Proper 7 | Ordinary Time 12, Cycle B

Our understanding of the Mark 4:35-41 Gospel account about Jesus stilling the storm on the Sea of Galilee is enhanced by the use in this lectionary of Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 with it. Therefore, let us begin our consideration of the multiple texts offered for next Sunday in The Revised Common Lectionary with Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32.

Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32

After the introductory verses 1-3, the main body of this psalm is comprised of four self-contained strophes, each with its own refrain. Within each of these four sections, a different situation of peril is described. In each, those whose lives had been endangered call upon the Lord to save their lives. In every instance, the Lord delivers them from distress, and the people are urged to thank the Lord for the mercy that the Lord has had for them.

The first section (107:4-9) describes wanderers in the wilderness, the second (107:10-16) those who had been in prison, the third (107:17-22) the ill, and the fourth (107:23-32) those caught in a storm at sea. It is this fourth section, the longest and most fully developed, that has been chosen to be used with the account of Jesus stilling the storm in Mark 4:35-41, for obvious reasons.

The principal theme of this psalm is belief in intervention by the Lord to rescue those who believe in the Lord from the four basic perils that, prior to old age and increasing senility, threaten our lives. It is the Lord alone, we believe, who ultimately has the power to deliver us from all of these situations of peril, and for that we are to give thanks and praise to God. Actually, of course, we are to give thanks and praise to God our Lord even when the Lord does not deliver us from these perils.

Mark 4:35-41

As in so many other instances in the Gospel accounts, Jesus as our Lord is said in Mark 4:35-41 to have done what in the Hebrew Bible (our Older Testament) is ascribed to the Lord God as the ancient Israelites perceived God and as Jews, with some modifications, continue to perceive God. Just as the Lord God is said in Psalm 107:28-29 to have stilled the storm after those in the ships had cried out to the Lord God in their distress, so also in Mark 4:38-39 Jesus as our Lord is said to have stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee after his followers in the boat had cried out to him. Clearly Jesus as the Christ is portrayed as having the power, that is ascribed to the Lord God also in Job 38:10-11, to stop the proud waves and to say, “This far you have come, and no farther!”

Regardless of whether the Mark 4:35-41 text depicts an event as it occurred on a particular evening during Jesus’ activities in the region of the Sea of Galilee, or whether the Mark 4:35-41 account preserves a story formulated within early Christian circles to proclaim that Jesus as the Risen Christ is Lord for his followers just as the Lord God as perceived by Jews is for them, there can be no doubt that this Mark 4:35-41 account is a proclamation of the Lordship of Jesus, of the divine power of Jesus as the Risen Christ over all of the elements of nature.

Therefore, for our proclamation next Sunday certainly the emphasis should be on the proclamation of the Lordship of Jesus as the Risen Christ, the Risen Christ of faith who for us as Christians is one with God the Father as God for us. We should not put our primary emphasis on the reactions of the disciples, the turbulent nature of the Sea of Galilee, or on other unnecessary attempts to “shore up” the historicity of the account. The account is not primarily history. Instead, the account is primarily proclamation. Since the account is primarily proclamation, we should proclaim it. We should proclaim its message in terms that are meaningful and understandable in our own historical situation. Whether the Jesus of history actually caused a storm to cease on the Sea of Galilee nearly two thousand years ago is not the primary issue. At least, it is not the primary issue for us. It may be the primary issue for an historian, one who is interested in historicity. But since we are pastors proclaiming the Word of God and not historians who are trying to determine historicity, our proclamation should be that we believe that Jesus as the Risen Christ, who we believe is one with God the Father as God for us, rescues us from the perils of our lives both now and forever. Even when everything seems to be out of control for us, we believe that nothing is not out of control for God. This is what we believe and this is what we should proclaim, even when our current situation in our individual, family, congregational, corporate, national and international existence seems to indicate otherwise.

Job 38:1-11

In this magnificent section, the climax of the Job drama, in which the Lord answers Job out of the whirlwind, the Lord reveals that it was the Lord and not Job nor anyone else who “shut in the sea with doors,” “prescribed bounds for it,” and “set limits for its proud waves.” This text is appropriate with Psalm 107:23-32 and with Mark 4:35-41.

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

There is a linkage between this segment of 2 Corinthians and the Mark 4:35-41 account of Jesus as the Risen Christ stilling the storm on the Sea of Galilee. We see this in the paraphrase of a portion of Isaiah 49:8 by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “At a favorable time I have heard your call and on the day of salvation I have come to rescue you.” What Paul used from Isaiah 49:8 may be said to have been used in a different way by followers of Jesus who developed and told their story about Jesus in the boat. Jesus as their Lord heard their call and rescued them. So also it is for us, by faith.

Paul wrote tenderly in this segment to the Corinthians revealing some of his deepest feelings to them about his experiences of suffering and of rejoicing. Then, in 2 Corinthians 6:13 he urged them to respond in a similar way, as follows: “I speak to you tenderly — reveal your deepest feelings in response to us.” Here in this text we are in the presence of deep feelings of intimacy within the Church, which for Paul was depicted as the “Body of Christ.”

It should be noted that this segment of 2 Corinthians comes near the end of the portions of the composite letter that are sometimes called the “fragrant” or “sweet smelling” portions of the document. These are the portions 2 Corinthians 2:14–6:13 and 7:2-4, which should be read in preparation for our message next Sunday, since they provide the context for our selection, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13. This “sweet-smelling” portion seems to have been inserted at some point from a different letter by Paul to the Corinthians, interrupting Paul’s reference to his travels to Macedonia that is continued at what we know as 2 Corinthians 7:5, where Paul continues to write about his travels to Macedonia. (There appears to have been an insertion within this “sweet-smelling” portion of another insertion, an insertion within an insertion, specifically 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:12, Paul’s comments about not recommending that followers of Christ marry non-believers.) Our text for next Sunday lies within the most precious, “sweet-smelling” section of the document.

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49

We have here the basic portions of the story of the young man David with his slingshot stunning the giant Philistine warrior Goliath, who had been taunting the army of King Saul and of Israel, by hitting Goliath on his forehead with a stone. The most important part of this account, an account that is always a favorite of young boys, especially of young boys who are threatened and beaten by older and larger “bullies,” and by others who are underdogs and/or who favor the underdogs in any contest, is the response of David within 1 Samuel 17:45, “You come to try to kill me with your sword, your spear, and your javelin, but I come to meet you in the name of the Lord of hosts.” If and when we use this text, we must be aware of and sensitive to the reality that in our culture there have been young men, who, after being repeatedly bullied and ridiculed by others in their schools, have come to school with a pistol or a rifle and have shot and killed students in that school.

Psalm 9:9-20

The Lord is praised here as the avenger of blood, as the one who snares the wicked and sends them to their death. That is the point of contact with the 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-48 David and Goliath story considered above. This psalm also has positive assurances for the poor, the needy, and the oppressed, and these are the portions that we should proclaim.

1 Samuel 17:57–18:5, 10-16

This text continues the story of David’s rapidly growing popularity among the people of Israel, of the deep friendship of Saul’s son Jonathan with David, of King Saul’s envy, fear, and hatred of David, and of the initial attempts of Saul to kill David. This is a profound commentary upon human nature; it is not a very edifying story, however, for us as we seek to fulfill our call to proclaim the good news of the grace of God revealed in our lives.

Psalm 133

The point of contact between this psalm and the 1 Samuel 17:57–18:5, 10-16 text with which it is connected in our lectionary is obviously the acclamation in Psalm 133 of the joys that come when people live together as brothers peacefully and the deep friendship between Jonathan and David in the 1 Samuel text.