The Voyage to One Another

Jack Hardaway

“Father Jack”, as he is affectionately known, has served the parishioners of Grace Episcopal Church as their rector since 2004.

Proper 7b 2018; 24 June
Mark 4:35-41

THE VOYAGE TO ONE ANOTHER

The distance between us is impossible to cross.
That is how life shipwrecks us.
That is where relationships sink.
That is the forecast of history.
That is the foul weather that inundates our country.
The land of distance and the home the divided.
A country lies between us.
A storming sea.
The great divide.
Who dares to cross the distance between us?

It is a lie.
We are trapped in a lie.
That the distance between us is impossible to cross.
We feel that distance more and more, in every part of our lives.
Fear of the storm. It stops us.
That storm of deception, that we can’t actually care for someone else, that someone else could actually care for us.
The message comes to us out of the storm, “forsake fear and take on faith”.

Jesus has crossed over all that divides, all the separates, that vast country between us, all that we fear.
The cross embarks into the storm, and the resurrection stills the wind and the waves.
The other side beckons, the distance invites.

It is with biting humor that Mark shows the disciples as more afraid of Jesus than they were of the storm.
They were not merely in awe that he rebuked the wind and waves.
They “feared a great fear” is what it means.
At first, they feared they would perish in the storm, then they feared a great fear in the sudden silence of the aftermath of Jesus speaking.
It is not surprising that the next time they climbed into a boat, Jesus had to force them.

Forsake fear, take on faith, cross over the divide, open wide your hearts.
To live like that, to let go, to cast aside all demands, to forgive all debts, to truly be free, the silence beckons to them, and they were afraid with a great fear.

Jesus bids us to follow, to cross the divide, all that divides.
The Cross is a terror to behold, but it turns out to live with resurrection is the great fear.

When fear is taken, when fear is forsaken, and faith fills our sails, then the storm becomes a journey, the distance between us becomes an adventure.

Christians are those annoying people who won’t let division last, who can’t see a line without crossing it, a wall without climbing it, a door with knocking on it.
Our salvation depends on always crossing over to the other side bringing a message of peace. We can’t help it. It is our calling. Our purpose in the world.

It’s like we see all the great divides in life as God personally double dog daring us to see what happens when we make the journey across.

Faith is the voyage to one another.
The lie divides.
God has crossed over that distance, all distance.
Trust in that, trust in the journey that Jesus has made.
We can live with our hearts wide open.
That distance between that we all feel and fear, it has been converted, transformed, to the invitation and challenge to cross over, to love and to love and to love.
God has trespassed our boundaries.
God has crossed our border.
No walls can keep him out.
God cannot be detained or deterred.

It is a fearful thing to forsake fear, and take on faith.
The distance beckons, the silence stills our heart.