Sermon June 21, 2015 - Woodlawn Christian Church

This week I'm just going to post up the sermon as I have several things that I need to attend to, so here it is... enjoy.



Sermon from June 21, 2015 - Woodlawn Christian Church.

Today, I'm preaching the scripture provided by the Lectionary.  In case you're not aware of what the Lectionary is, it's basically a three-year program of prescribed scriptures to be preached over, along with the suggested supporting scriptures.  Thus far here at Woodlawn Christian I have some of the time used the scriptures suggested and sometimes I've deviated and used something else that I felt was more along the lines of what I felt called to preach over.

Today is of course Father's Day, and the assigned Lectionary passage has to do with a boat and a large body of water. So, I'm thinking maybe it's a subtle hint that everyone should take their father boating today. Anyone here taking their Dad out boating today? Which sounds like a wonderful idea until you realize that the scripture also has to do with a very severe storm. I don't know about you but being out on a boat in bad weather doesn't sound like much fun to me at all. So, I guess we'll just have to look for a different meaning in these passages.

In all seriousness now, let's go before our Lord in prayer. Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, Abba, Lord we come before you today and we ask for your blessings of Love, Grace and Forgiveness upon this place and these people. Father, open our minds to embrace your words of love. Abba, guide our hearts to realize your grace in this fallen world. Lord, let our lives and actions be reflections of your forgiveness to your lost and wandering people. Bless us this day with your presence in our lives. In the name of Jesus who is the Christ we pray. AMEN

Today the Scripture that we are going to be contemplating comes from the Gospel of Mark in the Fourth Chapter. As I have mentioned before, Mark is believed by most scholars to be the oldest of the four Gospels that we find in the Bible. There are however some scholars who suspect that at least some portions of the non-canonical 'Gospel of Peter' is actually older than the Gospel of Mark. It's a very interesting theory and one that I do personally think is worth considering. In the early Church, the Gospel of Peter actually appears to have been more popular (there are more ancient manuscript fragments of Peter than Mark) than the Gospel of Mark, though not as popular it seems as the other three canonical gospels.

But, enough history let's now look at our scripture for today.

Mark 4:35-41 NRSV

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he 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?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 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?”

Immediately prior to this piece of scripture in Mark we interestingly enough find the parable of the Sower which we discussed last week from the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the lamp under a basket, the story about scattering grain and it sprouting with us not knowing how it happens, and also the parable of the mustard seed which we again mentioned last week as found in the Gospel of Matthew.

Following this passage, which is the first of the miracles, we come to a series of 'miracles' that Jesus performs.

From the “New Interpreter's Bible” - Concerning Mark 4:35 – 6:6a “Miracles Around the Sea of Galilee” - Mark follows the parables with a series of miracle stories on and around the Sea of Galilee. These stories emphasize the extraordinary character of Jesus' powers as he subdues the raging sea, casts out a legion of demons, heals a woman who has been ill for twelve years, and raises a young girl who has just died. The miracles in this section show that Jesus has power over nature, demons, and death. Yet when Jesus comes to his hometown, the people's lack of faith makes it impossible for him to perform many miracles. Mark frames these dramatic miracles with references to the deficient faith of persons who the reader might presume to be believers: the disciples and people who had known Jesus all his life.

Hold these thoughts for just a bit and we'll come back to that in just a few minutes.

Concerning Jesus calming the storm, the chaos of the waves; Hebrew poetry sometimes described God as the victor over the forces of Chaos. This story of a deity -vs- chaos, was also a theme in ancient Near Eastern mythology in stories such as Baal -vs- Yam or Marduk -vs- Tiamat. So this would have been a familiar storyline to those Hebrews hearing this miracle story from Mark's Gospel. Also the imagery of Jesus asleep on a cushion in the stern of the boat, likely reminded and brought forth imagery of the story of Jonah asleep in the boat.

Jonah 1:5-6 Revised Standard Version (RSV) 

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 The captain came and said to him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.”

Of course, the story of Jesus calming the waves has a decidedly different ending than the story of Jonah. After all, Jonah ends up getting thrown overboard to appease God; and is immediately swallowed up by the fish. Jesus, of course wakes up and commands the wind and the seas to return to calm, and they do so...

But perhaps we should notice a few things about these two passages. In the story of Jonah, what is the first thing the crew aboard the ship did once they were in peril? They each cried out to their gods, and when they discovered Jonah asleep, what did they request that he do as well? They instructed him to call upon his god as well. Each is crying out for help from their deities.

So in the story concerning the apostles and Christ, what do we see the disciples doing when they feel threatened by the foul weather? They go to Jesus, rather than praying to God... they go to Jesus directly. The apostles often get a bum rap for their failure to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, but here we see that rather than calling out to God for intervention, they go to Jesus.

