Homily - 12th Sunday Ordinary (B)

Aim:

Missional Preaching – strategic preaching that pierces hearts, inspires personal conversion to Jesus, unleashes missionary disciples, and helps the entire parish break out of maintenance to ignite the world through the power of the Gospel.

Reading:

Mark 4:35–41 (ESV-CE)

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”

36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

38 But 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?”

39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Me (Orientation):

Goals — Capture attention, establish connection, introduce tension

Strategy — Personal stories

A couple years ago, I came to Detroit to begin my formation here after finishing my first two years of formation in Canada. And just two months into it, I encountered a major problem. It seemed like I could lose my student visa, and that led to many other uncertainties. How am I going to continue my formation if I don’t have visa? Will I be asked to leave formation because of this? I had just moved to Detroit. It felt like I went from “all is well” to “everything is falling apart. And I remember being very frustrated with God and asking Him, why did you give me so many indications that you wanted me to become a priest if it was all gonna come crashing down, for something that wasn’t even in my control? God, do you not care that I have given my life over to you? Why do you want to just throw it away? It was a difficult few weeks as I navigated the problems, but eventually it was all sorted out and my visa was not affected.

We (Identification):

Goals — Help audience to feel emotionally engaged in the message.

Strategy — Create further tension. Hone in on central difficulties of the audience. Propose the problem at the center of the difficulty.

Problem — Sometimes it feels like God doesn’t care.

I think everyone goes through moments like this eventually. Things go from “all is well” to “everything is falling apart” all of a sudden. Something just falls out of the sky. Financial problems, relational problems, health problems. Uncertainty takes over. How am I going to pay these bills? How do I navigate these difficult relationships? How do I live with this new health issue? And in the midst of all that, one natural question will come up. God, do you not care? Do you not see what is happening? Can you not do something about this? Do you not love me?

God (Illumination):

Goals — Use scripture to illuminate the truth that solves the problem you proposed in ME and WE sections.

Strategy — Give the context behind the scripture passage. Paint a vivid picture. Distill the truth/ main idea into the sticky statement.

Solution — Have a deep relationship with God founded on His love and power.

Sticky statement — God’s love and power are trustworthy.

This is exactly what we see in the Gospel today. The apostles, who were called by Jesus to be His followers, follows Him where ever He goes. In this instance, sailing across Sea of Galilee. And all of a sudden, a storm comes and the boat starts take in water. Uncertainty takes over. How are we going to keep the boat afloat? Is the boat going capsize? Are we going to die? And the apostles ask Jesus the same questions we often ask. God, do you not care? Why are you not doing anything? They were anxious and afraid. That was their reaction much like ours.

And then we look at Jesus. There’s windstorm going on, the boat is rocking and its filling up with water. And yet, Jesus is so peaceful that He is well sleep through it! His reaction to the situation is the complete opposite of the apostles. The apostles saw the storm as life threatening (a moment of uncertainty), and Jesus saw the storm as no threat at all (a moment of certainty). Why this difference?

Jesus knew His Father in Heaven. He had a deep relationship with Him. Throughout Scripture we see Him going off to a mountain or a secluded place to just pray. And He would do so late into the night. Jesus knew that God the Father loved Him, and that God the Father was all powerful. And He found security in that. You see if God is all loving, He would care about even more than we care for ourselves. And if He is all powerful, He can do what His love moves Him to do. Jesus knew this on the boat amidst the storm. He knew that no storm is a match for God’s love and power. The apostles didn’t know this as much. They didn’t know the Father like Jesus did, and they didn’t even know Jesus that well at this point. But through this experience, they learned that God’s love and power are trustworthy. Jesus’ love and power are trustworthy. And I bet the next time they got on a boat with Jesus, they were at peace. They were not afraid because they had experienced first hand this security.

You (Application):

Goals — Apply message and give them something to do.

Strategy — Answer questions “so what?” and “what now?”. Maybe a testimony of someone having already answered to call to action.

So what?

Why does the idea matter to them specifically?

Strategy — Make explicit and obvious what is implicit in the sticky statement

So invite you, to step into the boat with Jesus like the apostles did. Give you life over to Jesus. Follow Him wherever He leads you in your life. Give your yes to Him even if this is your first time. You may be afraid of the storms that you might have to go through when following Jesus. But on the other hand, there will be storms no matter where you go, whether or not you’re following Him. Whether you step into the boat and go into the sea, or you stay on land and go where you want, there will still be storms. The only difference is our experience of the storm. We can have the experience of the apostles — afraid and trying to get through the storm alone. Or, we can have peace and security no matter how strong the storm is.

Now what?

A common single action to live the Gospel by for the seekers, stumblers, and saints

If you are struggling with giving your life over to Him and following Him. If you’re lacking the faith to step in the boat, look back at your life. Look at how God has been present and working in your life. Identify the instances where God has manifested His love and His power in your life. And let these moments build your faith. Let it help you grow in your relationship of trust with Jesus — the same kind of relationship that Jesus had with the Father.

And if you have looked back find it difficult to pin down some specific instances of God’s love and power in your life, then ask God from the depths of your heart: God, I want to experience your love and power in my life. I want to have a deeper relationship with you. God, give me faith.

We (Inspiration):

Goals — Inspire them to action.

Strategy — Create a moving vision of the future if everyone answered the call to action. Imagine if ...