Another Big Question
Mark 6:1-13

July 9, 2006


IT WAS SAID ABOUT THE SEA OF GALILEE BY THE ANCIENT RABBIS, “ALTHOUGH GOD HAS CREATED SEVEN SEAS, YET HE HAS CHOSEN THIS ONE AS HIS SPECIAL DELIGHT.”

LOCATED IN THE NORTHERN PART OF ISRAEL, WEST OF THE GOLAN HEIGHTS, THE LARGEST OF ISRAEL’S LAKES HAS THE SHAPE OF A HARP, IS 13 MILES WIDE, SEVEN MILES LONG, AND AT ITS DEEPEST 150 FEET DEEP. A SPOT OF GREAT BEAUTY, THIS IS THE AREA WHERE JESUS PERFORMED MUCH OF HIS MINISTRY IN THE COASTAL CITIES, SMALL TOWNS AND COMMUNITIES THAT IN HIS DAY AND PERHAPS STILL SURROUND THE WATER’S EDGE.

NORMALLY A PEACEFUL AND CALM FISHING LAKE, THE SEA OF GALILEE IS ALSO SUBJECT TO SUDDEN, DANGEROUS STORMS BROUGHT BY TURBULENT SWIRLING WINDS COMING DOWN FROM THE SURROUNDING HILLS, PARTICULARLY THE GOLAN HEIGHTS. SUCH STORMS HAVE WREAKED HAVOC, DESTRUCTION AND DEATH THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES.

AN EARLY INCIDENT RECOUNTED IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK, TELLS OF AN EVENING’S SAIL ACROSS THE WATER INVOLVING JESUS AND HIS TWELVE RECENTLY APPOINTED APOSTLES. AT THE END OF ANOTHER LONG, PRESUMABLY HOT DAY IN JESUS’ MINISTRY, JESUS INDICATES TO THE TWELVE THAT HE WANTS THEM TO SAIL WITH HIM ACROSS THE LAKE BEFORE NIGHTFALL, TO GET AWAY FROM THE INCREASING CROWD FOR A FEW HOURS, BEFORE RESUMING HIS WORK THE NEXT DAY.

EN ROUTE, AN UNPREDICTED VIOLENT WIND STORM ARISES. FEARING THEIR BOAT WILL CAPSIZE, THE APOSTLES FRANTICALLY SEARCH FOR AND FIND JESUS CALMLY SLEEPING IN THE BACK OF THE BOAT, TOTALLY OBLIVIOUS TO THEIR IMMINENT DANGER. AT THEIR DESPERATE URGING, HE GETS UP AND AFTER SEEING THE STORM, RAISES A HAND AND SAYS “PEACE! BE STILL!” IMMEDIATELY THE WINDS SUBSIDED, AND THE WAVES RECEDED AND ALL WAS WELL.

THE APOSTLES WERE AMAZED, SAYING AMONGST EACH OTHER “WHO IS THIS MAN, THAT EVEN THE WIND AND SEA OBEY HIM?”

TWO WEEKS AGO THE REVEREND HOWARD HANSON IN HIS USUAL ASTUTE WAY ADDRESSED THAT QUESTION IN HIS SERMON ENTITLED “THE BIG QUESTION”. REVEREND HANSON EXPLORED THE IDENTITY OF JESUS AS AN HISTORICAL FIGURE, AND HIS MEANING FOR US IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES.

THERE WAS ANOTHER BIG OTHER QUESTION IN THAT STORY. NATURALLY JESUS SHOWS CONCERN FOR THE APOSTLES AS THE STORM CALMS, AND ADDRESSES THEIR ANXIETY BY ASKING WHY THEY WERE AFRAID. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY AND LIKELY, WITH SOME PERPLEXITY, IF NOT FRUSTRATION HE ASKS THEM “ HOW IS IT THAT YOU HAVE NO FAITH?”

THAT JESUS WOULD ASK THEM “WHERE WAS YOUR FAITH?” SEEMS TO SUGGEST THAT JESUS EXPECTED THE APOSTLES TO HAVE KNOWN THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BE ALLRIGHT.

BUT THE DISCIPLES ARE UNABLE TO ANSWER HIM DIRECTLY, SHOWING, PERHAPS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE GOSPELS, THEIR DIFFICULTY COMPREHENDING WHAT THEY HAVE BECOME A PART OF, WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN WITNESSING THROUGH THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH JESUS. THAT THEY CANNOT REPLY DIRECTLY TELLS US SOMETHING WORTHWHILE ABOUT THE ESSENCE OF FAITH, AND THE GRACIOUS GIFT FAITH IS IN OUR LIVES.

