Demons in the Church

January 31, 2021 Mark 1:21-28 Demons in the Church 4th Sunday of Epiphany Year B Opening Song Welcome Opening Prayer Open our hearts and spirits this day to hear the great good news of your power and presence with all your people. Fill our hearts with rejoicing as the words are proclaimed in song and story. Enliven us and remind us that you are with us, through the pillar of fire, through the magnificent words of the prophets, through the ministry and love of Jesus Christ. AMEN Stewardship Moment Offertory Prayer God of power and wisdom, we give you our eternal thanks for the gift of your Son, who came not only to save but to teach us about your kingdom and how we might live, readying ourselves for that kingdom. He taught with authority, and if we listen, we will live a life of generosity, mercy, and compassion. Bless what we give this day and help us be faithful in the use of all our resources, that we might live like those anticipating your kingdom. In Christ, we pray. Amen. (Mark 1:21-28) Scripture Mark 1:21-28 21 Jesus and his followers went into Capernaum. Immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and started teaching. 22 The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts. 23 Suddenly, there in the synagogue, a person with an evil spirit screamed, 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God.” 25 “Silence!” Jesus said, speaking harshly to the demon. “Come out of him!” 26 The unclean spirit shook him and screamed, then it came out. 27 Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, “What’s this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!” 28 Right away the news about him spread throughout the entire region of Galilee. Sermon : Demons in the church A friend of mine took on the task of organizing her father’s album collection yesterday. She would post her best find on Facebook. One of the albums that she posted was of the 70’s comedian Flip Wilson. Flip Wilson had a famous routine where he would always say the devil made him do it. Of course we would laugh at the routine because we don’t believe in demons controlling our behavior anymore. But in Jesus’ day it was common to blame your bad behavior on demons. It was believed that they were everywhere, and they affected all aspects of life. There was even a book called the Testament of Solomon, which outlined the behavior of demons, named them and told you how to get rid of them. I always enjoy preaching on the book of Mark. Mark is the only gospel writer who is not afraid to openly talk about demons. It seems the New Testament was unique in the way it talked about demons. Most literature of the day talked of a demon attacking a person. Whereas in the gospels, when Jesus speaks of demons- he speaks of them possessing the person. In the scripture story for today – Jesus calmly recognizes the demon. He does not attack of get mad – he just quietly asks for the demon to come out. When it comes out, the man seems to go back to normal. As I say, life has changed, now we don’t believe in demons possessing people. We have a little more control over life now. But have you noticed that in spite of our unbelief, evil still persist in the world? Demons in Our Modern World I was just as naive as I was sincere when I wrote a letter to a missionary in Papua, New Guinea. I was a 19-year-old college student trying to make sense out of the Bible. I was reading the gospels with an ardent desire to believe what I was reading but I kept getting hung up on these stories about demon exorcisms. If the gospels were true then there were real demons in the world and yet I didn’t see anyone but quacks and nut cases doing demon exorcisms on TV. Someone in my college campus ministry suggested to me that we no longer saw demons in the civilized world but that missionaries in remote parts of the world did. I knew the name of a missionary in the terribly primitive region of Papua, New Guinea so I wrote to him. I wanted him to validate the Biblical stories about demons by telling me that he had heard them speak, that he had witnesses an exorcism. I hope he could tell me some really hair-raising stories. It took him several weeks to answer my letter and it took me a few years to understand his response. He avoided my request for a description of face-to-face encounters with the demonic. He didn’t say anything about hearing them speak or of exorcisms. He did, however, say that there were demons in Papua, New Guinea and that he was shocked that I had not seen anywhere I lived in Memphis, Tennessee. "Do you not see the demons at work in pornography, prostitution, in racial hatred and in poverty?" he asked me. At first it seemed to me that he just didn’t understand my question...later it became obvious to me that I had not understood his answer. Racism, poverty and the whole abuse of women in the sex industry were certainly obviously present in the city where I lived and I accepted that these things were evil but they were everyday things.... things that were always there and always would be there. I wanted to hear about something more biblical...about a demon speaking to a missionary or some vision of demon possession.... he just wanted to