Mark 4:35-41
35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Why did Jesus cross to the other side? Sorry, that’s not meant as a set-up for a joke. No punchline. It was a legitimate inquiry. Jesus is active along the shore. He’s generating a crowd and a buzz. People are curious and intrigued. And for the most part, everything seems to be going well for his ministry. Yet, today, he packs it up and sets off for the other side of the sea of Galilee.
Today’s text is rich with metaphor and insight. There is no shortage of comparisons or analogies for us to make between our lives and today’s lesson. It’s one of those texts that frustrates a preacher...not because I don’t know what to say about the text but rather because there is so much to say. There are so many nuggets in these 6 short verses to reflect on:
For starters there is the boat.
· A symbol of voyage and journey. An icon of transition and movement. Launching from a starting point, setting out for a destination. Perhaps the boat represents a spiritual, physical, or emotional journey we are. Traveling on roads as yet untrodden to places unknown. Navigating the calm or even turbulent waters of life. We sail the boat, and whether we know what is waiting at the other end or not, the journey is uncertain. The boat offers us comfort and security, for the most part. It’s a new beginning or adventure. Then again...maybe the boat is just a boat...a means of transportation
Or we can reflect on the storm:
- A symbol of trial and tribulation. A Speed bumps, challenges, roadblocks. In our many journeys we encounter storms. Hiccups in our life... our journey of learning and discovery. The storm that rocks us to our core. It tests our faith. The storm that makes us question stepping into the boat in the first place. The storm, while scary and real, it will cause us to grow. Perhaps it offers a lesson about where or in whom we place our trust in a time of storm. Then again, the storm could just be a storm. The result of a low pressure system crossing paths with us on our journey across the sea.
Or we could talk about the disciples:
- Our companions on the journey. They give us comfort and hope, because even though they are Jesus’ closest friends and followers they are terrified in the storm. Perhaps they give us a sigh of relief, as to say, it’s ok to be scared. Maybe the disciples are a model of good faith because despite being scared, at least they knew to turn to Jesus in the time of storm. Then again, the disciples could just be a group of fishermen along for a ride, and like most people they panic when mother nature shows her strength.
And of course, we can reflect on Jesus:
- The one who instructs us to step into the boat in the first place. Jesus, who although sleeps through the storm, is there at our call to calm the storm. The story reminds us that Jesus is always in the boat with us. Wherever we may go. Whatever we may encounter along the way. Jesus is by our side. He doesn’t push us out to sea alone, or stand on the other side waiting. Jesus goes with us. Or maybe we go with Jesus.
Today’s text is so rich, and if you give me a couple of decades at St. Mark’s to preach on this text, I might cover them all.
But for this day, at this time, it seems relevant to reflect on the other side “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” Why did Jesus cross over to the other side?
Ironically enough, if your only experience and encounter with scripture is weekly worship, then the answer is, you may never know. For whatever reason, in our three year cycle of readings we never read or hear what happens on the other side. In fact, next week’s gospel lesson will begin by saying, “When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake.”
Jesus makes this intentional move to journey across the sea to the other side, and yet our lectionary never tells us what happens. We never hear what is on the other side. Let’s call that your homework for the week. Read the first 21 verses of Mark 5 to find out what’s on the other side.
Spoiler alert, on the other side of the sea, in the land of the Gerasenes, Jesus meets a man with an unclean spirit. He was possessed by a demon named legion, for there were many. The man lived among the tombs and was so impure and so strong that no one could bind him. But upon meeting Jesus he runs to him and falls to his feet and says “what would you have of me!? Please don’t torture me.” Jesus casts the demon out of the man and into a herd of pigs. And when the demon enters the pigs, about 2000 of them, the pigs all run into the sea and drown.
It’s a truly interesting story, but it rarely gets told. And perhaps we don’t hear the story often because it’s not necessarily about what Jesus finds or does on the other side, but the very fact that Jesus crosses to the other side.