THE APOSTLES, WHO LESS THAN TWO YEARS BEFORE THIS PARTICULAR INCIDENT HAD BEEN LIVING THEIR LIVES QUIETLY, PRACTICING THEIR PROFESSIONS, DOING THEIR JOBS, MINDFUL PROBABLY OF THE EXPECTATIONS AND ASPIRATIONS OF 1ST CENTURY JUDAISM, INCLUDING THE LONG-HELD BELIEF IN THE COMING OF A MESSIAH WHO WOULD SAVE THE JEWISH PEOPLE FROM PERSECUTION.

THE WRITER OF MARK’S GOSPEL REMINDS US THAT LITTLE, IF ANYTHING WAS KNOWN ABOUT JESUS UNTIL HIS BAPTISM BY JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND THE MIRACLE AT THE CANAAN WEDDING-FEAST. IT WAS THESE TWO EVENTS REALLY, WHICH INTRODUCED JESUS TO THE PUBLIC AS A NEW, YOUNG PREACHER, TEACHER, HEALER AND RABBI. JESUS’ PUBLIC MINISTRY LASTED ABOUT THREE YEARS. THE FORMAL GROUPING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES HAPPENED IN THE EARLY STAGES OF YEAR 2, FOLLOWING WHICH THE NATURE OF JESUS’ MINISTRY BECAME MORE INTENSE, DIFFERENT IN CHARACTER, AND AS WE KNOW, MORE DRAMATIC LEADING TO HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION.

TWO YEARS IS NOT A LONG TIME, EVEN IF NOTHING REMARKABLE IS HAPPENING IN YOUR LIFE!

MARK’S WRITING SUGGESTS A PERIOD OF URGENT AND CONTINUOUS ACTIVITY. JESUS BEHAVED AS IF HE WAS GENERALLY, IF NOT SPECIFICALLY AWARE THAT HIS MISSION WOULD BE SHORT, ALWAYS PUSHING ON TO DO AS MUCH FOR PEOPLE AS HE COULD, TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF AND THE CONCEPT OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE; ALWAYS STAYING AWARE OF CONTEMPORARY LIMITATIONS AND THREATS TO HIS MINISTRY, DEMONSTRATING HIS CAPACITY TO BE THE PERFECT SHEPHERD TO HIS FLOCK, HEALING AS MANY AS HE COULD, AND HOPING TO TEACH HIS FOLLOWERS AND DEVELOP THEIR UNDERSTANDING, OF HIS CONCEPT OF THE “NEW COVENANT” BETWEEN GOD AND MAN.

IMAGINE BEING AN INTIMATE PART OF THIS ASSOCIATION WITH JESUS – A MAN WHOSE PRESENCE, WHOSE EVERY WORD, EVERY ACTION, CHALLENGES YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE WORLD WORKS, WHOSE SPEECHES REFRAME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT TO BELIEVE –CONSTANTLY! IMAGINE SEEING THE EFFECT HE HAS ON EVERGROWING CROWDS! IMAGINE HOW AMAZING, HOW ENERGIZING THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN! AND YET, HOW DIFFICULT IT MUST HAVE BEEN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WERE SEEING, MUCH LESS TO BECOME IN ANY WAY USED TO IT. ALL OF THIS COMING FROM SOMEONE THEY HAD KNOWN FOR SUCH A SHORT TIME! HOW DIFFICULT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN, IT SEEMS TO ME, TO PREDICT LOGICALLY, OR OTHERWISE HAVE FAITH IN THE FUTURE, ESPECIALLY IN THESE EARLY DAYS OF THEIR TRAVELS WITH JESUS.

THAT JESUS WAS ON A TIME-TABLE, AND ANXIOUS TO MEET HIS OBJECTIVES IS CLEAR IN THE AFTERMATH OF THIS STORM AT SEA.

THE BIBLE RECORD SPENDS QUITE A BIT OF TIME SHOWING THAT THE FAITH OF THE APOSTLES MET SEVERAL TESTS DURING WHAT REMAINED OF JESUS’ LIFETIME, HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. IT SEEMS THAT ALL OF THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN JESUS AND THE PEOPLE, ALL OF HIS PUBLIC TEACHING, AND PRIVATE TUTORING OF THE APOSTLES, ALL OF THE MISSIONS THAT JESUS SENT THE APOSTLES ON, SUCH AS DESCRIBED IN THIS MORNING’S GOSPEL READING, WERE USED BY CHRIST IN HIS DEVELOPMENTAL EFFORTS WITH THE TWELVE. HE TAUGHT THEM PROCEDURAL, BEHAVIOURAL THINGS; HE REINTERPRETED THE TORAH AND THE MOSAIC LAW, RESTRUCTURED THEIR PRACTICE OF THE WORSHIP OF GOD, AND USED GREAT EMOTIONAL MOMENTS AS THEY OCCURRED AS OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP AND TEST THEIR FAITH.

