Stand By Me

October 22, 2023 homily on Mark 4:35-41 by Pastor Galen

When the storms of life are raging, stand by me (x2) When the world is tossing me, like a ship upon the sea, thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me. – Charles Albert Tindley

Charles Albert Tindley

When Charles Albert Tindley was born in Berlin, Maryland on July 7th, 1851, no one ever dreamed that he would grow up to write a song that would be sung by Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson. No one ever conceived of the idea that he would someday pastor one of the largest Methodist churches in the United States, or that he would someday be called “The Prince of Preachers” and “The Grandfather of Gospel Music.” No one could have ever imagined that he would be awarded an honorary doctorate from Morgan College (now Morgan State University).

You see, Charles Albert Tindley was born to a father who was enslaved. His mother, a free black woman, passed away soon after he was born. Although he was born free, he was hired to work in the fields alongside those who were enslaved. He was never given the opportunity to attend school, but he was motivated to learn, so he taught himself to read by gathering scraps of newspaper and sounding out each letter as he sat by the firelight each night.

There’s a story from early in Charles’s life that demonstrates his courage and boldness. You see, back in those days, African-American congregants (free and enslaved) were forced to sit in the back of the church and on the balcony. One Sunday, the pastor asked all of the children who had read their Bibles that week to come forward. Of course, in saying this, he was not any of the African-American children to come forward, since they did not have the opportunity to go to school. But Charles had indeed read his Bible that week, having taught himself to read, and so he bravely walked to the front of the church and read from the Bible, to the astonishment of everyone present.

Tindley got married at a young age, and after the Civil War, he and his wife Daisy moved to Philadelphia, where Tindley worked as a brick carrier by day, and served as the janitor of a Methodist church in the evenings. Tindley sat in on the Bible classes at the church and started reading the theology books that the pastor recommended. Eventually, he felt called to be a pastor, but since he had a family to support and could not quit his jobs to go to seminary, he enlisted the help of a local Jewish Rabbi to teach him Hebrew. He learned Greek by taking a correspondence course.

Tindley passed the ordination exam with flying colors, although he had no seminary degree, and was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, serving first as an itinerant pastor in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, before eventually being appointed to the very same church in Philadelphia where had been the janitor some 15 years prior! Over the course of the 30 years that he pastored that church, the congregation grew from a congregation of 130 to become a multiethnic congregation of 10,000. Tindley worked alongside politicians and business leaders in Philadelphia to help members find jobs and purchase homes, even starting a building and loan association to offer mortgages to members of the African-American community who would otherwise have been denied loans. The church also had an active food ministry, feeding many who were in need.

When the Storms of Life Are Raging

Charles Tindley wrote the song “Stand By Me” to encourage his congregation to remember that no matter what struggles they faced in this life, God would be with them.  The hymn draws from the imagery of Jesus calming a storm, found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 

The Gospel of Mark tells us that, as Jesus and his disciples were going across the sea in a boat, “A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped” (Mark 4:37). The disciples no doubt tried everything they could think of to prevent their boat from sinking. Some were working the sails or the oars, while others were bailing water out of the boat or throwing cargo overboard to lighten the load. The disciples had good reason to be terrified of the storm. Without modern navigational equipment, it would have been difficult for them to know exactly where the shoreline was, and a boat like theirs could easily be broken to pieces if it crashed against the rocks. 

I imagine it was in times like these that Jesus’s disciples second-guessed their decision to follow Jesus. Even though a few of them were fishermen by trade and had spent a lot of time on the water, they could have stayed much closer to shore. Jesus was the one who kept encouraging them to go out into the deeper waters (Luke 5:4), or in this case, to sail across the sea at night (Mark 4:35).

On the other hand, they probably thought to themselves that it was nice of Jesus to offer to steer the boat during this evening voyage across the sea. And that’s when they looked up at the stern to see how Jesus was faring in this terrible storm, and they noticed that he was not, in fact, sitting at the wheel! They climbed up onto the stern (a raised platform at the rear of the boat used in those days as the steering position for the ship) and there was Jesus, fast asleep, using his seat cushion as a pillow.

The disciples were angry and upset that Jesus was sleeping instead of steering the boat. They woke him up, saying, “‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” (Mark 4:38). Jesus woke up, rebuked the wind, and commanded the sea to be still, and immediately the sea was calm. Jesus told them that they did not have to be afraid, but the disciples were even more afraid when they saw Jesus’s great power, saying to each other, “‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” 

With Us In the Storm

Have you ever felt like Jesus was asleep at the wheel of your life? You gave Jesus control of your life, you said, “Here Jesus, take the wheel!” and then you began to face all sorts of trials and tribulations? Have you ever faced a storm, inside or out, and you wondered, Jesus, are you really there, or are you sleeping? Do you even care?

