2nd Sunday before Lent – morning
Sunday 24th February 2019
2 before Lent – morning
Genesis 2. 4b-9;15-25
Luke 8. 22-25
Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs
Have you ever had the feeling that it is all a bit overwhelming? That, sometimes, life is just too much? Too many decisions, too many choices (remember, I talked about that last week?), too many demands on our time, our wallets, our attention?
I can’t help wondering if that is how Adam felt. It was all very well being given the whole of the garden of Eden…. and to have all the animals for company – but then he also had to come up with names for all of them! Those of you who have agonised over the name of a newborn baby will know something of that responsibility!
And after a hard day’s naming, to be left with the nagging sensation that something, or someone was missing? It was all very well to be given authority and power over all of creation as a kind of steward for God; and lovely when God was there to walk and talk with of course…. but God could not be there the whole time. So who would Adam be able to share all that with?
[Now don’t get the idea that this is history. This is not fact that we are expected to take literally. The creation stories are myths; which is to say that they are wonderful poetic stories that reveal to us much that is true about the nature of God and the nature of humanity, without needing to accept that every word is the literal truth!]
In this version of the story, there is a touching and lovely sense of intimacy between God and the first human being he has made. A sense of playfulness and abundance. But also a hint of what is to come. Amid all the lushness of the garden, there is just one tree – that of the knowledge of good and evil, which Adam is forbidden to taste. And please note that here, the command not to eat is given to Adam on his own, before the creation of Eve, which makes the tradition of blaming everything on her particularly unjust!
And the other dark note comes in God’s understanding that Adam is lonely. And that out of God’s love and generosity comes the creation of one who is both part of Adam himself and yet also other. But one who can be his companion and share in the both the pleasure and the responsibility of looking after God’s world.
So everything in the garden appears rosy – at least as this point. Of course with the benefit of hindsight we know that it is all about to change. Humanity is incapable of staying within the confines that God gives us – or maybe we just had to grow up and gain that knowledge of good and evil?
Whatever the truth of the matter, the deep level of trust and intimacy that existed between God and his created beings in the early days of Eden is destined to be broken and Adam and Eve will be faced with the overwhelming consequences of their actions. Consequences that are still being played out today in the more broken aspects of human nature and the world in which we live.
So in the gospel for today it is not surprising to discover that the disciples have forgotten how to trust God. All they can focus on is the strength of the wind and waves that are hammering their small boat, threatening to overturn it and lead to their untimely end. And we still have an innate fear of wind and water and at times we are victims of the natural forces in this world. Just think of the recent death of the footballer and pilot, Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson.
But the disciples need not fear – Jesus settles the raging waves and rebukes the storm. There is calm.
But there is something more. He settles the storm, but unsettles the disciples. As well as saving them, he amazes them.
They are amazed he could sleep through such weather, but even more amazed that he can calm it. And he asks them “Where is your faith?” – which could conceivably mean at least two things…. either “Why didn’t you have the faith to stop the storm; why did you wake me?” Or, “You are with me; why did you think the storm could possibly win? Do you still not know who I am?”
For my money it is the second explanation that I find the more credible.
In this story we see the understanding of the disciples expanding. They already knew that Jesus was a great healer and teacher. Now they witness something else: the winds and water obey him. Which compels them towards the conclusion that is the foundation of Christian faith: Jesus is not just someone who does the work of God; Jesus is God.
So do we have faith? Have we had our understanding expanded? Is our trust in God and his creative power restored? Do we have faith that with Jesus beside us we can be safe, whatever the world and life may throw at us? And do we have faith that we too might be channels of that peace and good order we see in Jesus?
Remember that faith does not mean certainty – but trust. Like the disciples, like Jesus himself, storms will come and sometimes we will be terribly unsettled and feel overwhelmed, but resting secure in God’s presence and the affirmation of God’s love, we can trust in the one who calms the storms, even the ones raging in our hearts and minds today.