FOR PETER, AND THOMAS, AND SURELY THE REMAINING APOSTLES THE ROAD TO BELIEF AND FAITHFULNESS NEEDED MORE TIME, MORE EXPERIENCE, MORE CONFIRMATION THAN HAD BEEN AVAILABLE TO THEM AT THE TIME OF THIS STORM AT SEA.

TO MAKE SENSE OF THE GOSPEL STORY, AND OF JESUS’ UNEXPECTED QUESTION AFTER THE STORM HAD BEEN QUELLED, IT SEEMS TO ME, YOU NEED TO THINK THAT THIS EVENT BESIDES BEING ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE HAPPENED TOO SOON IN THE APOSTLES EXPERIENCE WITH JESUS FOR THEM TO HAVE BEEN FAITHFULLY TRUSTING – TOO SOON FOR THEM TO HAVE ANYKIND OF EXPECTATIONS, AND FAR TOO SOON FOR THEM TO HAVE GENERALIZED FROM THE SPECIFIC “MIRACULOUS” INTERACTIONS THEY HAD OBSERVED JESUS HAVING WITH CERTAIN OTHER PEOPLE, TO A BELIEF THAT CHRIST’S APPARENT POWER MIGHT BE AVAILABLE IN SOME MEASURE TO THEM. MY HUNCH IS THAT THEY AT THAT TIME COULD WELL HAVE BEEN UNCERTAIN IN THEIR FAITH BECAUSE SO MUCH OF WHAT THEY HAD KNOWN, BELIEVED AND PRACTICED ALL THEIR LIVES WAS BEING, MIRACULOUSLY, REBORN!

THE QUESTION, THEN, IS - WHAT IS FAITH?

IN MY CHILDHOOD, AND ON DAYS WHEN I HAVE BEEN IN DESPAIR FOR WHATEVER REASON, IT HAS SEEMED TO ME THAT FAITH IS SIMPLY A LEGACY OF MY PARENT'S STEWARDSHIP OF OUR FAMILY…THEY RAISED ME IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION THAT THEY WERE PART OF, WE WERE HIGH ANGLICAN FOLKS IN A NEIGHBOURHOOD WHERE EVERYBODY WAS SOMETHING, AND WE BELIEVED IN GOD. IT WAS AS SIMPLE AS THAT… YES, BUT WHAT IS FAITH? IT’S JUST AN ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIVING THAT MY PARENTS, THE PRIEST, AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TAUGHT ME …..YES, BUT WHAT IS IT? HOW DID THEY GET IT? WHAT DOES IT DO? WHAT IS IT FOR?…. IN MY CHILDHOOD, I COULD NOT HAVE ANSWERED THESE QUESTIONS.

CLEARLY, JESUS' MISSION WAS ABOUT FAITH, AND ITS JUSTIFICATION. HIS EFFORTS WENT TOWARDS ORGANIZING OUR THINKING AND BEHAVIOURS SECURE IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, OF JESUS HIMSELF AND THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. BECAUSE OF JESUS IMPACT ON THE WORLD, AND THE RECORD OF THE GOSPELS, AND THE CONTINUOUS TESTIMONY GIVEN BY FOLKS THE WORLD OVER ATTESTING TO THE REAL EXPERIENCE OF JESUS AND GOD IN THEIR LIVES, WE HAVE REASON TO BE CONFIDENT THAT IN THE OVERALL SCHEME OF THINGS, IN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT, ALL WILL BE WELL FOR US, AND THAT WE WILL ENJOY LIFE IN THE SPIRIT, TOGETHER WITH JESUS IN THE WORLD TO COME. THE PRIVILEGE OF OUR CONFIDENCE IN THIS HOPE RESTS ON OUR CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, AND CHRIST. WE CALL THAT FAITH.

FAITH IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE COME TO EASILY, OR QUICKLY OR THAT IS NOT SHAKEN FROM TIME TO TIME BY THE EVENTS OF OUR LIVES. IT IS PRECISELY THE REALITY OF SUPPORTS THAT WE ENJOY THAT IS AT THE HEART OF OUR ABILITY TO REMAIN FAITHFUL DURING TIMES OF GREAT DURESS.

