Musical Prelude and Service.

Psalm 29 & Luke 8:22-25
As we reflect on storms today, and as I reflected this week on the nature of storms, my thoughts
turned to an number of natural disasters we have witnessed or experienced in recent months.
There have been of course the wildfires and forest fires that have caused so much destruction
through a great deal of Canada. Northern Manitoba, Northern Ontario, the Maritimes come
immediately to mind. Hurricanes and torrential rain have created havoc in much of the southern U.S.
In fact, flooding took the lives of a great meany people in Texas this summer. It’s heartbreaking.
And so, when we read today’s scripture in which we are told to ascribe to God the power and the
authority to control the weather – that God has the power to create such storms and to inflict this
destruction upon the earth, this can be incredibly troubling. We can be left asking very difficult
questions.
Why does God not prevent such loss – the death that comes with natural disasters?
Or does God intentionally bring such destruction on our heads?
Are these the acts of a capricious God who is no concerned with the suffering of God’s people?
Or is it a punishment for our disobedience or our own cruelty?
Or is there a different way to read and reflect on these passages of scripture? Something more inline
with our faith in a loving and ever-present God? A God of mercy and justice. A God filled with
compassion for all of creation. A God who desires only the best for this wondrous creation.
Psalm 29 is amongst the oldest of the psalms. It comes from a time when everything was viewed as
a direct result of God’s actions. God directs the winds, the lightning, the fires the waves.
How do we respond to, react to, relate to such a God?
The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl
[b]
and strips the forest bare,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The psalmist describes God’s might. God’s power. This psalmist insists we must acknowledge God’s
power over all we encounter. We are at God’s mercy.
But we need to take time to also acknowledge that our understanding of the world and our
understanding of God in our world has changed over the millennia. In our modern context, we
recognize that storms are not a result of God’s anger. They are not God’s response to our behaviour.
Such a view of God is perhaps naïve, but it can also be harmful. Presenting a vision of God as
vengeful or wrathful can lead to incredibly abusive theology.
But we are still left with the challenge of locating God in the presence of storms. In the presence of
natural disasters, and the storms of life that all too often buffet us and disrupt our lives, bringing
hurt, chaos and anxiety.
When we offer our prayers to an ever-present God, we are acknowledging – perhaps ascribing, to
God the power, to be present in the midst of those storms. God may not bring the storm, the
disaster, the heartbreak, but God is still present. The question then becomes, can we find God, can
we identify the divine presence in these moments?
Can we find reassurance, peace and strength to help overcome the worst of these storms?
May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!
God is there when we endure the storms, figuratively and literally that challenge our peace. That
demand so much of our strength. God is there weeping with us and for us in our times of heartbreak,
but also offering us renewed strength, offering us moments of peace.
But I think sometimes we are reluctant to reach out and receive those offers, or we ignore the
offering, not recognizing them for what they are. We are often left feeling we need to be
independent and resilient on our own. We are influenced by a society that praises and celebrates the
image of the lone wolf, the hearty individualists. Self reliance is seen and proclaimed a virtue. So, all
too often we are reluctant to ask for help.
Or we turn down offers of assistance. If people ask us how they can be of help, we say we are fine
and keep on journeying alone. Perhaps, just perhaps, those offers of help; the presence of a
neighbour or a friend, is a sign of God’s presence in the midst of a storm.
The gospel reading from Luke is one that can be read a few different ways. We can simply read it
literally, a story of Jesus displaying his power; demonstrating that the winds and the waves listen and
obey. Or we can read it with some sense of metaphor. Jesus is there, perhaps resting as we struggle
with the sudden storm that threatens to turn our lives upside down and drive us into even more
dangerous shores. But Jesus is right there waiting for us to call out and ask for help.
Where is your faith?
I will confess I have often wondered about this question in this story. I have no absolute answer,
but I find myself wondering – is he asking why it took his disciples so long to approach him?
That they struggled with the sails, and the direction of their boat in the midst of this sudden squall?
That they waited until they were on the brink of disaster to reach out and ask Jesus for help?
And on that point, they didn’t exactly ask for assistance. They declared they were about to die, and
then Jesus quieted the storm.
Ask for help. Acknowledge that we can not do everything on our own and for ourselves. We are part
of a community. We are one part of a large and wondrous creation. We are reliant on those whom
we know well and those whom we have never met.
If we take time to confess that we are not fully masters of our own destiny, that we live in a world
that can become far more perilous than we anticipated at a moment’s notice, we can hopefully be
prepared to put our trust, our faith in a God who is always there. God is loving us completely and
prepared to lend strength, love and peace; if we only will reach out, acknowledge our need and
willingness to receive the love that is offered.
We are not alone. We live in God’s world.
I have quoted this line from our New Creed several times in recent weeks. It is a powerful statement
at this time, I believe.
May we be open to recognizing God’s presence all around us. In the peace that is offered, the
strength that is given, and the reassurance that comes from God’s continued presence.
May we see it in our family, our friends, our neighbours, our community. May we be open to
admitting our need for help, and may we be ready to receive graciously the support offered.
And may we in our gratitude continue to offer that same support; that love, that strength and that
peace to those whom we see and hear naming that same need and fear. May we all recognize and
celebrate God’s constant love, God strength and God’s peace all around us by saying together,
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789