Cowards R’ Us (June 23, 2024) Mark 4.35-41

There is a Daffy Duck cartoon in which he meets the Tasmanian Devil. When he initially reads about the animal, he states that no brute will scare this duck. If anything, he is not a coward. Then the Tasmanian Devil shows up in his characteristic fashion of splitting rocks, sawing through trees and wreaking havoc all the way through. Daffy, seeing this, makes the statement that he is indeed a coward and runs off. He then hears of a reward for the capture of the Tasmanian Devil and decides that he may be a coward, but he is a greedy coward. The cartoon ends with Daffy stating again that he may be a coward, but he is a greedy coward.

Now I know you may be wondering why I brought Loony Toons into the sermon today, but if you were listening to the second reading you would have caught something different in a familiar story: Jesus saying that the disciples are cowardly. The disciples are cowards? How does that work?

To understand what is going on here, we have to look at the full picture. Jesus was teaching the people and was in a boat because the people were so close around him that he was basically pushed into the water.

His teaching was in parables, ones that are familiar to us: The parable of the Sower, the growing seed and the Mustard Seed. Now, to the people he did not explain what the parables meant, he let them try to figure that out on their own. But to the disciples he explained everything.

Later that evening, Jesus says to the disciples, “Let’s go to the other side of the lake.” The disciples might have found this curious or even downright distasteful because the Western side of the lake was the “Gentile” side, the side where those who were not good Jews lived, where those who were unclean resided, you know, “them”. Perhaps they were thinking that they should stay on the Eastern side. Here was where they knew people, where they were comfortable, where there were people like them; you know, “us”. But they put out with Jesus just as he was. In other words, they put out into the lake without getting anything from shore that they might want or need. And there were other boats with them that reveal that there were other disciples besides the ones we associate with Jesus.

Has anyone ever traveled to Israel? If so, you know there is an obligatory trip that most, if not all, groups take to the Lake of Galilee. Kind of a “If a church group goes to Israel, they must go in the ‘Footsteps of Jesus’” type thing. But if you see the Lake of Galilee, you will notice that it sits in a bowl. There are mountains on all sides with the valley where the river flows through on each end. Even today, there are storms that can arise suddenly on this body of water. In fact, N.T. Wright notes that there is a warning on the beach that there is a distinct possibility that cars parked there can be swamped by one of these storms.

So, with that in mind, there is a storm that comes suddenly. It is night making it hard to see where they are going in the first place. And the storm is bad enough to begin to swamp the boat. These boats would have been large enough for all the disciples and Jesus to be on board and be comfortable, so the boat would have to take on quite a bit of water to begin to be swamped. Now remember, in the boat are several experienced fishermen who should know how to handle themselves in a storm like this. But they don’t. In fact, they are absolutely terrified. Here was a storm that was swamping the boat, at night where they cannot see where they are going, there might be other boats that they might crash into, and they know this.

There is another point to make here. In Hebrew thought at the time, the water (oceans, seas, lakes etc.) represented chaos. This was the realm where monsters arose and came ashore (see Daniel). But it was also the place that God showed power and the rule of God over the sea and land. Think back to the Psalm that I read this morning: “Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity; they reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.”[1]

It was in such a storm that Jonah met with his God when trying to run and it was the pagan sailors who witnessed the power of the God of the Hebrews. So, for the disciples, this was not just a storm, but something powerful that they knew was out of their control. And then they ask, “Hey, where is Jesus? This is probably scaring him out of his mind. After all, he is a landlubber. Somebody better check on him.”

And what do they find? Jesus is asleep in the stern. I’m sure Jesus was exhausted and was taking a well-deserved nap. His being asleep in the middle of this turmoil shows where Jesus’ trust dwelt: in the God who could and would calm the seas and the waters. But the disciples, who have seen this man cast out demons, who have heard his teachings and have been privy to the full meaning of his parables, are amazed he is asleep. In fact, they are a bit indignant. There is a tone of reproach and rebuke in their manner when they say, “Hey! We’re about to drown here! Don’t you even care?”

And Jesus, now fully awake, looks around, sees Peter yelling instructions about bailing the water out, Andrew at the tiller trying to make sure they are still on course, John and James helping bail the boat out, Matthew in a fetal position sucking his thumb wondering why he ever left his tax business and the other disciples wide eyed and terrified. Jesus stands to his full height (which might not have been that impressive) and rebukes (which is what he does to the demons/unclean spirits earlier) the waves and the wind saying, “Siopa! (Quiet! Silence!), Pephimoso! (Be Muzzled! Shut up!)” Think of a parent saying this to their children when they were squabbling amongst themselves (though I am sure that never happened among those here). And sometimes like the squabbling children, there was a great calm. The one who could calm the seas had spoken.

Then Jesus is looking at the disciples and says, “Why are you so cowardly? Do you not yet have faith?” One can hear him asking, “You woke me for this? You have seen what I can do, and you are afraid that I don’t have control over this? Come on.” To which the disciples display a great amount of fear and say, “Who is this?” It is said that Jesus is one person for the question is not “Who is he?” but rather, “What is he?” Again, the readers of Mark know and wonder why it took the disciples so long to figure this out.

Now you may be thinking that this is another story that we all know and really, why do we have to focus on it? I think the very beginning tells us that something new is occurring.

First, Jesus is finishing teaching and is ready to move on. But not to the Jews. He is moving as I said before, to the Gentile side of the lake, taking his message to others. Ones who are not like those to whom he has been ministering. Ones to whom Mark has been taking the Gospel and who are being looked upon with suspicion by those in the synagogues. Mark is saying, “Jesus took the message to the others, are you willing to do the same?”

Second, when the storm was raging, what was Jesus doing? He was asleep, confident in the power of God to take care of this. And when he was awakened, he showed that he had the power that belonged to God alone and that the storms listened and obeyed. Truly the Son of God.

Third, the disciples were a lot like Daffy Duck. They were certain and proud that they were a part of the ministry of Jesus. They were a part of something big and they were the big dogs on the block. But when the storm came and it looked like all was lost, they became cowards. And those cowards had showed that they were greedycowards in the fact that they wanted a big slice of power in the kingdom. They did not yet realize that this kingdom was one where the least would be the greatest and the greatest would be the least.

Finally, Jesus tells his disciples “Have a bit of faith in me”. There are times when we go to Jesus and say the same as the disciples, “Don’t you care?” When the storms of life hit us, when there’s too much month at the end of the money, when the boss says, “There are going to be layoffs”, when the doctor says, “It’s cancer.”, when there is more than we think we can handle (and that is true) then, and too often, only then, we turn to Jesus for help. And Jesus will help us. He may say, “Why were you so cowardly?”, but he will help us. And sometimes the storms are allowed to rage, and we are tossed about, and we believe that he is not there at all, and we wonder if what we believe is really true. Other times the storm is stilled. But, in all times, we must turn to Jesus.

The church to whom Mark was writing was facing storms and hardships. There was persecution, the Romans were crushing the rebellion that was taking place, and there was no safe place to turn. And yet, Mark says that through it all the one who has the power to get them through it all is there. He was the one in the boat when the disciples were afraid that they were going to die. He is the one who calms the storm or lets it rage while reminding us that he is with us. He takes cowards, even greedy ones, and gives them the strength to carry on even in the face of the storm. Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.