Fear and the Megas Storm

Sermon for SMHP, Year B, Proper 7, Ordinary 12, June 24, 2017

Mark 4:35-41                  

                ³⁵On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd behind, they took Jesus with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with them.

           ³⁷A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. ³⁸But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke the Lord up and said, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

           ³⁹Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.

           ⁴⁰Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

           Every October since 2014, sociologists at Chapman University in Southern California release the results of their Survey of American Fears.  In 2014, the survey lined up pretty well with the researchers’ hypotheses about people’s fears.  The top fear was crime, which they anticipated. 

           The 2017 survey, the last one released, was a surprise.  It showed a real shift in American fear, one which surprised the researchers (maybe more than it will surprise all of us.)

           First of all, we are way more afraid these days.  Before this survey, there was only one category about which a majority of respondents were “afraid” or “very afraid.”  Crime.  Specifically, “walking alone at night.”

           In 2017, there were five such categories.  Want to guess the number one fear?

           Corruption of government officials.  Seventy-four percent of those surveyed said they feared government corruption.  Before 2017, the highest percentage that feared any one thing was 60%.

           I’m just going to leave that there…except for this timely factoid:  guess where “illegal immigration” falls in the ranking of American fears?

           Forty-ninth.  Below credit card fraud, drones, and sharks.

          

           So…there’s some evidence for what you likely knew, if you’ve been paying attention.  Fear is on the rise in America.  About a bunch of stuff.  In addition to government corruption, a majority of those surveyed fear the American Healthcare Act, or Trumpcare—which was being debated as this survey was released.  The other top five were pollution of waterways, pollution of drinking water, and running out of money.

           We are afraid.  Of a lot of stuff.  Our government, environmental devastation (4 of the top 10 fears), and war.  But not illegal immigrants.  Four out of five of us are not afraid of illegal immigrants.

           And a few of us, 5% and 7% respectively, are afraid of zombies and clowns.

           Fear is for real, and it appears to be here to stay for a while.  Most of the stuff we are afraid of is for real. 

           Which makes us just like those poor maligned disciples on a boat with Jesus.             There really was a storm.  It was a big storm.  The Greek word is megas, which means what it sounds like it means.

           It was a mega-storm.  They had every right to be afraid.  After all, these were fishermen, mainly.  They aren’t going to be afraid of a micro storm. 

           And Jesus was just sleeping rough the whole thing.  Like nothing was happening.  (Don’t you still have some friends like this?  They are still convinced that nothing is wrong, when you know that Nothing Is Normal?)

           So they wake Jesus and say, “hey, what’s the deal, Lord?  Do you not care that we are perishing?!”

           And yeah, an accusation of indifference is kind of a rude way to wake someone up, so we shouldn’t be too surprised that Jesus is cranky.  But his response goes a little beyond cranky, doesn’t it?

           “Why are you afraid?  Have you still no faith?”

           Dang, Jesus!  It’s a megas storm!  Cut us some slack!

           It does seem as if he is overreacting a bit.  Unless you know what happened in Chapter 3. 

           Mark 3:14-15:  ¹⁴And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message,¹⁵and to have authority to cast out demons. 

           He appointed twelve.  To proclaim the message.  And he gave them authority to cast out demons.  If you’ve been paying attention as we’ve been making our way through Mark, you will have noticed that casting out demons is an important skill in this gospel.  A big skill.

           Someone with the authority to cast out demons might could also do other cool miracles.  Like stilling a megas storm.

           Did the disciples try out all of their new authority on the megas storm?

           No, they did not.  They just woke up Jesus and accused him of heartlessness.

           Perhaps his irritation is starting to make sense.

           Maybe the greatest of the feats Jesus performs is not a miracle.  It’s more of a bit of pedagogy. 

           By the time he leaves them, Jesus has to teach the disciples the nature and extent of the power they have received from “on high.” 

           That task takes a while, doesn’t it?

           They are continually placing limits on their power and authority—except maybe James and John, who think that Jesus gave them power to abuse Samaritans.

           They sat there, in the boat, wringing their hands and worrying about the storm, instead of at least trying to use the authority that Jesus gave them to do something about the storm themselves.

           They were suffering, in other words, from a lack of faith. 

           Lack of faith in themselves.  They didn’t think they had the power and authority.

           Lack of faith in Jesus.  They clearly didn’t believe in the power and authority that he conferred on them when he called them to be disciples.

           Lack of faith in God.  From whom all blessings, and power, and authority, flow.

           But you know…fear does that.

           Fear and faith struggle to coexist.  The more fearful we become, the harder it is to believe that we have the power and authority to do something about the thing we fear. 

           And fear can preempt even rational thought.  All those people who said “crime” was their greatest fear were living at the end of a twenty year decline in violent crime.  But what they were telling the researchers was that their faith in the US as a safe place was low.

           Fear and faith struggle to coexist.  Even when fear is rational and understandable—in fact, especially when fear is rational and understandable—we need to find the power of our faith.  We need to find our faith in power—in God’s power to overcome evil, in Christ’s power to raise up disciples, and in the power of those disciples

           Jesus needed his disciples to believe in their power.  The power he gave them.  The power of God.

           Jesus needs us to believe in our own power.  To claim the power of God’s word.  The power of God’s word can overcome the megas storms in our lives.  The power of God’s word can be a megas joy in the lives of people living with uncertainty and fear. 

           Find the power.  Fight the fear.  Amen.