Pay Attention!

The Third Sunday after Pentecost (RCL, Year B, Proper 7)
Summer Sermon Series (1 of 11)
June 21, 2009

The Reverend Susan Beth Pinkerton

Today we begin our Five Part Preaching Series that will run through the end of August which we will repeat once during this time. We have designed this series as an opportunity during the season of Pentecost, known also as “Ordinary Time,” to “delve into the sacred purposes to which we devote our lives for the greater good in the contributions of our time, talent and resources.”^[1] The first part addresses the issue of “Pay Attention”; the second, “Pay Attention to What? Ministry!;” the third, “Why Minister to Others;” the fourth, “To Whom Are We to Minister?” and the fifth, “How Do We Minister & How Do We Allow Others to Minister to Us?” We will be borrowing materials from a variety of sources to augment and affirm the many ways the sacred text can speak to each of us, with the hope that both our individual lives and our collective life as a community are challenged, enlightened and enriched.

“Pay attention!” “Wake up!” “Don’t you care if we all die?” “What in the world are you doing asleep at a time like this!” We can easily imagine the wild scene Mark so vividly paints for us in this passage:

It is evening and Jesus and his disciples are hungry and worn out after having been with throngs of people most of the day. Instead of resting for the night, Jesus pushes them onward as they get into a boat to travel across the Sea of Galilee. This is the early part of his ministry and there is much work to be done. Suddenly, a squall comes up and they are tossed about as the boat, battered by the wind, is swamped with water. The disciples, panicked and fearful of losing their lives, bail water as fast as they can, turn to Jesus for help. In the midst of all this chaos, wind and water, they find Jesus asleep on a cushion at the back of the boat. How ironic!

How could Jesus possibly sleep through such a frightening time? They wake him up, admonish him for sleeping and appeal for him to do something before they all drown. Jesus speaks a few words and the violent storm subsides just as fast as it came upon them. As they catch their breath and wring out their water-logged clothes, Jesus turns to his followers and asks them “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

Suddenly, the disciples become stone silent…just like the eerie calm sea that surrounds them. Who can blame them for being so frightened and angry at Jesus for his seeming aloofness when they are in the midst of this storm, looking death in the face? Being seasoned fishermen, they knew all too well how quickly a small fishing boat can be swallowed up by the sea. Now they sit in utter awe at the power they have witnessed in this strange and mysterious man. Jesus’ paradoxical questions about faith and fear during the time of crisis challenges them to pay attention to a new way of being present in this world by developing a deeper awareness of themselves in relationship with others and the world at large.

And we are presented with the same challenge in our own lives today;

Can I, as a member of the Christian community, stand in the center of the whirlwind of life’s struggles, dealing with all that life has to throw at me, such as soul-wrenching grief, shattered dreams and dashed hopes, and yet, find that mysterious Peace that Jesus proclaimed when he rebuked the wind and calmed the seas two thousand years ago? How do I have the faith that Jesus talks about when I am in that tiny wooden fishing boat, bailing water out like crazy, as I am tossed to and fro as the waves of life are about to engulf, overcome and drown me? Where do I find this faith when my fear is so overwhelming that I am blinded to the presence of those around me? Or when the fear grows so large there seems to be no room for faith, let alone God?

In other words, can I be truly present when the only thing I can think about is how I want to be any where than where I am right now?

Theologian Paul Tillich’s mediation on the “mystery of time” provides insight into how you and I may address this question. In our humanness we experience time in a temporal sense as the past, the present and the future. The Greeks refer to this as chronos, something sequential and quantitative. In contrast there is the experience of a different kind of time, kairos.^[2] Unlike chronos, kairos is a qualitative way of understanding a period of time in which something unique occurs. We call this eternity and, as Tillich says, it is ever present in the universe. It is unlike chornos, which is an ever-flowing river of time, with the future continually flowing into the past with no real sense of the presence. Eternity simply is and will always be. It is eternity that holds and cradles chronos. It is eternity breaking through our temporal time that enables you and me to grasp the real meaning of being truly present, in the here and now. Tillich reminds us, if it were not for eternity we would have no real experience of the presence but we would simply continue on the ever flowing stream of temporal time, oblivious to each other and the world around us. Eternity gives a place to stand in the real present, allowing us to see ourselves within the world and in relationship to each other.

Mark’s gospel story helps me flesh out the mysteriousness of time, and how the divine intersection of eternity and time provides a sacred space where I can step away from the ever-flowing river of time and be truly present in the moment. It is in the stepping away that I become more aware of myself and my connectedness with others. In the shape and form of Jesus the man, I understand him to be the Incarnation of the Mystery of Time, the Divine Eternal, breaking into the world, beckoning my soul to be who I long to be, present in eternity; not rushing forward toward the future or running from the past or wishing the present away but to be truly present, wherever I am, in the moment, shed of anxiety and fear.

In preparing for today’s sermon, I reflected on the times in my own life when I have been in the midst of an overwhelming crisis. I recall the time when my marriage had ended being so overcome with fear and anxiety that I found it difficult to focus on my surroundings. Sometimes I even forgot to breathe. Like the disciples, I was so busy bailing water out of the boat as fast as I could, that my fear blinded me from seeing what was really going on. It was as if I had become imprisoned by my anxiety and fear as my view of myself and the world became smaller and smaller. I failed to pay attention.

However, I also know that there were times of difficulty when I was able to let go of my fear just enough for me to step back from the edge of the crisis. With this distance I began to see that something bigger was taking place beyond my own life, beyond my own struggles, hurts and concerns. In no way was I diminished but I began to see my life within the context of the larger life going on around me and within me. With this awareness came a sense of inner Peace that seemed to settle in the depth of my soul. This crisis was very much present but so was I in a new and profound way. And, it was then that I knew that I was not alone in this eternal universe but very much a part of it.

As the Psalmist sings, “Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another…for a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past” (Psalm 90: 1,4).

Mark’s gospel story challenges us to pay attention and ask; can I be truly present where I really am?

Amen.

[1] The gospel passage appointed for the day is Mark 5.21-43.

[2] Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment. The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of undetermined period of time in which something special happens. What the special something is depends on who is using the word. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature. See more at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairos.