A SERMON FROM ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

NEW CANAAN, CONNECTICUT

At Sea with Jesus: An Awake Nightmare

First Time, Again The scripture begins…When evening had This story of the stilling of the storm is a come… Jesus has had a long day of story we know all too well, but for two teaching. He just finished up with the very different reasons. parable of the sower. What a teaching to finish with! He laid it out there that The first is that we have just heard the different people were going to react to the story so many times that it has lost its seeds of his Word in different ways. He shock value. It becomes an “Oh, yea there was completely self-differentiated. is Jesus stilling the storm again,” as though this was somehow normal and Disciples…go expected. The scripture continues…Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” The second reason is that we know too Imagine yourself as one Jesus’ disciples well the feeling of being at sea in our lives, then, just as you are one of his disciples feeling as though we might drown in our now. Jesus is hungry and tired and so are fears while Jesus is asleep in the back of you. This is like the end of a long May our boat. Fair, after a long week.

There was a great book title from a few The other side… of the Sea of Galilee years back, Meeting Jesus again for the First The other side refers, of course, to the Time. Perhaps we can take a moment in other side of the Sea of Galilee. The so- this story and meet Jesus again for the called Sea of Galilee is a lake, 13 miles first time. long and 8 miles wide.

Crowds Perhaps you can put yourself on that Crowds had been rushing at Jesus for lakeside: standing in the cool, refreshing some time now as he taught and healed in water… looking at the lake big, beautiful, the fishing towns on the edge of the Sea and clean and the surrounding verdant, of Galilee. Crowds of disciples and rolling hills. It is the fish basket and the detractors. Crowds of the curious and breadbasket of Palestine. The crowd is on cunning. Crowds of those who want the seaside, stomping down the long healing and help. Crowds so big that Jesus grass. Perhaps there is a beautiful sunset. and his disciples did not even have time to It is evening, time for rest… maybe not eat. Everyone was pressing to get to Jesus, time to get into a boat. and not being so thoughtful of their neighbors.

Getting in the Boat hard for disciples, then and now, to take You do as Jesus suggests. You get in the Jesus “just as he was” and is. Jesus is a boat because you are his follower, his challenge to us and sometimes we try to disciple. remake him in our own image.

When we were on our pilgrimage to the Other Boats Holy Land we saw the so-called “Jesus The scripture says, Other boats were with him. Boat,” a fishing boat that dates back to Perhaps you can see with your mind’s eye Jesus’ day. The Jesus boat is 27 feet long. a few boats heading out at dusk, filled You can see from the remains that the with the miscellany of humanity that Jesus boats of Jesus’ day were not huge attracted…a miscellany that includes each seaworthy vessels. If you had several of us. people in one of them and a storm arose it could be dicey. A Great Wind Arose… The scripture continues, A great windstorm Leaving the crowd behind arose. Windstorms arose regularly on the The scripture continues: And leaving the Sea of Galilee in Jesus’ day and still do crowd behind, they took him with them in the today. It comes from the temperature boat, just as he was. “Leaving the crowd differences between the shoreline and the behind” is perhaps why Jesus wanted to surrounding hills, and the lake is relatively get in the boat. Maybe he was tired of the shallow, so the wind creates waves easily. crowds and that was the only way to When we were on the pilgrimage, we went escape. But leaving the crowd behind out on a boat and a wind arose. means leaving the safety of the shoreline behind, too. Note that they take Jesus Note that this scripture says the windstorm with them. He is not doing the taking. was great. Have you ever noticed how fascinating it is to watch windy waves Just as he was from the shore, and how scary it can be The scripture continues: They took him with when you are out at sea? them in the boat, just as he was. Note also that odd phrase referring to Jesus, “just as he Swamped was.” Perhaps you can picture Jesus, just The scripture continues: and the waves beat as he was on that day. Can you see his into the boat, so that the boat was already being beard and his clothes? Can you look into swamped. Note that it says “into the boat.” his face and see the tiredness? Can you see They are taking on water. his sandaled feet? Have you ever been on a boat that you The phrase, “just as he was” refers to thought might sink? I do not mean a what Jesus was doing on that day. He was sunfish in sailing class where you wear a teaching from one of the fishing boats life preserver and there is a motor boat because from there he could gain some hovering nearby. I mean thinking you distance from the crowds, and his voice might be swamped and sink in a would carry and be amplified over the dangerous sea. It can be terrifying. You water. feel helpless, like a speck on top of angry sea monster. I want to add here an insight from James Martin, the author of the book Pilgrimage Remember, too, that it is night. These that we read last year. He notes that it is boats have no running lights on them.

