On Our Way To The "Other" Side
Pentecost4b 15, Mark 4:35-41 with II Corinthians 6:1-13 in b.g.
(Mark 4:35-41 with II Corinthians 6:1-13 in the bg) (Pentecost 4b 15) June 21, 2015
Have you ever been afraid – I mean really afraid? Not like the kind of fear when you go to Fright Night at the PNE and you scream because "something" jumps out at you but it's only temporarily frightening and later you can laugh at it. I don't mean "afraid" like the kind of fear that passes as you get older allowing you to smile at your "immaturity" when you were afraid that somebody might notice your pimple or your big ears or your small hands.
No, I mean really afraid - like when you were a small child and you lost sight of your mother in the supermarket. You immediately started to scream inconsolably because you didn't know where you were or how to find her, she who was your home. Yes, I mean really afraid, like when another car is careening out of control TOWARDS YOU and the people you most love are there in the car with you. In that interminable second or two you don't know what will happen. That's REALLY AFRAID. Like when you or your child are awaiting tests and that one who matters so greatly to you may have their life hanging in the balance depending on the results of those tests.
Have you ever been afraid like that? Are you afraid right now?
Many of these fears in my life have arisen in the midst of necessary transitions. Such transitions are unavoidable for any who would seek to follow Jesus. Let me say more.
I was deeply afraid as I began high school. I left all my friends to attend a different school. My mind raced as the first day at the new school drew closer. Who would my new classmates be? Would the seniors throw me in a locker and just leave me there? Would I be able to cut it? What would happen in the locker room when I had to shower?
Looking back on all of that now, after both my 25th and then 40th high school reunions such feelings seem almost laughable. But my fear was anything but laughable in that moment. I had to literally force myself to place one foot in front of the other that first day, that first month and through much of that first year.
I was very afraid as I began university. Only weeks before I had turned 17. Now I had to leave home for the first time. The 90 miles felt like a million miles. I didn't know anybody in my dormitory. They were all older, "more experienced". They appeared to have it together so much more than me. That first year I would hitchhike home every Friday – to see my parents, my girlfriend. But by my second year my mother was phoning – would I be coming home at all that month?
I was afraid as I first became a Pastor. I lived by myself in a small town. The people were counting on me – 26 year old ME. A few of the people were suicidal. Some of them were experiencing post traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of the 2nd world war. A number of them were struggling in their marriages or with addictions. They called me, confided in me. Usually many I didn't have a clue what to do or say. I had so little life experience! And I was terrified by even the thought of failure.
When I became a father – I was often and sometimes continue to be afraid. Could I be a good father to three amazing girls/women? What if they picked up my impatience, my false judgments, my unintended prejudices, my irrational fears? What if someone kidnapped them, hurt them? Then as they so quickly grew up and took wing, what about the guys they were dating and falling in love with? And finally as both their father and a Pastor,
what if they don't have faith in God?
Can you identify with any of these fears? (Pause)
The disciples are in a boat with Jesus. They are sailing from one side of that large lake to the other. As their boat moves they are delivered from a somewhat known reality to a most assuredly unknown reality. On that "other side" there are people whom the disciples perceive as being quite "different" from them. Yet, Jesus says that they must go to the other side. And so they do.
Even as they are going a great storm comes up. It's a gale force storm. The waves are crashing over the boat. They are taking on water. Now they are being consumed not only by water but by all that comes with such crashing waves. Fear overcomes them. Only when they realize that they are beyond their resources do they look to Jesus. What do they find? He's asleep!
In desperation they wake him up. They ask, "Don't you care? We are dying here!"
Sometimes - that's the way it feels for us. At times our lives, the lives of others we so deeply care about, are at risk, maybe even being lost. At such times our "boats" are taking on water. In those times we may think and certainly ask, "Where is God? Where is Jesus? Where is that Holy Spirit? We are dying here – and you don't even seem to care..."
We may even be so afraid, so desperate that we don't ask for any help from God. We might even assume that our plight is beyond God's means, since sometimes no human being seems able to help us. Fear can do that to us. Fear can drive us to believe that we are all on our own - that nothing can be done. Such is the reality of hopelessness, of fatalism, leading to despair.
But can't we see? Jesus is in the boat with them. He awakens. He stands up. He addresses the storm. The wind - hushes. The waves - are stilled. Then He turns to the disciples –WHY ARE YOU AFRAID? In essence he asks them, "Don't you know – don't you trust that I am with you – that I will never leave you?"
Dear people – I would be more than remiss, I would be misrepresenting truth, if I told you never to be afraid. Many different storms may come into our lives. Some of them catch us unaware, ill prepared. Pain, suffering, illness, betrayal, death, job loss, prejudice, tragedy - any or all of them can cause us to be afraid. They have come. They will come.
In addition Jesus continually calls us to move as we follow Him often to those "other sides" – wherever that is, where people whom we may perceive as somehow being different than us are. On the way and there Jesus calls us to work at listening, seeing, hearing and loving these "others". As we do so, we most certainly will be changed. Our understanding of ourselves, of others and of God may be in flux. That journey is anything but easy. Yet it is important and very, very good.
At times we will be taking water into our boats – the boats of our families, our friends, our congregation, our cities and country. Then we will be afraid, even terrified. Many will panic. Some will declare that there is no hope, no purpose – even that there is no God who has any power or who cares about us and this world.
But, dear people by God's grace know this. This same God who creates the universe, who dares to become one with us in Jesus of Nazareth, this One who breathes His/Her Spirit into and onto each of us, today especially Rachel Marie, Julia, Duncan, Mackenzie and Sarah – this God will not abandon us! This God in the flesh somehow comes right to where we are. This God holds us and joins us to Himself/Herself. This God will never let us go, no matter what happens.
How do I know this? Behold the cross. See the empty tomb. Listen to others who hear God. Most importantly, listen for yourself. Know - you are not alone. Despite many frightening things, we do not have to be paralyzed by fear. God is with us. God even goes before us as we move to the other side, whatever the other side might be.
Count on God, Jesus, the Spirit. Be moved beyond our fear, to faith, hope, love and new life – yes to that other side. Amen.