The Good News Proclaimed
Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on
Sunday, June 21, 2009.
When I was about 16, I was coming out of the Piggly Wiggly supermarket and
I saw my great-aunt Gladys loading her car with her groceries from her
shopping cart. I decided that she needed help. She didn’t ask for it, but I
decided that she needed saving and who better to be her savior than me?
I walked right up to her as her back was turned to me, her arms full of
groceries. With only about 8 inches between us, and her head turned away from
me I said enthusiastically, “Let me help with that!” She almost dropped the
bag of groceries, turned on her heals toward me with ninja like speed and the
look of horror on her face seemed to say, “whistle in the left pocket, mace in
the right, and knee in zap position… ready, set, go!”
After her terror and my humiliation subsided, she said, “no thank you,
dear, I’m fine” and I schlepped off feeling quite defeated. After all, I only
wanted to help… well, a pat on the head and “what a good nephew you are” would
have been nice too, and frankly, I probably expected it. My intent was to help
her, and maybe garner a little praise for myself. My impact was to startle an
unsuspecting woman who was obviously quite independent and capable of handling
her own affairs.
Even if I hadn’t frightened her, I might still have insulted her. They were
groceries, not cinder blocks. She wasn’t an invalid. She had driven herself to
the market, done her own shopping and wheeled her groceries to her own car.
Who was I to decide that she even needed help? She might have felt
disempowered rather than assisted, and in the final analysis, I had decided
she wasn’t capable of doing what was hers to do when in fact she had it under
control. I wasn’t helping her; I was helping my own ego needs, and just using
her to make me feel good about me. God forgive me.
Since that tragic day in a parking lot some 26 years ago, I have been much
more intentional about showing respect when I offer help, and honestly
offering it before trying to force it on someone. I’ve learned to trust people
to do what is theirs’ to do; I’ve learned to expect others to give me that
same trust and respect. I’ve learned to ask for help when I need it, and to
allow others to do the same. I learned in that parking lot that dysfunctional
rescuing does more harm than good. Our gospel lesson today shares a similar
message.
Jesus has been ministering to people, praying for people, hearing about
their healing needs, teaching and preaching… and frankly, he’s tired. Instead
of expecting Peter or John or Andrew to come up and rescue him, saying
something like, “Hey, Jesus, you look really exhausted… why don’t you try to
steal some down time,” he simply acknowledges his own need and initiates some
self-care. Jesus says, “Let’s take a boat ride and get away from the crowds
for a little while.” He doesn’t blame others for not coming to his rescue, he
empowers himself to not need rescuing. And he empowers others to do the same.
Jesus is worn ragged, and so as soon as he gets on a boat, he curls up on a
cushion and falls asleep. Just a little quiet time; a little rejuvenating
rest. Once renewed, he’ll be back out there healing, teaching, preaching, and
making a difference in people’s lives.
Now Jesus is a carpenter. Beyond that, he’s become a teacher and healer. He
knows what his gifts are. So, the people who fish for a living, who spend most
of their lives in boats… he lets them do their job. You drive the boat, I’ll
take a nap. He doesn’t get in the way (like I did with my great aunt Gladys).
He doesn’t assume that people can’t do what is theirs to do.
But when things get rough, notice how his friends react. In their fear,
they go right to blame and accusation. They wake Jesus up with this nasty
little insult, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?!”
Such drama. No one has fallen off the boat. No one has been struck by
lightning. Yes, it’s windy, the waters are choppy, some water has spilled over
into the boat. Yes, the situation requires careful attention. But no one is
perishing so far. Why jump to the most negative possible conclusion, and then
blame Jesus for not doing the same. Would his being as worked up as they were
make the situation any better? Did their being a bunch of drama queens make
the situation any better?
Jesus assumed that the skilled boat professionals had it under control. He
had so much faith in them that he was sleeping through the stormy weather! And
they repay his faith in them by blaming him for not being caught up in their
drama. Jesus gets up and says, “Shut up. Be quiet.” Peace. Be still. Was he
talking to the wind and waves of the storm, or to the wind of negative speech
and the waves of unfettered panic in the boat? I’m inclined to believe the
latter, because he follows up his remarks with this rebuke, “Why are you
afraid? Don’t you have any faith?”
