In our gospel reading for today, Jesus asks his disciples to make a risky crossing of the Sea of Galilee BY NIGHT. And sure enough, a storm whips up and makes waves large enough to swamp their small boat. The disciples are terrified, and they're also frustrated with Jesus, the one who brought them out there in the first place, who is now callously asleep on the cushion. “Don't you CARE that we are perishing?” is the cry they wake him with. OF COURSE Jesus cares – and he makes for his disciples, a dead calm – saving their lives...even if it means now they have to put their shoulders to the oars and row the boat across....
Canada Day is just around the corner, and you know what that means – Canada FLAGS are on sale, half-price, at Home Hardware. Why would you possibly invest in a red and white 3 by 6 chunk of nylon? Well, if you were at sea like the disciples in our gospel reading, you could fly the flag upside down as a SIGNAL that you are in distress. But here on land, the main purpose of flags is to SIGNAL that you CARE about something. Pride...Ukraine...Palestine...if you care about it positively, you can fly the flag in a position of prominence for the world to see. And if you care about it negatively, you can video yourself burning the flag on social media. In either case, for an investment of about 20 bucks, there will be NO DOUBT that YOU....are a person who CARES....
“Teacher, do you NOT CARE that we are perishing?” So say the disciples in our gospel reading today...but ONLY in THIS version of the story in MARK'S gospel. Mark doesn't pull any punches when it comes to describing sheer stupidity and bad behaviour on the part of Jesus' disciples, and so Mark's version highlights the disciples' clumsy attempt at emotional manipulation of Jesus. “Teacher, you caused this problem by dragging us out here, so you need to fix it. And if you don't fix it in a way WE approve of, like say, using divine power to make the waves stop, we will accuse you of having our blood on your hands. Even though you are sitting in the very same boat we are, we will accuse you of the heinous crime of NOT CARING.”
What problem do WE have that is bad enough, that we are willing to use emotional manipulation on God to have him fix it? “Lord, can't you see that I am suffering here? If you CARED about me, of course you would make it stop!” This kind of emotional manipulation is a veiled ULTIMATUM – our relationship hinges on what you do next. If I keep suffering, you DON'T care, and so we don't HAVE relationship. This kind of emotional manipulation is a veiled ULTIMATUM – your WORTH in my eyes hinges on what you do next. If I keep suffering, you are NO God, or at least, not a GOOD God. This is the gist of what Job says about God just before our first reading, “I was righteous, and yet, God stopped caring about me.” And God's response from the whirlwind is... paraphrased slightly... “Job, you're clueless, and your attempt at emotional manipulation is ticking me off.” What if God DOES CARE, but we must endure suffering anyway, for a purpose we can't understand?