Song

I have been confronted the last few weeks by the hidden world.  We sometimes forget that life is more about the things that are not seen.  They can present themselves in our life with little warning.  Often when the world looks like easy street there is danger at your door.  We are often surprised by the unseen world.

I have been going through a medical clearance process the last few months and I have had to ask myself why I tend to avoid interacting with our medical system.  For one the cure can often be as bad as the health challenge.  Mostly I think I haven't had any real complaints.  Now I have no idea what your tolerance for pain may be, but as a member of the working poor I may tend to think of pain as something to be expected in solidarity and something that will go away.  It always has.

Then there is this other part of me that basically doesn't want to hear bad news.  Now I have made choices based on my desire to spend as much time with potential grandchildren as I am able.  Two things cigarettes and meat I cut out of my life fifteen years ago.  In many ways I felt healthier in my forties than my thirties.  Yet when it came time to hear the results of all my blood tests, most of which I have never had, there was this comforting feeling of having some good news.  Mostly cause I didn't know what the news would be.  I felt the storm coming as I waited for results on the phone.  Then I felt this peace.

In reality death is never far from any of us.  This can be the most challenging thing in life.  People show up at doors everyday with the worst news.  Sometimes people just disappear. This when we best understand most of what deicides the outcome of anything is hidden.  We catch glimpses of hidden things but that just reminds us of the depth below what we see.  Jesus is always here even when we do not see him.

I have this wonky wisdom tooth on the bottom left,  I first learned of it 15 years ago.  It is just somewhere it isn't supposed to be still sitting down on my jaw as if it has no job to do.  Each time someone takes a three hundred sixty degree view people come running.  The last dentist who did was actually working in a teaching  hospital.  More people came running than usual.  They called the first year and then each year in their turn.  I could hear them talking.

If not for the x-ray I had before I would have no idea what the commotion was.  I didn't feel exposed or embarrassed in any way, but recognized part of the hidden world lived here.  Here I was someone else.  That guy with the wonky wisdom tooth.  As if we all had x-ray vision.  Well we do you know.  It made me smile and later made me think about the hidden world.  One day perhaps it would not be hidden.  No dentist can tell me what will happen or say if it will ever need taken out, but if it does they can tell me it will not be easy.  The hidden can erupt at anytime. 

One Dentist told me, "that is just where God put it."  A student there asked me if I could feel it: I said I never have, but who knows what I feel.  So often we can be confounded by our own feelings.  We do not have anything to compare them to.  So when they come we are required to define them.

I had a feeling come up last week.  As a teacher we like to say there are no bad questions, but between me and you there are some that have only the worst use.  I heard someone ask "how do you celebrate Juneteenth?"  I responded quickly that traditionally people have been with their family, there have been prayer services and festivals.  Then this feeling arrived.  They didn't want to know.  I asked if they had google.

By the time Union soldiers rode into Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of slavery, two and a half years had passed since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.  The message of freedom had failed to reach a quarter of a million enslaved Black people.

June 19, 1865, the date that marked the end of government-sanctioned slavery in America, and that would become known as Juneteenth.  Remembering even the Civil war had been settled more than two months ending on April 9, 1865.

In the words of Opal Lee, a Black woman from Fort Worth, Texas who is largely responsible for the national holiday becoming a reality, “None of us are free until we're all free, and we aren't free yet.”

Since June 17, 2021, Juneteenth has been a national holiday.  That question "how do you celebrate Juneteenth?" brought a feeling that was too familiar.  What I did not like about that feeling.  Someone assuming I would tolerate that question.  Or agree there was nothing to celebrate.  How do you celebrate?  They clearly never planned to.  

From a certain distance you would see hear differently too

If you just listened to the music you would think one way

From a distance what could be more beautiful

All the flaws lost to resolution

We look close here in the marrow of humanity

From a certain distance you would feel different

This blue music box

Playing to eternity

How do you celebrate Juneteenth?

You write a new song

And you sing

You learn an old song

And you sing

These themes of the hidden world and the chaos that might come lead me to our scripture this week.  The resilience Juneteenth represents, freedom, and the ongoing pursuit of equality the context.  I read  Mark 4:35-41 from the  Amplified Bible.  Here Jesus stills the Sea.  Nothing hidden to him.

35 On that [same] day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee].” 36 So leaving the crowd, they took Him with them, just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him.

So we are early here in Mark.  Chapter four, but we know early in Mark is already late.  This is a chapter of parables and yet it becomes more in private with the disciples who are here with us.

Verse 11 He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables, 12 so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven.”

There is something here about time and timing.

In this chapter we have one of my earliest memories of this church, as we would gather here in the front of the sanctuary to sing our songs, but we sung a bit different than the amplified bible.  We were pretty amplified though. 

Verse 21 He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it?

"Hide it under a bushel, NO!, I'm gonna let it shine",  is what we sang.

In Verse 22 we find the heart of the chapter: 22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light [that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known]. 

37 And a fierce windstorm began to blow, and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already being swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the stern, asleep [with His head] on the [sailor’s leather] cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are about to die?” 

This plea is more than a question; it is an indictment of perceived neglect and a call for immediate, tangible intervention in the face of overwhelming crisis.  The question embodies the raw human fear of mortality and the unknown. In this moment, the disciples are not just questioning Jesus' care for them but are vocalizing a universal human anxiety about being abandoned in times of utmost peril. This resonates with anyone who has felt forsaken.

39 And He got up and [sternly] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still (muzzled)!” And the wind died down [as if it had grown weary] and there was [at once] a great calm [a perfect peacefulness].

