See the change You want to be in the world

Pastor Martin Emmrich gave a sermon tonight, looking at three questions in Mark's account of the calming of the storm, in ch 4:35-41. He started by asking why this account was placed as it was, following the three short parables on the Kingdom of Heaven that precede it in Chapter 4. In looking at the three parables, I found the following:

A Lamp Under a Basket
²¹ And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? ²² For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." ²⁴And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ²⁵ For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

Or, the light brings things to visibility, things will be seen and heard. There will be complete transparency in weights and measures.

The Parable of the Seed Growing
²⁶And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. ²⁸The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Or, the Kingdom of God is overnight change and growth that we do not understand, but we do profit from it.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed
³⁰ And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."

Or, the Kingdom changes the small and insignificant to be great and others prosper in its greatness.

So we see three times that the Kingdom of God brings about change. It brings transparency, it brings fruit, and it brings growth in size and importance. And we profit from all these changes, though we do not bring them about. So the Kingdom of God brings change.

Then we get to the story in question:
Jesus Calms a Storm
³⁵ On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" ³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" ⁴¹And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

We see here a great change, but no mention of the Kingdom of heaven. So what is the connection? How does the change come about in this story? What is the focal point on which things turn? Jesus comes on the scene, awaking and saying "Peace! Be still!". So Jesus and His authority is the point on which things change, the power of the Kingdom of Heaven. Or, as Jesus said in Luke 17:

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, ²¹nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."

Interesting that he would follow this up by saying

²²And he said to the disciples, "The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ²³ And they will say to you, 'Look, there!' or 'Look, here!' Do not go out or follow them. ²⁴ For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.[i] ²⁵But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

His switch from 'the kingdom of God' to 'the days of the Son of Man' could almost go unnoticed, and it is clear from the context, and from how we know the story unfolds, that he is talking about himself here. Before He arrives on the scene to bring the change we are all need so badly, he must first suffer and be rejected. But when He does come, there will be no doubt. I guess this is what we summarized from the beginning of mark on through the first several chapters. Jesus arriving on the scene changes things. His power over the spirit world, the natural world, the possessed, etc. is incomprehensible, yet undeniable.

Pastor Emmrich then brought us to the three questions:

1. ^38b"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" This is the existential question (why are we, if you don't care?)
2. ^40b"Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" This is the faith question.
3. ^41b"Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" This is the identity question.

The faith and identity questions go hand in hand, as the faith is in the person identified, and the identity requires faith to discern. Ultimately the question of the nature of faith must come up, at which point Hebrews 11:1 was brought up:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

What is hoped for is not yet, and what is not seen may be presently invisible, or future.

Pastor Emmrich went on to summarize Mark 5, with the three healings, of the demon possessed man in the graveyard, the woman with the 12 year old blood flow, and Jairus' daughter, who was brought back from the dead. He contends that in each of these cases, Jesus is contending and showing himself victorious over death, which is our greatest fear. Fear and faith are contrasted, and shown to be each others' opposites. He tells us "Do not fear, only believe." (Mark 5:36b) Thus fighting our greatest fear, that of death, is our greatest path to faith. What are we seeing, then, that gives us this victory over fear? We are seeing the change that Jesus brings, this "Kingdom of God."

We see that, though things are dark now, there will come a Light, that will make all things clear (and just!). We see that the small things we plant will grow and provide for us. We see that the smallest seed will bring us shade, that the world and its (unjust) systems will be turned upside down. We see that Jesus will come, and make all things right:

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Rev 21)

So, when and how do we have/get this faith? The question was raised as to whether the disciples showed it before the coming of the Holy Spirit. Well, they hid at Jesus' arrest, they ran from the cross, and after his ascension they worshiped in an upper room, presumably to avoid the attention of the Jewish authorities. More fear than faith, it would seem. But then, after the Holy Spirit came upon them, and after Peter and John were arrested for preaching:

³¹After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4)

So it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we see the change that Jesus is bringing to our world, that He will consummate finally one day. And the faith that He gives to see that now helps us weather the trials that happen between now and then, as all this junk WILL be made right!

Amen! Maranatha!