"on The Go With Jesus"

“On the Go with Jesus”

Mark 4:35-41

A child wakes up in the middle of the night, terrified at some dream that has upset him, frightened of some monster hiding in the bedroom closet.

His mother rushes into the bedroom and scoops the little child into her arms and sits in a chair.

She wipes away sweaty locks of her child’s forehead, caresses his hair, rocks him gently, and then she whispers what a thousand mothers have whispered since the beginning of time, “Hush now, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

I want us to think about this: “Is the mother telling the whole truth to her child?

Is there really nothing to be afraid of?

(pause)

When he was about 30 and I was in my 20’s a good friend of mine said, “When I was a child I used to be afraid to go to sleep because I had nightmares.

Now, I’m afraid to wake-up because that is when the nightmare begins.”

Can any of you relate to this?

(pause)

In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, Jesus has just spent the long hours of a hot and humid day teaching and taking care of the needs of another large crowd of people gathered by the seashore.

And when He finishes this work, He has another place to go.

This time He is heading to Gentile territory, to the “country of the Geresenes.”

It’s a dangerous place to go, and Jesus has invited his small band of disciples to go with Him.

“Let us go over to the other side,” Jesus says to them.

They have signed up to follow Jesus, and so they get into the boat and begin to row, but Jesus, exhausted from the long day, falls into a deep sleep.

The disciples are probably already uneasy, knowing they will not be welcomed in Gentile territory.

No Jew with any sense would ever purposely head in that direction.

Who wants to go where you are not wanted?

Who wants to go to places where people might attack you or call you names?

But this is not only a story of Jesus calming a storm, it’s also a story of discipleship, and following Jesus will lead us to some uncomfortable places.

But it turns out that danger not only lurks on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, it also lurks on the sea itself.

The wind starts blowing hard, the waves are blasting over the sides of the boat bringing in water that is threatening to sink them.

Suddenly, they aren’t worried about traveling to the other side, they are worried about staying afloat.

And where in the world is Jesus?

They find Him in the stern, where He should perhaps be steering, sleeping away on a pillow!

And so, they awake Him and shout, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

Like most of us, the disciples find the idea of Jesus sleeping through the moments of our lives when we are most in danger to be astounding!

Their cry is the ultimate cry of fear, doubt, and abandonment, which is repeated again and again in the stories of God’s people, as for example in the psalms.

Where is God in the midst of my distress?

Has God abandoned God’s people?

It’s also a cry that is repeated in so many ways in the midst of the terrors and distresses of our world today: “We’re drowning here; don’t You care?”

Do you remember the first time you awoke at 3 in the morning, gripped by worry?

During a crisis, many of us lie awake ruminating over our worst fears.

At other times, what occupies our minds when we are awake may be a list of the many things waiting for our attention.

And underneath all these worries lurks a deeper anxiety, one that might ask: “Am I good enough?

“Am I strong enough?

“Smart enough?”

These are the fears and worries we carry deep within us.

We all have them, although they are closer to the surface some times more than at others.

A year or so ago a friend confided to me that he often hears a voice in his head that says:

“You are nothing!

You are worthless!”

“You are no good!”

I was surprised especially because this friend comes across as being very confident and in control.

We all have fears, anxieties and self-doubt that we carry deep inside us.

And at the heart of all these anxious thoughts we are asking, “Can I make it through life and all that threatens me?”

The questions the disciples ask Jesus is filled perhaps with equal measures of indignation and bewilderment—and it conveys their fear: “Don’t you care that we are about to die?”

And below that is: “Jesus, aren’t we important enough for You to save us?”