“Meet You At the Next Light” June 23, 2024

Posted by on Jul 28, 2024 in Sermon archives

“Meet You At the Next Light”          

1 Samuel 17:32-49/ 2 Corinthians 6:1-13/ Mark 4:35-41

 

Three hundred and sixty five: that’s how many times you will find the words “do not be afraid” in scripture. 365. Our gospel text for today, however, is not one of them; not exactly, anyway. No, because here Jesus addresses the fear of his disciples a little more on the harsh side. Seems to me that even the son of God can be kind of grumpy if you wake him up from a nap. (Mk 4:37) Gale force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?” He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?” So yes, “Why are you frightened,” is not the same as “do not be afraid” but it’s close.

You know, we have talked about the Sea of Galilee; about how the steep slopes of the east side of the lake can create some incredible thermal rushes of wind when the sun starts going down- quick changes of air temperature and all that. And we’ve talked about the fact that to this day the locals who live around this big lake are wise to this. They know that these winds, and therefore the waves, can come suddenly and without warning. They know, and so they pretty much just stay off the lake once the sun starts to go down. They know now and they knew then, and that is why the very first sentence in this text is…well, troubling. (MK 4:35) “Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, ‘Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.’

They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. 

Other boats followed along. We all know what happened next. The same story was told in Matthew as well as the gospel of Luke and none of these accounts are exactly the same, word for word – of course. But I have to say there was one little, but striking difference in Mark’s telling of the storm on Galilee that seemed to hit fairly close to home when we consider how it is that we manage our fears, and I’d like to talk about that today.

First, let’s look at the text from Matthew. When things are getting bad, when things are getting hairy, it’s always telling to observe the  way that people behave. This, from Matt. 8:25 And they went and woke him saying, “Save us Lord, we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith. Then he rose and rebuked the wind and the sea and there was a great calm.  And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of a man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him?” Now let’s see what Luke has to say about it. (Lk 8:24) And they went and woke him saying, “Master, master, we are perishing!” And he   awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” Who is this, indeed? I mean, how are we supposed to recognize and understand some sort of deeper meaning in this well known story of a big storm on the sea of Galilee?  At first glance, this story seems to be little more than an account of a time that Jesus took his disciples out onto the sea of Galilee knowing full well it was not a good idea.

And then when the waves rose higher and higher, threatening  to        drown them all, It was Jesus who stepped up to save the day.  So I have to ask, is this the Message that we can take away from this story today?  Is the nugget of wisdom hidden in this well known story nothing more than the simple statement that no matter what kind of trouble God might lead us into, all we need is faith to rest assured that he will be there to save the day every single time?  Is that the long and the short of it? I certainly hope not, And I say this because it’s obvious, don’t you think, that Jesus will always be there to pick us up when we fall.  I mean, one of the cornerstones of our faith lies in the promise that Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it. So I have to believe that there is a deeper meaning to be found here above and beyond the promise that Jesus will always be there to pull us out of the ditch.

            So then, should we dwell on the fact that perhaps  Jesus made a big mistake here by going out on the lake at this time of day? Or should we focus on the fact that the disciples became terrified because, as they said,  Jesus “commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?” Yes, I guess we could, but  if we have another look at the gospel of Mark, we might find that the story of the stormy seas of Galilee   paint a clear picture of the saving nature of Christ, but it also teaches us how we continue to get it all wrong.

I am speaking in particular   of how the disciples first approached Jesus in their time of crisis .

You have to admit that the whole scene is bizarre. First of all, we have a group of men crowded onto a small ship that is in serious trouble due to a terrible storm that seemingly came out of nowhere.

 

Next, to add to the confusion, we find that Jesus, who suggested this trip in

the first place, is sound asleep on a pillow at the back of the boat. The decision is made to wake him up but what troubled me was the attitude of the disciples. Rather than tapping   him on the shoulder asking advice on what to   do next, Mark tells us in verse 38 That they hollered at the Lord, saying Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?

    I mean, what a thing to say: “Hey, wake up! Don’t you care if we drown? What’s the matter with you?” So you see what I mean? It’s that one statement, unique to the gospel of Mark-that  places a whole new wrinkle, at least for me, into our understanding of the day that Jesus calmed the sea of Galilee.

 

The guest speaker some years ago at the  annual conference in Boise was a dynamic gentleman named Brian Brown. In the course of two sessions, Brian spoke on a book put out by the Arbinger Institute entitled “The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict.” Needless to say, in 2 one hour sessions, he covered a lot of ground, but  I  found it fascinating. One part that stuck with me was when Mr. Brown talked about the different results that will come from approaching conflict – or just life, for that matter – with either a heart at war or a heart at peace. He went on to explain  that we have up to 60,000 thoughts go through our heads every day (who figured that one out?) and 80% of them are negative. Well, if that is true then it’s safe to say that we are a people whose hearts are at war. It really hit home for me when we broke into small groups and were asked to tell of a time when we reacted to something with a heart at war.

The stories were different, and yet the same. “He said he was

going to do the dishes, but here they sit. How could he do this to me?” or “She knew I needed to be picked up at 6:00, but here it is 5 minutes after. What’s with that? How incredibly rude!” /// Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?

It was a valuable lesson that Jesus was trying to teach his disciples on that night: how do we move from fear to faith? To put it another way, does faith help us to overcome fear? I don’t think that’s the case. What faith does do – constant, abiding faith; the faith that Christ showed to us and for us – this faith turns hearts at war into hearts at peace. The command “do not be afraid” isn’t so much of a command saying “don’t worry, be happy” as it is to calm your heart and put your heart at peace, for I am with you always – yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The lesson to be learned is that a heart at peace can brave any storm.

Surprisingly, this brought to mind a little road rage story that I found myself in the midst of Once upon a time. I was driving through town minding my own business, when a white Dodge pickup pulled out into traffic right on my bumper. Traffic was pretty thin, so it didn’t take him long to roar past me in a cloud of smoke. “I’ll see you at the next light,” I said to myself. And sure enough, there he was sitting at the light revving his engine and looking totally annoyed that the world wasn’t spinning in his direction. Then The light turned green and off we went. But at the next light – you guessed it – there we were again: both of us going to the same place. The only difference I could see, besides horsepower and tire size, is that I am wrapped in the arms of a loving God as I travel through this world. And for that, my heart is at peace.

Amen & Shalom

 

 

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