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
(There are many 8.7.8.7 D possibilities, such as BEACH
SPRING and IN BABILONE. But I especially like VESPER HYMN, perhaps because of
the association with the sea.)
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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