The Bungee Cord

Hello,

The Bible tells a story in Mark 4 when Jesus went with his disciples in a boat to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee after he had spent the day teaching crowds of people who had gathered at the seashore.

Some years ago, I went on a trip to the Holy Land that was actually a course offered by one of the Lutheran seminaries. As part of the trip, we spent some time around the Sea of Galilee, which in my mind is a misnomer. To call it a sea is a bit of an exaggeration. It is only 7-8 miles wide and 14 miles long. It sits in a valley of sorts, so when you look across it, you can see the other side. Also, because it is in a valley, it finds itself in a natural wind tunnel where storms can hit without much notice, and the fury of the wind is magnified.

On this trip we also got to see a boat from the days of Jesus that had been unearthed in 1986 near the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Because it had been covered in soil, it had remained a good deal intact. It was around 27 feet long, 7 feet wide, and about 4 feet deep. The mast for the sail would have been in the middle of the boat, and the boat was steered by a rudder in the back. Steering was difficult because there was no keel on the underside of the boat.

Seeing this boat, and seeing the Sea of Galilee, I had a deeper appreciation for what the disciples were feeling that night when they left one shore to cross over to the other. The waters must have been relatively still when they set sail, but turned vicious as a storm sprang up. The Bible tells us that this was no small storm, but rather the boat was taking in water and was starting to sink. Without a keel the boat was at the mercy of the wind, taking it where the wind blew and rocking it mercilessly. No wonder the disciples panicked.

And no wonder they were astonished to find Jesus asleep. Why wasn’t he helping them? How could he not see the danger that was exploding around them? Didn’t he see what was happening to them? And so, they awoke him and said to him, “Do you not care that we are perishing?”

Recently, I have shared the anxiety of the disciples. Although not out on a small, keel-less boat on the Sea of Galilee, when I listen to the news that is sweeping down upon me, I get a sinking feeling….warnings about AI’s potential lethality, the war in Iran, the teetering of our economy, the cost of essentials, the blind braggadocio from leaders, the pommeling of storms and fires, sabers being rattled between countries…I find myself being chilled by the frigid, stormy water that my emotional boat is taking in, and on my knees, I find myself crying out, “Lord, do you not care that we are perishing?”

And that is when I realize something that both the disciples and I had forgotten, and that is that Jesus was in the boat with them, and likewise he is in the boat with us. Jesus wasn’t standing on the seashore either completely unaware of the travail his disciples were experiencing or simply a spectator to the battle that was going on. No, he was in the boat with them….their fate would be his fate. He was included in the “we”.

That is also the case with us as we find ourselves tossed and turned in the storms of our lives. God does not stand on the shores of heaven in complete oblivion, or as a distant spectator. In Jesus, God hopped into this life with us, feet first, taking on the storms that we endure, and just as he did from the Galilean boat, he stilled the worst storm of all, death, when the walked out of the earth-hewn tomb.

So, it is not a pollyannic platitude to say that Jesus cares when the storms hit. He has shown us that he cares, cares with his very life. When the storms brew to boiling around us and cause us to fear…look and see…see that Jesus is with us…see how Jesus commands the storms…and feel faith and hope settle in you….as Jesus shows you…shows you…. that he cares!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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