write to me about everyday stuff. Roger Ray, Mr. Demon in His Pew I am reminded of a quote that I read in morning devotions this week – Evil does not have the power to do bad on its own, it needs the hands and feet of people to do damage. Evil needs to posses our feelings, our thoughts, our actions to do its work. Demons inside of us Kathleen Norris – a spiritual writer says “when I think of demons that I need to exorcise, I have to look inward to my heart and soul. The demon inside of her was her anger. Her husband pointed out that she could be very mean at times. She realized that her anger was destroying her marriage. First she needed to recognize it, then acknowledge the damage it was doing and make a commitment to change. Another friend – a pastor. Talked about getting a divorce, and experiencing all sorts of negative emotions – anger, shame, jealousy, and pain. He didn’t have to strength to preach, but he needed to be in the church. He needed to be in the presence of God, in the presence of the Word, the worship, in the presence of Jesus. Most of us think of ourselves as good Christian people, and yet all of us have those sources of anxiety, anger, fear, and other negative emotions. Daniel Amen, an expert on brain health encourages us to get to know and name the dragons inside of us that affect our behavior. I am absolutely fascinated by this story in Mark. This the beginning of Jesus ministry. What better place to get encouragement for your calling but the synagogue. As soon as Jesus gets up to teach, a demon possessed man starts to speak. The synogue, like the church is a sacred place. What a strange place for a demon to appear. That is why we ring the church bells before church, not only to call the people to come into the church for worship, but also to call the evil spirits out and to tell them to stay away. (evil spirits don’t like loud noises). It was thought that evil spirits like to hang out in dark lonely places – so why would one be bold enough to come to church? Well when we bring our hopes, praise, and joy to church, we also bring our fears, our anger, our biases, our unresolved feelings with us. The church is the place of open doors, open minds, open hearts. The church is the place we come looking for acceptance and love. Jesus wants the demons to come to church – that is the place were they can encounter the healing word from God. At it’s best, the local church functions as an arena in which conflict and hurts among participants who choose to stay can open up possibilities for spiritual progress. Where else will people still accept me after I stand up in a church meeting and harshly criticize something? Ah that’s just Dave, they say. They know me, I learn about the Christian virtues of acceptance and graciousness even as I am not accepting and gracious. By not taking my toys and playing elsewhere – this is finding a church that connects with my spiritual journey – I move forward in my spiritual journey. I give up control. I forfeit my options, in an environment of choices. Dadiv Goetz, Suburban Spirituality, Christianity Today, July 2003, pp34-35. When we come to church we experience God in spite of ourselves. A pastor speaks of entering a program to become a spiritual director. He got overwhelmed and had to drop out of the program, but he got insight into his own demons and was able to experience true transformation. Mark is not afraid to speak of demons because he was anxious to help us to understand the healing power of Jesus’ teaching. As Mark tells of the transforming power of Jesus, each time he calls Jesus the teacher. The teacher heals, the teacher calms to storm, the teacher provides. It is interesting, in this story the leaders in church on that day, don’t seem to be impressed with the demon in church and Jesus calling the demon out. They are flabbergasted at Jesus’ teachings. Who gave the authority to speak like that they ask. You speak as if you know what you are talking about – who gave you authority to do that? This is a new teaching – even the demons listen to you and obey. All Jesus did was show the man love and compassion. He teaches with love and compassion. It was his love and compassion that had the power to transform the situation. There are several stories in the gospels about Jesus removing demons from people. In each story there is always more than one. The collective word for demons is mazzikin, which means one Mazzikin means one that does harm. In this story the demons ask – have you come here to destroy us. Yes. What things in your life that harm us? What things in community harm us? What things in the church that are harming us and keeping us from moving forward? Because it looks like after the demon left the church, everything returned back to normal and they just went on with their service. The Church Dare Not Have an Influence In his penetrating book The First Circle, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the famous Russian author who defected to America, makes an interesting observation about how the Russian authorities handle the church. He writes: "No one stops them from ringing their bells; they can break communion bread anyway they please. They can have their processions with the cross. But they will in no way allow them to have any connection with social or civic affairs." The church was allowed to go through the motions; it could have a presence, but it dare not have an influence. What bothered the scribes was not that Jesus prayed and preached. It was the fact that his prayers and his sermons were moving the people to action. I wonder if the church still has that concept of authority. So often our problem is not that we do not have authority, it is that we do not use the authority that we have. It is time that we quit defining the problems of the world and start applying the power of the church to the problems. We have been given authority by God, through Jesus Christ, to heal, to proclaim, to change, to bring redemption, and to expel. We are under an imperative from God and we need not fear either principalities or death for Christ has been given all authority over heaven and earth. Now we need to start applying that authority. Now the ball is in our courts. For if the claims of Jesus' authority are true, then that will require a response from you and me. In Shakespeare play King Lear, the Earl of Kent offers his services to the King. He wants, he says, to "serve him truly that will put me in trust, to love him that is honest; to converse with him who is wise, to fear judgment." Let us pray….. Prayer What have we done, Lord? We want to praise you, so we splash your words on screens on a wall, with brightly colored and powerful images. We shout your praises, with hands held on high. We teach and preach your word. But we don’t listen carefully for you. We are so busy trying to shout above the noise of the day, that we don’t take time to really listen and know you. The voices of the prophets spoke to people long ago who were too busy and anxious to hear. Their words streamed in the winds of time and have come to us. We need to pay attention to your message offered through them. You are our God, the God of all creation, the God of power and love, whose mercy is offered to us. In Jesus’ time, he proclaimed the good news through words and actions, reaching out to those who were troubled, alienated, cast aside. He offered healing and hope to those others turned away. Help us to learn that you alone can heal us and fix those areas in our lives that are wounded and twisted. Help us to understand that you alone can offer to us a new way of life through Jesus Christ. Remind us again that as we have spoken the names of people and situations that concern us, praying for your healing touch, that the same touch is offered to us in Jesus’ name. Lord, we need to let go of our control issues and place our trust wholly in you. Now and forever. AMEN. Lord’s Prayer Song for Reflection: Help us Accept Each Other UMH 560 Announcements Benediction Jesus comes to us, offering healing and hope, speaking and acting with authority. Listen to him. Go into this world, confident in God’s love and healing power. Go in peace and may God’s love and peace always be with you. AMEN. Children’s Time Object: a rolled up newspaper (Have someone in the congregation throw a rolled up newspaper to you as you begin to talk.) Good morning, boys and girls. Let's see what's in the news today. (Pretend to read the front page. Read in the style of a newscaster.) Here's what the headline says: Jesus Quiets Person In Church! Jesus and his friends were in the city of Capernaum and they went to church. While Jesus was teaching a class at the church a sick person came up to him and screamed in pain. Jesus calmly told the person to be quiet. The person instantly was quiet and the people watching were amazed at what they saw. (Show them the front of the newspaper.) Now would we really find this kind of news in our paper? (Let them respond.) No, of course we wouldn't. But our lesson today tells us that "the news of Jesus spread quickly everywhere in the province of Galilee." Galilee was one of the names of the places where Jesus was. How do you think the news spread about Jesus? (Let them respond.) They didn't have radio and television or magazines like we do. It probably spread fast just by people talking to each other. They went to the market place every day and they talked about Jesus there. They talked about Jesus when they gathered to eat. They walked with different people and talked to them when they went from place to place. But it's still pretty amazing at how fast the news spread. If Jesus had lived today, how would the people have spread the news? (Let them respond.) People would send reporters to interview the person who became quiet when Jesus spoke. The reporters would have interviewed everyone who was around what happened. They probably would have interviewed Jesus or at least one of Jesus' close friends. Then all those reports would be in the newspapers, on the radio and the television news programs. With all the computers it would be around the world in minutes. But even though our news spreads much faster than it did in Jesus' day, we still need to tell others about Jesus with our mouths just like the people did in Jesus' day. That is still a good way to tell people about Jesus - one person to another person. CSS