A little push out the door?

 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.” (Mark 6.45)

Why would Jesus “make” his disciples get into their boat? 

After all, the majority of the disciples were fishermen, owning their own boats, experienced with fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Why would they need to be “compelled” or “constrained” or “forced” to get into their boats? It looks like they needed a little “push out the door” on this occasion.

Interesting trivia: this is the only instance in the Gospels when Jesus “makes” the disciples take a trip in their boat. There are 32 other references to Jesus and his disciples using the boat, and in each of these, they simply get into the boat. No convincing needed.  

There was something about this setting in Mark 6 that seemed to require a little push out the door from Jesus to get his disciples going.

We can only make an educated guess about the circumstances, but we can glean three facts about this story.

First, we know the disciples had just finished a long day. Jesus gathered yet another crowd, healed many of them, and ended the day with another miraculous feeding of the masses.  The disciples were the ones who had to distribute the food to over 4000 people. That must have been real work! Maybe you know from experience how much energy and patience is involved in doing a food outreach! We can assume the disciples were tired, and maybe a little irritated that Jesus chose this occasion to send them on a trip across the lake. 

Second, the boat being used was probably a typical 1st century Galilean fishing vessel. Archeologists have discovered several of these boats – 26 feet long, 7 feet across, with flat bottoms that enabled them to come close to the shore. We know that the means of propulsion was either a sail or oars. Either way, it was physical labor navigating these sturdy little boats – and given their shallow draft, these were hard to manage in the midst of a storm. 

Third, it was late in the day, probably around dusk, and a storm was brewing. Certainly fishermen in that culture were experienced with fishing at night; but they also knew how to discern the approach of bad weather. We know that later that night Jesus “saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.” If the disciples saw a storm coming, they knew they would be navigating without benefit of the stars for navigation, in a boat that could easily capsize or be swamped in a storm. 

So, it’s easy to guess why the disciples needed a little push to get into the boat.

Simply put: they were weary and they saw trouble coming. Taking this trip at this time, in that boat, made no sense. 

Can you see why Jesus had to “make them” get into the boat?  From their experience and with their expertise, this journey needed to wait till morning! Can we hear them muttering under their breath – “Why now? Why here?”

Take a look at the entire story in Mark 6.45-52, and you’ll see what Jesus was up to. 

The disciples were being sent on a mission that would only be successful with Jesus. Natural elements and human limitations would not prevent them from getting across the lake. Jesus shows up when and how he chooses, and they’re able to complete their journey. 

Here are three lessons we can learn from this story.  Take a moment and consider:

1. Jesus doesn’t need our skill or our strength to complete his work through us.

2. He decides when and where he sends us because he is the power in the mission.

3. And, we can expect Jesus to show up in his time, and in his way. 

We only have one work to do when Jesus tells us to go: get into the boat and start rowing!

 

 

Dear friends of the Table Fellowship,

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!  (1 Chronicles 16.34)

Last year at this time, the lock-downs and the quarantines were just beginning.  Life as we knew was abruptly changing. Stores closed, sporting events were cancelled, millions of jobs were lost… churches shut the doors of their buildings. And The Table stopped meeting at the Wallis house (affectionately known as Lindisfarne) and we began learning about Zoom.

Terms like “virtual” and “live stream” and “social distance” became part of our day-to-day jargon. We could not meet personally, so we became dependent on “Zoom” and FaceTime and on meeting in new ways.

As a fellowship called “The Table,” this COVID experience has been both strange, but by God’s grace, very fruitful.

It’s been strange because “the Table” is not gathering for dinner or Communion around a table right now. Our personal meetings are in small groups of 2’s or 3’s, on Zoom, or on our front porch. A friend suggested (tongue in cheek!) that we re-name our fellowship, “The Porch.”  Not going to do it, but we get it!

In the midst of it all, our Table journey has been very fruitful in several ways!

First, God has been working in our “groups of 2’s or 3’s.”  We have continued to stay connected, and to stay in the Word through Zoom or through personal meetings that are “socially distanced.” The work of making disciples has not stopped. It has just needed new mediums or methods!

Second, the Holy Spirit has been meeting with us during our Zoom calls each week. We are truly grateful to the Lord for the technology that enables us to see and hear one another when we can’t be together in person!  And it has been fun to be like the Early Church who met “in their homes” with hearts that “were glad and sincere” – but in our case, we’re meeting “in homes” through internet software! (Acts 2.46)

One unexpected blessing has been welcoming new friends on our Sunday Zoom calls who live in other countries – Venezuela, Colombia, and Honduras. Right now, we’re learning how to be a multicultural church online!

Third, God has been giving us creative outreach work through Zoom gatherings or social media connections. For example, we are part of a monthly Zoom call to continue our conversation about Social Justice and the Kingdom of God. On these calls, we share resources, we pray, and we invite one another to share in local opportunities for work and witness.  Our regular “members” of these gatherings are leaders, both lay and ordained, who live in four different cities across the U.S.  This is yet another unexpected blessing of using Zoom in our current season of being “together, apart.”

God’s call to reach the World with the Gospel hasn’t changed, but our way of reaching the World has had to change. It’s thrilling to realize that millions of people around the globe have been hearing the Good News of Christ through online streaming services or online webcasts. Prior to COVID, watching church online was a novelty or a “second best” option for people unable to travel. But since March 2020, the Gospel has been transmitted to all continents each day in new ways.  We praise the Lord that in the midst of sickness and loss, his Gospel is going forth to bring hope and good news.

 As we journey together in 2021, let’s magnify God for his faithfulness and mercy. This crisis has not taken God by surprise.  It is encouraging to remind ourselves that our lives are hidden in Christ with God (Colossians 3.3). At the heart of it all, we are sojourners and aliens in this world. As C.S. Lewis wrote, we experience “pleasant inns” in our life, but the Lord wants our hearts to be set on a heavenly home.  As Followers of Jesus, we have acknowledged that we are strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland (Hebrews 11.13,14).  

God’s grace and peace be multiplied to you throughout 2021, and as we look to our heavenly homeland!

Rick & Carol