"When storms rage..."

This is the manuscript from the sermon preached on June 23/24.  The supporting Gospel text is Mark 4:35-41.

It was time for a change.  At least Jesus thought so.  We don’t know how long he had been wandering the countryside in and around Capernaum and Galilee before he sensed it was time to move on, time to extend his ministry field.  Mark gives us no indication of time, no clue as to how long Jesus had been on the move teaching and healing and telling parables.  It could have been months, perhaps even a year, who knows.  But at some point, “on that day, when it was evening,” Mark tells us, Jesus knew that it was time for a change.  He has his eyes set on the horizon.  He is looking east, over the lake, when he turns to speak to his disciples.   

“Let us go across to the other side.”  It’s not so much an order from Jesus as it is an invitation or a suggestion, as if Jesus were inviting his disciples to go to the store with him or suggesting that they go to Carrabba’s for supper after a long day of teaching.  Jesus does not ask or plead or command.  “Let us go across to the other side,” Jesus says.  And so the disciples make ready for the trip.

The first clue that this is anything but a typical journey comes with the details used to describe their destination.  They’re rather sparse are they not?  No town is named.  No port to aim for.  Jesus simply tells the disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.”  Jesus uses a vague description of where they are going, the other side, which may be lost on us if we do not know what’s on the other side.  Remember that they are on the western edge of the Sea of Galilee and so far in Jesus’ ministry they have traveling through Jewish country.  Jesus has been healing and teaching and storytelling among the children of Israel.  The home crowd so to speak.  They have been in a familiar setting for the whole journey thus far.  But the other side, that’s a different story all together.

You see, on the other side lies the home of the Gentiles.  The outsiders.  The unclean.  They are not part of the family.  One does not simply visit the Gentiles on a whim.  You could be made unclean or worst.  You just don’t go to the other side.  Or perhaps put into terms that we recognize: The other side of the tracks.  The south side.  The west side.  Tin pan alley, the roughest place in town.  The place your mother warns you about when you are a kid.  You just don’t go to the other side.  But that’s exactly where Jesus wants to go because Jesus knows that the kingdom of God is not just for the hometown crowd.  The kingdom of God is not just for the children of Israel.  Jesus knows that God’s kingdom is not about us and them, insiders or outsiders, this side versus the other side, there is only God’s love that is for all people.  God’s kingdom is for all people and the next leg of Jesus’ earthy ministry is to break down this “us and them” mentality and proclaim the God’s kingdom is for all people. 

So perhaps the disciples, even before they set out, are nervous.  They know exactly what the other side means.  They know the legends.  They know the stories.  They know the law.  The other side, where the Gentiles live, is a place of the unclean, not fit for a proper Jew.  But that’s where Jesus wants to go, so without a word they set out. 

And then it strikes, the storm of the century, a storm that has four fishermen on their knees in fear.  Sure, if the tax collector had been on his knees praying, no one would have taken notice, he is a landlubber who is out of his comfort zone.  But they are all afraid, even the men who knew the Sea of Galilee and had called it home in their previous lives, the fishermen are out of their minds with fear.  And well, they should be.

Water is coming over the sides, the boat is being swamped, there aren’t enough buckets to go around and there is no hope to bail out the incoming water.  In their frantic frenzy they look to the only who doesn’t seem to notice, who is still asleep in the stern, who may have the power to save them all.  They run to Jesus and wake him up crying, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?!”

The mission appears to be failing.  The boat is sinking.  Whatever desire that Jesus had in going to the other side seems to be meeting chaotic resistance.  The disciples are in a panic and want nothing more than to save their own skin.  But Jesus will have none of it.  He is immediately on his feat, rebuking the wind and calming the sea, and in an instant all is at peace once more.  The storm had been calmed.   

Of all the miracles and healings that happen in the Gospels, this is one of the harder ones for us to wrap our heads around.  In a world of 24 hours weather channels and updates it is hard to image Jesus stilling a raging storm, but I believe that Mark is trying to tell us something deeper. 

Any trip to the other side, any attempt to extend the boundaries of the kingdom of God is going to meet resistance.  The winds of chaos and the storms of opposition will do their best to put a stop to God’s kingdom breaking into our world, but Jesus will have none of it.  Jesus’ mission to the other side will not be stopped.  God’s kingdom will not be denied, God’s purpose will not be thwarted.  The winds of chaos and disorder, silenced by God before creation, and again at the Reed Sea, will not get in the way of Jesus’ ministry.  The kingdom of God is for all people and Jesus is the one who will lay the groundwork for us to follow. 

I remember being in Seattle on a mission trip in high school and the crew I was a part of had been assigned the project of installing a new set of steps at one of the houses across town.  We were headed to the other side.  The community spoke mostly Spanish, most of them probably recent immigrants to the area.  Separated by boundaries of language and culture, we set to work taking out the old steps and putting in the supports for the new ones.  The water company had come out earlier in the week and marked all the major water lines for us so we steered clear of the pink markers on the ground.  We were finishing the hole to set the last post when the storm struck.  With what was supposed to be the final thrust of my shovel, a strange crunching sound erupted from the hole.  I had struck the water line and watched in horror as a geyser 10 feet tall formed in the front yard.  The house emptied out to witness this chaotic sight.  I tried to explain in broken Spanish that not all was lost, but my face was covered in a fear that I saw matched by the woman of the house.  We were kind strangers, but the mission was failing.  “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?!”  It was one of those kinds of moments.  Jesus we came here to do you will, what gives?!  After a few phone calls we got the water shut off and a crew came out to fix the pipe.  We came back to the sight the next day, expecting to be asked to leave, but we were met with a smile.  The mission could continue, the storm had been calmed. 

Friends, when follow in the footsteps of Jesus we are not promised that all will be clear.  Getting into the boat with Jesus is not like getting onto a cruise ship.  The winds of chaos will come and the storms of destruction will threaten to stop us in our tracks.  But remember that we are not alone.  Jesus journeys with us and through his love and power we can weather the storms.  Jesus, the one who calmed winds of the sea, the one who broke the sting of death when the winds of chaos raged on Good Friday, is the one who brought a word of peace and a promise of new life through his resurrection and he is still in our boat today.  With peace and power and healing in his wings he goes with as we spread the good news of God’s love.