(Sing) Jesus calls us o’er the tumult,
Of our life’s wild; restless sea,
Day by day his sweet voice soundeth,
Saying, “Christian, follow me.”
Water in biblical times carries many meanings. It is a food source and livelihood for fishermen. It is a means of transportation. And…it is, at times, life threatening. The sea represents both life and chaos.
It is interesting that the word we use for the largest part of this worship space is Nave, which is from the same root word as navy and navigation. See how many church naves have an upside down boat architectural design. Can you see it?
The verses leading up to today’s passage have Jesus teaching about letting your light shine and not hiding it under a bushel. He then spoke to the crowds about the parable of the mustard seed and how the Kingdom of God expands and grows.
Then when evening comes in the beginning of this passage we can understand why he wants to take a break. Enjoy a little “lake time”. Feel the gentle rocking motion of the boat on the Sea of Galilee while catching some ZZZZZs.
So Jesus tucks himself away in the stern of the boat. Fishing boats at that time were 28 ft. long, 7 ft. wide, and 4 ft. high or deep. They could use a simple square shaped sail or the boat could be rowed by oars. In the back of the boat, the stern, there was a second small deck. Underneath was the open storage compartment. Jesus nestled into that space and found a “pillow” as it states in our passage. The word “pillow” is still used as the term for ballast, which is a sack filled with sand used for balancing the boat.
Mark is telling us that Jesus is not just tired from the day but that he is at peace. He is resting. Jesus can sleep because he knows God is not asleep. This is the key context for this passage of scripture. And since it is a brief passage of six verses I thought we could take a short trip line by line.
Verse 35: “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go to the other side.”
– Verse 35b: Jesus says to his disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side.”
– When we cross over with Jesus in the stern, which is where the boat is both steered and balanced, are we crossing over from fear to focus? From chaos to peace? From chronic storminess to stillness?
Verse 36: “And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.”
– If Jesus needs rest and renewal then we do too. Where do you find refreshment and perspective?
Verse 37: “A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being (RSV –filled) (NRSV) = swamped.”
– The Sea of Galilee is 685 ft. below sea level. It sits in a bowl at the base of the surrounding mountains. The evening time is when the warm air rises and builds up higher and higher until it climbs above the cooler air. When this inversion of air happens and the cooler air is suddenly displaced, it travels rapidly down the mountains in giant gusts. And when that volume of air hits the water it can easily cause waves that are 7-8 ft. high. Remember the average fishing boat is barely 4ft. high. The math is not in their favor.
Verse 38: “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?”
-Jesus is being a non-anxious presence!
-The disciples are too focused on the storm. We do that too. Sometimes we focus so much on the storms in life that we come to depend on them to feel alive. We can make an idol out of most anything. Even storms.
– What I find really moving about this verse is that they wake Jesus up. They have no idea of how he can make it better, but they know they need him. Only Jesus can calm our storms.
– What are the storms you’ve been dealing with this year? What has rocked your boat recently?
– It may be time to wake up Jesus in that particular part of you life. Asking Jesus to take over may be just the thing to start seeing and living differently. When Jesus said, Peace! Be still! Scripture tells us that he is speaking to the sea. The chaos is the sea and anything can happen there. Jesus has authority over the chaos.
– So when we awaken Jesus we also wake up our internal Christ Consciousness. Our focus and energy shift toward what is faith-based and life giving. Sometimes at our weakest we find out what has been true all along – the best power is divine power.
When we try to do everything ourselves we get worn out and are not all that effective. I’m reminded of my summer lifeguarding days by the pool. Sometimes kids would get a cramp and couldn’t swim very well. They chop at the water out of fear. You have to get them to calm down as you approach them, before you can help them, or they will chop you too!
Verse 39: “He woke up and rebuked (exorcism language) the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.”
Ex. Jesus Calls Us o’er the Tumult…
– Jesus doesn’t say to the storm, STOP. He first calls on the power of PEACE itself to calm the waves and to quell the anxiety in his disciples. It’s the presence of Peace, holy peace, which stills the storm inside and out!
Verse 40: “He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
– True faith does not expect religion to be any kind of safety device or insurance against chaos ever happening.
– True faith does, however, make a great difference in the way we respond to chaos.
Verse 41: “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?”
– The disciples don’t say, “What just happened?”
– They say, “Who then is this?” The Who implies that there’s a relationship to Jesus. Relationships have a give and take power exchange. It’s a dialogue that can also require time to develop.
– Former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu once stood in front of an army of soldiers whose orders were to uphold the systemic chains of Apartheid. Tutu was a vessel for that kind of Christ Consciousness power. He looked right into the faces of those young and defiant armed soldiers and said,
“We – are already on the winning side!” And they were. It just took a while for the others to catch up to that.
– Juneteenth, which we recognize as a national holiday now, took a while too. It took time for the reality of freedom to be all the good news that Lincoln must have envisioned.
From 1865 in Galveston, TX to the vestiges of Jim Crow to a national day being signed into law three years ago which recognizes that we have both come a long way from the Civil War, but we also have a long way to go before justice rolls down like water and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.
It was June 19, 1865 in Galveston TX where Gen. Gordon Granger made Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation a reality for the last of the American slaves two years after the proclamation was made.
– So Christ lived among us and he taught us the walk of love.
– But have we fully received this good news? Or are we delayed from hearing God’s proclamation for freedom to the captives.
– There can be peace in the midst of storms. We can turn to Jesus 24/7/365!
– We don’t have to be bound by fear. We can cross over to the other side of chaos.
– The reason Jesus could sleep was not just because he was tired from a long day. Jesus could sleep because he knew that God was not asleep.
– We can find it encouraging that when the disciples needed Jesus they called out to him. They woke him up! If you think Jesus is sleeping in the stern of your life’s boat, then wake him up if you need him. It wouldn’t be the first time!
– We have places to go too, like the disciples, and people to see, and ministries to support, so let us get in the boat with Jesus, floating over the chaos, – crossing over together – to the other side.
– Thanks be to God. Amen.