 |
|
|
Redford Aldersgate
United Methodist Church
Sermon
It’s
fall. Some may think that it’s beginning to be the time to walk in
leaves, but we could do something even more exciting - walk on water!
This fall we are looking at John Ortberg’s book, “If You Want to Walk on
Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat.” He suggests that Peter’s
incredible walk on the Sea of Galilee so long ago was an invitation to
everyone who, like Peter, wants to step out in faith and experience the
incredible power and presence of God. By “walking on water” we mean
doing something with God’s help that you could not do on your own power.
All Christians are Spiritual Water Walkers by
birth
... spiritual birth. With our baptism, we became water walkers ...
people who do what society thinks is impossible... people who defy the
powers of evil to obey the command of Jesus. Last week, I recounted the
whole amazing story of how, we as a church stepped out in faith to
answer Christ’s call to make this building accessible to all people. It
is a great story, but it’s only a foretaste of the glory yet to come for
us as a church together and for us as individuals as we continue to
respond to Christ’s call to “Come.” Let’s look again at that amazing
story.
Matthew 14:22-31
As we hear Christ’s words: Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?
It’s easy to think of Peter as a failure. He had a few moments of
exhilarating, incredible success, but then he noticed the wind and began
to sink. How embarrassing, we think. How foolish, we think. But let’s
rewind a moment and go back before the sinking, before the exhilarating
success ... back to the boat with the other disciples. Back to where
they were all frightened and cried out in fear. All of them heard the
voice of Jesus say: Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid. Peter was the
quickest with the words, he said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to
come to you on the water.” They all heard Jesus say: Come. Now, granted,
it was Peter who made the request and Jesus’ command was in response to
Peter’s request. But Jesus didn’t say, “Just Peter come, all the rest of
you stay in the boat.” Jesus simply said, “Come.” Any of them could have
stepped out of the boat. But it was only Peter who took the risk ...
only Peter who left the safety and security of the boat ... only Peter
who responded to the command: Come. The rest of them were content to
watch from the side lines. The rest chose safety over risk. The rest
chose comfort over challenge. So who are the failures? Who failed to
try? Who failed to respond to the challenge? Who failed to do what Jesus
asked? It was the disciples in the boat!
Ortberg
calls people who model themselves after the disciples who stayed in the
boat “Boat Potatoes.” These are people who prefer stay at home and watch
the action on T.V. rather than participate in the activities. These are
people who don’t want to risk failure so they just don’t try. These are
people who don’t want to get involved or make a commitment. They prefer
safety over growth. There are probably lots of reasons for their choice.
One reason may have to do with comparison. Perhaps they compared
themselves to Peter who was always so impetuous and strong and brave.
Maybe they felt they just didn’t measure up to him, so they were content
to stay in the boat and let him take the risks. Maybe you rationalize
that it’s better for you to stay in the boat and let someone else do the
risk taking and the serving. After all, there are always people around
who seem to be better equipped to do the various tasks we are asked to
do, so we just say, “Let someone else do it. They’ll do it even better
than I can.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked someone to do
something and they say, “Oh, I’m sure someone else can do it better than
I can. Ask them.” But asking someone else doesn’t help the person I’m
talking to grow. Don’t let comparison keep you from being a water
walker. Maybe someone else can do it better than you, but don’t let that
keep you from the trill and exhilaration of doing something wonderful.
Boat Potato or Water Walker... The decision is yours.
Another
reason they may have chosen to stay in the boat is comfort. It’s more
comfortable sitting in a boat than walking on water. Our lives are very
comfortable and it’s hard to leave that comfort behind in order to reach
out to help others or do something that might take a lot of energy and
commitment. So we find excuses to not respond. How do we spend our
money? Is it on more and more things to make us comfortable and
entertain us? Are we just making our boat more and more comfortable? ...
Or do we step out of our comfort zone and use our money to do good in
the world? Do we follow the Biblical command of giving away a tenth of
our income? It’s pretty hard to step out of the boat on that one. We
say, “Well, first we have to make sure we have enough to stay afloat
ourselves before we give to others.” I’m sure there is truth in that.
