2nd Sunday Before Lent Year C - Luke 8:22-25

In his poem, Sea Fever, John Masefield uses simple, yet evocative language to convey a sense of longing and escapism, something that he believes is to be found on the open sea. And so he writes.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way,

where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

What’s not to love about the sea, in its many and various forms?

Having been blessed by three years of curacy living on the coast in Pakefield, I loved nothing more, than my daily commute, my morning walk from my home along the cliff edge to the church for morning prayer, come rain or shine, whatever the weather, it was a sight that I could simply never get tired of. The sea is endlessly fascinating – sulky and seductive, beckoning and threatening.

It reminds us of the forces within that has both the potential for beauty and destruction.

In many ways it offers its own liturgy of chaos and creation, judgement and salvation and like all good liturgy, it draws us into its rhythm. It is powerful.

In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus got into a boat, and simply says ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’

But why?

That is the question I kept coming back to as I reflected on this familiar passage this week. Why did Jesus want to sail across the lake?

You may or may not be Death in Paradise viewers like me. If you are, you will know that the latest lead detective, detective inspector Mervin Wilson, unwittingly found himself investigating a murder, whilst actually on the island of Saint Marie in an attempt to find his birth mother. He solved the murder, of course, but then uncovers a potential mystery when it emerges that his mother has died, whilst in a boating accident out on the sea, whilst trying to scatter her fathers, his grandfathers, ashes.

But one question bothers DI Wilson, why was she out at sea in the first place … there was a storm coming, and she was an experienced seafarer, someone who simply wouldn’t have gone out in a storm.

As Jesus and the disciples set out across the lake, there is no sign of a storm, in fact it was so calm … Jesus seized the opportunity, and with the gentle rocking of the boat, drifted off to sleep. But it doesn’t take long before a storm sweeps down the lake.

So why did Jesus say ‘let us go across to the other side of the lake?’ There may not have been weather forecasters, but surely Jesus, the Son of God, knew that there was a storm coming … so why are they out on the lake in the first place?

I’ll probably never completely get to the bottom of that question, but it is a question that many ask, perhaps not in quite the same way, when they face storms or difficulties in their lives, why didn’t Jesus protect the disciples from the storm in the first place, why doesn’t be protect you and me, everyone from the storms of life.

Why didn’t Jesus simply stay on the lake shore that day, where it was safe, why did he and his disciples find themselves out in the middle of the lake in the midst of a storm?

Perhaps it is in the storm, that we get to see an even bigger picture of who Jesus is. Perhaps, dare I say it, the storms are necessary, to build our faith, and to grow our trust.

As fishermen, the disciples would have known all about storms, but this is a particularly tough one, its one that fills them with fear and required all their skills. It’s ‘all hands on deck’ so maybe they just wanted Jesus to help them, as they wake him from his sleep, to stand alongside them in their fight with the storm, as they battled their fear of being overwhelmed.

We too, know what fear is like, it is debilitating and faith can seem to evaporate. We have our own storms that rage about us and we draw our strength from the presence of Jesus, he knows how we feel, our fear, our weariness. Jesus is One of us and one with us. Theologians call it the imminent Christ – the one who shares fully in all human experiences.

We can find ourselves in situations where experience is little help. In fact, maybe experience only tells us that all is surely lost. The disciples found themselves exactly there on this day. And it may seem like Jesus is asleep. Where is God when you need him? Where is that saviour when our resources and abilities come to an end?

The good news of course is that Jesus is alongside us, in the boat. Jesus is riding the storm with us.

Sometimes we feel in control, living in the ordinary, happy just to have him with us. But then life gets a bit hectic, the waves get higher, our boat fills up with water and we start to panic. Suddenly we want Jesus more involved, to feel our mess, our panic, our pain. And like the disciples we want to shake him and say … ‘help, we need you in our storm.’

As the disciples wake Jesus from his sleep, he rebukes the wind and the waves and calm is restored, and in that moment, Jesus is revealed as more than just ‘one of them’. He is no longer simply just Jesus, the real man, sharing in our weakness and feeling our pain. Now he is Jesus fully divine, Jesus with all the power and authority of God.

In theology speak, the last word belongs to the transcendent Christ. The God – in – Christ who can act with power and transform situations.

The disciples response was not to be fearful of the elements but to stand in awe at the power of Jesus.

‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?

Who else but God

We need Jesus in our boat … the Jesus who is in it with us, no matter what the storm, who controls and transforms when we let go to fear and walk in faith.

Thanks be to God

Amen