THIS, IT SEEMS TO ME WAS AT ISSUE IN THIS IMPORTANT SCENE AT SEA BETWEEN JESUS AND THE 12 APOSTLES. ALL OF JESUS WORK WITH THE TWELVE, IN HIS BEHAVIOUR, IN HIS SPEECHES, IN HIS MINISTRY IS TO GIVE THEM ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE TRANSCENDENT POWER THAT HE IS AND THAT HE REPRESENTS, SO THAT THEY WILL BE EQUIPPED AND ABLE TO FURTHER HIS THEOLOGY AFTER HIS DEATH. CLEARLY THIS RESTS ON THEIR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF GOD AND THEIR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND HIS MEANING FOR THEM, AND FOR THOSE WHOSE LIVES THEY WILL BE PART OF AS MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. HOWEVER IN THEIR RESPONSE TO THE CALMING OF THE WATERS OF GALILEE, IT IS CLEAR THAT THEY HAVE NOT HAD ENOUGH TIME, ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE, AND ENOUGH PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF GOD, TO YET BE FAITHFUL NOT FEARFUL IN THE FACE OF GREAT STRESS. THE MESSAGE THAT THEY ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE UNSEEN HAND OF GOD AT ALL TIMES HAS NOT YET RESONATED WITH THEM. INDEED FOR SOME, IT TAKES QUITE A WHILE, AND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE RESURRECTION TO GET THE MESSAGE.

WE, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAVE THE ADVANTAGES OF 2000 YEARS OF WITNESS TO THE REALITY OF CHRIST AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; WE HAVE THE WRITTEN RECORD OF THE BIBLICAL CANON OF WRITING, AND OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH JESUS’, THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH GOD. WE HAVE ALL THIS KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE TO US – AND STILL IT ISN’T ALWAYS EASY TO LIVE WITH OUR CONVICTIONS, TO REST UPON OUR FAITH IN TIMES OF FEAR, UNCERTAINTY AND DURESS.

TO ASSIST US HOWEVER IN OUR EFFORTS TO BE FAITHFUL, IN THOUGHT, WORD AND BELIEF, WE ARE BLESSEDLY NOT ALONE. ALSO WE HAVE THE GIFT OF GRACE, GIVEN BY GOD TO SUPPORT US IN OUR FEEBLE FAITHFULNESS.

IT’S NOT HARD TO MAKE A LIST OF THE GIFTS OF GRACE AVAILABLE TO US. IT IS HARDER SOMETIMES IN OUR FRANTIC LIVES TO RECOGNIZE THEM. TIMES WHEN WE, OR SOMEONE CLOSE TO US HAVE ENJOYED “MIRACULOUS” RECOVERY FROM CRITICAL INJURY OR SERIOUS ILLNESS; TIMES WHEN WE HAVE BEEN CALMED FROM PANIC AND FEAR, TIMES OF GREAT PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT;INCIDENTS OF LOVE AND KINDNESS SHOWN TO US, OR THAT WE HAVE SHOWN TO OTHERS ; FRIENDSHIPS; MARRIAGE, FAMILIES; THE FACES OF BABIES, AND THE FACES OF THE OLD – AND I AM SURE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN LIST - THESE ARE ALL GIFTS THAT SUSTAIN OUR HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH FEED WHAT THE WRITER PHILIP YANCEY WOULD CALL “RUMOURS OF THE OTHER WORLD”, WHICH PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF HEAVEN.

OUR FAITH, THEN IS OUR EVER EXPANDING, EVER DEEPENING CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF THE EXISTENCE AND CONTINUOUS POWER OF GOD AND CHRIST, AND THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM AS PROVIDED BY OUR EXPERIENCE, OUR READING, OUR THOUGHTS AND OUR PRAYERS AND OUR OWN SOULS ACTING WITHIN US. TAKEN TOGETHER THESE THINGS COMBINE TO GIVE US CONFIDENCE TO HAVE COURAGE, WITH WHICH TO PRESS TOWARDS THE HIGH MARK OF CHRISTIAN LIVING, WITH WHICH TO SURRENDER OUR OWN NEED TO CONTROL TO THE BENEVOLENT CARE OF OUR GOD. THE ISSUE OF FAITH, FINALLY, JESUS IS QUITE CLEAR, SHOULD BE THE PRIMARY FOCUS BEHIND ALL OUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS IN HONOUR OF OUR REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS RESURRECTION.THE PROMISE IS THAT IF WE SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD, IN OUR FAITHFUL LIVES….ALL WILL BE PROVIDED.

A WOMAN NAMED HELEN LEMMEL, AUTHOR OF NEARLY 500 HYMNS BEFORE HER DEATH IN SEATTLE IN 1961, SAYS OF THE FOLLOWING LINES, THAT THEY WERE DICTATED TO HER BY THE HOLY SPIRIT:

“TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS,
LOOK FULL IN HIS WONDERFUL FACE,
AND THE THINGS OF EARTH,
WILL GROW STRANGELY DIM
IN THE LIGHT OF HIS GLORY AND GRACE.”

AMEN.

Preached by Tom Stickland
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan