Sermon 11/18/13
Mark 6:45-52
Jesus on the Water
This week I took a 56-hour trip to Indiana and back to
see my brother Todd in his first grad school theatre production, Anna in the
Tropics. Before seeing his show on Friday night, we sat down for dinner, and he
told my mother and me about different exercises he has to do in his classes. For
example, in his movement class, he and his classmates have been working on
physical expressions of emotions. They spent one class session practicing
different types of crying – sobbing, wailing, keening. In another, they had to
jump into imaginary boxes that represented 9 different emotions and instantly
embody that particular emotion – surprise, disgust, anger, joy, and so on. In
another class, they’ve been studying an acting method that involves trying to
make your acting as “honest” as possible. And so the actors have to practice being as honest with each other as possible
in class. This resulted in a classmate of Todd’s weeping while talking about
her cat that died, Todd explaining, honestly, that he didn’t care about her cat
that died, and the woman telling Todd, honestly, to get out of her sight! My
mother, God bless her, soaks up every word Todd says about his experiences, but
I can’t help but roll my eyes sometimes at the descriptions of these exercises.
Still, they are all meant to help make an actor more honest and vulnerable on
stage. Because the best actors stop being themselves, and start becoming, losing themselves into the
roles they play. They have to be vulnerable and honest to do this, to let go
enough to become someone else. And after seeing Todd’s first show, I found
myself thinking that one of the actresses would have benefitted from some of
the exercises that Todd was telling me about. She didn’t seem “honest” in the
role to me – I never lost sight of the actress in the part she portrayed.
Today we
read a story in Mark’s gospel that is probably at least somewhat familiar to
you. This is a story that appears in variation in all of the gospels – Jesus either calming the storm after having
fallen asleep in the boat with the disciples, or Jesus walking on the water and
inviting Peter to walk on the water as well, or, in Mark, this combination of
both events. Walking on water, calming the winds. In Mark’s gospel, this story appears right after
the story we know as the feeding of the five thousand. We read that immediately after the meal is finished,
Jesus gets his disciples into a boat and send them to the other side of the Sea
of Galilee, while he remains to dismiss the crowd, and to spend some time in
prayer by himself.
After praying, Jesus looks out onto the lake and sees
that the disciples are having a hard time navigating the windy weather. He
begins to walk out onto the water towards them. Then, we get what I find to be
the most confusing verse of the passage: “He intended to pass them by.” What?
He sees them struggling, he’s going to the same place as they are, but he just
plays to walk by them on the water to the other side? Isn’t that a bit strange?
But, the disciples see Jesus, and they think it is a ghost walking towards
them. I’m not sure if this is because the storm makes it hard to see Jesus, or
they are so thrown by his walking on water that they assume he must be a ghost,
or what. But they see him, and are not calmed by his presence, but terrified.
Note, it isn’t the wind that causes them to cry out in fear – but the sight of
Jesus walking on the water that fills them with terror.
Immediately, we
read, Jesus speaks to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Those
are words we hear frequently in the scriptures – upwards of 80 times, more than
a dozen of which are spoken by Jesus. Do not be afraid. He gets into the boats
with them, and the wind stops. Mark tells us that they are astounded, and,
peculiarly, that they are astounded because they didn’t understand about the loaves, and their hearts are hardened.
In other words, their reaction to Jesus walking on water and calming the wind
is somehow related to what they thought was happening when Jesus fed the 5000
with a few loaves and fish. How can they possibly relate? Mark says that the
disciples have hardened hearts – the same language that is used to describe the
Pharaoh when he won’t let Moses leave Egypt with the Israelites despite all of
the plagues that have been visited on the Egyptian people. After this, after
the passage we read today, we only find out that the disciples and Jesus finish
crossing the sea and that people recognize Jesus at once and come to him for
healing.
I keep coming back to this phrase, “Jesus intended to
pass them by.” None of the other gospels include it, only Mark, which makes me
wonder if even the other gospel-writers weren’t sure what to make of it. And also
missing from other accounts of this event – the connection with the feeding of
the 5000. Mark is the only one who ties Jesus calming the storm with the
disciples not understanding the miracle of feeding the crowds. This language of
“passing by” occurs in a few other places in the scripture, most notably in
relationship to Moses and Elijah, who throughout the New Testament are the two
figures who represent the law and the prophets – all that Jesus comes to
fulfill.
