1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49, Psalm 9:9-20, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13, Mark 4:35-41

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Perhaps in hearing these words of Jesus’ frantic disciples your thoughts go to the children of our world – perhaps the children seeking immigration on our southern border – children all over the world who surely must want to scream at us in the faith community.  “Do you not care that we are perishing?” 

Syria is an area so very significant in the history of Christianity, even specifically significant to our parish as we remember our founders who were of Syrian Orthodox origin; in Syria, children are perishing: Over 900 children were killed in 2017, and 361 were injured as the Syrian Regime and Russia besieged Syrian villages.  In response to the message of the Assad regime: “Submit or die” nearly 1,000 children were forced into combat service last year, many never having known life without conflict and food scarcity.  Humanitarian efforts to bring health care and education are repeatedly denied. Understandably, families are desperate for asylum outside the Syrian border.

Tomorrow, I look forward to sharing a meal with the bishop of the Diocese of Attooch in Southern Sudan, another country ravaged since civil war began there in 2013.  In these five years of war, 19,000 children have been recruited or kidnapped by armed groups and forced into military or domestic service.  Last February, World Vision was successful in orchestrating the release of 87 girls and 224 boys, assisting them in the critical and difficult transition back into a life that includes some degree of education, family, and psychological counseling – basics of well-being for children that we take for granted.

Accurate statistics from the horrendous, seemingly insurmountable immigration crisis on our southern border are quite impossible to attain. Needless to say, there are thousands of families – adults and children requiring processing.  None of us wants any child to be mistreated; assuring the safety of these children from the critical and real possibility of exploitation by the adults that accompany them is a hugely complicating issue, as is attending the thousands of children traveling alone.  Surely, from young children separated from parents, we hear the cry, “Do you not care that we are perishing?”

“Do you not care that our children are perishing?”  In the past 45 years, well over 60 million have been aborted in the United States.  Fortunately, those numbers are declining yearly; in 2014, there were 926,190 reported abortions, down from 1 million+ in previous years. 

Do we care?  The safety and provision of children is our common ground, requiring us to put away our angry discourse and vicious politics for their sake.  Assuring the wellbeing of the world’s children is a massive priority much like David standing before Goliath.  But, David was confident of God’s providence; the mighty Philistine was no match for God’s providence.

In last week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus shared two parables to illustrate God’s providence.  Both parables describe the process of taking the seed from safe storage and planting it in the soil where the sprouting of the seed is held in God’s hands, enveloped in the mystery of his grace.  It is not up to us to sprout the seed.  We invest our part – we can water the seeds and work to keep out the weeds, but the real mystery of its growth and increase is entrusted to God.   

The important message is in God’s providence – God’s all-powerful means of providing for his creation – and in our need to surrender to God our obsession to be in control.  

Trust in God’s providence then is the basis of our lesson from last week and it carries through for today.  Today’s lesson from Mark follows immediately after Jesus’ teaching in which he uses parables, in this case, the parables of the Kingdom. Jesus has just been teaching the disciples to trust in God’s providence, but they fail the pop quiz that follows. As night approaches, they leave the place where Jesus is teaching, getting into their boat with plans to cross the Sea of Galilee.  

The Sea of Galilee is known for its unpredictable, frequently violent, and quickly changing weather conditions.  As darkness descends upon the crew and Jesus is sleeping in the stern, a violent windstorm arises that sends this boatload of seasoned fishermen into a fear struck frenzy.  “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  Jesus rises, rebukes the wind, just as his disciples had seen him rebuke the evil spirits, and says to the sea with utter calm, “Peace, be still.”  As tranquility overtakes the chaos, Jesus speaks to his disciples, “Why are you afraid?  Have you still no faith?”

God does not promise that there will be no storms; Jesus does not promise to calm all our storms immediately or serendipitously, as he seems to have calmed this storm on Lake Galilee.  But, Jesus promises to remain with us through all the storms.

How often have we caressed a frightened child with the assurance that there is no need to be afraid?  To say that there is nothing of which to be afraid would not be true, but to say that there is no need to be afraid because we are there to bring protection and comfort is true.  We are asking that child to trust that we are there for his best interest – to protect against evil forces just as Jesus is with us to protect us when evil forces threaten.  Jesus never says there are no evil forces to be feared.

But, what happens when we attempt to operate our boat through the passages of our lives separated from our trust in God.  If we neglect our relationship with God, it is easy for us to feel that he is “asleep in the stern” like Jesus was for the disciples in our lesson this morning.  It is our responsibility to see that Jesus Christ remains awake in us.  

The storms of poverty and violence and war continue to rage, threatening the children of our world.  As for David standing before Goliath, the problems seem insurmountable. It is more important than ever to keep our faith awake in us.  Calmly, with lowered voices and open and unified hearts, working earnestly and in the best interest of our children, we must assure them that we hear their cries – that we are there, with God’s help, to provide protection and comfort in a world where Jesus Christ is forever awake in all God’s creation.