MUSINGS - Even His careless ones...

I can remember the first time that I ever heard a sermon on today's Gospel reading. I was studying at Trinity Evangelical Divintiy School at the time. One morning a fellow seminarian - Lyall Bethel - asked if I would come and listen to a sermon he would be giving in his homiletics class later that day. Since I had vivid memories of my own first forays into the strange world of in-class sermonizing the previous year, I said, "Yes." Honestly, I thought that I would be doing him a favor.

Not wanting to miss Lyall's first sermon, I arrived at the homiletics lab about 10-15 minutes earlier than necessary. Before he walked up to the pulpit, however, I had to endure the homilies of a couple other seminarians. Unfortunately, their first efforts reminded me of my own the previous year. Oh well.

Not long into Lyall's retelling of the calming of the storm, I had all but forgotten the two "sermons" I had just suffered through. Almost from the start, he had grabbed my attention. He helped me experience the moment. First, Jesus' weariness from a day filled with ministry. Then, the disciples' eagerness to get away. Later on, as the storm came upon them and raged, their anxiety and fear. It was almost as if I were out there on the water with Jesus and the disciples.

Through the excellent story-telling, Lyall had left me disarmed. I had come to the lab expecting to offer a word of encouragement and critique. But as the sermon neared its end, Lyall asked his make-shift congregation if we had understood why Jesus had rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. He asked if we had caught the specific way that the disciples' lack of faith had been revealed on that stormy night. Frankly, I hadn't! And...I had no idea what Lyall was going to say next.

Then Lyall re-read the text, "On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: 'Let us cross to the other side'" (Mark 4:35). So when the storm came and the waves crashed against their little boat, they had nothing to fear. Before getting into the boat, Jesus had told the disciples that they would get to the other side. And..."Every word of Jesus can be trusted completely."

It's been twenty years since that sermon and I still ponder Lyall's simple observation. So today, when so many around me assume that every statement is accompanied by spin, Lyall reminds me that its not that way with Jesus! So, I need not be afraid. If I stay in the boat with Jesus, I will cross to the other side. Jesus says so. I can trust every word he speaks...even His careless ones."

Today's Readings: Sunday, June 25th, 2006.