Right In the Middle!

Many times we refer to life as “smooth sailing” or speak of “rough waters” or “stormy weather ahead” in a metaphorical sense.

The hymn “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me” was written by Rev. Edward Hopper in the nineteenth century when he was pastor of a New York church for mariners. While his parishioners often experienced the literal perils of the sea, many Christians have come to love the hymn, which speaks metaphorically of Jesus guiding us through life. We cry out:

“Jesus, Savior, pilot me

Over life’s tempestuous sea;

Unknown waves before me roll,

Hiding rock and treach’rous shoal.

Chart and compass come from Thee.

Jesus, Savior, pilot me” (LSB 715:1).

These days we may not travel by sea, but Jesus as our pilot should still give us a strong image. And it has advantages. In the old days, ships often found themselves trapped in the midst of storms that suddenly blew in. Nowhere to go but ride ’em out. When you fly, radar can often enable the pilot to avoid storms altogether, fly around them. Wouldn’t it be great if Jesus was that kind of pilot?

But it does not work that way in life.

Jesus Doesn’t Steer Us Clear of Every Storm, He’s Right There with Us in the Middle of Them.

Jesus doesn’t steer us clear of every storm.

In our text, the disciples find themselves in a storm, and it comes at the end of a very long day (vv 45–48a). Check this out...

Jesus has just fed five thousand men, plus women and children..

Word has just come to Jesus of John the Baptist’s execution.

Huge crowds are looking to Jesus for healing.

Even Jesus is tired; he sends the crowds and his disciples away so that he can be restored in a time of prayer.

Surely Jesus, who created wind and rain and sea, could arrange some “smooth sailing” for them after a busy day like that. But no.

Jesus is busy praying, but apparently not for fair weather.

Just as he doesn’t always clear the skies for us, even when we think we can’t take another thing. Take, for example, this day in the life of this faithful Christian:

The car broke down, so you have to get a ride to work.

Your spouse calls later that day to tell you they were fired from the job.

Your son tells you later that evening that his girlfriend just broke up with him and he is absolutely distraught.

Only to be follow-up with a telephone call from your Dad who tells you that your mother was just diagnosed with stage-4 colon cancer.

Jesus doesn’t steer us clear of all storms.

And how we react to those storms in life can lead us away from Jesus.

We may try to deny that storms will come or expect that as Christians we won’t experience storms, difficulties.

I follow the rules

I do as my doctor tells me

I eat properly and exercise regularly.

We may be so overwhelmed by storms that we just despair and forget that God is bigger than any storm.

So many people have died from this current pandemic, and many of my friends have gotten sick, and their doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.

So, I can’t leave the house; and I’m angry at the Pastor because activities are resuming at church.

We try to take care of storms ourselves.

Because we never know what’s coming, we need to admit our inability to rescue ourselves and then finally rely on Jesus for help in our unexpected storms.

Illustration: The U.S. Air Force’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, based in Biloxi, Mississippi, is known as the “Hurricane Hunters.” Its mission is to fly right into tropical storms to gauge their power and movements. No avoiding those storms. There’s much to be learned by going through them—all the way to the eye.

Just as actual hurricanes have an “eye” in their middle — so do our storms in life.

Jesus is With You in the Middle of Your Storm

Hurricanes have that calm spot at the center around which all the winds swirl.

Instead of steering us clear of every storm, Jesus comes to us in the middle of them (vv 48b–50). He gives us two commands and a promise in Mark 6:50.

Mark 6:50 (ESV)

50 ...“Take heart (be courageous); it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Grammatically, these two statements are commands.

And He enables us to keep these commands because of the promise that is located in the middle of the statement.

Mark 6:50 (ESV)

50 ...“Take heart (be courageous); it is I. Do not be afraid.”

“It is I!” Jesus was not just identifying himself, but is identifying himself as true God, “I am.”

ἐγώ εἰμι

Jesus, the great I AM — ego eimi — is the very One of Whom we gave thanks and praise to in the Psalm today:

Psalm 136:1–9 (ESV)

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for His steadfast love endures forever.

4 to Him who alone does great wonders...

5 to Him who by understanding made the heavens...

6 to Him who spread out the earth above the waters...

7 to Him who made the great lights...

8 the sun to rule over the day...

9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,

for His steadfast love endures forever;

This very God and LORD — ego eimi — is the One walking upon the water in the middle of their fighting against the wind. They thought they were seeing a ghost until Jesus spoke to them identifying Himself, just as in the same way when the sky became black as a storm on that day we call “Good Friday.”

Jesus is the only hope in this life — the very “eye” / “I” in the storm.

Daniel chapter three tells the incredibly powerful account of three faithful men who refused to break the First Commandment of bowing down before a golden image, though the sentence of death by means of a fiery furnace stared them in the face. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to obey King Nebuchadnezzar, they were tossed into a blazing furnace so hot that it even killed the men of valor placed in charge of the furnace. However, our very God and LORD — ego eimi — was right there with them inside the furnace: “Look!” the King answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25).

For one of the men crucified with him on that Good Friday, Jesus, true God and LORD, the very ego eimi, said to him in the middle of his storm: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Jesus conquers all storms, with death as the final one conquered. And for you today hearing this message, He is with you in the middle of the storm you are going through.

What storm are you facing today? Because Jesus is saying to you right now:

“Take heart! Do not be afraid!”

We can live without fear, because Jesus’ death took away your sin and has reconciled you to God.

The faithful Christian parent just diagnosed with stage-4 cancer can face the likely end of her days with calm assurance that neither death nor life will ever separate her from God’s love. Besides as the author of the book of Hebrews puts it, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Heb. 13:14)

For the Christian — with a family to provide for — who just got fired from their job, can face the days ahead with courage and hope, because the God who love them is right in the middle of that situation. And if that were not enough, here is another promise: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

And as we face the threat of this new pandemic strain, we have nothing to fear because Jesus is with us through it all. “I will never leave you, nor abandon you” He promises. And even if it should take our life, we can rejoice and take heart as courageous Christians because death is not the end.

