If you like sea stories, there’s some wonderful literature, folklore and myth. There is Samuel Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Homer introduced us to Scylla and Charybdis and the sirens that plagued Odysseus and in the Old Testament we meet Leviathan.
A popular tale is that medieval mapmakers would print “Here be dragons” to signify unknown regions on a map. While that is more fantasy than fact, mapmakers did include illustrations of monsters and fearsome creatures in the unexplored places.[i] For them, the oceans and seas were places of adventure and mystery.
In the biblical narrative, the sea symbolizes chaos and disorder.
In today’s gospel, Jesus finishes preaching to the crowds from the boat on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and tells his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.”
It wasn’t a small ask. Some of the disciples were experienced fishermen and would have been familiar with the frequent storms that developed on the sea; others may have been more like fish out of water, being asked to set sail when they hadn’t spent much time on the water. Whether they had their sea legs or not, Jesus was asking the disciples to go to the territory of the Gentiles, people who were unknown and strange to them.
And as they crossed to the other side, sure enough, a storm rose up. The word here is the same as ‘the whirlwind’ in the reading from Job. There was power and strength in these winds; Mark says the waves beat into the boat. (v. 37)
It would have been simple enough to turn and go back to shore, to seek shelter and refuge, to retreat to calm and quiet safety. But the disciples don’t do that.
Mark says, instead, they wake Jesus who’s asleep in the stern or the back of the boat.
Do you think Jesus was being irresponsible or callous by taking a nap while the storm tossed them about?
We hear the disciples cry out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (v. 38) But remember, at least some of the disciples were fishermen. Jesus knew this was their boat and he trusted their gifts, as the crew, for navigating the sea.
When they do come to him, he responds immediately, rebuking the wind and telling the sea to be still. And Mark says, then, there was a dead calm.
In that moment, the people on the boat with Jesus and in the boats around him witness the power and strength not of nature, but of Jesus, as Lord of all.
Jesus accompanies us in our own lives and never promises that he won’t ask us to go into unfamiliar situations. Following Jesus isn’t about going to places we already know or being with people who make us comfortable.
And Jesus never says we won’t experience storms or get beaten by circumstances and even be afraid. There is evil in the world. And even when we are safe from explicit evil or overt violence, we still live in a world filled with people and every one of us is saint and sinner, and, apart from Christ, we cannot be redeemed. Christ alone delivers us from sin and saves us.
In the text the disciples encountered a weather event - a physical storm of wind and waves - but often we find ourselves in the midst of storms emotionally and spiritually - steered in one direction or another by forces outside our control, slammed this way and that by emotions and fearful of what is ahead.
And when we are overwhelmed, the temptation is to think God has forgotten us or abandoned us and isn’t paying attention and doesn’t love us.
Mark reminds us that Jesus not only accompanies us in the chaos and disorder; Jesus also equips us, nurturing our gifts for specific vocations or callings. We are created for community and relationship and Jesus places us in people’s lives so that they can see God’s love and power through us.
And when we do get overwhelmed or fear paralyzes us, Jesus responds to our cries and invites us into his peace.
Unlike the desert fathers and mothers in the early church, or even monastic orders today, most of us find ourselves every day in the midst of the chaos and turmoil of the world and that is where Jesus anchors us in his peace, despite the storms of life, and invites our trust.
Hearing Mark’s gospel, I think God has equipped us, as the Church, for all that is ahead and expects us to use our gifts and talents for ministry in our community and world. We do not need to be afraid and we must trust that Jesus is with us as we share the Good News of God’s love for the world.
Let us pray…
Good and Gracious God,
We give you thanks for your deliverance from sin and evil, and for your Son Jesus.
Thank you for your steadfast love and presence with us even in the tumult and turmoil of the wildest storms life brings.
Anchor us in your peace that we would be your witnesses in the world.
We pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
[i] https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/here-be-dragons/, accessed 6/11/2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment