“The next day an evil spirit FROM God rushed upon Saul.” This, I must admit is one of the most troubling passages in the Bible for me. It is up there with “But, the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh… (Exodus 9:12)”. In the story of the great Exodus of the people of Israel from their captivity in Egypt , we are presented with the tale of Moses going to Pharaoh and asking for the people’s release from slavery – but Pharaoh’s heart is described as hardened and he refuses. The Lord works many miracles in order to soften Pharaoh’s heart. It worked! The Pharaoh agrees to release the Israelites, but then before the people of Israel can leave, there is a twist in the story. The Lord hardens the heart of Pharaoh; the Pharaoh changes his mind and refuses to release the Israelites from their bondage. Thus, the final plague is necessary to free God’s people – it is the death of all the first born male children and livestock of the Egyptians. Only the people of Israel are spared.

The very thought that God would cause evil and misfortune does not fit my image of God. And, after all, God needs to conform to my way of thinking. Until I met Dr. Jim Sanders, my OT professor, I found little of value in the OT stories such as these. There are times in our lives when we meet someone who opens our world – opens it to a whole new way of seeing. Jim Sanders was such a person for me. He had various truisms he would say – the one that helped me get past my problems with these passages was “theologize, don’t moralize.” As we read these stories in the Old Testament, we are not to apply our 21^st century morals to the stories. Rather we need to read them listening for the theology contained within. This, of course, also needs to be done from the perspective of the people of Israel before Christ.

They lived in a violent and superstitious time. It was a time when people believed in many gods and your choice of gods might very well determine whether or not your tribe was in power or enslaved. People worshiped many gods because the gods were specialists – there was a god that controls fertility, and gods that control the weather.

The people of Israel had been chosen by their God, Yahweh – not the other way around. Their God was above all other gods – the greatest and most powerful. The people of Israel believed as many of us do today – things happen for a reason.

If God is in control, evil must also come from God – right? This logic is certainly behind today’s story in Samuel about Saul’s jealousy of David’s favor with God. How else could the people of Israel explain the battle between their King Saul, the man selected by God to be their first king, and David the one chosen by God to replace him? What took place between Saul and David was chaos and chaos is uncomfortable. The people needed to make sense of what was happening; they needed to believe God was in control. So in the story, Saul’s insanity was caused by God who was manipulating things so that everything would work out according to God’s plan.

Throughout the OT we also see that people made wrong choices – suggesting that God gives us the freedom to choose. Over and over again we read that the Lord was angry at his people who broke their covenant with God by worshiping false gods and idols - a covenant which was entered into by choice.

If our challenge is to theologize, not moralize, what can we learn about God from today’s reading? I would suggest it is simply that God is with us when we are with God. Saul was the chosen one when he was doing God’s will. When he was serving God he was the king in name and spirit, but the power of his position went to his head. That is when Saul turned from being a servant of God to a jealous man concerned about David’s growing favor within the army and the people of Israel . Was it God’s will that Saul attempted to kill David? I don’t believe so. Saul, like the people of Israel , yielded to temptation and turned away from God. David’s heart was right with God; he was faithful to the covenant. This was threatening to Saul who cared more for power than the people.

For thousands of years people have sought to control chaos. But we are like the ship in the storm – we get tossed about. We can only control so much. As Christians we understand that Christ is calling us to submit our lives to God. It is when we try to be in control that we get into trouble like Saul did. The world is full of people trying to be in control – people who fail to see the big picture, which is the promise of God’s Kingdom. As a result, the world is filled with evil and violence. But in the midst of all this chaos, we can find peace in Christ.

That is the message of today’s Gospel reading. It reminds us that in the midst of the storms of life, it is Christ who will calm the sea.

Last summer, as part of my education, I worked as a chaplain in a homeless program in downtown Atlanta . It was an eye opener. Never before had I seen so many people living with so little. Never before had I seen people living in such desperate circumstances with such hope. Each Saturday morning a service was held while volunteers prepared breakfast for over a hundred homeless men, women, and children. Shelters were open only at night, so every morning those sleeping in the shelters were awoken and sent out on the streets. We fed as many as we had chairs to accommodate.

On the morning I was asked to lead the worship service, I preached on this passage from Mark. I believe it speaks to the heart of what it takes to live in such chaos. I shared with them the story of a woman I got to know when I was a hospital social worker. She lost her home and her farm when her son had cancer. She and her husband spent everything they had trying to pay for his treatments – and that wasn’t enough. After his death she was angry with God – furious. She cursed at God for taking her son – she didn’t care about her house or her farm, all she wanted was her son. Her priest told her it was okay to be angry with God. He said, “God can take it.”

We need only read the Psalms to know that people have praised God and challenged God from generation to generation. Yet, God remains with us. Anger, fear, and hurt can challenge our faith – but it need not control our lives.

The disciplines were in fear for their lives during the storm, so they awoke Christ. You can hear the anger in their voices when they said to him, “Teacher, do you not care we are perishing?” Christ calmed the storm.

Working in Atlanta I quickly learned that the homeless are often angry, but many find hope in Christ. They, like the disciples turn to Jesus with their anger and frustration. Others use their anger as an excuse and they are left feeling alone and betrayed. Stepping back and reflecting on last summer, I realized that it is not just the homeless that use the hurt and anger that comes from mistreatment and misfortune as an excuse to deny God. We all experience dark times. That is why I like how Mark tells this story. I can identify with the disciples. I sometimes find myself living in fear when my faith is weak – but when all I can do is to remember that Christ is with me and turn to him, he will calm the storm.

Left without her son, her home, and her farm, my friend found God was with her, comforting her in her suffering and grief. She then helped found a chapter of Compassionate Friends, a support group for people grieving the loss of children. She, like Christ, was present to others overcome by the windstorm of grief caused by the loss of a child. She sought to calm the storms for people who turned to her in desperation.

We have all experienced difficult times in our lives; many in our community are struggling today. Yesterday our parking lot was full of people offering help in the most basic of ways – providing food at an affordable price. It was a wonderful reminder that the church is NOT St. Andrew’s; it is the Body of Christ. People from churches up to an hour away came to collect food for distribution. People from this congregation distributed food and took orders for next month’s deliveries.

In a few minutes we will be fed spiritually as we partake of the bread and wine remembering that Christ died for us. We are to feed on him in our hearts through faith with thanksgiving. As we give thanks, let us remember that God’s gifts are meant to be shared. We are the body of Christ and it is up to us to help calm the storms for those who turn to us in need.