There was a movie from a few years ago called The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher as elite Coast Guard rescue swimmers. They rescue people from the sea in the most dangerous of circumstances. The movie ends by conveying the legend of the guardian—that some people who are rescued from dire circumstances later tell of a mysterious someone, a “guardian,” who kept them from drowning.

The account of a Christian’s rescue from death and life’s storms is no legend of a mysterious, shadowy figure, but it is the true story of a real Savior who came into the midst of life’s storms to rescue us all from them.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Sermon Theme: Jesus doesn’t steer us clear of every storm, but he’s right there with us in the middle of them.

Text: Mark 6:45–56

Other Lessons: Genesis 9:8–17; Psalm 136:1–9; Ephesians 3:14–21

Goal: That the hearer realizes trials are a part of life in this world and is comforted by Jesus when going through them.

Liturgical Setting

The Old Testament Reading from Genesis 9 recounts the promise of the rainbow to Noah after the flood. The use of water to destroy the sinful and unrepentant but also to save Noah and his family parallels the saving action of Jesus on the water in the Gospel.

The Psalm (Psalm 136), in the refrain of each verse, reminds us of the “steadfast love of [God that] endures forever.” This is the God who spread out the earth above the waters (136:6) and who does great wonders (136:5), such as walking on water and showing power over creation. Later verses of the psalm speak of the second great Old Testament miracle of water, the parting of the Red Sea.

Eph 3:14–21, the Epistle, has an interesting intersection with the message of the text. The faith aspired to here is to be “rooted and grounded in love” (3:17). It is ironic that being rooted and grounded in Jesus can take place literally when someone is tossed about on the sea, far from earth and soil, dry land. Even more, the “breadth and length and height and depth” (3:18) of Jesus’ love is seen in the midst of a deep and broad body of water that would threaten to drown and overwhelm—but it is Christ’s love, which washes over us and buoys us up in the storms of life.

Textual Notes

First, it is good to note that parallel accounts of this miracle exist in Matthew (14:22–36) and John (6:16–21). Matthew’s is the longest account, the only one that includes the detail of Peter walking on the water, sinking, and then being rescued. John’s is the briefest and without extra detail. All three have the words of Jesus: “It is I. Do not be afraid.” Matthew and Mark also have Jesus first saying, “Take heart,” tharseite.

Mark seems to emphasize how readily the people accept the result of Jesus’ miracles (just prior, five thousand were glad to be fed; the disciples now embrace the calming of the storm; the crowds bring all their sick to Jesus) but don’t have the faith to realize what this means. Jesus is not just a “bread king” for immediate and temporal needs; he is a victorious and eternal King, and faith in him is more significant than the immediate result of a miracle.

V 45: euthus is notable in Mark to emphasize that this event takes place “immediately, right away,” following the feeding of the five thousand; it is a reaction, an aftermath. Jesus is splitting up the group into those who have seen the miracle of the fish and loaves (the crowd) and those who are yet to see a greater miracle (his disciples). It is clear that Jesus takes charge to have the crowd dispersed and the disciples sent off so that he is left alone to pray.

Vv 46–48a: Jesus has chosen a place far away geographically (a mountain), but he still sees their peril: “And he saw . . .” (v 48). It seems the disciples (some former fishermen) should have been able to handle the boat but were not able to make progress against the wind.

Vv 48b–50a: It seems clear that Jesus had sent them into a difficult situation. Perhaps he was teaching them yet another faith lesson about his presence in their lives or their need for him. Mark alone points out that “He [Jesus] meant to pass by them” (v 48). This peculiar phrase can be understood in Jesus coming close enough for them to see him but waiting for their cry to him for help. Their cry may initially be one of fear—their fear of the storm is compounded by their fear of a ghost—but seems to end up a cry of undeveloped faith. The irony in their seeing something supernatural is that Jesus was supernatural (above nature!) in a more profound way.

Vv 50b–51a: Again, Mark moves the story along with euthus. Their cry for help is addressed with words of comfort. tharseite (“Take heart”) is a word of being cheerful or confident. As Jesus offers help and the Gospel is received, those who embrace it have confidence and courage and are of good cheer, even in the midst of frightening circumstances. Jesus’ identification egō eimi (“It is I”) is more than just assurance. He identifies himself with the great I am, God’s revealed name of the Old Testament, Yahweh YHWH. Jesus shows that he has power over the wind and the waves (he is their Creator) and then speaks his name as an exclamation point. As Jesus gets into the boat, the wind dies down. Where Jesus is, there is calm in the midst of storms.

Vv 51b–52: The disciples’ reaction is complex: there is astonishment (existanto) but lack of understanding, which leaves their hearts pepōrōmenē (“hardened”). The brief commentary on hard-heartedness in The Lutheran Study Bible in the introductory comments on Mark is helpful ([St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 2009], 1653). The disciples’ hearts are still hardened in ch 8, after another miracle of bread but lack of understanding (Mk 8:17). It is more the stubbornness of the sinful flesh to reject what it cannot understand than antagonism toward Jesus.

Vv 53–55: “recognized him.” There is irony in that they see who he is—Jesus who had fed the five thousand—but they don’t really know what this means or who he is fully. Here, Jesus also might have thought to “pass by them,” but he had compassion and healed those who came to him.

V 56: The healing is connected to the faith that touched his garment. This is the same faith shown in the detailed miracle of the woman who had suffered from bleeding (Mk 5:27–29; also in Matthew and Luke).