In the Boat - Part 1

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:35-41 ESV). For the remainder of the week I want us to consider a very familiar passage of Scripture. It is one of my favorites and I believe we may glean new insight into who God is, who Christ is, and who we are as we relate to them. Notice in the reading this morning the verse says that Jesus said “to His disciples”. We ought to first understand what a disciple is. A disciple is one who is learning. A disciple is a student. A disciple follows after a person so they learn from that person. Jesus’ disciples were attempting to learn from Christ, so that they might be like Christ, and might make Him known to others. The point here is that these were Jesus’ disciples. In the short-term, Jesus had to teach them much about the Kingdom of God. He had to prepare them for His eventual physical absence from their daily lives. They were the ones that Jesus was counting on to introduce the gospel to a lost world. Jesus wanted to “disciple” them into being men of God. So, with that in mind, Jesus invites His students to “go over to the other side”, even though I am thoroughly convinced He knew a storm was coming. I love that phrase, “other side”, because it speaks to the heart of what Jesus was trying to do with the disciples, and what He wants to do in our lives today. Jesus wants us to “go to the other side.” He wants us to leave our lives of doubt and fear, and come into His Holy presence. He wants us to give up our worries and our fears and join Him in abundant joy and peace. Jesus wants to disciple us to the “other side” in our Christian walk. Sometimes that requires us to go through the storms of life. Are you tired of living a part-time Christian life? Do you feel really close to God when everything is going well, or when you are in church on Sunday morning, but when Monday gets here, you think: “where’s the faith?” Are you ready to go over to other side? Are you ready to really join ranks with Jesus, and get into His boat? To be His disciple, sometimes we have to get into the boat, yes, even at night, and, yes, even though we are heading into a furious storm. That is the essence of faith!