Publishing Co., , by CSS Additional Illustrations Unsanctified - Mark 1:21-28 Ever have one of those days when you just feel miserable, awful, ornery, grouchy? Maybe something has happened to make you feel like you have the grumpies. Or maybe nothing in particular happened at all. We call that “getting up on the wrong side of the bed.” Some days, our spirits sag, and some days, our spirits soar. Even the steadiest, most stable and secure people have days when they just feel “off.” But there is a difference between feeling down in the dumps or even grouchy and feeling nasty, vicious, hateful, or revengeful. Unfortunately, some people have an ongoing case of the “nasties,” and nothing and no-one seems to make them happy. These are people who seem to harbor no empathy, feel no compassion, act upon compulsion, and house a frighteningly aggressive and sometimes even murderous spirit. Often, these are people, who have turned away from God. Cause let’s face it. When you are feeling close to God, you just don’t have the nasties! God is the ultimate “anti-nasty” pill. Someone with a “nasty” spirit may just be someone, whose spirit has been somehow corrupted, overtaken by anger, or destroyed by abuse. Or in cases we know exist, it may be somehow who appears to be downright soul-empty. Whatever the reason, whether we call that person disturbed, angry, or evil, we know those people exist. They exist in our culture. And they can even exist in our churches.... The Authority of Jesus The church in the world is a lot like the story that E. Stanley Jones tells of the missionary in the jungle. He got lost with nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He finally found a small village and asked one of the natives if he could lead him out of the jungle. The native said he could. "All right," the missionary said, "Show me the way." They walked for hours through dense brush hacking their way through unmarked jungle. The missionary began to worry and said, "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?" The native said. "Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path." Our path out of the jungle of this world is God in Christ. We may have some Rabbis, Masters, Father's, Teachers, and Reverends but we are all like the missionary. We rely not upon men but Christ who is our path. Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com Help in Facing Our Fears Leslie Weatherhead once told a parable of a little boy who fled from a witch who had turned herself into a cat. As the boy ran, he kept glancing fearfully over his shoulder. The first time he looked back, the cat was the size of a calf. The next time he looked, it had grown to the dimensions of an elephant. Then the boy fell, and was unable to go farther. Resolutely he got up and faced the pursuing horror. It stopped. So he took a step toward it. It backed away. As he continued to advance toward it, it began to shrink in size as it retreated from him. Finally it changed into a mouse and ran under the door of the witch's cottage to be seen no more. The moral is clear: it pays to face up to your fears. But sometimes that is hard to do. That is when we need to turn to Christ. He can help us stand up to our fears and conquer them. He can cast out demons. Adapted from Leslie Weatherhead. A New Kind of Authority In Mark's gospel Jesus himself is the content of the teaching. The authority is not in particular speeches, but in this particular life. Jesus lived as one who had authority, an authority radically different from that of tradition. Different from what had been expected. To understand this authority we must not only listen, we must also look. Barbara Lundblad, Lutheran Speaker: The Protestant Hour A Rabbi Talks with Jesus Jacob Neusner is one of the world’s preeminent scholars on first-century Judaism. He has written more than 500 books on the subject. And one of them is a little book entitled, A Rabbi Talks with Jesus. Jacob Neusner calls this book “an inter-millennial interfaith exchange.” In it he engages the Jesus he finds in the Gospels in a conversation about matters of Jewish faith and practice. And while there is much about Jesus that he says that he respects and admires, he says that the point of his personal separation from Jesus would come at the point of Jesus’ separation from tradition. He understands that Jesus spoke “on his own say-so, and not out of the teachings of the Torah.” He understands that Jesus saw himself “as Moses, or as more than Moses”. He understands that Jesus taught as one having authority, and not as one deriving His authority from another. And for Jacob Neusner that crosses a critical line. It’s blasphemous. When Jesus speaks on His own authority He is putting Himself on the level with God. Unknown Jesus Christ Marked Down 50% Chuck Swindoll tells about a commercial product put out by one of the largest department stores in our nation. It proved to be disastrously unsuccessful. It was a doll in the form of the baby Jesus. It was advertised as being unbreakable, washable and cuddly. It was packaged in straw with a satin ribbon and plastic surroundings, and appropriate biblical texts added here and there to make the scene complete. It