The Other Side
of the Lake!
Sermon on Mark 4:35-41
Pentecost +3-B
June 25, 2006
Rev. J. Curtis Goforth, O.S.L.
“And Jesus said to them,
‘Let us go across to the other side.’”
-Mark 4:35
The last week of June is upon us already. And, for Methodist ministers, that means it is moving time in the conference. I remember it was about this time last year when I first came to Badin. I find it almost impossible to believe that next week will mark the one year point in our time together. It is amazing what happens in the short span of just a year, isn’t it? I hope you all have learned as much as I have.
This time each year, it never fails that Methodist ministers that are moving will be looking all over the internet and the newspapers trying to find out all they can about where it is they will spend the next years of their life. It is a very exciting time when we look forward to what God might have in store for us in the next chapter of our lives.
Well, even while I was still over in England, I did some research on the internet about our lovely little town. I wanted to see what was in store for me on the other side of the lake that separates England from America. And the first thing I discovered about Badin was not Local Legends, or ALCOA, or that there was no mail delivery or trash pick-up, or that it was a national historical site. The first thing I discovered about Badin was that it was situated on Badin Lake.
Ah…the lake. Well, my mind filled with images of a multi-million dollar waterfront parsonage, with a yacht big enough to accommodate a bible study group. I could almost see the dock made of Brazilian cherry and mahogany. I could already taste the freshly grilled pecan-crusted trout. But I knew that the good people of Badin United Methodist Church wouldn’t want their pastor swimming in the muddy waters of a lake. So, I envisioned the Olympic-sized swimming pool in the shape of a cross where the UMYF would gather on occasions. I could visualize great ministry opportunities for our church since I knew we would have a problem trying to decide how to spend all the money we had. I had already decided that I would turn down that $52,000.00 raise this year.
You know, it’s amazing what the image of a lake brings to mind. Our minds are bombarded with visions of sunburn and sunscreen, with scenes of canoes and speedboats, with images of fishing and swimming and fun. There is a beauty to the shimmer of the reflecting mountains and sunset in the water with all the pinks and blues and purples that paint a picture for us that is so peaceful and calm and tranquil.
But then there’s also another picture that comes to mind when we think of water. Water reminds us not just of tranquil lakes and mountain streams but also of broken levees and flooded streets. Water reminds us of cooling, refreshing rain; but it also reminds us of damaging downpours, of flash flooding, of streams that swell into rivers that threaten our homes and our loved ones. Water is soothing, but water can also be treacherous. Water is life-giving and nourishing, but water can also take life and deplete.
Our gospel lesson reminds us of this well-known truth about water. Jesus and the disciples get in their boat and head toward the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is tired and in the only place in Scripture we ever hear of it, Jesus is sleeping on a cushion at the rear of the boat. But, during his nap time a great storm comes out of the middle of nowhere and tosses the ship around. The storm grows stronger, the waves get higher, the wind blows harder, the boat begins taking on water, and this group of seasoned Galilean fishermen start to think that they might be about to meet their ends at the hands of this storm. These disciples are really scared and they look to Jesus to see what to do. And Jesus is still asleep!
You can almost hear the sarcasm in the voice of the disciple who wakes Jesus up and says to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” I think what that disciple was trying to say was “Get to work and help us bale some water out of the boat or else we might all die!” Again, you can almost see the newly awakened Jesus rise to his feet and calmly speak to the wind and the water and tell them to be peaceful and still once more. We are told that after Jesus rebuked the wind and the water that there was a dead calm.
We know that water can be both good and bad, both helpful and harmful, and so did the disciples. However, the disciples did not have the advantage of Doppler radar and The Weather Channel (or those fishfinder things for that matter). The people of the ancient near east believed that all sorts of evil spirits inhabited the waters of the sea. The sea was deep and unknown. The sea was known to swallow entire boats and to gulp down people. Those waters didn’t have quite the same romantic charm we lend to them now. I want you to notice what it is that Jesus does in this story. We are told that he “rebuked” the wind and the sea. In the original Greek, this is the same word that we translate as what Jesus does when he performs an exorcism. When Jesus calmed the storm on the Galilee that day, he was showing his power not only over creation but also over the demonic and the evil of the world.
I want us to notice something else too. The disciples are afraid during the storm at sea, afraid even for their lives. Jesus then calms the storm, but the disciples are anything but calm after this miracle. The Greek words translated literally say that the disciples “feared with great fear” and said to one another, “who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The disciples were afraid during the storm, but the disciples were twice as terrified of what Jesus did in commanding the storm to stop. The disciples were scared during the storm, but they were petrified when they realized that this Jesus guy in their boat was actually the Lord over creation!
If Jesus could transform a raging storm into a calm and tranquil lake, they were probably terrified to think what he might do with them. But it took the storm for them to realize who Jesus really was. The same is true oftentimes with us. It takes a few storms in our lives to recognize the calming and stormy hand of God guiding us through those times.
There are storms that come upon each of us in life. We are not given some special protection from storms because we follow Jesus. And, storms are not sent as punishment from God. In fact, if you follow Jesus and his teachings, you are much more likely to wind up facing storms than if you sit idly by as a citizen of the world. Storms do not happen upon us because we don’t have the faith to calm them. The rain falls on the good and the bad; the storms happen upon us all. It makes all the difference in the world who you have in your boat during the storm though.
When I was in England after I had gotten word about my being appointed here in Badin, I wondered what it might be like on the other side of that grand lake that separated us. The symbol of a boat has been the symbol for the Church from the beginning. I wondered what storms we might weather together, what hardships we might face, and what joys we might share on this boat. I don’t know exactly where we might be headed in our trip to the other side, but I do know this: we have no reason to fear the storms. But whatever you do, watch out for that guy asleep on the cushion in the back, if he can transform a raging storm into a quiet calm, think what he might do with us! Amen.
