Year B Pentecost 4
Mark 4: 35-41 & Psalm 7735 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 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?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 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?”
Mark 4: 35-41
© The New Revised Standard Version,
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989In the name of God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Last Sunday we thought about the parable of the Mustard Seed; told by Jesus, that little story about the Kingdom of God…
Jesus said… With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
After worship Ron came to me and said.. the Kingdom of God is like a woman who 32 years ago was accused of murdering her baby while her family were camping at Uluru. And then after 3 years in prison, a broken marriage, the tide of public accusation, and 4 inquests, is apologised to by a magistrate and completely exonerated.
At our men’s dinner on Wednesday, the topic of the Voice came up; that television show that has captivated millions over the past many weeks. One person reminded us a little of the history of the girl who finally won, and I leaned over to Ron and said… the Kingdom of God is like a young girl, whose life for so many unknown reasons seems to be in chaos, and who finds herself in a refuge, and yet she has an amazing voice, and a year later through the encouragement of people she never thought she’d meet, has her life completely changed. Lost, but found. Dead, but alive.
Or perhaps the Kingdom of God is to be found in the life of Rodney King who died this week. He was the African American who in 1991 was pulled from his truck in Los Angeles and beaten more than 50 times by four white police officers. The beating was unsuspectingly captured on video and shown to the world; a shocking piece of footage that I still remember 21 years later. A year after King was beaten, the police officers were acquitted, which then led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots in which over 50 people died and 2000 were injured. During the riots, King appeared on television and offered what would later be his famous plea, “Can we all just get along?” Even though the affects of his beatings never left him, he said that he had forgiven, so that his own life would not be gripped by bitterness.
Or perhaps the Kingdom of God is found in Aung San Suu Kyi who has just accepted her Nobel Peace prize, awarded in 1991, and addressed both houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom, after decades of house arrest.
Or perhaps the Kingdom of God is like a homeless man who has no name, and who comes to a soup kitchen and is given a meal and a slice of bread.
The Kingdom of God is seen, when the way of God, the being of God, hope, promise, forgiveness, justice, love, freedom, compassion are demonstrated in some way, in people’s lives, in our world.
But it is true, that at times, the Kingdom of God seems so very distant and hard to see. It is true, that in different ways, we can feel swamped in our own lives, or at very least, by what we see happening in the world around us.
Today’s Gospel reading is about the reality of trouble and the darkness of being engulfed by chaos and even death. Jesus and his disciples in the evening, at the time when it’s probably getting dark, get into a boat to cross to the other side of the sea of Galilee; not so much a sea, but a huge lake about 13km wide. They are on a journey, not just an outing. They are going from one place to another and in crossing the sea, they are going from the Jewish side, to the Gentile side; from the religious side, to the side where people did not believe the same things, if anything.
In Australia every 5 years the government holds a census, to gather all types of information about our country and its people. The recent census that most of us would have participated in, showed the number of people who said they were of no religion had grown over 10 years from 15.5% to 22.5%. I heard one person on the radio during the week rejoicing that Australia was becoming less inclined towards any region. In our secular society, being in the church is like being in the boat, travelling from one side of the lake to the other; from the faith side, to the Gentile side.
And while the disciples are in the boat, in the darkness of the evening, there is a storm. The passage says; “A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.” In other words, the boat was moving from the point of floating, to the point of sinking. And although Jesus is in the boat, it feels to the disciples that he is not, because he is asleep, absent from the fear, in the stern, which is not the front, but the back of the boat.
Today’s Gospel reading is about the reality of trouble and the darkness of being engulfed by chaos and even death. We could ask ourselves why a boat with Jesus in it even encountered a storm. Why if God is good is there evil in our world? Why does a woman have to be imprisoned when she is innocent? Why do children need refuges? Why does a man get beaten so badly just because of the colour of his skin? Why is oppression stronger than peace so that a woman is housebound for decades?
Well in the presence of God’s mystery, I can’t utter the things that I do not know, but I do know that in this passage about the reality of trouble and darkness, there is also the invitation to faith. Even when it feels as if Jesus, or God, is absent, or asleep, we are invited to faithfulness. And we are invited to look for, rely on, rest in, those glimpses of the Kingdom of God that remind us of the way of God, the being of God, hope, promise, forgiveness, justice, love, freedom…
In the boat, the disciples only heard the wind, felt the water and spray, and struggled to see in the darkness of the night, but right before them was the Christ, even though asleep, the presence of the Kingdom of God.
Of course in today’s Gospel reading, in the end there is peace, the stillness, the calm, but for our theology to be genuine, we have to ponder the reality of the question about the presence of God in the midst of pure darkness, storm, and death.
The innocent who remain imprisoned and forgotten.
The children in refuges who will never be famous.
The downtrodden because of their race who’s lives are never seen on camera.
And on it goes.
Or like in our Gospel reading today, those refugees who found themselves in a boat, where a “great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.” And as we will have heard on our news, or read in our papers, 110 refugees have been rescued, but over 80 are still unaccounted for.
Where is the Kingdom of God in this?
Perhaps the Kingdom is seen simply in that we describe this refugee boat’s sinking as a tragedy, and not what we want for other people, even people we do not know.
Perhaps the Kingdom will be seen in the rise once more of a call to treat refugees more humanely in this country.
Perhaps it will be seen, in individual stories of hope, love, compassion; stories that may only emerge after a time of anguish and suffering for those who survived.
Perhaps the Kingdom is found when we realise that indeed life is fragile, there is darkness and the storms of life, even death, and that through the life of Jesus Christ each of us are called to faith, in a God who is the true lover of humanity.
To finish today, I’m going read for us Psalm 77. It is a Psalm of reaching out by someone who feels alone, like the disciples in the boat. It could be a prayer. But even in the reaching out, it is a Psalm of faith in God.
God’s Mighty Deeds Recalled
To the leader: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.1 I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, that he may hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan;
I meditate, and my spirit faints. Selah4 You keep my eyelids from closing;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old,
and remember the years of long ago.
6 I commune with my heart in the night;
I meditate and search my spirit:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah10 And I say, “It is my grief
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I will call to mind the deeds of the LORD;
I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will meditate on all your work,
and muse on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah16 When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea,
your path, through the mighty waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and AaronPsalm 77
© The New Revised Standard Version,
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989
Amen.