did not sell. The manager of one of the stores in the department chain panicked. He carried out a last ditch promotion to get rid of those dolls. He brandished a huge sign outside his store that read: “JESUS CHRIST – MARKED DOWN 50% - GET HIM WHILE YOU CAN.” And that is the constant danger – that we will remake Christ into a meek, harmless figure – discounted 50% to attract the masses. Brent Porterfield, www.Sermons.com How are we to understand this? Apparently, the Gospels and New Testament are unique in Jewish literature in the way they talk about spirits not as attacking people from time to time, causing odd or evil things, but as possessing people – coming to dwell within them, to reside in the heart, and over time, to give a certain shape and direction to a person’s life, become part and parcel of who they are, how they act, and how they are known by others in the world. Become their persona – their image or reputation, you might say. Does it make sense to say that in our lives we all accumulate a particular cluster of personal habits, practices, defences, priorities, values, assumptions and expectations of life and of others and even of God, that become our persona, our spirit? A spirit that at best is aligned with the way God desires we live. But that almost always, at some point also gets in the way and starts restricting, limiting, opposing and undermining our freedom to live in the way God intends, and in the way that God’s kingdom, if we are to be part of its coming, calls us to live.

In the Midst of the Storm

June 24, 2018 Mark 4:35-41 Pentecost 5 In the Midst of the Storm Children’s Sermon……… But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?" (v. 38) Object: A cushion or pillow. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever gone fishing? (Let them answer.) Fishing is really fun if you catch some fish, but if you have to just sit and do nothing but wait for the fish to nibble on your line every once in a while, it can be pretty boring. Have you ever been fishing in a boat? (Let them answer.) That seems like a lot more fun, doesn't it? Even if you can't catch fish, you can always have a nice ride while you sit in the warm sunshine, and let your hands skim through the cool water. The disciples and Jesus used to take a lot of boat rides. They didn't have cars or buses, so it was one of the ways that they chose to get from place to place. They often rode in a boat from one side of a lake to the other. This was also a good place for Jesus to take a nap, since he had little time for sleeping when he was around people. They wanted him to heal their sick or teach them about the ways of God. Once in a while, Jesus would tell the disciples that he wanted to go somewhere else and that they should get a boat, so that they could cross over to the other side of the lake. It was a day like this, that Jesus was sleeping on a cushion at the front of the boat, when a terrible wind storm came up and made great waves. Riding in a boat, with his head upon the cushion, Jesus was sleeping after some very busy days. But the disciples were not asleep. They saw the huge waves and became very much afraid that the boat would turn over in the storm and they would all drown. They knew how tired Jesus was and they hoped that he would wake up on his own, when he felt the boat toss and turn in the storm. But Jesus was so tired and completely unafraid that he never moved. He remained very quiet with his head upon the cushion. Finally, one of the disciples became so afraid that he screamed at Jesus to wake up and do something about the storm before they all drowned. Jesus did wake up, and he looked at the waves which were pounding at the boat and then, with a very quiet voice, he told the waves to calm down. The waves were no more. The lake was calm and the disciples were almost more afraid of his power than they were of the storm, "Just think," they said, "he speaks and even the seas listen to him and obey him." No one had ever seen such power before. Maybe you have a cushion that you sleep on sometimes. The next time you sleep on it, you can think about the day that Jesus spoke to the sea, and the waves calmed down and became quiet. Will you do that? Good. Amen. Mark 4:35-41 Common English Bible (CEB) Jesus stops a storm 35 Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” 36 They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along. 37 Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?” 39 He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. 40 Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?” 