In Exodus 33, just as Moses is about to start the final
stretch, leading the Israelites toward the promised land, after such a long
journey in the wilderness, Moses asks, begs of God: Promise that you’ll go with
us. That you’ll be with us. That we’re not sent out alone. And then Moses says,
“Show me your glory, I pray.” That’s a pretty bold request, isn’t it? And God
replies, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before
you the name, “The Lord.”” And while Moses is tucked into a cleft of a rock,
God passes by him, and Moses is
allowed to gaze on God’s back, God’s face being too much, too full of glory for a mortal to see.
In 1
Kings 19, we read about the prophet Elijah, who is being chased by those who
would like to kill him for the prophecies, for the truths he’s been bold enough
to speak. Elijah is ready to give up, and, after a time in the wilderness, he
spends another night in a cave, when God tells him: Go and stand out on the
mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. The text says, “Now
there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking
rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after
the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the
earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound
of sheer silence.” And Elijah steps out to speak with God, and God tells Elijah
what will come next, and who Elijah will pass his mantle to in order to
continue his work.
These
passages are known as theophanies. A theophany is one of those fancy church
words that means a simple thing: A God-appearance, where the glory of God is
revealed in a particular act or moment. You know the word epiphany – when something
is revealed suddenly, when we have sudden clarity – a light bulb moment. A
theophany is when God is suddenly revealed – when the presence of God in our
midst is revealed. So when God passes by
in the scriptures, it isn’t a sign that God is passing us by and moving on to something
better, too busy to stop for us. No, in the scriptures, God passing by means
God revealed. A theophany. In Jesus, we encounter the ultimate theophany – the ultimate
revealing of God’s presence. In Jesus, we aren’t looking just at God’s back, or
hearing God only in sheer silence, but encountering God face-to-face.
God-with-us. Jesus passes by the
disciples – first in the feeding of the five thousand, and then as he calms the
storms – something the disciples would know only God could do – and still, even
though God is revealed, they don’t get it – yet. They’ve been longing for the
Messiah, for the Savior. But what the disciples miss – both in the feeding of
the 5000 and in Jesus calming the storm – is the impact of what they’re seeing –
a theophany – God revealed in Jesus – they are encountering God-with-us in the
person of Jesus. Their savior has shown up, been revealed for who he is – God in
the flesh! And how do they react? Jesus passes by the disciples – and they’re
terrified! Not by the storm – but by the tugging in their hearts and minds that
maybe Jesus is really more than this cool guy they’re hanging out with. And
when they get beyond their fear, their next reaction is to harden their hearts
against what they’re experiencing.
In two weeks, Advent begins, and we’ll start singing
carols about longing, waiting, hoping
for, expecting our Savior to come to us again in the birth of the
Christ-child. Do we know what to do with the Christ-child when he arrives? Sure,
maybe with the gentle baby who we can cuddle, but who doesn’t talk yet. But we
long for Jesus, in theory, not just
as a child, but as the grown Savior, Son of God and Son of Man, who comes and
tries to hand us a cross to carry as we follow him. Jesus has arrived, will
arrive, is arriving now. What do we do now that Jesus has shown up? Now that
Jesus is revealed, what happens? Like the disciples, our responses to God’s
appearances in our lives are often either full of fear or full of hardened
hearts! Jesus tells us again and again to let go of fear. We can’t soak in the
glory of God when we’re afraid. And we can’t soak in the glory of God when our
hearts are hardened against transformation. In Advent, when we sing, “Come,
Thou Long-Expected Jesus,” we’ll ask for God to “From our fears and sins
release us.”
I think
of all of those goofy theatre exercises in Todd’s classes, and I think about
being vulnerable. Sometimes being vulnerable is a frightening act. Someone
might hurt us if we’re vulnerable, hurt us badly. Sometimes we harden
ourselves, our hearts, instead of becoming more vulnerable. But when he’s on
stage, for a little bit, Todd stops being Todd because he so completely relates
to the character that he’s become. Todd has to keep practicing until it becomes
second-nature to him, a way of life as an actor.
And so
it is with us. We’re called to imitators of Christ. To follow him. To live as
he lives and love as he loves. To empty ourselves to be filled with Christ. To
let the light of Christ shine from within us. To be known as Christ-followers
by our ways of love. We can’t embody Christ, be the body of Christ, if we can’t
be vulnerable, if we can’t let go of ourselves enough to put on Christ. We’ve
got to practice opening ourselves up, being ready for God when God shows up,
ready for the Christ we long for. Where have you seen God revealed – and how
did you react? How will you react? Don’t
be afraid. Let your heart be softened. For the glory of the Lord is revealed in
our midst. God is passing by. And we don’t want to miss it. Amen.
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