Rembrandt: Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633)
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, stolen 1990
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4–11, 19–23) 32–49 and Mark 4:35–41
Identifying with Those Once Stirred
Oh, how exciting, these two tales to tell!
The danger and the dialogue propel
Us forward, like a stone that from a sling
Is slung, and soon it all comes to a head!
In story one, Goliath falls down dead,
And we (with Israel’s army) cheer and sing
Because in God this David put his trust.
In story two, the waves and blowing gusts—
Which would destroy—are calmed with just a word,
And those who were afraid are filled with awe.
How easily, by such emotions raw,
We can identify with those once stirred
By One who gave such courage to a lad,
Whose word of peace so strong, it makes us glad.
Scott L. Barton
+ + +
Mark 4:35–41
Hymn:
Even Jesus Used a Pillow
VESPER
HYMN 8.7.8.7.8.6.8.7
Scott Barton, 2018 Attr. Dimitri Bortniansky (1751-1825)
Even Jesus used a pillow;
Maybe someone put it there,
Helped to make his nap more restful,
Knowing all he had to bear.
Noticing, he sidled sternward,
Thinking he might lend a hand,
Tenderly, the head he lifted,
Moved to act with love unplanned.
Soon the wind came up in danger,
Strong the threat to do them in,
“Don’t you care?” they soon demanded,
Wet with fear for kith and kin.
Jesus woke, rebuking quickly
Wind, and to the sea, “Be still!”
“Even wind and sea obey him!”
Cried his mates with awe so filled.
Jesus and his pillow bearer
Acted quickly, seeing need,
Empathy’s a thing that strikes you,
Voice that calls, with love, you heed!
Lord, compassion never fails you,
May we trust you notice still,
And, when human need next moves us,
May we boldly do your will.
Scott L. Barton
(Frederick
Buechner proposed the idea that someone may have been moved to put a
pillow under Jesus’ head in his page called “Jesus” in Peculiar Treasures[Harper & Row, 1979] and the subsequent Beyond Words.)
Now
the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at
Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah,
in Ephes-dammim. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a
champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of
mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had
greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his
shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his
spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer
went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have
you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you
not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down
to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your
servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be
our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “Today I defy the
ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul
and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed
and greatly afraid. Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were
in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. David rose early
in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and
went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army
was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. Israel and the
Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. David left the
things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and
went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, the champion, the
Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the
Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your
servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Saul said to David,
“You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for
you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David
said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and
whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went
after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it
turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and
kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this
uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied
the armies of the living God.” David said, “The Lord, who saved me from
the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the
hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord
be with you!” Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet
on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. David strapped Saul’s
sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used
to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am
not used to them.” So David removed them.
Then
he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the
wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in
his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. The Philistine came on
and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the
Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a
youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David,
“Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed
David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I
will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of
the field.” But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword
and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very
day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down
and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine
army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of
the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by
sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into
our hand.”
When
the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the
battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took
out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the
stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
+ + +
On
that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to
the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them
in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great
windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was
already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion;
and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we
are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
“Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He
said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they
were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this,
that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
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