The Gospel of Mark

Sermon Hold on, Help is on the way!

Text: Mark 6:45-52

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. Mark 6:45-52

Title:

Hold on! Help is on the way

Thesis

Jesus immediately made his disciples get into the boat to set off for Bethsaida before dispersing the crowd. Mark’s Gospel gives us no meaning to the sense of urgency to why Jesus compels the disciples to pull up the anchor and leave. He dispatches them along with the crowd and goes up the mountainside to pray alone. Distances from their master, the disciples undergo an ordeal, struggling against the wind. The storm does not endanger their lives but they find themselves trapped in the middle of the lake, fighting against the wind after rowing in a constant strain. Jesus looking from land can see this battle-taking place hour after hour as evening turns into the early morning hour. One must assume Jesus supernaturally sees the struggle in the darkness and comes to rejoin them *walking on the sea.

As I examined the text, I realized that there is no condition too chaotic that God cannot change, no calamity that cannot be transformed into hope, no dilemma that cannot be solved. The word teaches that the God we serve specializes in being a divine deliverer for His people as in the mythos of Israel and his disciples. Similarly, I believe that God can deliver His people in this contemporary age if only we trust, persevere, pray, and have faith in Him.

Regardless of the barriers, regardless of the antagonistic attitude and reluctance to assist us as African Americans, we are not going to let go or give up but continue to press our way and hold on to God’s blessed assurance. It is comforting to know that it is in the darkest hour of our calamity and circumstance that we will hear the words of our deliverer, liberator, and emancipator saying to us “Take Courage, it is I”. Even as the winds and waves of life are striking at our very souls, Jesus is standing on the shoreline and comes to join our boats as we press our way through this journey called life (Seminary). One can be assured that if God allows us to go into the situation then he knows how to bring us through the situation.

(Antithesis) Yet, there are times in our lives we find ourselves dealing with some storms will strip us of our joy, peace, and even our sanity. These storms have the tendency of leaving all of us depressed and bewildered. In this state of chaos we find ourselves looking for help only to be discouraged by the agencies and governmental programs that were designed to help us, but instead tended to favor those who are considered significant either by wealth, job or social status. As African Americans we have experienced a number of helpless conditions at the hands of our white counter parts.

Similarly the mercies of the laws and procedures which made our situation a helpless dilemma, such as the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and other reform programs, negate their purpose of advocating and agitating for the black masses. Only to discover the suppressive programs that seek to undermine the nature of our existence to a chaotic state or disposition. Even in the twenty first century, all of us, from time to time, find ourselves dealing with some type of issue where no matter what we do or say, the situation looks, feels, and appear helpless. African Americans faced the uphill challenges through racism, segregation, discrimination, unequal rights and justice, which permeate every facet of our lives.

There is not one person, group, class, gender, or sex that is excluded from facing such conditions. The evidence has clearly been seen through our

School systems- One could easily take a walk through any of our schools