When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, \u201cLet us go across to the other side.\u201d 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, \u201cTeacher, do you not care that we are perishing?\u201d He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, \u201cPeace! Be still!\u201d Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, \u201cWhy are you afraid? Have you still no faith?\u201d And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, \u201cWho then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?\u201d (Mark 4.35-41 NRSV)<\/em><\/p>\n Our gospel lesson this morning is a very familiar story of Jesus, one that most of us have heard or read countless times. We usually read it as a wonderful example of Jesus\u2019 power to calm the turbulence and the storms of our lives, and of course that is a terribly important lesson for us. But sometimes when a passage is so familiar, it is helpful to try some new perspectives, to see the old and familiar in a new and different way. This morning I\u2019d like to point out three things that you may not have noticed before and ask you to reflect on this story from perhaps some different directions.<\/p>\n \n The Sea of Galilee<\/strong><\/p>\n First, let\u2019s talk about the sea. For Mark, the Sea of Galilee is much more than just a backdrop. The setting of this story has significance in and of itself. Consider, for example, the function of the sea as a boundary. That is not something strange to us; we are accustomed today to using natural features as boundaries\u2014rivers, mountains, lakes, seas, all these physical features are commonly used to separate one nation or state or city from another. It was the same in the ancient world. If we read the text of Mark closely, we will find that once Jesus and the disciples have gone across the Sea of Galilee, they are in another country\u2014Gentile territory. They are in a foreign place, dealing with people who are different.<\/p>\n In many ways, the Christian faith is about crossing boundaries, and that is never an easy thing. Indeed, trying to cross boundaries can be a stormy experience, a tempestuous experience. These boundaries are of as many different kinds as you can imagine. They are boundaries of race and nationality, boundaries of class and style, of philosophy and values. They are all the different ways that we human beings divide ourselves one from another.<\/p>\n Each week in the creed we confess that we believe in the \u201choly catholic church.\u201d That phrase has many meanings, but one basic one is that in Christ\u2019s Church, we are all one. The walls that divide us are broken down. There is no male or female, Jew or Gentile, but all are one in Christ Jesus. The boundaries are crossed, and we recognize all people as precious, as brothers and sisters because of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n Yet though we confess it, we often have trouble living it. We are suspicious of people who are different from us. We have trouble accepting them, trouble understanding them. When the pioneers came across the plains to settle California, they often were quite frightened of the native Americans they encountered along the way\u2014the Indians, they called them. We grew up believing in that threat; we saw it in dozens of Western movies.\u00a0 Yet today scholars point out that often the danger was more perceived than real; in many cases, the Anglo emigrants\u2019 fear arose out of misunderstanding. Accounts of wagon trains are filled, for example, with comments that the Indians were beggars and thieves, who would approach the wagon trains and demand food. What the emigrants didn\u2019t understand was that in the native culture, asking for food from a stranger was a way of showing that you meant no harm, that you desired peace. The natives meant one thing, while the emigrants understood it as something quite different.<\/p>\n Isn\u2019t that often the way with us? We have trouble crossing boundaries because we lack understanding, and we see things only from our own point of view. And so, the storms come, the waves toss, and we think we cannot make it.<\/p>\n The second lesson this day is about this same subject, though it may not be clear from just these verses. In this letter to the Corinthians, Paul is dealing with a situation of hostility and misunderstanding. We\u2019re not quite sure of the details, but there are some clear barriers between him and the Corinthians, and he is trying to cross the boundary and find reconciliation and peace. You can sense it at the end of this lesson: \u201cOur heart is wide open to you.\u00a0 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. \u2026 Open wide your hearts also.\u201d<\/p>\n Isn\u2019t that the very best way to cross successfully the boundaries we erect between us, to open our hearts to each other, to open them wide? Only then can the storm of the crossing be quelled, and peace prevail.<\/p>\n \n The boat<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve talked of the sea, but now let\u2019s think about the boat. For the early church, the boat had a very precise meaning. It was a symbol of the church itself. In the church I served for nearly thirty years, the green parament on the altar during this \u201cordinary time\u201d had a picture of a boat\u2014and that\u2019s why! It signified the church. And for the earliest Christians, the boat in this story signified that as well.<\/p>\n Now starting with that premise, let\u2019s consider who it is that is in this boat. Jesus is there, to be sure; but he\u2019s mostly passive. He is not steering the boat; that is left to the disciples. But what I want you to notice is how weak and faltering are these disciples in this boat, and how little they understand. St. Jerome in his commentary on this passage notes that the sea, the storm, the wind, all recognize Jesus and respond to his command\u2014but the disciples don\u2019t! Indeed, as the story ends, we find them staring at Jesus and asking themselves, \u201cWho is this guy, anyway?\u201d They are not paragons of faith or understanding! They have doubts, they have fears, they simply don\u2019t seem to be very good role models for us.