But what does it mean to “stay afloat” in today’s society? How many
T.V.’s and computers and toys do we need to “stay afloat”? In the video
that the people will see who stay for the discussion groups, Ortberg has
fixed up a little rubber raft with a T.V. and cushions and a remote
control. It is the epitome of comfort. But it also looks rather unstable
to me. There’s so much stuff in it that it looks like it wouldn’t take
much for it to capsize. Unfortunately, I think that’s the way it is with
a lot of people today. We have invested so much in our comfort that we
are just one wave away from capsizing. So, we need to ask ourselves
where our priorities are. Are we spending too much time, effort and
money on trying to make ourselves more comfortable when Christ is
calling us to leave that misguided comfort behind and step out to use
our resources of time, money and energy on something that has more
eternal value? Will you step out of your boat, or choose to remain in
the comfort of your boat? Boat Potato or Water Walker ...The decision is
yours.
And
the third reason we may choose to stay in the boat is simply fear of
failure. We are just plain afraid we will fail. So instead of risking
failure, we just don’t try in the first place. But failure is an
important ingredient in success. In order to grow and learn, we have to
risk failure. Jonas Salk failed 200 times before he found the vaccine
for polio. But he didn’t see it as failure. He just said, “I found 200
ways not to make a vaccine for polio.” Thomas Edison failed time and
time again before he actually got a light bulb to work. He, too, said
the same thing about his failures. He laughed as he said, “I’ve had a
lot of success with failure. That same attitude is found in all the
people who accomplish great things. I liked what Edmund Hillary said
after he had tried to climb Mount Everest and failed. He shook his fist
at the mountain and said, “I’ll defeat you yet. You’re as big as you are
going to get and I’m still growing.” He became the first person to climb
it in 1953.
Risking
and failing are part of growth. No child learns to walk without falling
several times. Just as we won’t walk on water without failing a few
times. But the alternative is not to walk at all... to be a boat
potato... but alas... there is failure there too, because Boat Potatoes
rot at sea. For when we always choose safety and comfort and don’t step
out of our comfort zone, the result is stagnation and unrealized
potential. So, sure, we’ll fail, but let’s fail while attempting great
things. In the process, we’ll grow stronger and more sure footed. We’ll
be amazed at the results!
Jesus told a wonderful story which Ortberg calls a “wake-up call for
potential boat potatoes. It’s the story of a CEO who entrusted a large
sum of money to three servants. It goes like this:
Matthew 25:14-28
At first it may seem a bit unfair that one servant got 5 and another 2
and another only 1. But keep in mind even 1 talent was a huge amount
worth 15 years wages. Even one talent was an opportunity of a life time.
One talent would be approximately a half a million dollars. Now who
would turn down a half a million dollars just because someone else had a
million and someone else had two and a half million? Wouldn’t it be a
great opportunity just to be given a half a million? Sure it would! Now
I know the instructions were quite vague. The master didn’t specifically
say, “Go and make more money with this.” He just gave it to them. Of
course, none of them particularly asked for instructions. Two of them
just seemed to know that the master would want them to use it wisely.
But the poor guy with the half million was scared to risk anything. He
just hid it and played it safe. It’s not that he did something bad with
it. Rather, it was that he did nothing with it. It’s hard for us to
think that doing nothing deserves such harsh punishment. In a
second-century manuscript called “The Gospel of the Nazarene, the story
was repeated, but the writer added a phrase to describe the third
servant: “He squandered all his money on harlots and flute players.”
Evidently the writer felt that simply “doing nothing” was not enough to
warrant Jesus’ harsh words, so he added embezzlement and immorality to
the servant’s sin. (Ortberg, p. 46) But that’s not Jesus’ story. In
Jesus’ story, the man simply didn’t use the gift. He buried it. There is
real tragedy in an unused gift.
