Fifth Sunday after Pentecost • Year B

Historical Collect

For those who love you, O God, you have chosen and prepared what no eye has seen nor ear heard. Pour into our hearts a loving affection for you, that we may choose you in and above all things. For only then shall we have what you promise, which far exceeds all we can desire; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Gelasian Sacramentary, 7th Century)

Thematic Collect

Sovereign God, even the wind and the waves obey you. Calm the storms of our lives and teach us to listen to you and trust in the power of your Word which is powerful beyond our deepest fears; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

The Common Thread

If you are going to weather the storm, you must first, face the Lord. Stand before him with confidence, for he is on your side. He is your help. But you must first, come before him, like a grown up. His grace is available to you today. There is no need to wait, or to do things in preparation. Now is the time; come. “Have you still no faith?” The Lord has already spoken: “Peace.”

First Reading • Job 38:1-11

No matter the assault suffered, God is in the breach. We often think life — or even God — unfair when suffering the death of a loved one, illness, loss of income, or any other trouble. Though we complain and blame, God remains with us as he continued to be with Job. It may not feel like he is with us, but in the end, when our lament has run out, we sense his control of our lives. 

Psalm • Psalm 124:1-8

Our enemies are many and our friends too few. If the Lord were not so faithful, always on our side, how could we withstand the flood of life? Much of what we endure is commonplace and fairly tame, yet the God of all creation, “Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible,” stands by us in the little things and the large alike. He is our help in every storm. 

Second Reading • 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

The apostles suffered much and their faithful conduct in the face of tribulation is commendable. Obviously, Paul was suffering in his relations with the Corinthian Church. This is pretty standard fare. Some church folks find fault with ministers of the gospel and some in the world find fault with Christians. Paul and the other apostles had suffered a great deal for the gospel, and now Paul was even enduring trials from the Corinthian Christians.

Paul did not turn against them, but instead, opened his heart all the wider to them. He did not lash out but spoke the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), hoping that the Corinthians would return his affections

Gospel • Mark 4:35-41

In traveling from one side of the Sea of Galilee to the other, the disciples were headed away from comfortable Jewish culture to one of the Gentiles and religious practices that threatened their composure. Somewhere in their journey to the eastern shore, a storm arose during the dark of night. One cannot fault the disciples; the situation was desperate. The boat was being swamped. Jesus was sleeping through the storm, so his disciples woke him. He spoke a commanding word of peace to the storm and it was still upon the lake.

Next, he admonished the disciples for their evident lack of faith. Perhaps this is the reason Mark used a word that means “to go through” when Jesus said they were to head to the other side of the lake. English translations say “pass over,” (KJV) “go over,” (ASV), and “go across” (RSV, ESV, LEB). Even the very literal NASB reads, “go over.” Though they were going across the sea, they needed to pass through their fears and prevail by faith before they would minister in mysterious and frightening cultures and countries.