On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But 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?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 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?” Mark 4:35-41
We’ll spend the first three days of this week having fun listening to this text. Today we begin with the words, “Let us go across to the other side.”
The Sea of Galilee isn’t that large – about 13 miles long and 8 miles wide. You can easily see across to the other side of the lake. The disciples had spent their entire lives living on the shores of that lake or fishing its waters. It was nothing for them to be afraid of. They didn’t hesitate to get into the boat with Jesus. They might even have been relieved at the idea of getting away from the crowds for awhile.
Little did they know what that night would bring.
The “idea” of crossing over to the other side was appealing to them. But then a great windstorm arose, the waves started crashing, the boat started rocking and filling with water and they had serious second thoughts. The “idea” of the crossing sounded good but the “reality” was terrifying.
We live this movement throughout our lives. We know we can’t experience what life has in store for us “on the other side” unless we make that crossing. We can’t grow up and move out into the world on our own without crossing over years of education. We can’t share the true depths of intimacy with another without making a commitment to them. We can’t become parents without having children and parenting. We can’t get “there” without leaving “here.”
We aren’t alone in that.
There is a little line in this text that we seldom give any consideration to. It says, “Other boats were with him.” Nothing is said about those other boats. Nothing is said about their experience in the storm. The disciples make no mention of those other boats. But they were there. They were going through the same thing.
Strange, isn’t it, that when we get caught in the stormy crossings of one stage of our lives to another that we can feel so utterly alone? As if we are the only ones who have had to suffer through the challenges of college, or stormy conversations with those we love, or bad news from the doctor, or losing a job? The temptation, crossing through the storms of life, is to see only the crashing waves and the boat filling up so quickly without connecting with the “other boats”, the other people, who have weathered precisely the same storms.
The other temptation, of course, is to stay on the shore and never attempt a crossing. It is a temptation, but also an illusion. For time, and life itself, never stands still. The same storm of the crossing also lashes at the shore.
Let us pray: Dear Lord, you invited your friends to join you in a boat for a night time sail across a soon stormy sea. You have invited us on a similar journey – casting our lives into your care and keeping, you bring us through many storms in our lives. May your presence bring us a willingness to sail and courage in the face of the storms. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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