Ortberg tells about his grandmother who was given a beautiful set of
dishes when she was a young girl. At every special occasion, like
birthdays and Christmas and graduation and confirmation, etc., people
would give her another piece of the china, which she would wrap up very
carefully and put with the other pieces. It was very expensive so they
could only afford one piece at a time. But over the years, the set grew
so that she had a complete set. However, it was so precious and so
valuable that it seemed like it should only be used for very, very
important occasions. But the thing was, that there was never an occasion
that was important enough to use it. So, the dishes stayed carefully
wrapped in the box. They were in that box so long that everyone forgot
about them. After his grandmother died, however, his grandfather was
going through the attic, cleaning out some things. He came across the
box with the dishes. So, he called his daughter-in-law (Ortberg’s
mother) and said, “I was going through some of Florence’s things in the
attic when I came across a box of old dishes. I was going to get rid of
them, but I noticed that they’re blue – your favorite color. Why don’t
you take a look at them, and if you want them, they’re yours; otherwise,
I’ll give them to the Salvation Army.” (P. 31) Here was a box of great
gifts his grandmother had received and she went to her grave without
ever getting to enjoy using them. How sad! But how sad it is when we
have received great gifts from God and have never used them.
His grandmother was probably afraid some tragedy would occur and they
would get broken. But a tragedy did occur: they were never used, never
enjoyed, never accomplished their purpose. We have to risk to accomplish
our purpose. We can’t wait until conditions are perfect enough or
special enough to use the gifts we have. It was stormy and windy when
Peter got out of the boat. He could have said, “When the waves calm
down, call me to come to you.” But that’s not what he said. We may say,
“When I get my problems worked out, then I’ll volunteer for the church”
... or “When the kids are grown ... or when I get a promotion ... or
when I have more time ... then I’ll answer the call.” The times may
never seem perfect, but the call comes anyway. The choice is ours: Water
Walker or Boat Potato... which will you be?
Or, we might compare our gifts to someone else’s and think our gifts
aren’t all that special. “They got 5 talents, I didn’t get any.” But
look again, we all have been given gifts. God doesn’t make junk. God
gives us all talents, we just may not see them because we are too busy
looking at someone else’s talents. But notice the master didn’t hold
people responsible for what others had received. God will not ask, “What
did you do with what you didn’t have?” But God will ask, “What did you
do with what you had?” Comparison is not an adequate excuse for the
tragedy of an unopened gift. (P. 43) Will you step out of the boat and
begin to use your talents? The choice is ours: Water Walker or Boat
Potato ... which will you be?
To
follow Christ we can not succumb to the comfort of the boat or just sit
watching as others step out. Christianity is not a spectator sport.
Jesus calls us ... that’s the proof that it’s Jesus. “Lord if it is you,
command we to come to you on the water.” That’s how Peter would know
it’s Jesus. Jesus doesn’t say, “Stay and be a Boat Potato.” Jesus says,
“Come, be a water walker.” Ortberg closes his chapter on Boat Potatoes
with these intriguing questions. Whether you stay for the discussion
groups or not, I hope you will wrestle with these questions:
How much am I growing these days? If we are not growing, then that means
we have begun to stagnate. We need to continue to grow until the day we
die ... and then, no doubt, we’ll grow even more. But ask yourself how
much you are growing. If you aren’t growing in any area except the waist
line, you need to get out of your boat and start challenging yourself.
Without challenge, we die.
Another important question is: How often do I take risks that require a
power greater than my own? If we are doing things we know we can do
without God, we are missing the opportunity to grow closer to God.
Finally, Ortberg suggests that we take some time to imagine the scene
when we review our life with God. We don’t know exactly what will happen
on that day when we come face to face with God. But one possibility is
that we will review our life with God ... perhaps like seeing a movie of
the highlights of the game. As we watch that game of life we have played
out, what will we see? Will we see a boat potato or a water walker?
Ortberg asks us to think about what single step we could take today to
minimize the regret factor we might have at the end of our life. It’s a
lot to think about. The call comes daily to us. “Come” Christ says.
Each of us needs to ask ourselves: What will my response be? Will I be a
boat potato or a water walker? Let’s get out of the boat and start
walking toward Jesus!
.