Job
38: 1–11; Psalm 107: 1–3, 23–32; II Corinthians 6: 1–13; Mark 4: 35–41
This is the homily given
at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, June 24,
2018.
“THE
CREATOR, IN CHARGE OF THE CREATED ORDER”
(Homily texts: Job 38: 1–11
& Mark 4: 35–41)
During
this season of Pentecost, the Revised Common Lectionary (known as the RCL)
offers us a choice of Old Testament readings. This preacher’s default position
in choosing which of the options offered is to take the one that has something
in common with the Gospel text for the day.
So
it is, in this morning’s choice, that we have an excellent match for the
Gospel’s account of Jesus’ stilling of the storm on the Sea of Galilee in a
reading from Job, in which God makes it clear that it is He, the creator of all
things, who has set limits for the waters of the sea.
Both
readings have to do with the ordering and continuing control of the creation. God sets the boundaries for the sea in our reading from
Job, and Jesus exercises control over the unruly waters of the Sea of Galilee
in our Mark reading.
There
is much more going on in these two passages than meets the eye. (I can’t resist
saying that that is often the case with Holy Scripture, for Scripture’s intent
is to tell us something about God, and about how God interacts with humankind.)
To
be able to dig into the deeper meaning and import of these two passages, we
will need to delve into the mindset of the Ancient Near East (ANE).
Evidence
of this mindset can be found in the creation account as we find it in Genesis.
There, we read that God’s Spirit moved over the face of the waters of the deep.
Then, God created light (Genesis 1: 3), and God saw that the light was good.
Next, Genesis tells us that God separated the waters that were in the heavens
from the waters that were under the heavens (Genesis 1: 6 – 8a). Then, God
said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place,
and let the dry land appear.” (Genesis 1: 9)
Let’s
stop right there, since our two readings for this morning have to do with
water.
The
worldview of the ANE was that God had ordered the waters to be in their
appointed place, while the dry land would appear in the midst of those waters.
So
the importance of the account of the Great Flood and of Noah’s ark has to do
with the “un-ordering” of this orderly design for the world. The Genesis
(Genesis 6: 9 – 7: 24) account of the flood tells us that, not only did it rain
for forty days, but that the waters of the deep burst forth as well. The
theological truth of the flood account is that God judged the world by allowing
His hand of control to be withdrawn for a period of time. Consequently, the
waters burst out of their appointed place.
(A
related aspect of the understandings of the ANE can be found in the worldview
of water springs: Since good quality water came forth from springs (usually),
and because that water came in an orderly, usable way, springs were seen as
evidence of God’s goodness. In addition, those ancient people of God regarded
God’s holy mountain in Jerusalem as being a place where springs of water flowed
downward, carrying blessings with them, from the Temple in Jerusalem.)
Now,
let’s move to our passage from Mark.
Here,
we find the disciples in a boat, attempting to cross the Sea of Galilee. Jesus
is fast asleep on a cushion at the back of the boat. But the boat is being
beaten by the wind and the waves, and is in danger of being swamped. (Even today,
it is common knowledge for people who live around the Sea of Galilee that, due
to its location in a basin which is surrounded by hills, that windstorms can
arise suddenly.)
So
the disciples wake the Lord up, and ask if He doesn’t care that they are about
to die. In response, he commands the wind and the sea, saying, “Peace! Be
still!”
What’s
going on here?
Simply
this: The waters weren’t in their
appointed place, they were out-of-control. Jesus exercises the power of God to
put this disorder back into order.
The
message is that Jesus possesses the power of the Creator over the creation.
In
time, the Church will affirm that Jesus is the Son of God, eternally begotten
(a word meaning to “flow forth from”) Son of the Father, one in being and
substance with the Father, one who is co-eternal with the Father.
Here
we have proof of Jesus’ true identity. More proof will be provided until that
day when Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. There, in that
event, we have the best and most complete proof, for God raised Jesus, the Son,
to life again. God, the Creator, renewed His Son, bringing Him back to life.
The
early followers of Jesus, many of whom had come to know the truth of God from
the witness of those who had seen the risen Jesus on Easter Sunday (and
following) came to the knowledge of God through the things that had been done
in Jesus.
Our
task is that very same task: To come to know God the Father, Creator of all
things, through God the Son, who is God with us, Emmanuel.
If
these things are true, then Truth in its fullest and deepest form is to be
found here in the things God has done in Christ.
If
you and I come to know these things through the lens of faith, then we will be
forever changed, as those first disciples-who-would-become-Apostles came to
know them. Their lives were changed as a result of their encounter with Jesus,
and our lives will be changed, as well, if we come to know these things as
those Apostles came to know them. Then, we will have found our deepest, truest
selves and the greatest purpose for living.
AMEN.
