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Stillness. Quiet and Silence
SERMON – 10.15am, Emmanuel Church, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Sunday 21st June 2009
Revd. Canon David Pickering
Mark 4.41
Who then is this, even the wind and the sea obey him?
In Hong Kong we know all about the wind and the sea.
Last September we experienced a no9 Typhoon, when the doors of the flat swung, the bath water went up and down and the top of the tower was said to have moved about eighteen inches. Christine said she felt a little seasick the next morning.
The sea can also be pretty choppy at times.
But why were these experienced fishermen, who had spent so much of their lives on the lake terrified by the sudden storm, a storm so severe that they panic and yet Jesus sleeps comfortable on a cushion in the stern.
It's a somewhat artificial story!
But Mark is not interested in such niceties; for the evangelist, the story shows Jesus' ability to deal with the primeval forces of chaos.
The 'sea' in the Old Testament sometimes stands for the primal chaos which only God can order and control. Ps.65.7
You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
It can also be seen as a symbol for the sufferings endured by human beings – Today's psalm 107,23-32.
This morning's gospel reading is the first in a series of three stories of Jesus' miracles, showing his power over the forces of nature as well as his ability to heal and to exorcize. With our modern scientific knowledge we might wish to distinguish between healing / exorcistic powers and claims to be able to change the course of nature. For us they are two distinct realms of activity. Such a distinction would be foreign to a first-century reader or writer. For Mark and his readers both alike show the divine power at work in Jesus.
For Mark the forces of evil in nature and human sickness are one and the same.
In verse 39 Mark's verb referring to Jesus "rebuking" the wind is the same as he uses in 1.25 where Jesus rebukes a demon. And on both occasions Jesus uses similar words. Here he rebukes the waves with, "Peace, be still." In 1.25 he says to the evil spirit, "Be silent, and come out of him."
"Peace" "Stillness" and "Silence" are essential to healing.
The frenetic nature of hospital life today seems to run counter to this.
Some years ago Christine and I were travelling through one country or another, neither of us can remember which, and every town and city where there was a hospital there was a notice asking for quiet and silence around the hospital. I have also seen in hospitals times of the day when patients are encouraged to relax and sleep.
When we are under the weather, we all feel better if we can find some peace and quiet in our lives.
But we all need a bit of stillness, peace, calm and quiet in our lives.
I have always valued "Silence." At my Theological College which was run by the Anglican Religious community of the Society of the Sacred Mission, we observed Silence every night from end of the final office of the day, Compline at 9.15pm until after morning worship and breakfast the next day.
This was based on two things Fr Herbert Kelly, the founder of the Community, wrote about Silence.
To quote our rule book, He who cannot keep silence is not content with God, and God speaks most often in silence.
In our relationship with God, the world around us, and with our very selves, we all need silence, and probably more often than we think.
And of course we can find silence and stillness of many places. Places of worship are an obvious location. On my Wednesday walks in the countryside around the territory it is amazing that we don't have to walk very far to get away from the constant drone that is the sound of Hong Kong.
Stillness is probably as important as silence.
A lot of the noise that clutters up our lives comes from the fast pace of the hurly burly of modern living. We need to learn or to recapture stillness in our lives.
Many years ago there was a Saturday evening programme on the radio, which shows how long ago it was, probably in the 1950s, called 'In Town Tonight.' It began with the sound of traffic, and suddenly there was a shout of 'Stop.' And the presented would begin the show by saying, 'Once again we stop the sound of London's traffic to see who is in town tonight.' Then various personalities would be introduced and interviewed in a 30 minute programme.
We need to keep stopping ourselves, and recalling God into our lives – he or she who cannot keep silent is not content with God.
We can have our favourite locations where we like to do this, but we can also do it on the MTR and the crowded streets of Hong Kong or any other city. God is there just as much as he is with us on our worship and prayer. It's up to us to be still and silent and let him speak.
God does speak most often in silence.
Amen.
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