There are no lights to be seen on the of detail that leads biblical theologians to shoreline. It is petrifyingly dark and the speak of the authenticity of the passage, sea is raging. that he was asleep in the stern, that he was asleep on a cushion. At Sea in Your Life Perhaps we might take a moment here to You toss and turn in bed and wonder if reflect on your own lives. Do you ever Jesus is asleep in your life feel at sea in your life, as though there is no terra firma under your feet? As though Woke him up your boat is rocking? As though you are The scripture continues, And they woke him taking on water? Swamped by your up and said to him, “Teacher do you not care that problems? You fear you will drown in we are perishing? Can you hear that they are your failure. incredulous? They think they are going to die and the guy whose idea it was to go At Night out on the sea is asleep and seems not to These fears are most terrifying in the dark care. of the night. There is a man in our parish who speaks eloquently of what he calls Calms the Sea “the night terrors." Like the Gospel story, The scripture continues, He woke up and they sometimes come after a long day. rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Much has gotten done and much is left Be still!” undone, including care for yourself. The crowds and duties of your day have The English translation here does not drained you. Now it is time to go to bed. really capture the Greek. He does not just Perhaps in your mind’s eye you can go to wake up. He rises up in full stature and your bedside now. confronts the sea as though he is about to fight. It is like the seaside. You climb into your bed as you would climb into the boat with Have you ever seen anyone who is about Jesus. You are with Jesus because you are to get in a fight? They make themselves a follower of Jesus. You are climbing into big. They literally puff themselves up. bed because you are tired. It is calm at They gather their energy and focus to first. You fall asleep, but your psyche does defend or deliver the blow. not stop. Many of you have seen the artwork of this Then a storm arises and the night terrors scene. Jesus is at the bow, leaning begin. You fear that you are going down. forward, confronting, taking on the storm, In the night there are no landmarks of meeting the energy of the storm’s rage love for you to see. You are lost and you and overpowering it. fear that all will be lost. You lie in bed, tossed to and fro by the storm. You roll Wind around just as the boat rolls around. We would miss the power of the story if There is no terra firma under your feet. we did not focus for a moment that Jesus is talking to nature. He rebukes the wind. Jesus Asleep In other passages in Mark he rebukes The scripture continues, But he was in the demons. stern, asleep on the cushion. This is the sort

Sea Awe Then he talks to the sea. The exclamation The scripture continues, And they were filled points in the passage suggest that Jesus is with great awe. The Greek says, “They speaking loudly to the sea so that he can feared a great fear.” Their fear moved be heard. He yells, “Peace! Be still!” It is from fear of the storm to the fear of God. almost like a parent speaking to fighting Their awe, their fear, was a holy awe of children, yelling to be heard over the being in the presence of God. disagreement and telling them to cut it out, to calm down before they hurt one Who another. The scripture continues, [they] said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind Is that not what we need during the night and the sea obey him?” The Hebrews of old terrors? Do we not need to wake Jesus up had a great fear of the watery depths, with our prayers? Do we not need Jesus to which they believed harbored all sorts of rise up and take on our problems? Do we evil. Controlling nature and the evils of not need him to rebuke our demons? Do unruly water was the purview of God we not need him to yell over our interior alone. This is how the Bible begins in the storms and say to us, “Peace! Be still! story of Genesis. The Hebrews believed the world originated from and was Dead Calm founded upon a watery chaos, which was The scripture continues, Then the wind called the deep. In the beginning, God did ceased, and there was dead calm. Note the what only God could do—bring order out words “dead calm.” Can you feel it? of that chaos.

Have you ever been in dead calm, a calm Now the disciples were seeing Jesus do so still that it is kind of eerie? Have you what only God could do, bring order of ever floated in dead calm water? Have you the fearsome watery chaos that threatened ever experienced the calm in bed, after to swallow up humanity. They said, “Who one of these emotional storms? Perhaps it then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey was Jesus who calmed your storm during him?” The question was rhetorical. They one of those night terrors. knew the answer: The Holy One of God. This was an epiphany, a manifestation of Afraid…No Faith God in Christ. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Now we get a glimpse into That is what the story is about: Jesus. Jesus’ sleeping in the boat’s stern Recognizing that God is in Jesus and that tells us that not only was he tired, but that Jesus saves. This was true then and it is he had no fear and no lack of faith. He true now. It was awe inspiring then and it did not understand the disciples. He did is awe inspiring now. not understand their fear. He did not understand their lack of faith. Amen.

Maybe he does not understand us either? Maybe Jesus is saying to you right now, Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?