Friday, June 22, 2012

Lectionary 4b - conclusion

Job 38:1-11; Psalm 107:23-32; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41
Last Sunday I drove from Toledo to Columbus through a Texas size thunder storm, or in other words, end of the world wrath of God weather in 3D. Thank heaven for hazard lights and sensible drivers, or in other words, anyone but Texans in pickups driving over bridges in a Forth Worth ice storm. There were some white knuckle moments to be sure and a thought of pulling over and letting the storm pass by but since I was “halfway there” I thought I’d keep going driving “on a prayer.” (Bon Jovi) Job prays for a day in the celestial court to plead his case but when God questions him out of the whirlwind “where were you…” the peace that stills his suffering is his confession “I’ve spoken of things too great for me to understand.” The psalm describes those who go down to the sea as sailors overwhelmed by wind and wave so that they that reel and stagger as if drunk until despairing of their skill to weather wind and waves they cry out to the Lord whose steadfast love stills the storm. Paul, hoping to still the storm of conflict in the Corinthian congregation so that the grace of God will not be accepted in vain, gives his life away to those who dismiss it, or more to the point despise it, for the sake of the Lord who himself was despised and rejected. And the disciples who take Jesus into their boat “just as he was” want him to be “more than he is” when wind and wave rise against them. But when the sleeping Savior wakes to still the storm they discover that “just as he was” is more than they could hope for or imagine and I dare say the same is true for us.  

No comments:

Post a Comment