and that we would be OK, if we simply listened to him—and obeyed.

    If only we Christians could always have the faith of a 7 year old, who trusts in her father’s wisdom, without fear when danger comes.

    Christ tells us that we can be certain that He is always with us—and always in control of the storms that rage around us. 

    Yet we try to convince ourselves that God is sleeping or far away.  Or just doesn’t care!

   We don’t have to live in fear.

   Do this for me now. Imagine that one thing that has you worried---the one thing that scares you the most.  The burden you have been carrying a long time and you can’t cast it onto the Lord because, when it comes to that one thing, you aren’t sure you can trust Him.

   Now imagine the Lord asking you,  “Why are you afraid?”

  “Why are you afraid?”

   Listen, with a heart of faith, for His comforting voice. 

   Trust in Him, whom the wind and the sea obey.

   

Let us pray.  Heavenly Father, forgive us for our fears that we just can’t seem to let go. May we hear your voice above our panic and feel your comforting presence throughout all the storms of our lives.  Build up our faith so that we can trust you with all our burdens—and cast them onto You. Give us the courage to seek Your Will and allow the Spirit to teach us your ways. Thank you for your love and for giving us Your Son, the awesome One, whom even the wind and sea obey. In His name we pray.  Amen.