by Michael Winters
Peace (Mark 4:36-41) by Craig Hawkins, charcoal on paper, 2016
When Pastor Jamaal preached this past Sunday’s sermon, Opportunity for Lament, I already had Craig Hawkins’ drawing, Peace, on my mind . The drawing shows a bird’s eye view of one of my favorite Bible stories, the one where Jesus calms the storm.
Jesus is in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. A storm arises, but Jesus remains sleeping through the storm. The worried disciples wake him up, saying, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Jesus gets up, rebukes the wind and the waves: “Quiet! Be Still!” Then all is calm. Jesus says to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The story doesn’t supply the disciples’ response except to show their continued fear. It says, “They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’”
I think Craig Hawkins’ image of this story was on my mind because in this unprecedented time of coronavirus concerns, I identify with the disciples. I know Jesus is powerful over the wind and the waves and over viruses, too. Still, I can’t help responding like the disciples: “Jesus, don’t you care if this virus changes everything?”
The Bible, and especially laments like Psalm 44, give us reason to think such direct questioning might be ok.
Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?We are brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
Rise up and help us;
rescue us because of your unfailing love.- Psalm 44:23-26
Pastor Jamaal encouraged all of us to write our own psalm of lament using a guide which can be found here. I gave it a try and this is what I came up with below. If you write one and want to share, email me at mwinters@sojournchurch.com. I’d love to see what you wrote.
Jesus, I’ve heard the story how you calmed the sea
How you spoke to the wind and the waves
How the tempest heard your voice, and calmed.
The waters knew your voice from the first days of creation
when You separated the waters with your words.
But Jesus, before you calmed the sea
You were asleep and the disciples had to wake you
And were you upset with them for needing you?
You know they needed you, as we need you now
To calm our nerves, To calm our voices,
To calm our fears.
But are you again asleep?
Do we need to wake you from the bottom of some heavenly boat?
Louisville is shutting down, the world is shutting down.
Surely, you see it.
Jesus, do viruses know your voice?
On which day of creation did you make them?
Or does it not work like that? I’m sorry, I just don’t know.
We know we’re not without guilt -
We’ve caged what should not be caged
Freed what should not be freed
Jesus, you said to your disciples,
Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?
And they didn’t really answer. What could they say?
What could we say?
It’s been 2,000 years.
You can calm the storm. You can calm virus surges.
God, have mercy on us.
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Added: This new video from Pastor Jamaal also speaks directly to this post.