Jesus and I in the Same Boat

Devotional Reflection, Friday, January 25, 2025 

The week of the second Sunday after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel:

37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But 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?’  39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.

You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 944):

AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35

Isa. 45:18-25; Eph. 6:1-9; Mark 4:35-41

Today we celebrate the Feast of Florence Li Tim -Oi.  See below.)

David's Reflections

Today’s Gospel reminds me of a short poem by the Spanish poet Antonio Machado.

Mankind owns four things

That are no good at sea--

Rudder, anchor, oars,

And the fear of going down.*

Could it be that Jesus was a deep sleeper and not easy to awaken?  In this story, the boat is being tossed severely in a gale but the disciples had to awaken Jesus. They fear going down.

Mark's Gospel has a series of miracles in this section that demonstrate Jesus' authority over disease, death, evil spirits, and nature itself.  Some have discounted the possibility of Jesus' having performed nature miracles--the stilling of the storm, the walking on the water, and the feeding of the 5,000--on the basis that Jesus was a real human being and that human beings do not exercise power over nature.

There might be other reasons for questioning the historical nature of one or more miracles and seeing them as narrative parables that convey a truth about Jesus without being literal history.  Jewish story tellers certainly did create illustrative stories that they did not take as literally true.  However, the Old Testament presents Moses and the prophets (especially Elijah and Elisha) as performing nature miracles, and no one ever thought of them as anything but human beings.  So, to question these miracles on the basis that they undermine the concept of Jesus' real humanity seems to me less than a sound theological argument.

What strikes me about this miracle has to do with Jesus' presence with the disciples in the storm. Whatever happens to them happens to him as well.  I find genuine comfort in that. Jesus dwells within me and within those in my community.  Nothing that happens to me falls outside Jesus' experience.  It happens to him as well.  He always shares the boat with me.

Whether I am delivered from some crisis or enabled to live through a crisis that does not go away, Jesus will be there with me, experiencing every moment of what I experience, knowing and sharing my feelings and my awareness. When I fear going down, can I remember that Jesus shares the boat with me? We are in the same boat together.

  Victor Turner’s painting “Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth” has a story behind it. Turner says, ““I did not paint it to be understood, but I wished to show what such a scene was like; I got the sailors to lash me to the mast to observe it; I was lashed for four hours, and I did not expect to escape.” + This story gives me an image for Jesus’ real humanity and his sharing the boat with us. We could say Jesus was lashed to the mast of our human experience in his real humanity; that makes him our companion in the boat of our experience.

*Antonio Machado, "Fourteen Poems," in Times Alone, trans. Robert Bly (Wesleyan UP, 1983), p. 113.

+Cited by Tate Britain, https://www.art-theoria.com/painting-of-the-month/snow-storm-steam-boat-off-a-harbours-mouth/

Collect of the Day, Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (BCP, 215)

Today we celebrate the Feast of Florence Li Tim-Oi, first woman priest in the Anglican Communion (died 26 Feb 1992 CE).

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Li_Tim-Oi.htm

Collect of the Feast of Li Tim-Oi

Almighty God, who pours out your Spirit upon your sons and daughters: Grant that we, following the example of your servant Florence Li Tim-Oi, chosen priest in your church, may with faithfulness, patience, and tenacity proclaim your holy gospel to all the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

A Collect for Fridays

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 97)

In the Order of Worship for Evening

Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen.  (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

O God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy Church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 257)

Daily Office Gospel, Mark 4:35-41

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But 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?’  39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him.

Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer 

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer 

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer