“Here
in the dark, I cherish the moonlight
I'm in love with the way you're in love with the night
And it travels from heart to limb to pen...”
I'm in love with the way you're in love with the night
And it travels from heart to limb to pen...”
-Handwritten
by The Gaslight Anthem
Mark 4:1, “And
again He began to teach by the sea...”
The sea is a
fascinating concept in Scripture. From it's mysterious springs in
the Garden of Eden that change into a 4 headed stream, watering the
entire planet to the deep sea creatures mentioned in the Old
Testament, old as time itself. Or we could look at the curious
mention of the sea of glass and the elimination of the sea in the
book of Revelation.
Have you ever
noticed how Jesus interacted with the sea in His setting? He called
fisherman to be part of his posse. He crossed by boat over the sea
several times in the gospels, and a lot of strange things happened
over those stormy seas, he helped fishermen with their catch and he
skated across the waters like running through soft grass. He slept
through hurricane winds and dared his disciples to join Him in
stepping into the sea in the middle of the night.
The sea is a scary
place. We need the things the sea offers, water, food, refreshment,
cleansing, growth, and countless other necessaries. Yet the sea is a
danger. You can walk for miles and miles by foot and if you get
tired you can sit down. You can swim for miles and miles if your
boat falls apart but if you don't have something to cling to you have
no place to sit down. You will soon be overwhelmed by the waves and
drown.
I don't know that we
are as scared by the sea as people were in Jesus' day. Every time,
every culture has their own fears that are unique to them. What are
your fears? The night is a common one, full of the unknown, where
dark creatures lurk. Is it something of a completely different
variety? Such as people? Some people fear interaction with others
more than death itself and it is a constant source of discontent in
their soul. Or illness? Maybe someone in your family has a disease
that is genetic and you fear becoming just like them. Much like the
fictional Dr. Reid in Criminal Minds fears becoming just like his
Schizophrenic mother.
What's interesting
about Jesus is that He doesn't simply chase away those fears, He
doesn't even chastise those who have them for having them. We see
one such example with the sea in the Gospels. In Matthew 8 when the
storm is raging and Jesus is sleeping and His sleep is interrupted He
sleepily calms the storm and then gripes at the disciples, “Where's
your faith?”...then he questions why they were afraid in the first
place.
Notice the order.
He reminds them of their faith and then laments why this is such a
problem in the first place. Look through the Bible, the gospels in
particular and see how Jesus interacts with fear and you might learn
how to attack your own fears. We all have them. We are all
disciples waking Jesus up, much as a child wakes a parent in the
middle of the night to come into their bed and sleep with them.
Peter understood
this and addressed it head on in 1 Peter 5….”Cast all your
cares/fears/anxieties on Him for He cares for you...” I once heard
in a sermon that I remember to this day that the purpose of this
verse is not to diminish our fears and make light of them as if we
are horrible for having them but to tell us where to place them
because we all have them. As the preacher said, “You can't cast
them if you don't have them...”
No comments:
Post a Comment