Scripture lessons:  Jonah 1:4-16; Mark 4:35-41

 

Jonah was running from God when the storm over took his boat.  He was headed to Tarshish at the Western reaches of the Mediterranean, but God wanted him in Nineveh up to the north and east through Damascus.  He was in a Phoenician boat that had sailed Joppa.  The Phoenicians were the greatest sailors and had the best maritime technology of the ancient world.  They knew the law of the sea

which has remained unchanged until today.  Save the boat and save the people.  Let the cargo go.  The captain and crew did all they could in the midst of this mighty storm but the ships still foundered.  Why were the Gods angry? Which God was angry?  Who had offended the God?  Jonah asleep and seasick in the hold was awakened and confessed that the storm was his fault.  “Throw me over, save yourselves,” he said to them.  They refused and rowed all the harder.  But Jonah explained his plight, he was fleeing from God and God wanted him elsewhere.  “Throw me over!”  Having done all they could and knowing that Jonah needed to leave the ship for the sake of God they threw him over and the sea calmed and they were saved.

 

What are we to do in the midst of the storms of life?  Follow the example of the best sailors.  Shore up the weak places.  Reduce sail.   Row harder.  People first and all of life’s cargo last…the material things really don’t matter at such a time.

The internal storms of life, and Jonah’s storm was as much an internal storm as an external matter of wind and waves.  As individuals we must look to the weak places in our lives and take care of them.   Storm is stress and can sicken and indeed kill us!  In a storm of stress our immune systems suffer, our weaker organs may struggle.  The cure for stress is having fun-the fun of Christian fellowship, exercise-the exercise of prayer and meditation, and eating well-taking the good meat and milk of scripture and contemplation.

So too for our institutions, family, work, civic and church.  The storms of life…financial, political and interpersonal… bring out factionalism, scapegoating, envy, the lust for power and self-centeredness over common goals and values.

Already ailing organs can be taxed beyond their ability (yes a political pun.)

So we must take care of the weak places, those poisonous personalities, those who hurt others, must be cared for most, loved, shored up and contained.

 

For Jonah, the internal storm was greater than the external he needed to drown to live.  And so he was thrown into the sea so he could be reborn to do God’s work.

  

Jesus was sleeping in the cabin when the storm hit the Sea of Galilee.  The fishing boat was patched together from used pieces and barely seaworthy.

The fishing boats of the Sea of Galilee were barely good enough to sail out for a few hours to catch a few fish and then return to shore, on a lake not much bigger than Sebago Lake in Maine.  The sailors were among the worst paid workers in ancient Israel.  At the bottom of the economic heap their skills were meager and their fear great.  (A boat from Jesus day was discovered in the Sea of Galilee and is on display at Kibbutz Ginosar.)  So when the storm threatened to sink their small fishing boat and they were filled with fear, they woke Jesus.  Who calmed the storm and admonished him to have faith.  

Moral of this story is simple when the waves are high and the boat of our life is leaking, trust Jesus, he will see you safely through…one way or another, in this life or the next.

 

I don’t usually give morals, but I will this week.  In the midst of stormy times, just like these, take care of yourself, take care of each other and God will see you safely into calm waters.

Scripture lessons:  Jonah 1:4-16; Mark 4:35-41

 

Jonah was running from God when the storm over took his boat.  He was headed to Tarshish at the Western reaches of the Mediterranean, but God wanted him in Nineveh up to the north and east through Damascus.  He was in a Phoenician boat that had sailed Joppa.  The Phoenicians were the greatest sailors and had the best maritime technology of the ancient world.  They knew the law of the sea

 

What are we to do in the midst of the storms of life?  Follow the example of the best sailors.  Shore up the weak places.  Reduce sail.   Row harder.  People first and all of life’s cargo last…the material things really don’t matter at such a time.

The internal storms of life, and Jonah’s storm was as much an internal storm as an external matter of wind and waves.  As individuals we must look to the weak places in our lives and take care of them.   Storm is stress and can sicken and indeed kill us!  In a storm of stress our immune systems suffer, our weaker organs may struggle.  The cure for stress is having fun-the fun of Christian fellowship, exercise-the exercise of prayer and meditation, and eating well-taking the good meat and milk of scripture and contemplation.

So too for our institutions, family, work, civic and church.  The storms of life…financial, political and interpersonal… bring out factionalism, scapegoating, envy, the lust for power and self-centeredness over common goals and values.

Already ailing organs can be taxed beyond their ability (yes a political pun.)

So we must take care of the weak places, those poisonous personalities, those who hurt others, must be cared for most, loved, shored up and contained.

 

For Jonah, the internal storm was greater than the external he needed to drown to live.  And so he was thrown into the sea so he could be reborn to do God’s work.

  

Jesus was sleeping in the cabin when the storm hit the Sea of Galilee.  The fishing boat was patched together from used pieces and barely seaworthy.

The fishing boats of the Sea of Galilee were barely good enough to sail out for a few hours to catch a few fish and then return to shore, on a lake not much bigger than Sebago Lake in Maine.  The sailors were among the worst paid workers in ancient Israel.  At the bottom of the economic heap their skills were meager and their fear great.  (A boat from Jesus day was discovered in the Sea of Galilee and is on display at Kibbutz Ginosar.)  So when the storm threatened to sink their small fishing boat and they were filled with fear, they woke Jesus.  Who calmed the storm and admonished him to have faith.  

Moral of this story is simple when the waves are high and the boat of our life is leaking, trust Jesus, he will see you safely through…one way or another, in this life or the next.

 

I don’t usually give morals, but I will this week.  In the midst of stormy times, just like these, take care of yourself, take care of each other and God will see you safely into calm waters.