20th February – Andrea’s Letter: Jesus calms the Storm

21st February 2022

2nd Sunday before Lent   St Andrew’s Milngavie

We were a cheerful gathering this morning despite the recent weather and the stormy theme of the readings.
Looking ahead to Lent I suggest once again the St Ignatius of Loyola online Lent Retreat.  It comprises a piece of scripture, reflection, music, prayer and art on a daily basis.  It is very easy to access, and I highly recommend the course.   Just click on onlineprayer.net from Ash Wednesday.  There are flyers at the back of the church.

Notices for this week:
Tuesday 10am Prayer Group in the Garden Room.
Thursday 10am Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House

Readings for next Sunday –  Exodus 34:29-35   2 Corinthians 3:12:-4:2   Luke 9:28-36:

Further news from the diocese and church can be found on the St Andrews website. Click on the link below.

https://standrewsmilngavie.church.scot/

Genesis 2:4b-9,15-end   Revelation 4:1-11     Luke 8:22-25

This week we have endured yet more storms as Eunice and Dudley have ravaged our shores. Storms seem to be the theme of this winter as several weather fronts have made their way across the nation leaving trees down everywhere and in certain parts of the country many have experienced power cuts and drifts of snow.

On the world stage worrying storms are also brewing on the Russian Ukrainian border! At home I’m sure we all have our own domestic and personal storms to face and cope with. Its life as usual and it has been ever thus!

The gospel reading this morning describing Jesus calming the storm has always been a favourite of mine. I can remember as a child reading it from the children’s illustrated Bible, enjoying the dramatic picture of the disciples in the boat surrounded by huge waves and Jesus standing at the stern calmly commanding the waves to be still – trying to create order from chaos, ordering the waves as he stands in the boat and stills the storm.

In the Bible the sea is often thought of as a place of chaos and disorder, threatening God’s good purposes. The people of the OT spoke of God stilling the raging of the waves and saving those in danger on the sea.  Here the disciples see Jesus doing the same things, and in his wider ministry Jesus calms storms not only at sea but also in the lives of those he heals and delivers from their demons.

Such authority prompts the disciple to ask who this man is.  Gradually they will come to understand the nature of God’s purposes and work in Jesus. But this story illustrates the slow and painful progress of the disciples.  They have left everything to follow Jesus.  For some time now they have listened to his teaching and witnessed his powers to heal. They acknowledge him as their master.  But the storm on the Sea of Galilee seems to blow away everything they have learnt.

“where is your faith? “Jesus asks. Panic has driven trust from their hearts.  This isn’t the only time the disciples fail in faith and understanding.  Often Jesus rebukes them, but he perseveres with them and continues to entrust his mission to them.

The God we see in Jesus is the stiller of storms. God wills harmony for the world and peace for all our hearts.  But storms rage on, around us, and within us.   So why isn’t the God who through Jesus stilled the storm more obviously at work in the world today?  Although the question is notoriously hard to answer our faith does offer us a way forward. Storms in our own lives can all too easily undermine our trust in God and make us panic, like the disciples.  But the disciples are rebuked for their lack of faith, not for calling out in their genuine need.

So, when our lives are in danger of being swamped by chaos or suffering of various kinds its far worse to turn away from God in bitter silence than to cry out in faith – even if it’s mingled with anger.  We may then know some lessening of the storm about us or it may be that as the storm continues, we are drawn deeper into the trusting relationship with God.  The God which we see in Jesus who in this storm lies asleep like a child and trusts the father through worse storms yet to come.

From the intimacy of the Garden of Eden which we read about in Genesis this morning to the joyful worship of the heavenly court in Revelation, human beings were clearly made to live in the presence of God. As we look beyond our own lives to the storms in God’s world today, and we don’t have to look very far, it helps to remember that what we often call miracles are usually known in the New Testament as “signs.” Signs point to something greater than themselves.  When Jesus healed, fed hungry crowds, or calmed a storm, these were pointers to something greater.  A foretaste of God’s Kingdom of lasting wellbeing, justice and peace.

So, in our daily praying for the coming of that Kingdom there is both pain and confidence. Pain because of the world’s continuing storms. Confidence because in Jesus God has stilled storms and the world is in His hands.

We are called to share in the prayer and work of Jesus which naturally leads to sharing in his work of stilling storms – a link well made in the prayer that asks God to make us a channel of his peace.

Amen