Instead of understanding Jesus’ calming of the storm as a straightforward miracle, this scripture suggests that Jesus is a master of  hidden knowledge, possessing a profound understanding of the natural world that allowed him to influence it in ways not understood by conventional means. Suggesting he had access to a deeper, hidden, knowledge about the nature of reality and consciousness.

40 Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith and confidence [in Me]?” 41 They were filled with great fear, and said to each other, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

The Sea of Galilee is famous for its sudden and severe storms, produced by winds that funnel through the passes and canyons of the surrounding hills and create severe turbulence on the water. As experienced fishermen, the disciples knew that this was an almost constant risk in their profession.

Life is famous for its sudden and severe storms, produced by winds that funnel through the passes and canyons of the surrounding hills and create severe turbulence on the water. As experienced people we know that this is an almost constant risk.

The journey across the sea can be seen as a metaphor for the spiritual journey. The chaotic storm symbolizes the trials and tribulations one faces on this path, while Jesus’ ability to calm the storm signifies the transformative power of spiritual awakening and enlightenment.

Rather than taking the story literally, imagine the storm as a symbol of the internal turmoil within the disciples. The journey across the sea can be seen as a metaphor for their transformation.

This passage is a subtle critique of political and religious authority. The storm represents the oppressive systems of the time, and Jesus’ calming of the storm symbolizes the possibility of overcoming these forces through faith and collective action.   Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples for their lack of faith could be interpreted as an encouragement for the marginalized and oppressed to find strength and courage within themselves, rather than relying on external authorities or miracles.

The storm and its calming are not external events but are about the nature of reality and perception. Jesus demonstrates that reality is shaped by perception and consciousness, implying that faith can alter one’s experience of reality. The tempest is emblematic of internal chaos, with Jesus' act of calming it signifying the attainment of serenity through profound faith.  The narrative subtly promotes empowerment and resilience, suggesting that faith and inner fortitude can surmount societal and existential adversities.

Even four hundred years of slavery, huh! 

The cessation of the storm serves as a potent metaphor for the transformative power of faith, which can fundamentally alter one's perception of reality. This narrative invites a radical rethinking of reality itself, suggesting that spiritual awareness and enlightenment can reshape one's experiential world, transcending the conventional constraints of perception.

Approximately 85% of the universe's mass is dark matter, which does not emit light or energy, making it invisible.   Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle states that the more precisely we measure one property of a particle (like position), the less precisely we can know another property (like momentum). This principle underscores the intrinsic hidden nature of the quantum world.

In psychology, much of human behavior is driven by subconscious processes. The subconscious mind stores memories, instincts, and traumas that influence our actions and reactions without our conscious awareness.  Implicit Bias: These are attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner, revealing how unseen mental processes shape our social behaviors.

"The Science of the Hidden" encompasses a wide range of disciplines, each exploring aspects of reality that are not immediately visible or comprehensible, revealing the profound complexity and mystery underlying the apparent simplicity of the world around us.

Theistic evolution acknowledges that many find harmony between their faith and acceptance of scientific theories. This perspective allows for a divine creator who initiates and guides the process of evolution, providing a comprehensive understanding that respects both religious and scientific viewpoints.

Proponents believe that God created life and then used the process of evolution as a means of developing the complexity of life over time.  This view allows for the acceptance of evolutionary mechanisms while asserting that these processes are under the guidance or within the plan of a divine creator.  Many religious scientists and theologians support theistic evolution, including figures like Francis Collins, a geneticist and Christian who led the Human Genome Project. 

"God is not... a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life,” Pope Francis said. “Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

The question of a creator's existence and role is deeply philosophical and theological, and humans hold a wide range of views based on personal beliefs, cultural backgrounds, and interpretations of scientific evidence.  The scientific community largely supports naturalistic explanations for the development of life, as these are based on observable, testable, and falsifiable hypotheses.  Theistic evolution provides a framework for those who wish to harmonize their religious faith with scientific understanding, demonstrating that the two domains need not be mutually exclusive.

In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus and his disciples are caught in a violent storm while crossing a lake. The disciples panic as the boat begins to fill with water, but Jesus remains asleep. They wake him, fearing for their lives. Jesus calmly rebukes the wind and commands the sea to be still. The storm ceases, and there is a great calm. Jesus then questions their fear and lack of faith. The disciples, amazed and awestruck, wonder about the true nature of Jesus, who even commands the wind and sea.

We are caught in a violent storm.

As we journey through the storms of life, may we find solace in the peace that surpasses understanding.  God's presence brings tranquility amid chaos.

Let this reflection on Juneteenth remind us of the resilience and courage of those who fought for freedom and justice.  As we celebrate their legacy, may we commit ourselves anew to the pursuit of equality and dignity for all.

May we leave here with hearts full of peace, minds fortified by resilience, and hands ready to work for justice. Even in life's hidden places, there is a melody to be heard—a song of hope and perseverance.

Jesus' sovereign command over the elements, resulting in a serene sea, is emblematic of the profound peace attainable through deep spiritual faith and alignment with the divine.

Let Us Pray:

Gracious Creator,

We thank You for the peace and wisdom in Your Word. As Jesus calmed the storm, may we find calm in Your presence amidst life's challenges.

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth and honor the resilience and faith of those who sought freedom and justice. May their legacy inspire us to seek equality and love in our communities.

Help us trust in Your presence, face our fears with courage, and support one another through life's storms. May we be beacons of hope and agents of positive change.

In Your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Benediction:

As we leave this gathering, may the peace that Jesus brought in calming the storm fill our hearts. Inspired by the spirit of Juneteenth, may we carry forward the legacy of resilience and justice. Go forth with courage, compassion, and a steadfast trust in the presence of our loving Creator. Amen

Nottingham UMC 6/23/2024