There’s a story from early in Charles Albert Tindley’s ministry that may have inspired the song “Stand By Me.” Charles and his wife Daisy had just moved to a new town for Charles’s first pastoral appointment. They were grieving the recent loss of a child. Money was tight, and food in their house was scarce. A terrible snowstorm arose that prevented them from leaving the house, and so they and their two children sat down to eat a meager meal of stale bread and water. Their plan was to dip the bread in the water to soften it up, but first, they paused to pray and thank God for what they had. Right then they heard a knock at the door, and a Caucasian man walked in with a large sack of food, saying, “‘Knowing you were the new parson here, and not knowing how you were making out in this storm, my wife and I thought you might need some food.’”  

With tears streaming down his face, Tindley became convinced in that moment that no matter what storms he and his family faced, God would be with them. 

Verse 1: When the storms of life are raging, stand by me.

When the storms of life are raging, stand by me.

When the world is tossing me, like a ship upon the sea,

thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me.

Verse 2: In the midst of tribulation, stand by me (stand by me);

in the midst of tribulation, stand by me (stand by me).

When the host of hell assail, and my strength begins to fail,

thou who never lost a battle, stand by me (stand by me).

Like ever leader, I’m sure Tindley made mistakes and had faults and failures. And I’m sure there were times when his friends and family could not understand why he made certain decisions in life—moving away from home, leaving his job, and going into the ministry. And so he wrote verse 3 to remind us that God is with us, even when we make mistakes, and even when others cannot understand why we do what we do.

Verse 3: In the midst of faults and failures, stand by me (stand by me);

in the midst of faults and failures, stand by me (stand by me).

When I do the best I can, and my friends misunderstand,

thou who knowest all about me, stand by me (stand by me). 

Like every leader, Tindley made some decisions that were unpopular. One such decision was to move his growing congregation to Broad Street, one of the main streets of Philadelphia—something that was unheard of for an African-American congregation in those days. Even the president of his Trustee Board adamantly opposed this plan, and organized a faction of the church to go against Tindley’s decision. 

Tindley also experienced persecution for adamantly opposing the social events of his day that he considered degrading to people of color, such as minstrel shows. And, in 1915, when he and other leaders led a march in protest of the showing of the film The Birth of a Nation, Rev. Tindley and the other peaceful protestors were attacked by a mob wielding clubs, sticks, and bottles. Tindley knew what it was like to be persecuted and to have foes try to stop his way. 

Verse 4: In the midst of persecution, stand by me (stand by me);

in the midst of persecution, stand by me (stand by me).

When my foes in battle array undertake to stop my way,

thou who savèd Paul and Silas, stand by me (stand by me).

Tindley was only 55 at the time that he wrote this song, and he would go on to live to the age of 82. And yet, for years he struggled with a lung condition that caused him to experience hemorrhages after every sermon he preached. Later, he was hospitalized due to bleeding behind his heart. Throughout his whole life, Tindley had a realistic understanding that, if God sees fit to keep us alive, we will all eventually grow old and feeble. And so he concluded the hymn with:

Verse 5: When I’m growing old and feeble, stand by me (stand by me);

when I’m growing old and feeble, stand by me (stand by me).

When my life becomes a burden, and I’m nearing chilly Jordan,

O thou Lily of the Valley, stand by me (stand by me).

Stand By Me

One of the greatest promises in Scripture is that God will be with us, no matter what storms we go through in this life. Jesus knew that, and that’s why he could sleep soundly during the storm. And Jesus wanted his disciples to know that as well, which is why he calmed the storm—to show them that in him, God was indeed present with them, and they did not have to be afraid.

Rev. Dr. Charles Albert Tindley knew God’s presence with him as well: as a little boy using scraps of newspaper to teach himself to read by firelight at night; when he and his family were sitting down to a meal of crusts of bread and water and a caring neighbor brought fresh food for them to eat; when he endured persecution and was misunderstood; and when he experienced feeble health.

No matter what storms we go through, may we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is right there, by our side. May we not be afraid, but may we rather rest in the confidence that God is leading us and protecting us and will guide us safely to the other side. 

Amen!