In those times it was common for sailors, (and I'm certain it still is today to be honest) to cry out to their gods for intervention in the face of bad weather. Now, we have to remember that a fair number of these disciples are fishermen. No doubt these men have sailed rough and stormy seas before, the fact that they are so very concerned speaks to how unruly the weather must have been. The scripture mentions that the boats are already being swamped. You'd think Jesus would have been getting a bit wet and that he would have awoken all on his own. So I suspect we can gather from this that Jesus was a very sound sleeper......

The apostles come to Jesus and rather than actually asking for deliverance or protection from the storm they seem to accuse him, well, no actually they do accuse him. They are perplexed and close to being angry that Jesus doesn't seem concerned that they are in such serious peril. “do you not care that we are perishing?” I would suspect that I would see more than a few hands raised, if I asked for a show of hands of how many of us have in the past cried out to God at least in our minds “WHY God”; or even maybe you've said something very near to “do you not care that we are perishing?”. I have a friend that is a minister and he freely admits that he has many times literally cried out to God in tones of accusation and anger. Like I said, I think that even the most devote among us has a time or two questioned God about the storms we face.

I suspect that in the last few days more than just a few Christians have been crying out “WHY GOD”, concerning the shooting in Charleston, SC. Why, why, why.... Nine devote Christians are dead as a result of a senseless and horrifyingly evil act by a single individual.

A few weeks back we talked about “Silver Linings”, and in that sermon I mentioned the shooting that took place in the Amish country school. I still see that incident as being the truest demonstration of Christ-like love and grace that I have ever witnessed. But, this SC shooting comes very close.

Family members were allowed to address that suspect the other day during the arraignment proceedings. I will quote one of these family members:

The families are determined not to respond in kind, said Alana Simmons, who lost her grandfather, the Rev. Daniel Simmons.

“Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof — everyone’s plea for your soul is proof they lived in love and their legacies will live in love, so hate won’t win,” she said. “And I just want to thank the court for making sure that hate doesn’t win.”

The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior once said;

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Dr. King also said;

Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.

And finally he said;

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

It certainly appears that this young man responsible for the shooting allowed hate to corrode and corrupt his very being. This hate rooted in his heart and an incredibly horrifyingly evil act was the result. Even after the good people of this church opened up their arms and welcomed him into a Bible Study, he repaid their love with destruction. Though he has stated that he almost didn't carry out his plot, because they had all been so nice and kind to him.

As Dr. King pointed out so very poetically so many years ago... hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.

I am so very proud of, and humbled by these families in South Carolina, who have truly lived up to their professed faith in our Almighty God. Love so abundant, that they have immediately and freely offered Grace and Love to this fallen young man. I do pray that he comes to know Christ at some point in his hopefully long incarceration. I personally don't believe in capital punishment, and I think not only Christ's example but the quotes that I have just offered up by Dr. King do a better job of explaining my rational here than I can.

Killing outside of an attempt to protect yourself or your loved ones from immediate and imminent danger is wrong in my belief system. In no small part, because it prevents God from fully raising a Phoenix from the ashes of destruction that we humans have perpetuated.

It is not my personal theological belief that God ever causes bad things to happen to his children. He loves us and only wants the very best for us. But free will, for all the beauty that it allows in the world also opens the door for that evil that lurks in all of us to creep into our lives. Though God does not cause these evil acts, He can and so often does use them to display His love and ability to heal and care for His people. If we are in prayer and allow God, He can ultimately turn the efforts of sin and evil around to further His Kingdom.

Certainly, these wonderful Christians in Charleston have allowed this to begin. Out of the evil acts of one man, the love of God and the love of His people is demonstrated to the world. Let us all pray that hearts will be moved and lives changed, and saved through this tremendous witness that they are so faithfully displaying to the world. God Bless them.........

As believers in the undying Love of Christ, the unfailing grace of God, and the nurturing guidance of the Spirit, we all must realize that hate will never prevail. Ultimately, in our God's world Love will win.... Love always Wins. Let us join with these families in South Carolina, not only in prayer, but in being God's Love and Grace to this world...

Let us pray;

Heavenly Father, we are so often struck dumb by the senseless violence that we see carried out by our fellow human beings. This violence from one human to another is so counter to Your wishes for your Creation. Lord, guide us and direct us in being a force of good for You to counter this evil in the hearts of man.

Let our hearts and minds be capable of the boundless Love and Grace that is your being. This Love, Grace and Forgiveness that you are displaying through these wonderful souls in South Carolina.

Lord, let their witness not fall on deaf ears and hardened hearts, rather let this be a new beginning of consideration of one to another. Let us not see each other as separate human beings, but as another one of Your children, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, nor any other factor that our human frailty seeks to divide us by.

Let us be YOUR Love to this fallen and desperate world.

In Your almighty and all Gracious name we pray.... AMEN

And remember.... "Be a blessing to someone TODAY!"

God Bless You all!
Roy

Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa
WmRoy Karlen photo