June 21st, 2015
Scripture: I Sam.17:32-49/ Ps. 9:9-14, 17-20/ 2 Cor. 6:1-13/ Mark 4:35-41
“Does God really care?”
Summary: Doubts about God often emerge in times of crisis. Scripture
encourages the believers to persist despite doubts about God’s saving presence.
In the end, we too will discover the one whom wind and sea obey.
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If you are like me on any given Sunday morning, you’d probably scan over
the entire ‘service bulletin’ first to see just what you’re up against in that Sunday
worship service: Scripture readings, Sermon title, soloist (?), and perhaps the hymn
selections…etc.
If so, you may notice that we are going to sing the hymn, “It is Well with
My Soul”, yet again this Sunday morning. Admittedly, we sang this hymn not too
many Sundays ago. I suppose that means I am biased towards this particular hymn.
Yes, as a matter of fact, this hymn does appeal to me very much. While I am sure
the melody of this hymn is very soothing, it is for many, including me, the lyrics
and the story behind this hymn that makes it so compelling a hymn to espouse.
The composer of the moving words was Horatio Spafford, a wealthy
Chicago lawyer with a thriving legal practice. He lived in a beautiful home, blessed
with a wife, four daughters and a son. Horatio was also a devout Christian.
At the very height of his financial and professional success, Horatio and his
wife Anna suffered the tragic loss of their young son. As if that wasn’t enough,
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shortly thereafter on October 8th, 1871, “the Great Chicago Fire” reportedly
destroyed much of Horatio’s real estate investment.
Few years later, Horatio scheduled a boat trip to Europe in order to give his
wife and daughters a much needed vacation and time to recover from the series of
tragedy they family had suffered. It is said that he had also planned on joining an
evangelistic campaign in England while he was in Europe. An unexpected last
minute business, however, kept Horatio behind while his wife and his daughters
traveled ahead of him on a boat. Several days later he received devastating news
that his family’s ship had encountered a calamitous storm the ocean. All four of his
daughters drowned; only his wife had survived.
With a heavy heart, Horatio boarded a boat that would take him to his
grieving wife in England. It was on this trip that he is said to have penned those
now famous words, “When sorrows like sea billows roll…it is well, it is well with
my soul…”
Off hand, what Horatio had penned under the circumstance of an
unimaginable storm in this life simply defies our logic! “How is it possible for
anyone who had just suffered such calamities in his life and still be able to stand
and declare that all is well with his soul, that he finds assurance in what Christ has
done for him”?
These words of confession and the faithful life of Horatio had touched many
people, including Philip Bliss (1838-1876) who would eventually compose a
beautiful piece of music to accompany the lyrics.
So it appears that the faithful to God are not spared the storms of life. In the
Gospel according to Mark, the disciples find themselves in the middle of a violent
storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee. As fishermen, they have crossed this sea
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before, but on this evening the storm seems almost demonically driven, such that
the disciples frantically cry out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
(Mk.4:38, ESV)
I personally can’t claim to have been in such a storm in open waters. I don’t
suppose I will do very well considering I get sea-sick under mild swells, even on
larger boats. I can only imagine the horror these experienced fishermen were
experiencing.
Yet, amidst all this commotion Jesus, who was also on board, lies sleeping.
If the disciples had remembered their Psalm lessons, and if we recall our
own, the psalmist in #121:3 writes, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who
keeps you will not slumber.” What a contrast between that vigilant God and this
sleeping Jesus!
It is no wonder that the disciples openly question Jesus, “Do you not care
that we are perishing?” (Mk.4:38)
If you are currently struggling with storm(s) in your life, whatever they may
be, you may also be joining the disciples’ chorus of dismay, “Doesn’t Jesus care
for his faithful followers?”
We all do under difficult circumstances. It is because we know what chaos
such storms, those calamitous events, bring to our lives. There is nothing stable to
grasp when our lives are engulfed in the overwhelming events. Our lives feel as if
all of our possible moorings are far away, and we are helpless against the
distressing elements of life! Even God, our ultimate mooring, seems far away.
Despite the disciples’ cry of anxiety and despair, Jesus sleeps. The Son of
God sleeps as if he fears no challenger to his authority, not even the demonic
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storm! To Jesus, the storm was not a crisis at all. He obviously believes the
situation is not beyond control. So Jesus simply sleeps.
Once awakened, Jesus commands the storm to be quiet. The storm, which
was violent enough to stir the souls of the fishermen, the disciples, ceases as
quickly as it arose. Jesus also rebukes his disciples for failing to believe in God’s
steadfast love, even in the midst of unimaginable chaos, the storm that threatens
their very lives!
Many people today are grounded down to fear by forces similar to the storm
on the Sea of Galilee – forces that distort God’s purpose for life and that cause
anxiety and suffering and that can make life chaotic and miserable. These storms
have many names, but they all leave people feeling manipulated, undervalued,
along, powerless, and in unimaginable pain. Bullies stalk all areas of life. Racism
is brutal. Divorce leaves people in shock, families in chaos, and society struggling
with its aftermath. Illness turns life into chaos. These and other storms leave people
feeling and living under the threatening heel of some dominating force.
People of God, many of you are ground down by life’s challenges as we
speak. May you know, however, that God is with you in His steadfast love, just as
He was with the disciples caught in that raging storm on the Sea of Galilee. The
cross is our witness that God is present in the ravages of economic calamity, racial
injustice, exploitation, divorce, or illness.
And Christ is on that cross because that is precisely where people are
through these challenges of life. We are not alone. May you also know that through
the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus, God assures us that He is at work in every
situation to help all who suffer. Our God has always made it known that He wishes
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for His children to experience love, justice, peace, and abundance, as did David,
Paul, and Jesus amidst the storm.
Scripture’s promise is that peace will reign in our hearts only and when we
see God in our midst, evening during the harshest storms of our lives. How else do
you think Horatio Spafford, the author of the profound hymn, “It is Well with My
Soul”, found peace in his soul to proclaim his faith as such?
For over a century, the tragic story of this one man has given hope to
countless thousands who have lifted their voices to sing, “It is Well with My Soul”.
I’ve no doubt that each of us, in our own way, is currently encountering a storm, or
storms, in our lives.
May you look to the cross where our Lord Jesus was crucified for our sake,
and where God’s love for us triumphed in Jesus’ resurrection. People of God,
remember that you are not alone. God in Jesus Christ, through the Spirit, is always
with you.
Thanks be to God.
~Amen.
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