June 21, 2009
Father’s Day
Bid Daddy: Big Solutions for a Big Problems
Year B
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:34-43
Story of brave boy
Norman Ollestad grew up with a father
whom most of us would describe as unconventional at best,
maybe crazy at the worst.
Norman’s dad had involved him, as a little child,
in what we would now call “extreme sports.”
He surfed before he could walk,
and learned to downhill ski on slopes with names like “Avalanche.”
In 1979, Norman, who was 11 years old,
was a passenger in a private plane,
traveling with his father and his father’s girlfriend.
The pilot, unused to flying in the San Gabriel mountains,
and not rated for instrument flight,
crashed the plane into the side of a mountain.
Norman’s father and the pilot died instantly.
Sandra had a dislocated shoulder and was in extreme shock.
Norman coaxed Sandra into attempting to walk down the icy slope with him.
Sandra didn’t make it, but Norman did.
With only his wits and courage to hold on to,
Norman faced what may have been the biggest challenge of his life.
If he stayed on the mountain, he reasoned, he would die.
So he began to make his way down.
After hours spent inching down the slope,
around frozen waterfalls,
using toeholds in the rock face,
skirting icy chutes that would send him sliding to his death,
Norman made it down off the mountain, alone.
Norman’s memoir of his father is called Crazy for the Storm:
He says: “My father had cultivated this idea of trusting my instincts,
going through the exercise of being afraid,
fighting through the fear,
and then realizing that it worked –
you were better off than you thought.
It gave me a lot of self-confidence…
it wasn’t my first time facing fear and [a] seemingly indomitable situation.”
What troubles me about the story of Norman Ollestad, Jr.
is not that he was able to overcome his situation
because his father had repeatedly put him in challenging situations.
That is uplifting.
What troubles me is that he was there alone in the mountains
because of his dad’s failure to research or plan,
and because of his dad’s failure to learn
that the pilot was inexperienced and not instrument rated.
Norman Ollestad had to climb down off that mountain alone
because his father didn’t try to protect him in the first place.
A loving father doesn’t keep every challenge from a child,
but a loving father also does not put his children in danger.
I saw this story I think on Good Morning America. And was fascinated as the now adult held on to the lessons that his father taught him. His father was not perfect, their relationship was not perfect. And yet he used his story to shape his relationship with his son. He did not need to be so daring, but he needed to be present with his son to show him the lessons that he needed to learn, so that he did not have to learn them alone.
Story of Bill Hybels
Bill Hybels is the pastor of Willow Creek. He too fondly remembers the challenges of his dad. And credits who he is today to who his dad was. Even today, one of Rev. Hybels favorite pastimes is to go sailing. When he was a child, he had a sailboat and he would go out on the lake, his dad would always tell him to be careful and to never go out alone. Whenever he went out on the lake with a teenage friend, the lake was very rocky and scary. He would be nervous and glad to get back dry land. But when he went out with his dad, there was always a calm assurance that everything would be okay. His dad had survived, and could handle anything that would happen to him.
Lake Michigan is a very big lake. Fun to visit the beach on a calm day, but wouldn’t want to be in a sailboat in a storm. Especially if I could not see dry land.
We have the Great Lakes, Disciples had the see of Galliee. More like Lake Geneva at Wesley woods. But susceptible to great storms.
Disciples had Jesus with them
Jesus had encouraged the disciples to go out on the lake. Who knows, maybe it started out as a pretty mild day. Several boats started out on the lake. But soon there was a bad storm and they were no where near the shore.
Jesus was asleep and apparently unconcerned when all of this came to be. And even though the small boat tossed to and fro – he did not wake up. The poor disciples must have been fighting for their lives, and Jesus did nothing. They had to wake him up and let him know how bad things were.
I don’t know about you, but there are lot of times in my life where I feel that Jesus would be reacting to my problems, and I feel that I have to wake Jesus up and remind him of how bad things really are. And I have to remind Jesus that anytime he wants to step in and make things better that he certainly can do that.
Present with us – but not in our worry
The thing is, just like Jesus was there with the disciples. It was his idea that they take this trip in the first place. He was there all along. Which proves that Jesus is always with us wherever we are and whatever we do. Jesus is with us in our struggles, our suffering, our pain, our difficulties, our unanswered questions. But one place Jesus does not go with us is in our worrying. When has worrying about a problem ever given us any solutions. When had complaining about how bad things are made it any better. It didn’t help the disciples on the night of the storm and it doesn’t help us either. Fretting over the storm did not make it go away – so maybe there was a reason Jesus was able to sleep.
Offer words of wisdom – When he wakes up – all he says is Peace be still. Was he talking to the storm or was he talking to the disciples?
Story of struggling 2 year old - A father looked out the window at his 3 year old son playing in his sandbox. Playing for a while – but there was a huge rock in the middle of the sandbox, and the little boy wanted to get it out. He tugged and he pulled and exerted all of his energy, and the rock wouldn’t bulge. After more tugging, the boy sat down on the edge of the sandbox exhausted and frustrated. The father came out to talk with him, you tried everything you could the father said. You look pretty tired, did you use all of your energy to do all that you could. Frustrated –the boy confessed yes I did all that I could. I tried as hard as could to life that rock, and nothing seemed to work. Once again, the father asked if he had done all that he could. Yes the boy replied. Did you come and ask me for help?
Don’t tell God your problems, tell your problems about God.
A word of wisdom that I heard this week. Don’t waste your time telling God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big your God is. When we look at the world, when we look at our lives, even when we look at our church- we all know that we have some big problems. What makes them so big, is that we look at them and see that they are bigger then our solutions. Problems are not a bad thing as long as we have the means to deal with them. It is when we are overwhelmed, when we feel that there is nothing that we can do, when we feel that the problem is going to get the best of us – that it becomes a big problem. And we sit at the edge of the sandbox, and put our heads in our hands and declare that there is nothing that we can do, and we start to do nothing. We stop responding - That the problem becomes big.
Word of wisdom for us – we get caught up in our problems start to think there is no solution, no one cares. When we stop responding. The ultimate atheism – is that God does not care about me. Our first response Don’t you care?
The next step to not responding to the problem is to assume that God does not care about us or about the world. Obviously if there was something that God could do, it would have been done. Or like the disciples, we start to assume that we are not important enough for God to care. We stop praying to God, we stop expecting God to act in our lives. That is the true definition of an atheist. Not someone who doesn’t believe in God. But someone who believes that it does not matter whether there is a God or not – because it does not change the situation. When in reality – God is always there, God is always present, God always cares. But sometimes we have to wake God up. We have to wake God up within our own souls – to know God is with us, but God does not join us in worrying about the big problems of the world. Worrying does not change a thing. But faith does.
Question back to you – where is your faith
The disciples asked Jesus don’t you care about us. Jesus asked the disciples why are you afraid? Have you still no faith? What about you? Where is your faith? Stuck in big problems, or imbedded in an even bigger God?
Questions in response – who is this that even the wind and the elements obey? In the end, the disciples saw the power of God at work. The storm ended, and they asked who is this that even the wind and the rain obey? A pretty big God.
A very big God – able to care and handle it all. Look for the signs and look for the words of Peace. When Jesus says, Peace be still was he talking to the storm, or to the hearts of the disciples? When Jesus says those words of wisdom to us, is he talking to our big problems, or our big faith, or both? Listen to those words of wisdom in your life this week. Let us Pray….
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