Don’t you believe you can handle this?
Don’t you believe you are equal to the storms of life? Don’t you believe that
together we can survive this challenge?
And they were in awe that Jesus
maintained peace during the storm; his peace made the storm seem less stormy.
If we wait until the storm to look for peace, we’ll only panic and our
panic will play into the drama of the storm, making the storm seem worse than
it even is. We practice peace in the peaceful times so when the stormy weather
hits, we have peace to experience, and to share. The person who has been
practicing peace can calm the drama around her; she can say, “Calm down. Let’s
focus on the solution instead of on the problem. Let’s generate hope instead
of despair. Let’s go to peace instead of to pieces.”
Mark’s audience would have known the story of Jonah. Mark is playing with
that story by showing a better outcome. Jonah was called to deal directly with
people he didn’t like… he was to go to the capital of the Assyrian empire and
share a divine message with them. But the Assyrians were the enemy of his
people, and he didn’t want to even imagine that they were on God’s radar. So
he takes a boat to Tarshish. He isn’t resting for continued ministry; he is
running away from ministry. He’s not addressing a problem, he’s trying to go
around it. That doesn’t really work. While on the boat, a storm attacks, and
just like Jesus’ friends accuse him, the crew of Jonah’s boat wind up blaming
him for the storm. So they toss him overboard, a big fish swallows him whole
and spits him out… guess where… on the shores of the capital of Assyria! So
Jonah half-heartedly preaches to the Assyrians, they embrace the power of
hope, God seems to smile on them, and the story ends with Jonah being
miserable. He spends the whole story trying to manipulate situations to get
his way, and that never works out for him. And he never achieves peace.
Mark sort of retells the story with Jesus making healthier choices. Jesus
doesn’t run away from ministry; he practices self-care so he can continue in
ministry. Jonah never takes responsibility, never faces the challenges before
him, and he is never happy. Jesus trusts people to be responsible, and when
they don’t return that respect, he challenges them… saying, “don’t you believe
in yourselves… in one another. Calm down. Be still. The storm will pass; why
make it worse than it has to be with all this drama?” In Jonah’s story, the
storm carries Jonah. In Jesus’ story, Jesus calms the storm. The difference?
Attitude. What an important lesson for us.
Storms happen. The Sea of life is filled with the forces of chaos and
potential danger. The winds blow, the thunder cracks, the waves crash, the sky
grows dark… do we face it, or run from it? Are we like Jonah, or Jesus? Do we
contribute to the drama, or do we affirm hope and healing? Do we go to peace,
or to pieces?
Do you not care that we are perishing? There’s a three-point answer
to that question:
-
Why assume the worst? The truth is, they were not perishing and they
made themselves more miserable by imagining the worst instead of working for
the best
-
They forgot that they were in the boat together. They had their
skills. They had their intellects. They had their friends. They had Jesus.
They had a wealth of resources to draw on. Why not use what you have before
giving in to panic and despair?
-
Reacting to the drama makes us part of the drama. The emotional storm
in the boat was at least as dangerous as the stormy weather outside the boat.
The answer to the storm that was causing the most trouble was simple — Peace!
Be Still. Calm down. Relax. Go to peace instead of to pieces.
Jesus didn’t dysfunctionally rescue his friends. He believed in them. He
let them do what was theirs to do. He was available to help if they needed
him and would ask; but he wasn’t going to disempower him, insult them, or
infantilize them. When they did ask for help, he proved he was willing to
pitch in, but he also held them accountable for their attitudes.
Have some
faith in yourselves, and in your friends. And don’t be so quick to press the
panic button
.
The storms of life will happen; those who have practiced peace will have
peace to share in those chaotic moments. Will we add to the chaos, or will we
express the peace that is needed? Jesus shows us that we have a choice. And
this is the good news. Amen.