DATE 2004-09-12

SUBJECT St Tim’s Centenary (1904 2004) – time to step out of the boat

TEXTS Mt 14.22-33

Why on earth did Peter step out of the boat – with all its comfort and security? One possible clue: Alton Towers. There is a riot called Oblivion, 150 foot vertical drop into a black hole. Really scary. There are only to like it in the whole world.

Imagine going there for a day trip. 2 hours to get there 2 hours to Q up. Finally get there, and the officials tell you – say sorry ride closed – but we have an alternative: Kiddies merry go round: you get to sit on Noddy and Bigears. How might people react to this?

Those of us getting older with more delicate stomachs – relieved. But most kids and the young at heart – BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!!!

Why be disappointed that you cannot go on a trip in which you plummet over the edge of a precipice and fall 150 feet into a black hole in the ground?

Something about the way we are made. We humans like adventure, like stepping into the unknown. Daring to conquer our fears…

Back to Peter in our Bible story: Peter, in a small boat miles from land, in the midst of a storm, tossed by the wind and the waves. Afraid.

Jesus appears, walking on the water towards them. The disciples are even more terrified now. Think they have seen a ghost.

But Peter reacts differently. Suddenly he realises that with Jesus he need be afraid of nothing. That with Jesus he can do anything, do the impossible. Since Jesus can walk on water, so can he.

So he responds to Jesus's invitation, and keeping his fixed eyes on Jesus, he conquers his fear and get out of the boat, and begins to walk on the water towards Jesus. Nervous? maybe – but exhilarated, YES!

With courage and faith like that, it is not surprising that Jesus declared that Peter would be the Rock, the foundation on which Jesus would build the church.

This small band of Christians would need courage and faith like that to obey the command of Jesus to spread his word and make disciples of all the nations. They faced an impossible task, to overcome the opposition and hostility from the powers-that-be.

How could they survived such a storm? By keeping their eyes upon Jesus and trusting him for the impossible. And this they did, joyfully, adventurously.

…The spirit of Peter who kept his eyes on Jesus and walked upon the water: THAT is the spirit that we need today as we face the gathering storm. What storm?

Ask yourself a question, Will St Timothy's church be here in 2104? Humanly speaking it seems unlikely. The church in this country is in crisis. The power of the secular culture around us is growing all the time. non-Christian religions, not least Islam, are growing in strength, year in year out. And what about the church? Weak and divided, lacking in confidence with very little to distinguish it from the materialist secular culture around. Not only is the church in financial crisis and facing bankruptcy in a very near future, but according to many statistical forecasts, the rapid decline in numbers means that there will be virtually no church in the whole of England by the mid-21st century.

In the face of all that, surely we are foolish in the extreme to hope that St Timothy's will still be flourishing in 2104? IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE. Of course it is impossible humanly speaking, but the story about Peter walking upon water in a storm is all about how the church is called not to think in human terms, but to believe the impossible; called into an adventure of faith, called to defy human predictions and to demonstrate the power and grace and glory of God, even amidst our weakness.

In many ways we have seen glimpses of that grace and power in recent years at St Tims. We have seen again and again the way that the Lord has delivered us, rescued us and set us family upon a rock.

But there is much more to come. Even in the coming year we have to wrestle with how we are going to raise something in the region of £250,000 to transform our church building, to enable it to serve God in this post Christian era in which we now live.

More importantly, each member of the church needs to grow in faith, and in our knowledge of God so that by our words and our deeds we win the hearts and minds of a secular culture disinterested in Jesus Christ.

To do that our church will need to keep steadfastly looking to Jesus Christ, and not worrying about the storm and the impossible task that lies before us.

And as we keep looking to Jesus, we need to develop the spirit of Peter, and be willing to step out of the boat.

Before us lies an exciting adventure, much more wonderful and glorious than any ride at Alton Towers.

As we keep looking to Jesus Christ, we can step forward in confidence despite the uncertainty of the future that lies before us.

Let me close my address by quoting from a poem written in 1908 by Minnie Louise Haskins, an American lecturer at the London School of Economics. King George VI included it in his famous Christmas message broadcast in 1939 at the beginning of WW2, when the future for England looked very dark indeed:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied, ‘Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!’ So I went forth and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

· Is there a parallel between the frightened disciples in a storm tossed sea – and the church today?

· What are the storms that we are facing? What are we afraid of? Why are we so weak?

· The disciples seemed to be even more terrified of Jesus. In what way is the church terrified of Jesus today?

· Why did the disciples react one way, and Peter another?

· Why did Peter ask Jesus to invite him to walk on water?

· In what way does the church need to “Step out of the boat” today?

· What does it mean for ask to walk on water towards Jesus today?

· Why did Peter begin to sink? What does that teach us?

· How can we put this teaching into practice, as a church, as a group, as individuals?

· How can we keep it up?