Fear Not: I am sinking fast!

from my message on 2/24/13 from Mark 4:37-41

It is evening and Jesus says to his disciples, his closest friends, "Let's go across to the other side."  They get in a boat and a storm comes up on the lake.  It is a miracle story.  I know that you are sophisticated people, scientific people, rational people.  You may find such a miracle story hard to swallow.  Stay with me a few minutes, and let me see if I can make it more approachable.

(show slide of skeleton of fishing boat from time of Christ)  In 1986, the Sea of Galilee was at historically low levels.  The skeleton of this fishing boat was exposed on the northwest shore of the lake.  Carbon dating was done on it.  It comes from about the time of Christ.  It gives us an idea of the kind of boat that Jesus and the disciples probably used.  I have seen it in a museum there.  It is 26.5 ' long by 7.5' wide by 4.5' deep.

(show slide of the sea of Galilee) You can see from this slide the dimensions of the lake.  It is 13 miles at its longest point north to south.  It is 8 miles at its widest point east to west.  The lake covers some 64 square miles surface area.  Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis added together are about that size.  You can see that the lake is surrounded by hills on all sides with a cut at the northwest corner.  Storms can come up quickly and violently on the lake.   A few years ago, the town of Tiberias on the western shore recieved a 10' wave during a storm.  So when it says that a fierce gust of wind came up on the lake, you can understand the magnitude of the storm.

(show slide of modern day fishing boat with its single mast and sail)  Such fishing boats have not changed much over the years and are still used on the lake today.  Imagine what it would have been like for Jesus and the disciples during a storm.  Where is Jesus during the storm?  He is a member of Ray Benson's backup band; he's asleep at the wheel.  His head is on a pillow, probably a sand bag that was placed in the stern for ballast.  The stern probably had a small covered area where he could lie down.

The disciples wake him up, and you have never said this, and essentially say, "We're going under.  Don't you care?"  Adam, this early 20 year old has this rare form of cancer on the brain.  He can't keep weight on.  He can't keep food down.  We cry out to Jesus, "Don't you care?"  Maybe it is your marriage.  You drift apart.  It is no one big thing, just lots of little things.  You stop listening.  You stop caring.  Anger is not the opposite of love.  Apathy is.  You find yourself sighing.  You do the eye roll.  "Jesus, don't you care?"  You may be a student.  You are at best ignored at school.  At worst, you are picked on, bullied.  You feel so alone.  "Jesus, don't you care?"  You may be a preacher.  You feel that all the people want is to be entertained.  They just want a better show each week.  Don't address anything controversial.  Don't scare them off or their money.  Keep it safe.  "Jesus, don't you care?"  What is it for you?  Where you feel you are going under and Jesus doesn't care? 

Jesus rebukes the storm.  Rebuke is the same word that Jesus uses to cast out demons.  If you are a good Jewish person, this is expected.  From Genesis 1, in the first creation story, we have a mighty wind blowing over the face of the water.  God speaks and brings order.  Jesus speaks directly to the lake.  He uses just 2 words, "Stop," and "Hush."  A good Jewish person would expect this also.  They were not great seafaring people.  They stayed within sight of land.  The water represented chaos.  The storm represented evil forces.  A messiah, a deliverer, would say, "Stop," and "Hush."  This showed that the person had power over the storm.  Where do you need to hear Jesus say "Stop," and "Hush," to you today.  Jesus being asleep in the middle of the storm would be expected by a good Jewish person.  This would show complete trust in God.  We might say today with the rabbi/psychotherapist I admire, Edwin Freidman, that Jesus was a non-anxious presence.  He can be with us right in the midst of crisis, but free to respond to us and it.

Jesus says to his closest friends, "Why are you afraid?"  The word really means cowardly.  It is an inner feeling.  The next phrase has a different word for fear, literally in the Greek, phobia.  The sentence says that they were afraid with a great fear.  Now they are not afraid of the storm.  They are afraid of Jesus.  It is that awe and respect and worship that we talked about last week.  "Who is this," they ask.  Maybe we ask the same thing today also.

Does Jesus still still the storms today?  Does Jesus still work miracles?  I believe so.  I saw one on Tuesday at lunch.  It was put on by iACT, an interfaith group here in Austin.  It was billed as Friends in Faith.  One speaker was Nader Hasan.  Hmmm...Hasan, yes, the shooter at Ft. Hood is named Hasan.  The man who spoke was his first cousin, the next eldest male member in the family.  The other speaker was Kerry Cahill.  Hmmm....her father was a physician's assistant, a contract employee at Ft. Hood, one of the persons killed by the shooter.  They have become friends.  In all of the media flurry, Nader Hasan was asked a most inappropriate question by ABC news.  He was asked if he would be willing to meet with any of the family members of those killed.  He said he would.  Emails were exchanged with Kerry.  They agreed to meet.  Funny side note from Kerry.  She said that Emily Post had no advice in her etiqueitte book on what to bring to the family member of the man who killed your father.  She brought a copy of the children's book that her dad used to read to her!  Nader had a 1 year old.  Kerry and Nader found that they were both human beings who were grieving. They both lost a family member to extremism.  They said, "Too often in the aftermath of tragedy, we retreat to our corners of fear."  They formed the Nawal Foundation to combat extremism.  They said, "We have to bring something right out of what was terribly wrong.  We cannot longer simply tolerate or accept.  We must learn to work together, to collaborate."  I witnessed a miracle on Tuesday.

How does this tie into the miracle story of stilling the storm?  See Rembrandt's painting of the scene (slide).  Notice how many are on the boat.  Look closely, as Maxie Dunham made me do.  How many should be on there?  Jesus plus the 12 would make 13.  How many are on there?  Fourteen!  Look at the man in blue holding onto the rope. It is Rembrandt.  He painted himself into the scene.  Why?  We are all in the same boat!

Jesus wanted the disciples to go across to the other side.  What was on the other side?  Gentiles...the first person Jesus meets is a demoniac.  Jesus sends the demons into a herd of hogs. All of these were unclean.  The early church saw this as an example of what they were called to do....to go through the storms of encountering, embracing all those they thought were "other" or "unclean."  We are all in the same boat. 

The theme of this sermon series is from I John 4:17-18, "there is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear."  The good news is that we are all in the same boat.