41 Overcome with awe, they said to each other, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible I checked weather forecast, it has been a pretty stormy week, but it looks like we will get a little break from the rain until at least Tuesday. Have you noticed that life seems to be full of storms. I have heard it said that in life, either, we have just gotten over a storm, we are in the midst of the storm, or we are about to go into a storm. We don’t ask for trouble in life, it just seems to have a way of finding us. Thrown into the Fire I read a story about an Ohio gentleman whose oil well caught fire, and he put out an all-points' bulletin for help, to make sure that anybody and everybody would come and help him. He offered a $30,000 reward to whoever could put out that fire. With all the large firehouses from cities like Newell, Chester, Wellsville, Dillonvale sent help. They sent their best companies accompanied by the most modern fire- fighting equipment available, but not one of the trucks could get within 200 yards of the blaze because the heat was just too intense and the fire was too big. Finally, the Calcutta Township Volunteer Fire Department appeared on the scene. Amazingly they had only one rickety truck equipped with a single ladder; only two buckets of water, three buckets of sand, and a few blankets. It didn't even come with a hose. When that old truck reached the point where all those other fire companies had stopped, the driver didn't even hesitate. He just kept barreling ahead until he and his crew were right in the thick of that blaze. They jumped out of that truck, threw the two buckets of water and three buckets of sand on that fire and then beat the fire out with those blankets. That oil man was so impressed by that unbelievable display of courage, he gave the driver $30,000 in cash on the spot and said, "What are you and your men going to do with all of that money?" The driver, shaking like a leaf, said, "The first thing we're going to do is to get those stupid brakes on that truck fixed." Sometimes we are thrown into the fire through no fault of our own. James Merritt, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Trouble has a way of finding us. Have you noticed that when trouble comes, no matter how calm and faithful we may be otherwise, no matter how much we know about Jesus and faith, it all seems to go out the window. We forget all that Jesus taught us about life. For instance take the disciples as an example. They were all fishermen, they were used to being on the water, summer storms were not something new to them. But this time as they are on the sea and a storm comes up, Jesus is in the boat with them asleep. And this time they are afraid and worried about what would happen. This story is very important for us to remember, it has a lot of symbolism. If you go back all the way to the story of creation, in the Hebrew bible, you have to remember that Jews are naturally afraid of water. The sea is the place where the enemy of God lives and rules. In the creation story, God had to defeat the sea monster chaos in order to create order. For the Hebrew people, being in the middle of the sea in the midst of a storm was a very dangerous place to be. If a storm were to come up, the only person with the power to save you was God, only God could calm the sea. Mark tells this story to help us to understand that Jesus holds the power of God. It is interesting that when this summer storm comes up, these lifelong fishermen get scared and they think of Jesus to come and save them. Jesus is not a fisherman, he is a carpenter. He is an honored guest on the boat, and since he is not working, he is sleeping. When they wake Jesus, he is able to calm the sea. Who is this person who has the power to tell the sea to be quiet and it listens? I have heard it said that this story was about the calming of the disciples, when they were able to calm down, they were able to deal with the situation. They say that sometimes God can calm the storm and sometimes God calms the frightened child in the midst of the storm. But this is not just about the disciples calming down, or about us learning to dance in the rain. If you look at the scripture, when Jesus speaks, He does not speak to the disciples to tell them to calm down, he speaks to the storm and tells it to calm down. He has the power to control the environment and make things better. As a matter of fact, his power over the storm seems to lie in his words. It is his words that change the whole situation. That power comes directly from God. Little Faith in a Great God There was a woman in a community who was well known for her simple faith and great calm in the midst of many trials. Another woman who had never met her but had heard of her came to visit one day. "I must find out the secret of her calm, happy life," she thought to herself. As she met her she said:" So you are the woman with the great faith I've heard so much about." "No," came the reply. "I am not the woman with the great faith, but I am the woman with the little faith in the great God." Can you say the same? Donald L. Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, San Jose: Resource, p. 89 Having faith is not in having the answers, most of the time faith is in being able to ask the right questions. Our answers don’t satisfy everyone, but we all have the same questions. If we go back to the story – when the disciples are afraid and talk to Jesus – they ask a question. Do you want to watch us die? Jesus comes back with a question of his own – why were you afraid? Where is your faith? The bible is a series of questions to each of us about our faith. Look just at the new testament and its questions. Listen for the Questions The Scriptures include a significant number of life-and-death questions about meaning, purpose and value in life. Consider some of the questions posed by Scripture: What will it profit us if we gain the whole world but forfeit our life? (Matthew 16:26) Who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15) What are you looking for? (John 1:38) Who is my neighbor? (Like 10:29) What must I do to inherit eternal life? (Mark 10:17) Who can separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:35) Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? (Mark 10:38) Which commandment is the first of all? (Mark 12:28) Where can I go from your Spirit? (Psalm 139:7). What is this new teaching, with authority? (Mark 1:27) Who is this about whom I hear such things? (Luke 9:9) What is truth? (John 18:38) And this morning’s Gospel lesson ends with the question, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41). Who is this Jesus, the one who speaks with a new level of authority, the one who is able to bring calm into the storms of life, the one who comes among us as prince of peace, suffering servant, fount of compassion and grace? Joel D. Kline, Listen for the Questions If life is like a storm, and faith is like a question, and Jesus is the one who calms the sea, then the church is meant to be the boat. This is a postmodern church, but in a lot of churches, if you look up, you will see a series of beams, that is intentional. It represents the bottom of the ship. The sanctuary is the nave, the body of the boat. Tied to the Shore Often, the alternative to risking the dangerous, stormy crossing, is to stay tied up on the shore. Unfortunately, that is the picture of many churches -- a peaceful, restful club house on the shore rather than a boat following Jesus' command to take the fearful risk to cross the lake. We are often more willing to be safe than to answer Jesus' call to go to the other side. A quote that is in my notes from many years ago ties in with this image: "The church is 'not a luxury liner, granting passage and comfort to all who qualify and clamber aboard' but rather 'like a rescuing lifeboat, sometimes listing, or even leaking, but always guided by the captain, Jesus, at the helm.'" (Bishop Lyle G. Miller in opening worship at the Sierra Pacific Synod assembly, 1991, quoted in "The Lutheran," June 19, 1991, page 38) Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes The Boat Is a Symbol for the Church The boat is a symbol for the church. It has been that way from the beginning. The ship has always been a symbol for the church. The logo for the ecumenical movement in our day is the symbol of a ship upon the sea. The Roman Catholic Church refers to itself as "the bark of Peter" which means "the ship of Peter." Architecturally, that part of the sanctuary in which all of you sit is called the "nave." Up front we have the chancel. Out back we have the narthex. That's "churchspeak." But where you are is the nave. The word "nave" is obviously linked, linguistically, to the word "naval." Literally, "nave" is the Latin word for "ship." Even as we sit here in church, we are in the boat with the disciples. And, as Al Gurley is fond of pointing out, if you look up at the ceiling, you can see the ship's prow, albeit upside down. William A. Ritter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com As we sit hear together, each of us dealing with our own personal storms – looking for the right questions. Let us remember that Jesus is our savior – not just calming our nerves, but indeed calming the storm itself, creating a better life for us. Traveling together as we set sail for the other shore – the shore of forgiveness the shore of peace. This is an important story for us. It has lot of important symbols of life and faith. But let us remember that in the midst of the storms of life, to trust in Jesus. He calms us, but he also calms the sea. Who is this that even the seas obey? That person is Jesus. Let us pray… Humor: Sucked In, Washed Up, Blown Over Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She'd barely said "hello" when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in. The bird’s owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum cleaner, and opened the bag. There was Chippie - still alive, but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust, hair and all the stuff you find in a dust bag, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the tap, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him. A few days after the trauma, a friend who had heard about Chippie’s troubles contacted his owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn't sing much anymore - he just sits and stares." Who can blame him? Sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . . That's enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart. Things happen in our lives that come along unexpectedly and we end up feeling a bit like Chippie - sucked in, washed up, and blown over – the song stolen from the stoutest of hearts. I reckon there are very few here this morning who couldn’t stand up and give testimony to some aspect of their lives where they feel a bit like the disciples in that boat - afraid, vulnerable, a decidedly sinking feeling! You know what it’s like to