Barneyisfat

I found this time capsule this week.  This is the year that we are supposed to open it.

I want everyone to take a second and think back to where you were in your life in 1989.  What were you doing?  How old were your kids?  What were your hopes and goals and dreams?

If I read your name (or what your name was in 1989) please stand up.

[I'm going to go through some items in the box - and highlight a couple of them]

This box will be left on the altar after worship if you would like to take a closer look at some of the items in this box.

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This box was put together in 1989.  Ronald Reagan was in the White House.  Every Rose has it's Thorn by "Poison" was the most popular song in the country that year.  I was two years old.  The world was different.  The soviet union was our greatest threat. This church had 175 people in worship most Sundays that year.  Our pastor received $23,600 in 1989.  This sanctuary was probably filled with pastel colors and shoulder pads.

Things have changed.  We live in a different world.  Clairton has changed.  You have changed.  Your family has changed.  Your outfits have changed.  

As a missionary, I would leave America for a few years at a time.  It's funny the way things change when you're not paying attention.  I had heard Justin Bieber music, but I thought that Justin Bieber was a girl named Justin.  All the music changes.  Fashion changes.  Colors and styles change.  I had these professors in college who were missionaries in the jungle for 40 years.  They have this wonderful picture of their arrival.  They are in their 20s and he is giving her a piggy back ride so that her long wool skirt didn't get dirty.  And then there is a picture of them leaving the field when they were in their sixties.  And he couldn't give her a piggy back ride anymore, but she is still wearing the long wool skirt that was fashionable in the 1940s when they first left for the mission field.

Jesus came to the world during a time of scary change.  The Jewish people didn't have their own land, they had Roman overlords present at all times to keep them in line.

When Jesus began preaching his radical ideas, you have to remember that his disciples felt that for sure Jesus was going to bring the political change that they had hoped for.  Jesus was going to raise up an army and defeat the invading forces.

And so, if we look right before this passage, we see that Jesus has just fed the 5000.  And everyone is stoked.  People are celebrating.  He works miracles.  The people are ready to put a golden crown on Jesus' head and make him their king.  They are ready to join the revolution and topple Caesar and win back their independence.

And Jesus sends them away.  They pin all of their political and military aspirations on Him, and he rejects them all.  And Jesus sends the crowd away - and then Jesus puts the disciples into the boat and sends them on their way saying that He will follow later.

And Jesus goes off to pray.

And the waves of the sea begin to church and the wind over the water begins to fiercely blow.  And, this is a tiny detail, but I think it's incredibly important.  Jesus put the disciples into this boat.  They didn't get into the boat because they were running away from Jesus.  They weren't disobeying.  They were exactly where Jesus would have them to be.  And the storms came.  And they were terrified.

And we tend to have this theology, this understanding of God, that if life is bad, if things are terrible, if life is scary that we have done something wrong.  That we have moved outside of the will of God - but this isn't necessarily the case.

This church has had some fairly major issues recently.  We have had to borrow money from ourselves and we have debt to pay back.  We are working our way back to a healthy footing.  I don't think any of us would have dreamed this dream for our church.  None of us would have hoped that our church would have a third as many people on Sunday morning as we did back in 1989.  None of us hope for challenging times, or times of struggle.  No one wants to be afraid.

And Jesus goes off by himself to pray.  He is alone and he sits with God and talks to his Father.  And in the light of the moon, he sees his disciples in the boat, terrified and being swept from side to side.

And Jesus walks on the water and walks to their boat.

And again they are terrified.  Not only is the storm here, but a zombie ghost monster is now coming towards them.

When Jesus speaks to them, Peter is still unsure.  He asks Jesus to call him out upon the water.  And when Jesus calls, Peter gets out of the boat.

Now, their little fishing boat probably wasn't much protecting against the raging storm.  There was certainly a chance that their boat would be capsized and they would be dead.  So Peter is leaving one safety net, - one that isn't very safe - and he's going to another safety net, one that is much, much safer.

Isn't that interesting?  2000 years later and we still read this story as if Peter is going from somewhere very, very safe to somewhere very, very dangerous.  But Jesus has called him out of the boat and onto the water.  Peter, always the quickest - the original YOLO-er, he's the first one to get that.  He's the first one to understand that the boat doesn't offer much safety - but Jesus does.  And so Peter steps out of the boat and walks on water.

What are we afraid of?

Are we going to be a church that hides inside of our building?  This building doesn't offer much protection.  This building doesn't promise us a future and a hope.  These four walls surround us with so many wonderful memories, but they can also be a barrier that keeps people out.

Well, I'll answer my own question.  No.  We are not a church that hides in our building.  We are not a church that is waiting to see who will be the last one out to turn off the lights when we close the doors for the final time.  We are a church that hear's Jesus call and we are a church that will keep on leaving the "safety" of the boat and walk to Jesus.

Look at these decorations.  Look at the ceiling.  Look at these waterfalls.  We are a church that is reaching out into the community.  We aren't afraid to do something new.  We are a church that is looking toward the future.

And Peter get's scared and falls into the water.  We will make mistakes.  We will pull back.  When we are all teaching our classes there will be days when we mess up and there will be times when we sing off key and there will be days when we wonder why we do such crazy stuff.  But Jesus lifts us up.

[about the Ukrainian revolution]

We must live our lives according to conscience and consequence.  The consequence of our silence might be far greater than the consequence of our actions.

Courage doesn't mean that you're not afraid.  It means that you're scared but you do it anyway.

Church, Jesus calls us.  He's calling us to get out of the boat.  This week our church will be filled with the future.  Jesus calls us.  As we sing our last hymn, I want you to know that this altar is always open for anyone who would like prayer.  Maybe you're nervous about what God is calling you to do this week.  Maybe you just want to pray for all of these littles who will fill these pews.  Maybe God spoke to you this day and you need to work something out.  This altar is always open.  Jesus calls us.

Amen.