The “other side” from what Jesus’ disciples were used to was a foreign land. Although it was really only a few miles away, it was foreign to jews living on the West side of the sea of Galilee.. To cross to the other side of the sea meant entering into Gentile territory. Gentiles were not Jews, and were often considered unclean and enemies of the Jews. They were viewed differently because they lived differently. Their culture was different. They ate different foods. The looked different. Sounded different. They weren’t circumcised and therefore their beliefs were also different. And wrong. The other side of the sea wasn’t just a new piece of land, it was a land inhabited by an entirely different culture of people.
And yet, knowing the tensions and fractions in relationship between jews and Gentiles, Jesus gets in the boat, and crosses to the other side of the sea. Extending his Galilean ministry to include a race of people that no one expected Jesus to approach.
Truthfully, for the disciples and the followers of Jesus what was scary about the other side wasn’t the journey or the unknown. What was terrifying and intimidating was crossing a boundary and border that had become so ingrained in their everyday life. They were sailing over and into a territory that they considered unclean, for no other reason than it differed from their way of living.
And I don’t think the lesson is so much about Jesus healing the possessed Gerasene man, but rather that fact that Jesus took the voyage in the first place. It is what Jesus does. It is who he is. Jesus is one who chooses to cross boundaries and place himself in discarded, marginal, ostracized, feared, and unknown places people cultures and times. Jesus calls the disciples well beyond their comfort zone into a land of uncertainty. He removes the cultural, economic, sociological, historical, and other divisions, and crosses to the other side. Because Jesus’ ministry is for all people.
Why does Jesus cross to the other side? Because that’s what Jesus does. For Jesus, his ministry is one that not only crosses the divide, but works to remove all notions of side in the first place. For Jesus there is no division, side, or other.
It seems to me that perhaps now, more than ever, there is a fear of the other. The other person. The other side. The other culture or way of life. The other religion. The other way of thinking. More than ever God’s beautifully created humanity has grown more and more divisive. Digging holes between us. Dividing ourselves by our human-created differences. We label one another based on beliefs, perspectives, and lifestyles. We generalize and stereotype. We tend to push each other apart until the void fills with such turbulent seas that deter us from ever crossing back.
I don’t know what or why it is about us that causes it. Call it sin I suppose. But our culture has distanced us from one another. We become grounded in our ways. We live, eat, play, breathe, and worship with those most like us as not disrupt the system and risk the violent storm. We prefer stick to our shore.
But truth be told, friends, Jesus calls us to so much more. Jesus would not have us distance ourselves from one another. In fact, that runs against what God created us for. Jesus calls us to not only cross our divides but tear down all preconceptions and fears of the other side along the way. Jesus doesn’t command us to go and wish us good luck, Jesus says “let us go.” He hops in the boat with us and gives us an example to journey into what we don’t know...into what we don’t understand. Because what we often fail to acknowledge is that on the other side there are people of God in desperate need of healing. And it's an even more uncomfortable thought to think of ourselves as on the other side, desperately waiting for Jesus to come ashore.
Beyond our barriers, divisions, walls, borders,..all the things that distance us from one another..the hesitations, fears, unknowns, judgments, misconceptions, and misunderstandings.. beyond it all are our siblings in Christ. Siblings with stories to share. Siblings in whom we share one story. One faith. One baptism.
Taking up God’s call to cross to the unknown and uncertain is to risk the storm. Extending past our comfort zone means facing potentially turbulent waters. But I suppose the alternative to riding with jesus and risking the storm is to stay tied up on the shore...where we’d rather feel safe than vulnerable.
Why did Jesus cross to the other side? It wasn’t just a day trip across the sea. It was an intentional move to sail across to the other side, to teach the disciples that God’s grace and love is mightier than anything that divides. Even the strongest of storms.
And sisters and brothers the Good News is that Jesus is relentless in his voyage. He never ceases to cross over. And each and every time, Jesus invites us along to see how great God really is.
© Pastor Daniel Locke, preached 06.24.2018 @ St. Mark's Lutheran, Jacksonville, FL
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