Gospel
On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind,
and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
“A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.”
If we have been on this earth for anytime at all we know the feeling.
A job is lost and bills are coming due.
A diagnosis has been made and all our plans and hopes are dashed to the side.
Maybe even a spouse or loved one has died and we are left. The spouse left is now wondering where to go next. Who they are now? What will our world look like without that person to comfort or confide in.
And like the disciples, we face what looks like the worst. Financial ruin, health impacted, our life and heart broken.
These are real. These are devastating.
And we too cry out “Jesus, do you not care?”
Bad things happen. The world, and other people, like our own bodies are not eternal. They can and will fail us.
It is not that God wants this for us. But loss and illness and and end to our life on earth is part of the world we live in. We can talk about sin and corrupted bodies and world, and we can talk about free will but none of those intellectual discussions seems to help us.
For we are in that boat and things are bleak.
Our challenge is to trust of course. If we survive, we are called to use the terrible event to grow and trust more. Death is not the end for those who put their trust in God. It is merely a doorway. That we hope and pray will one day lead to heaven.
Our challenge now though is to trust in Jesus Christ enough to surrender to him.
If we are ill, we must let go of the anxiety and torment and give it to God. Ask him for healing certainly, but give it to him and give him our life and everything we love.
For suffering is not the end.
It is only a part of life. Loss and sorrow while not wanted for us by God is part of the world we live in. And none of us will be spared.
Those who trust in God come out of the experience with a stronger faith or in heaven.
Those who do not have trust will hopefully have another chance to learn to trust more.
It does not make us feel better when we are in the boat, but as Jesus told his disciples. Have faith. Trust in him. He made all things. He can do all things.
Good things come out of terrible events when we trust and have faith and let go of the anxiety and fear that keeps us tied to things of this world.
We are children of God. Our end is not suffering or death. Our end hasn’t arrived until we are with our Father in heaven.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
Leave a comment