"Stay With The Ship!"

A sermon preached by the Rev. Roger Scott Powers at Light Street Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, on Sunday, July 92, 2006

Mark 4:35-41

I was born and raised on the north shore of Long Island. My family's home was just a half mile from Long Island Sound, that large body of water between the Island and the Connecticut shore. It was on the Sound that I learned how to sail. I grew up crewing for my older brothers who raced sailboats on the weekends.

One of the things I learned early on about sailing on Long Island Sound is how to spot an oncoming squall. A squall is an organized line of thunderstorms. A squall brings with it high winds, heavy rain, sometimes hail, and frequently lightning. A squall comes at you fast -- at a speed of 25 miles per hour or more. The sky grows dark with clouds, and on the surface of the water you see a line of dark water racing toward you as a wall of wind and rain bears down upon you.

If you're not prepared for it when it hits you, a squall can rip your sails to shreds, or worse, capsize and sink your boat in an instant. Many of you may remember the Water Taxi accident here in Baltimore Harbor two years ago. That Water Taxi was caught in a squall with wind gusts up to 55 miles per hour. The boat capsized and several people died.

When you're in a sailboat and you see a squall coming toward you, the sport of sailboat racing quickly gives way to the priority of survival at sea. You take your sails down as quickly as you can and ride out the storm. Squalls usually last for only a few minutes, but their power is awesome. I can tell you from personal experience that getting caught in a squall can be a very frightening experience, especially when there are lightning strikes nearby and your sailboat's 20-foot aluminum mast is the tallest object for miles around!

In this morning's text from the gospel of Mark we hear a story of Jesus and his disciples getting caught in just such a squall. As the story goes, they were crossing the Sea of Galilee -- a lake really -- 13 miles long (north to south) and 8 miles wide. It is located 700 feet below sea level and is surrounded by hills that rise over a thousand feet high. This unusual geography brings about abrupt temperature shifts, affecting local weather patterns and causing sudden and violent storms. The northern end of the Sea of Galilee is especially subject to strong winds and offers little protection for boats seeking shelter.

As the gospel of Mark tells the story, it was evening when Jesus and his disciples set off in their boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. Apparently, their voyage started out well. Jesus was so relaxed, or so tired, that he actually fell asleep on a cushion at the stern of the boat. But at some point later in the night, "a great windstorm arose," and their small boat was so battered by the wind and waves that it started to take on water. Some of the disciples were experienced fishermen who had certainly seen their share of storms and heavy seas. But this storm was so bad, they even seemed to be afraid for their lives. The boat was being swamped and they appeared to be in grave danger.

They cried out to Jesus, finally waking him up from what must have been a pretty deep sleep. "Teacher," they cried, "do you not care that we are perishing?" This was a crisis that required "all hands on deck!" What was Jesus doing sleeping through it? The least he could do was bail!

They were totally unprepared for what would happen next. "Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!'" Immediately, the wind stopped, the storm disappeared, and there was a dead calm. And "[Jesus] said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?'"

Imagine the dead calm outside the boat being matched only by a stunned silence among the disciples inside the boat, who couldn't believe what just happened! Mark says "they were filled with great awe and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey him?'" Apparently the disciples had no clue that Jesus had the power to save them -- at least not from the threat of a great and dangerous storm!

There is no telling whether Jesus' calming of the storm is an event that actually happened or not. We have no way of knowing. What matters is the meaning that the story is intended to convey, not whether the story is an account of an actual historical event. And it's entirely possible for the story to have multiple meanings. As I read and reread the story this past week, three things seemed particularly significant to me.

First, I think it's significant that Jesus is in the boat with the disciples. He goes on the voyage with them. He goes through the storm with them. Granted, he does not react with fear as the disciples do. Indeed, he sleeps through most of the voyage. But nevertheless, he is present with them through it all.

Second, the story tells us that Jesus has the power of God within him. Only someone with divine power could command the wind and the sea and have them obey him. The story, therefore, points to Jesus' divinity. It tells us that somehow Jesus is the incarnation of God. Jesus is God with us, Emmanuel.

Third, Jesus uses his divine power to save the disciples. In their hour of greatest need, when all hope seemed lost, and they thought they were about to perish at sea, Jesus saves them! He may have seemed detached as he slept amidst the chaos raging all around him. The disciples interpreted it as his not caring. But in the end, Jesus shows that he does care about them. He cares about them very much. Jesus sees them through the storm. He becomes, literally, their savior.