feel as though you are in the middle of a storm, tossed this way and that, and you wonder how you’re ever going to get to calmer waters. Vince Gerhardy, Calm in a Storm Why Not You? A ministerial colleague tells of a conversation he had one day with a female medical assistant in a doctor's office, as he was waiting to see the doctor. The woman recognized him because she had occasionally attended his church, though she was a member of another church. "I want to tell you about my experience," she said. "I got saved in the Assemblies of God Church ... I gave my life to God ... and guess what? ... Life tumbled in! I developed a heart problem. My husband lost his executive job ... and he recently died of cancer." The minister says he tried to mumble a few theological sounding explanatory words about God's mysterious ways, thinking that was what the woman wanted. But she went right on with her story, indicating that she had repeatedly asked God, "Why me?" "And what do you think God told me?" she continued. "'Why not you?' That's what God said. 'Why should you be spared all the crises of life that everyone else must go through?'" Then she wound up her story saying, "One day I said to God, 'Lord, you've forgiven me. Now I forgive you.'" There is a woman who, from my point of view, has a healthy faith. Her faith is not a series of propositions, it is a relationship, and as in all relationships, it is one that changes and can tolerate challenges. It is vital because it is honest. David G. Rogne, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost, CSS Publishing Company What Is The Question? In his book Listening to Your Life Frederick Buechner writes of Gertrude Stein asking on her deathbed, “What is the answer?” Then, after a long silence, she asks yet another question. This time she asks, “What is the question?” Buechner concludes: "Don’t start looking in the Bible for the answers it gives. Start by listening for the questions it asks. "We are much involved, all of us, with questions that matter a good deal today but will be forgotten by this time tomorrow — the immediate where’s and when’s and how’s that face us daily at home and at work — but at the same time we tend to lose track of the questions about the things that matter always, life-and-death questions about meaning, purpose, and value." Joel D. Kline, Listen for the Questions Now You Know Why During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. "You were one of Stalin's colleagues. Why didn't you stop him?" "Who said that?" roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, "Now you know why." Fear has a way of paralyzing us. Today in the Word Sleeping When the Wind Blows God also works through other people to assure us in the midst of difficult times. A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows." This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him. A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. Meanwhile, the young man slept soundly. The farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well. The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words, "I can sleep when the wind blows." Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke. God wants us to rely on others when there is turmoil, especially to those who are faithful. Keith Wagner, Sailing Through the Storms of Life Crossing Over The story is told of old Bishop Warren Chandler, after whom the school of theology at Emory University was named. As he lay on his death bed, a friend inquired as to whether or not he was afraid. "Please tell me frankly," he said, "do you fear crossing over the river of death?" "Why," replied Chandler, "I belong to a father who owns the land on both sides of the river." In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. That is our great salvation hope. I want you to know that God cares if you are immobilized by some fear in your life. He cares because that fear is intruding upon His destiny for you. It is perfect love that casts out fear. At the foot of the cross you can lean back into the arms of an ever loving and gracious God and echo the words of the old hymn: "God will take care of you, He will take care of you." Staff, www.eSermons.com I Have Seen the Face of the Captain Robert Louis Stevenson delighted in the story of a ship tossed in a storm. The sea was rough and the rocky coast perilous. Danger was real and dread expectancy active among the seamen. One frantic sailor who was laboring below the water line could contain himself no longer. He rushed to the control room, closed the door behind himself, and stood frozen in fright watching the captain wrestle with the controls of the huge ship. Skill of mind and strength of hand enabled the captain to guide the vessel through the threatening rocks into open water. The Captain turned slightly, looked at the frightened sailor, and smiled. The youth returned below deck and assured the crew all danger was over. When they inquired how he knew, he answered, "I have seen the face of the Captain, and he smiled at me." If you will only "turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace." When you know who is in control there is no fear. Eric S. Ritz, www.Sermons.com