The theme of my sermon today is what is meant by being set apart.
In today’s Gospel reading we learn that by the Sea of Galilee Jesus
invites his disciples to leave the crowd behind and go with him into a boat.
The disciples are being set apart from the multitude. In this instance to
be set apart meant to undergo a test of faith.
While Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat a great gale arises and the waves
beat into the boat, swamping it. Convinced that they are perishing, the
disciples wake him up with the words: ‘Teacher, do you not care that we
are perishing?’ Jesus wakes up and rebukes the wind and pacifies the sea.
He then rebukes the disciples, saying that their fear means that they still have
no faith. They have failed the test.
This accusation by Jesus stands in stark contrast to his own behaviour in the
boat. As Jerome’s Biblical Commentary expresses it, the ability of Jesus to
sleep in a storm shows complete confidence in God. It is not clear what the
motive was for getting into the boat and crossing the sea but in leaving the
crowd behind the disciples were put on a journey of faith. Although they
are fishermen they fear drowning, so they do not pass the test of faith but
remain in awe and uncertainty as to who Jesus is. They say to one another:
‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
If we look at the Old Testament, in Psalm 107 we find a similar pattern of events.
The psalmist writes that some people went down to the sea in ships
to do business ‘on the mighty waters’ but cried out to the Lord when ‘he
lifted up the waves of the sea’ and their courage failed them. God stills
the storm and the psalmist calls upon the people to give thanks to God for his steadfast love.
So to be set apart can be seen as a test of faith. For an explanation of why
we may undergo a test of faith we can consider the writing of John Ryle
in his expository thoughts on the Gospel of Mark. He writes that: ‘Service
to Christ does not exempt us from storms. We cannot expect a smooth
journey to heaven. Ultimate salvation, yes, but Jesus never promised that
we shall have no affliction’. Ryle also reminds us that with Jesus in the
boat with us, nothing is impossible. When you commit your soul to
Jesus he will carry you through every danger.
Moving on through the centuries, we can find another example of affliction
in the dangerous crossing over the water in the heroism of the Allied forces who,
in June 1944 journeyed across the Channel to liberate Western Europe from Nazi
Germany. The crossing was delayed by one day from 5th to 6th June owing to bad
weather and heavy seas but upon that day, 6th June, known as D-Day, the fear and
tension of the soldiers must have been considerable. The liberation from Nazi
Germany did happen, but after considerable loss of life of both the forces and
civilians. Here is great affliction but ultimate triumph of good over evil which is a
reminder of Jesus carrying us through danger.
To be set apart, then, can mean loss of life. As we know from the Old
Testament, when Abraham showed faith in God in offering to sacrifice
his son Isaac, the angel of the Lord appears to him and says that as he
has feared God there is no need to sacrifice his son. Yet over the
centuries and into this present day there has been the sacrifice in wars
when the few have died to save the many. Then there is the sacrifice
of those individuals who have stood out against corrupt regimes and
have suffered and lost their lives in the process. Jesus himself died
on the Cross to open the door for us to ultimate salvation.
These heroes are remembered in our worship and prayers. In the
hymn ‘Eternal Father, strong to save’ we call upon God to protect
those in peril on the sea. It is a call for spiritual direction to calm the
natural emotion of fear.
All this suffering confirms the sentence provided by Tom Wright in his
book ‘Simply Christian’ that religion is not ‘a small safe department of
everyday life’.
There are also those who choose to be set apart to seek closer
union with God and to pray for others. Here it can mean letting go
of material goods and wealth and some of the pleasures of life.
Some to retreat for a while, others to enter the monastery or convent.
For whatever reason a setting apart occurs we do know that the Kingdom
of God is ultimately about unity. Thus we seek reconciliation of conflicts
in our earthly life to try to work towards this unity. We strive to put an
end to every aspect of life that may divide us such as racism or prejudice
of any kind. At present, with the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel
and all the prejudices that lurk beneath our outward behaviour, this does seem
an uphill task but if we remind ourselves, as in today’s Gospel reading, that Jesus
is in the boat with us, calling upon us to be strong in faith, then if we
respond to this call, all will be well.