In Whom We Have Faith

The story of Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41) is often used as a textual basis for “Do not fear, God is here” type pastoral lessons, but that idea, that God is out there looking out for The Fellowship, bugs me at times.

Take that Psalty song “Say to the Lord ‘I Love You’” on one of N’s tapes, in which children talk about their love for God. N has taken to reciting these anecdotes, including the one I find most appalling: After looking so hard for a lost baseball, a boy closes his eyes to pray. When he opens his eyes, there is the baseball, at his feet. “I love you, Lord,” he says fawningly. How unfair for Psalty’s child listeners to be taught to expect that kind of guardianship!

While I’m not sure what exactly it is that the Mark story does teach, it seems to me that its message might not be about casting all our cares upon Jesus. In fact, in a way it teaches the opposite, since after the disciples wake up (pray to) Jesus to tell him of their plight, he scolds them: “Where’s your faith?” he asks. I wonder if he followed that with, “In me? Jeesh, I hope not!”

Now, of course the disciples got what they wanted—the wind and waves were calmed—and presumably their question “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” was answered with decisive divine intervention.

But they also got a tongue lashing? So, then, in whom exactly are they to have faith, if not Jesus? The problem-solving power of group thinking? Positive outlooks even in the face of adversity, in this case thinking about their boat more as half empty than half full?

I don’t have answers to these questions, but today’s NPR story about a hate-crime victim fighting for his attacker’s life is a storm-calming testimony.