Mark 4:35-41 is the Gospel lectionary text for Sunday, June 20.
The boat is always the church. Always. The disciples, those who have been faithfully following Jesus, even though they do not, as of yet, fully know who Jesus is, are in it with the Lord.
The storm is the chaos, disorder and unrest/lack of peace caused by the divisive, destructive, discriminatory, oppressive and insidious practices of empire - in that iteration, Rome. The values of greed, lust for Power over others and desire for Status above others create and exploit differences and divisions, which causes unrest, destruction, despair, fear and uncertainty as they threaten life in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.
The political leader in Jesus' day focused on keeping what wealth, power and status he could as a vassal of the emperor. The religious leaders did the same, and twisted God's Word to support their corruptions while claiming faithfulness to God. The people bought in or caved in to the realities of empire and its system of unequal, inequitable values. They lived under empire, dong what they could just to survive.
And as the chaos built up around them, those who strove to faithfully follow Jesus cried out to Him, because it seemed He was asleep. Jesus rebuked the forces of empire and their values, and created Kingdom order from the chaos of empire. The Kingdom had come and God's Will was being made known in this part of the Kingdom. Jesus was here to set things right between God and God's children.
Jesus' admonishment of those who strove to be faithful to Him was, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" Their reaction was telling. They did, and didn't. They had faith enough to believe in the last wonder Jesus performed, but no certainty of who Jesus truly was as of yet or what He would do in THIS moment.
Have you looked outside? Have you watched or listened to or read the news? Do you see the storm?
Do you recognize that empire has again forced its values on the known world? Do you see how the Greed, lust for Power and desire for Status have divided and again threaten to destroy humanity? If you are among the political leaders, you are probably focused on playing the game and not questioning its validity. If you are among the religious leaders, you most likely try to justify empire values with your false theologies of prosperity, church growth, personal salvation, holiness and purity, instead of Agape Love for God and Neighbor. If you are among the masses, you are just trying to get what you can under an unjust and inequitable system so that you and yours can survive, or you have bought into it and are exploiting as many as possible to get yours in the game. If you are a follower of Jesus, you may be afraid of what you see and not sure that this will end well, feeling that perhaps Jesus is sleeping through it, or you believe that in the end, it will be set right according to God's Kingdom.
What are your values?
Do you value the things that divide, marginalize, disenfranchise and destroy others' lives?
Do you value the Kingdom values that build up, lift up and sustain life in equity and justice?
Are you among those who help create the chaos and feed the hot air of the storm?
Are you among those who strive to the interject Kingdom values of Agape Love and Grace, the Good News of Jesus, into life in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now?
Where are YOU in the storm? What role are YOU playing in it?
Whatever the case, the truth is that WE ARE IN THE STORM.
Which force in the storm will YOU represent?
Pastor Jamie
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