The week in focus
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Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues
Do you not care?
The disciples asked, ‘Do you not care that we are perishing?’ (Mark 4.35-41), a question many are asking today.
Context
Ideas for sermons or interactive talks
- It is easy to judge the disciples with the benefit of nearly 2 millennia of hindsight but, in the face of a great and sudden storm, they are frightened. It appears as if Jesus is doing nothing. He remains calm and has fallen asleep. The disciples immediate reaction is to assume that he does not care.
- Although the extension of lockdown had been well indicated before the announcement there was still a great sense of disappointment when it came and, as has happened with other similar announcements, blame begins to be thrown at people. It has to be somebody’s fault. ‘They’ do not care.
- When Jesus is woken up he calls for peace and immediately the storm is stilled. Amid all the blame hurling and fault finding at this time, the body of Christ should be calling for peace. It is undoubtedly true that the new lockdown will have an adverse effect upon the hospitality industry but through it all we should trust in God. It is not clear what the disciples expected Jesus to do but his stilling of the storm appears to have been a surprise. Jesus reminds us to have faith and wait for what may be a surprising action by God.
- In recent months the extent of racism in both the USA and UK has started to be revealed. In response to this, and in solidarity with those who suffer racism, many football teams are taking the knee before the match begins. This is a controversial action. It has been described as gesture politics and it has been greeted by some fans booing. Many of those suffering racism are fearful that they are perishing. There is merit in reflecting on how those involved in this controversy might respond to the question ‘Do you not care that we are perishing?'.
- The report into the police investigation into the killing of Daniel Morgan inevitably raises many questions which will be debated. Resignations will be demanded and maybe eventually some action will be taken. Hidden away in the report is a significant fact for today (Fathers' Day): Mr Morgan was a father of two.
- Presumably Jesus’ stilling of the storm was welcomed by all the boats which were out on Galilee but in the Gospel we only read of the impact upon the disciples who were in the boat with Jesus. This provides a timely reminder. Reports on the impact of the storm that was the failed investigation into Daniel Morgan’s death can easily lead us to overlook those who are directly affected and for whom the peace when the storm is stilled is especially significant.
Questions for discussion
- Are there times when you want to say to Jesus ‘Do you not care that we are perishing?’
- What is the storm that you believe we should ask Jesus to still?
- In what ways has the pandemic affected your faith?
Rev Stuart Wild is the Superintendent Minister of the South Fylde Methodist circuit.
Check-in
Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people
This week, a report from the Climate Change Committee, which advises the government on the implications of climate change, warned that the UK is ‘woefully unprepared’ to handle the effects of rising global temperatures. The report warns that global warming threatens regular heatwaves in summer, intense rainfall and floods in winter, and drastic damage to homes, crops and railways.
It’s frightening stuff, and the UK’s progress so far has been frustratingly slow. It seems particularly unfair because, to be blunt, the people who are handling the government’s response will be dead before the full effects of climate change are felt. It’s today’s teenagers and young adults who will bear the brunt of it.
In Mark 4.35-41, Jesus’ disciples are terrified by a huge storm at sea, while Jesus himself sleeps soundly. Angry and indignant, they wake him up, asking: ‘do you not care that we are perishing?’ But Jesus responds. He calms the storm instantly.
Climate change is a huge storm – literally and figuratively. But, however alarming it is, Jesus is with us in the middle of it all, just as he was with the disciples in their storm. And it’s OK to express our fear to him about the scale of the threat, and our anger at the injustice of (potentially) inheriting a mess created by previous generations. But we mustn’t despair. Jesus is the one who can calm all life’s storms. And he hears us when we cry out to him.
How can we make ourselves heard to the people who can make a difference to climate change? How might we influence the situation?
Written by Simeon Whiting, a freelance writer, based in Birmingham.
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