<\/p>\n And thank God for that! Because that is still the way the church is today. We who sail in this boat, we are often people of little faith. We are fearful disciples. We have trouble recognizing just who Jesus is. I read something recently about prayer that has got me thinking. The writer said that we often get upset when our prayers aren\u2019t answered, when God doesn\u2019t do what we ask of him. But it\u2019s sort of a mutual problem, because we generally don\u2019t do what God asks of us, either! We are like the disciples in that regard\u2014fearful, unheeding, unwilling to do what Jesus asks, unable to trust him.<\/p>\n But perhaps that is what this story is about, at least in part. The church is filled with disciples who don\u2019t quite get it, with followers who forget to follow. It is filled with people like you and me! Yet what does Jesus do? He doesn\u2019t say, \u201cToss them overboard and get me some competent sailors!\u201d He doesn\u2019t say, \u201cThat\u2019s it, folks, pull this boat up to the dock, I\u2019m out of here.\u201d No, he simply asks the question: \u201cWhy are you afraid? Have you still no faith?\u201d And he stays with us. He doesn\u2019t leave us to fend for ourselves, but he calmly speaks his words of encouragement and he trusts that we will, in fact, grow in faith. And he stays with us, here in this boat. I don\u2019t know about you, but to me that\u2019s incredibly reassuring. The Lord is with us, he stays with us, even when we act like people of no faith.<\/p>\n \n Just as he was<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve thought about the sea, and the boat. Now I want you to notice one more thing\u2014this time not a physical part of the story, but a comment that is made. Mark tells us the disciples took Jesus with them in the boat \u201cjust as he was.\u201d What do you suppose that means? \u201cJust as he was\u201d\u2014the phrase drives the commentators to distraction because they don\u2019t know what it means exactly. They usually explain it as meaning that they just hopped in the boat, without going home for luggage or stopping to buy dinner. But that explanation is a little too mundane for me.<\/p>\n I think, rather, that this phrase points us to something we\u2019d rather ignore. In the earlier part of the chapter, Jesus has been telling parables, and the disciples have been their usual dense selves, asking him what on earth he means. They don\u2019t get it.\u00a0 And I can relate to that; perhaps you can, too. There are lots of times I find myself thinking, as I read the Bible, \u201cBut why? Why must it be that way? Why must I live that way? What difference does it make?\u201d<\/p>\n But the disciples took Jesus \u201cjust as he was.\u201d Are we willing to take Jesus that way? Are we willing to climb into the boat on his terms, to accept his direction, to go where he wants to go? Or do we want to be the captain of the ship, and just leave him sleeping in the stern unless some unexpected storm comes up?<\/p>\n Everett Howard was a missionary; he spent most of his life in missionary service. He hadn\u2019t planned on that vocation, but he gradually came to the conviction that it was what God wanted him to do. But he was still unsettled. He went into his church and locked the doors, and he began to write. \u201cThis is going to be my life,\u201d he wrote. Then he filled the paper with promises about what he was going to do for God. He promised to be a missionary, to read his Bible, to give his tithe\u2014everything he could think of. He signed his name on the bottom and laid his paper on the altar. He knew that God must be terribly proud of him. But as he sat there, he began to sense God speaking to him\u2014a small quiet sense, in his heart. \u201cSon,\u201d the voice said, \u201cyou\u2019ve got it all wrong. Just tear up the paper.\u201d So young Everett tore it up. \u201cNow you just take a blank piece of paper and sign your name on the bottom of it, and let me fill it in.\u201d<\/p>\n Signing that blank page\u2014that\u2019s hard! Taking Jesus just as he is, and not as we want him to be\u2014that\u2019s hard! It often means going along with what he says when we don\u2019t understand. It sometimes means stepping out in faith, maybe crossing boundaries, not knowing where we are going, or why, or how, but trusting him to be there with us. For St. Paul, taking Jesus just as he was meant afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments . . . but it also meant purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God. When Jesus invites you to take him as he is, you can be pretty sure that it will be difficult, sometimes stormy. But you can also be confident that it will be wonderful.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And so, in this old and familiar story, I hope you have learned something new. I hope you have heard the invitation to take Jesus as he is, knowing that to do so may mean difficult crossings and tempestuous storms; knowing also that we human beings are always faltering in our faith, but that Jesus sticks with us despite all that. The journey is a remarkable one. Won\u2019t you come along?\u00a0 In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n \u00a9The Rev. Richard O. Johnson (retired)<\/p>\n Webster, NY<\/p>\n roj@nccn.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 5th Sunday after Pentecost | 23 June 2024 | A Sermon on Mark 4.35-41 | by Richard O. Johnson | When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, \u201cLet us go across to the other side.\u201d And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,157,853,108,110,149,3,109,285],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-20032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-markus","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-4-chapter-4-markus","category-nt","category-predigten","category-richard-o-johnson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20033,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20032\/revisions\/20033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20032"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=20032"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=20032"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=20032"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=20032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}