Living in the Spirit
June 23, 2018
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:35-41
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
Recently I watched the nightly news as is my normal routine and saw stories about immigrant children being separated from their parents as they attempted to enter our country. When I went to bed the stories replayed in my head and I could not go to sleep. I read for a while and in the wee hours of the morning did finally fall asleep.
During my first year of social work graduate school, I did my field placement at an agency tasked to advocate for the aging. The leader of that agency was an amazing woman and I learned a lot from her. The main lesson that stuck in my mind is that she rarely wavered from a peaceful, calm demeanor. She practiced a way of being that demanded she does the very best she could on the things she was called to do and over which she had control. She did this taking into consideration that she was always working with teams and groups and had to consider, enable, and respect each of their members’ talents and contributions as they intersected with her. There is no doubt in my mind that she would have marshaled a major response to an issue like the separation of children from their parents or grandparents. She might have lost some sleep because of reviewing next steps or evaluating the ones she had taken. I do not think she would have worried.
Is this essentially what Jesus is modeling for us in our scripture today? We have the same opportunity to trust God fully as Jesus did no matter what the situation and we need not worry either. I am obviously not there yet. I wonder if my sleepless night was telling me I had not done all I could do?
I play solitaire on my computer sometimes and the app I use has a message that flashes saying “there are no more moves possible”. Wouldn’t it be great in our ministries if we had a similar message from God? Jesus modeled the answer to that question recorded in the gospels in scenes describing how he went alone to pray including the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was assured he had other moves to make. Constant communing with God creates trust.
Prayer: Thank you God for your abiding presence with us. Help us not to waste such a wonderful resource. Amen.