One final thing I notice in this story is that they all -- Jesus and the disciples -- stay with the boat. Even as their boat is filling with water, they don't abandon ship. That was something else I learned early on about sailing: always stay with the boat. Even if it fills with water or capsizes, you're better off staying with the boat as long as it's afloat. It gives you a floating object to hang onto. And when rescuers come looking for you, it's much easier for them to spot your swamped or capsized boat than it is for them to spot your small head bobbing above the surface of the water all by itself.

As we voyage through life, all of us encounter stormy weather from time to time, when the skies become overcast, and the wind begins to blow, and the waves get high. Sometimes the storms we encounter in life come upon us suddenly. A car accident. A cancer diagnosis. A death in the family. A job layoff. They can fill us with fear and throw our lives into turmoil. Sometimes, when our lives are being tossed and blown by rough seas and high winds, we may feel like we're all alone and so far out at sea as to be beyond the reach of any assistance.

It's important for us to remember, at those times especially, that we are not alone. There are other disciples with us -- our sisters and brothers in Christ here in this congregation -- who travel with us and who can help us weather the storms of life. Most importantly, God is present with us in Jesus Christ. God cares for us. God supports and upholds us. And through Jesus Christ, God saves us, because we cannot save ourselves.

It is when we come up against our own limitations -- living on the edge (physically, psychologically, financially, socially) -- that we most often reach out to God. We feel a need for a power outside of ourselves to support and sustain us. And God is present with us in Jesus Christ offering us that support and love. Faith can give us courage in the most trying of circumstances, knowing that wherever we are, whatever we are doing, no matter how alone we may feel, we are always in God's care.

Our denomination has been sailing through stormy seas in recent years, especially with regard to the continuing controversy over whether gay and lesbian Presbyterians should be allowed to be ordained to leadership positions in the church as elders, deacons, and ministers of the word and sacrament. This was one of the major issues considered by the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which concluded its business a week ago in Birmingham, Alabama.

Over the past four years a Theological Task Force on [the] Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church met regularly to look for ways to help our deeply divided denomination stay together despite our differences. The members of the Task Force represented the theological diversity in the Presbyterian Church, with a balance of moderates, liberals, and conservatives. Through a process of biblical study, theological reflection, and spiritual discernment, they were able to find a surprising amount of common ground among them in spite of their differences. Their report and recommendations were debated and eventually adopted by the General Assembly.

According to the Presbyterian News Service, the Assembly voted 298-221 (57% to 43%) to approve "an 'authoritative interpretation' of the church's Constitution that maintains current ordination standards for church officers but gives ordaining bodies greater leeway in applying those standards to individual candidates for ordination." The Assembly's action draws upon the early history of our denomination, specifically the Adopting Act of 1729, "which allowed candidates for ordination to declare a 'scruple' against any matter of church doctrine, with the ordaining body determining if the scruple constituted 'a departure from scriptural and constitutional standards for fitness for office' and 'a failure to adhere to the essentials of the Reformed faith and polity.'" This may make room, on a case-by-case basis, for an individual Session or Presbytery to ordain a gay or lesbian Presbyterian as a deacon, elder, or minister of word and sacrament without violating our church's polity.

Four other Task Force "recommendations passed by an overwhelming 87% majority. They 'strongly encourage' all Presbyterians to witness to the church's oneness and 'to avoid division into separate denominations'; to urge congregations, governing bodies and other groups of Presbyterians to engage in 'intensive discernment' in the face of difficult issues; to study the theological reflection section of the Task Force report; and to encourage church bodies to 'explore the use of alternative forms of discernment and decision-making as a complement to parliamentary procedure.'"

Only time will tell whether this compromise will enable our denomination to hold together through this storm of controversy, or whether more churches and individuals will decide to abandon ship as they have threatened to do. My hope and prayer is that they will stay with the ship -- that they will remain together as a denomination. As the Theological Task Force has shown us, we have far more in common than we have in conflict.

We are, after all, sisters and brothers in Christ! We are one in Christ. Jesus Christ is with us. He cares for us. And he can save us, even from our worst fears. May the Presbyterian Church Weather this storm and find clearer skies and calmer seas on which to continue our voyage together.