Where is your faith taking you......day 3

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

How many times have you said that about a plan gone wrong?  It's standard in my family for disasters big and small.  Like going to the National Zoo on what was probably the hottest day of the year.  I never seem to visit the zoo unless it is 95 degrees and nasty humidity.  But it seemed like a good idea at the time.

So it might have been for the disciples who showed no hesitation when Jesus asked them to go over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  They piled into the boat and set off, only to encounter a terrible storm and soul wrenching fear.  Don't worry; Jesus took care of it all.


However, from my experience with other human beings, and particularly, those who are active in our churches, the next meeting of the disciples included a discussion entitled Never. Do. That. Again.  Never risk losing it all.  Never follow a command of Jesus without first considering all the risks and identifying potential alternatives.  Never set out without a weather report.  An accountant would call this a risk-benefit analysis.  What in the world were we thinking?

It ranges from the summer where VBS only attracted 5 kids to that new hymn that no one really ever figured out.  I've heard Call Committees say "We had a woman preacher once and we didn't like her" to "People were rude to us when we tried......."   In the end, the list of Things We Are Willing To Try gets shorter and shorter and looks suspiciously like Things That Make Me Comfortable.

This is not about evaluating risks or taking precautions or doing extra preparation.  You know this and so do I.  It is about our anxiety about going to unknown places.  It is about our fear of the others who look or talk or act in ways we do not understand.  We are worried about how to bridge the gap between them and us.  And, we fear rejection (Why? because we always do). Somehow the presence of Jesus in our lives (or even in our boat!) too often isn't enough to overcome our fear.

How do we overcome our own fear?  How do we get stronger and more willing to reach out to others?  How do we become communities who get in the boat simply because our Lord asked us to go over to the other side? 

Perhaps it is about the powerful presence of the Lord in our midst.  Perhaps if we focus on that, the other won't be scary at all.