“A Great Storm, a Great Calm, A Great Fear”
Original sermon given June 23, 2024, written and delivered by Pastor Jeffrey Leininger at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Watch the sermon live.
“A Great Storm, a Great Calm, a Great Fear”
Mark 4.35-41
Mark 4.35-41
In the name of the Living God and the risen Christ. Amen.
O Christ, whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walkedst on the foaming deep
And calm amid its rage didst sleep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea. (LSB 717:1)
Known now as “the Navy Hymn”, this text by the 19th century English poet William Whiting was inspired by his own survival of a great storm upon the Mediterranean. Whiting grew up watching similar storms strike the English coast, safe from the distance of the shore, but was moved by God’s providence with him, amid the storm, to pen the now famous hymn we sang a few minutes ago.[1]
The words, the imagery, the scripture story have inspired so many, for so long that some have begun to improvise on the theme. For example, a version appropriate for Sub Mariners was written in 1965:
Lord God, our power evermore,
Whose arm doth reach the ocean floor…[2]
So, if you happen to live or work “under the sea” (like Sabastian, in The Little Mermaid; or perhaps on a Submarine) you’re covered too this morning.
We’re drawn to this great passage, because we know what it means to be in great storms (physical and spiritual). We know as Christians what it means to be calmed while within them, and we know the fear/ awe which comes after getting through them.
So what’s a preacher to do with such a great text… how not to mess this up. In fact, Mark’s account of Jesus calming the storm is literally great: the Greek word for “Great” comes up three times in this text. The word for great is “mega”—which makes a lot of sense. As in Megabyte on your computer, or Mega Millions you’re hoping to win in the lottery, or the Megabus which is the cheapest option to get home to St. Louis or Minneapolis. This morning’s gospel uses “mega” three times as a nice three-point description for the events on the Sea of Galilee one evening: there was a mega storm of wind; a mega calm; and a mega fear.
The “mega storm of wind” as St. Mark records it, is a phrase that also can be used to describe a hurricane. A furious squall arose that evening. The Sea of Galilee is historically prone to such windstorms. It sits in a basin surrounded by large hills. Cool air from the Mediterranean Sea is drawn down through the narrow passes and clashes with the hot, humid air lying over the lake.
This is what happened to this cluster of small boats crossing the lake that evening. The winds arose and the waves began to beat against the boat. Literally. The word used to describe the waves of that mega storm is the same word you would use to describe stoning someone, or whipping someone, or seizing someone. That storm seized, attacked, and beat that boat in such a way that these able, professional fishermen were rightly fearful for their lives.
Where is Jesus amid this furious storm which beats against this boat? Asleep in the stern, on a rower’s cushion. Amid this mega storm, the great teacher and wonderworker, the man who could drive out demons is seemingly not caring in the least bit… asleep.
“Hey, wake up, don’t you care that we drown?!” The disciples then go and raise him from his sleep. And in a way, I can’t really blame them, can you? It’s hard to give the answer of “faith” when the one who’s supposed to be in control is asleep at the wheel (or on the cushion). And isn’t it true that in the many “mega” storms in our lives, we tend to ask the same question to our Lord: “Why are you sleeping? Hello, God, are you there? Hey, you awake?” Has anyone else ever thought this?
That’s the first mega—the mega storm. Here’s the second: the mega calm. The mega calm that night (and in our lives) comes solely by the power of the word of the living Christ. Jesus stands up, rebukes the winds, and says to the waves, “Silence! Muzzle it!” It adds literary flavor to this moment to note that the same word Jesus uses to silence the wind and the waves, he already used earlier in Mark chapter one to silence the demon crying out. So here we see how Christ intervenes into the mega storms, the mega evil, the mega chaos, the mega confusion, the mega guilt, the mega pain, the mega loneliness, and all the “megas” with which Satan beats against us. And he quiets them by the power of his word alone: “Silence, Satan, be still.” At the word of Christ, the storms are exhausted and there is a great calm.
Mega storm, mega calm, and the third? Mega fear. But note where the great fear occurs in the account. In the midst of the hurricane, as the disciples feared for their lives? No. To be certain, they were afraid in the storm, desperate men of “little faith”, as Jesus described them. But the greatest fear did not occur in the midst of the great storm. It was in the midst of the great calm. When they began to wrestle with who this was in the boat with them—the Almighty Son of God—and when they saw demonstrated the power of this one’s word—even the winds and the waves obey him— then they “feared a mega fear”, the Bible literally says. This fear, mixed with wonder and awe, which leads to love, is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” And when the great word of Christ greatly calms the great storms in our lives, our response too is a great fear of God.
Who is this? Brothers and sisters, we know the answer even better than they did that night, because we have seen the greatest rebuke of evil amid the greatest storm of the cosmos bringing the greatest calm on earth. In his death and resurrection, Christ, the son of God, spoke the last word on Satan, silencing him once and for all. Christ entered the storm of sin and death and hell, was beat and whipped for our transgressions, and suffered the torments and torrents of hell for us. But in this place, we celebrate Christ’s final answer to all that Satan could throw at him. By his Resurrection we are given the greatest peace that could be given: death itself cannot defeat the almighty Son of God. And because we are baptized in His name, his victory is ours as well.
Our response is like theirs: a great fear of God, mixed with awe and wonder and praise and love. Who is this? The eternal Word, Christ himself, Lord of the winds and the waves.
How about we let the hymnwriter have the last word this morning:
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad praise from air and land and sea.” (LSB 717)
Come soon, Lord Jesus. Amen.
[1] https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000005; and https://hymnary.org/person/Whiting_W
[2] Hymnary.org