Storms have been very much in the news these past few weeks as we’ve watched with horror the death and devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian. Classed as the second most powerful hurricane to ever make landfall in the Atlantic, it has devastated the Bahamas and left it looking like a nuclear bomb has gone off. We are left in no doubt how devastating nature can be. It brings to our mind Cyclone Tracy or the fear of bushfires we face every year. While we many never face the devastation of a hurricane, we have all sheltered through damaging storms and felt helpless. We have all realised we are at the mercy of nature until it passes.
We are continuing looking at the season of creation as we come to Storm Sunday. Unsurprisingly the gospel reading is Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. This was an area well used to storms but the one faced by the disciples seems to have been particularly fierce. They believe their lives are in danger and cry out to Jesus to save them. Jesus however has been entirely unconcerned by these events and is asleep. He of course calms the storm and asks the disciples where their faith is? They respond by asking who Jesus is that even the wind and waves obey Him? They felt Jesus had abandoned them to their fate, was unconcerned about them; their faith in Him had been blown away by the storm.
Proponents of the so called “prosperity gospel” will argue that God wants your life to be plain sailing and if it isn’t, it’s because you lack faith. However, readings like this one suggest that facing storms in life is simply how things are. Those who confess Jesus as Lord when all is plain sailing must also be able to confess Jesus as Lord during the worst storms that life throws at us. If our faith is blown away by trouble, can we really say we have faith? It comes to trusting that God is with us in the storm, not absent and uncaring. Yet while storms are part and parcel of life on earth, we are also asked to question how we live. God calls us to live gently upon the earth and to always care for the poor. The poor are the least able to deal with the aftermath of storms. Maybe we need to modify our lives in such a way as to do less harm to the environment as a means of reducing the frequency of damaging weather events? Confessing Jesus as Lord means placing ourselves subject to His rule. His call is to care for this earth, God’s good creation, and all who live here.