The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Year B

First Reading: Job 38:1-11,16-18

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.  "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell me, if you have understanding.  Who determined its measurements-- surely you know!  Or who stretched the line upon it?  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?  "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? -- when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, `Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?  "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?  Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this."

 

1.    How does our knowledge compare to the knowledge of God?

 

 

Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 Page 746, BCP

Confitemini Domino

1

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, *
and his mercy endures for ever.

2

Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim *
that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.

3

He gathered them out of the lands; *
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

 

23

Some went down to the sea in ships *
and plied their trade in deep waters;

24

They beheld the works of the LORD *
and his wonders in the deep.

25

Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose, *
which tossed high the waves of the sea.

26

They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths; *
their hearts melted because of their peril.

27

They reeled and staggered like drunkards *
and were at their wits' end.

28

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.

29

He stilled the storm to a whisper *
and quieted the waves of the sea.

30

Then were they glad because of the calm, *
and he brought them to the harbor they were bound for.

31

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy *
and the wonders he does for his children.

32

Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people *
and praise him in the council of the elders.

 

 

1. What are we to do when we find ourselves in stormy seas?

 

 

 

 

Epistle Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

The love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

1.  How do we spread the message of reconciliation?

 

 

The Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, "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?"

 

1.  Would you have been afraid if you were one of the disciples on that boat?