For Sunday
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Collect
O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading
From Mark 4:35-41
“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?””
Reflection
Before they get into the boat, Jesus teaches them about the Kin-dom. That God is up to something. God is changing the world. It’s a lesson we often take passively and presumptively, rather than carefully. After all, he did just liken the Kin-dom to a mustard seed that would grow into a world-encompassing shrub!
So then, when they get into the boat, following Jesus’s lead, they should be aware. And when the storm rocks the boat and Jesus sleeps through it, they should be taking his lead. But they don’t. They (naturally) freak out. Even getting mad at Jesus for not freaking out with them. Or, you know, pretending to do something.
It is certainly easy to sympathize with the young people in that boat. That’s where my mind goes literally every time. I honestly don’t even think about it. I jump straight into the boat with them, getting inside that fear and start thinking Yeah, why isn’t Jesus doing anything?
We wouldn’t be so worried about whether their fear is justified if we didn’t feel so connected to that fear.
If we listen to those parables, however, we might spend lest time justifying fear. And more time watching for change. Or, better yet, following Jesus’s lead. Which includes taking a nap.
Obviously we struggle with this. Especially when our response to fear is always to do something. But if our focus is on Jesus, and what he is doing, rather than how the disciples feel, we would already expect transformation.
In other words, if we’re thinking about the Kin-dom, a Jesus who can command the wind and the sea would be far less terrifying. And much less surprising in the ways he shows up in our lives.