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“IN NEED OF A BIGGER BOAT”
August 15, 2006
(Ephesians 3:14-21)
Rev. Tonya ArnesenIt was the scariest movie of a generation, and it nearly took all the fun out of going to the beach. I’m talking about “Jaws”, Steven Spielberg’s classic about a great white shark that terrorizes the small beach town of Amity.
We don’t actually SEE the shark, but we glimpse a dorsal fin, a shadowy figure under the surface, debris from an attacked boat. The folks of Amity aren’t quite sure what they’re facing, so police chief Brody and an oceanographer named Matt Hooper sign on with a wily old shark hunter named Quint.
They launch out on Quint’s trawler to hunt the predatory shark. It’s their second day at sea; they haven’t seen the shark, but they have gotten on each other’s nerves. Frustrated with waiting, Brody leans over the stern and starts shoveling dead squid overboard to attract the shark. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the massive beast lurches out of the water. It is twenty five feet long, 6000 pounds and has jaws as big as a Volkswagen. Stunned, Brody watches as the shark disappears under the water’s surface, then backs slowly, slowly into the pilot house. When he finally finds his tongue, Brody says to Quint, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”
You know, there are moments when you get a glimpse of what lies ahead – and it blows away all your old assumptions and expectations. You thought you knew what your future held, but out of the blue comes that moment of clarity when you meet the truth face-to-face – and it’s bigger than you could have hoped for or imagined. The only thing left to say is, “I’m going to need a bigger boat.”
That’s what happened to Saul. Perhaps you remember his story – Saul thought he knew everything there was to know about God. He had been raised in a devout family; trained at the best schools. He assumed he knew what God expected and was confident he could fulfill those expectations to the letter. So Saul set out for Damascus, where he planned to put an end to those crazy folks who followed Jesus of Nazareth. They were wreaking havoc among the Jews – claimed Jesus was the Messiah, that he had been raised from the dead.
But, on his way to Damascus, Saul met the Risen Lord face-to-face. He was brought to his knees by a blinding light, and heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul’s expectations of God were blown out of the water. His old assumptions weren’t big enough to handle all that God had planned for him. God overhauled Saul’s life – beginning with a name change – and Saul the persecutor, became Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ.
By the time he wrote his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul had discovered that his ideas and assumptions about God were too small. He said, "I pray that you might know the breadth and length and height and depth...and the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
In other words, “You have no idea of the magnitude of the God we worship.” Paul had caught a glimpse of the future, and recognized that God’s plans are bigger than our paltry human expectations. So Paul said to the church, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
Friends, the future of this congregation is staring us in the face, and it’s bigger and bolder than anything we might dare to imagine. I’m not talking about bigger programs, larger budgets, or huge renovation projects. I’m talking about human need. Do you have any idea of the magnitude of human need that God has called this church to meet? How would we respond, if we truly understood the size of the challenge?
Andre Gide, the Nobel Prize winning French author, became disenchanted with Christianity, so he turned to Communism. Why? He explained it this way, "In World War II, a troop ship was shot and sank. While many were drowning, a fortunate few made it into lifeboats. But once on board, they tore up the seats and used them to club the hands and arms of others trying to climb into the boat. And then Gide says, "I have a feeling Christians are the kind of people who get in the boat first and do not want their security endangered by the graspings of the drowning."
I’m sure Gide did not have this congregation in mind. However, here in the safety of this beautiful, holy space, it could be easy to forget that there is more poverty, more hopelessness, meanness and danger in our city than we dare to imagine. We might overlook the fact that among us there is illness, brokenness, loneliness, addiction, fear, disease and dysfunction. It’s true, you know – some of our hurt may be public and obvious; but many of our wounds are hidden deep – and we suffer in silence.
People are drowning all around us. They’re drowning in obligations, drowning in broken relationships, drowning in depression and anxiety, drowning in sin and despair. So we should be asking ourselves, “Are we willing to grasp the magnitude of human need that God has called us to address? Do we have a holy sense of urgency to bring hope to the hopeless, and help to the helpless?”
Listen! I’m about to tell you an awesome, frightening, energizing, mobilizing, hopeful truth: God has enlisted the church – yes, God has enlisted Metropolitan United Methodist Church to help save the world! And Christ gives us these marching orders: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Now that’s a tall order! And if we’re going to be faithful and effective in the disciple-making business – we’re going to need a bigger boat! I’m not talking about a bigger concert series, a bigger endowment fund, a bigger renovation project or a bigger sign on the front lawn. I AM talking about a bigger commitment to mission and outreach; a greater willingness to share our faith and invite others to be a part of God’s kingdom. I’m talking about a larger heart for the least and the lost; a more urgent desire to get involved in the work and the witness of Christ; a broader impact on our community and the world. I’m talking about a deeper trust in the power and providence of the Holy Spirit; a fuller hope that we CAN do all things through Christ, who strengthens us! We need a bigger boat!
Rev. H. Eddie Fox is Director of World Methodist Evangelism, an organization in which I have been active since 1996. He was visiting a church in Tampa, Florida, when a member of that congregation asked, “Eddie, how big should our church be?” Most likely, the man was thinking in terms of membership number, or worship attendance, or building capacity. But Eddie said, “Until everyone in Tampa knows Jesus Christ as their Savior, your church isn’t big enough.”
The same is true for Metropolitan Church, my friends! Until every person in the tri-county area knows their true identity in Jesus Christ, we aren’t big enough. Until every child in this community knows a safe place in God’s heart, this church isn’t big enough. Until every broken life is mended, and every shattered person is healed, until every relationship is reconciled, this church isn’t big enough. We need a bigger boat!
And this community needs us to BE a bigger boat! In the face of racial, religious, economic, political and social divisions, God has called Metropolitan Church to be a beacon of light in our community, showing the world that IN CHRIST, all divisions cease. We are to be living proof that when Christ stands at the center of their communal life a widely diverse people CAN live together in respectful love, trusting acceptance and mutual purpose .
But God’s plan for this congregation is even bigger than healthy diversity! God has also called us to be a hospital for the walking wounded; a recruitment station and training ground for Christian disciples; a mission organizer and mobilizer; an advocate and voice which demands protection and justice for children and others who get left out and overlooked. And if we are serious about fulfilling the purpose and plan that God has for us, we will realize, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”
But hear this good news: greater than the magnitude of human need is the magnificence of holy supply. Do we have any idea of the enormity of power that God is ready to make available to this church? Let’s review some of the resources for ministry that are already in place: we have a marvelous facility that can be used for many different kinds of ministry. We share in vibrant worship and faithful Sunday School classes. We have a large number of seasoned, gifted laypersons and a dedicated pastoral, program and support staff. There is a growing number of children and youth and families among us – and they join the army of older adults who are available and eager to be used in the Lord’s service. Our endowment fund produces dividends to be invested in local and world missions. Most important, this congregation has a heart for the Lord and an ardent desire to serve him in this place.
And to add to these resources, God is ready to pour out even greater gifts upon the church that is willing to trust in his holy supply and obediently serve him. Dear people, I just know that through us, God “is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.”
I recall a Vacation Bible School class of four and five year olds that I taught many years ago. I invited the children to draw pictures of what God looks like. One girl said, “I’m going to draw God as big as my daddy.” A boy said, “Uh-uh. He’s as big as a ship in mine.” Another boy said, “Well, I’m drawing him as big as a mountain.” Meanwhile, Angie sat pondering over in the corner. I asked, “Angie – how big are you going to draw God?” She said, “I don’t know, but one thing’s for sure – it’s gonna take a LOT more paper!”
Angie understood what it means to follow a God who is constantly spilling over the borders and boundaries of our limited expectations. God is always larger than we think. God fills the earth and God fills the skies and there's a LOT of God left over. And if we are going to follow God into the future, then we’re going to have to use a lot more paper…and a lot more daring, a lot more dreaming, a lot more loving, a lot more serving ….in short, we’re going to need a bigger boat.
And maybe that should be our vision for the future. It’s not about grand renovations, massive programs or budgets, or even larger numbers – it’s about a greater God, whose promise and provision are made known to the world through us. If we really trusted God’s provision, then every one of us would be actively seeking the lost, rescuing those who are drowning in sin and doubt. If we dared to believe in God’s ability to accomplish more, then we would eagerly respond by giving more, risking more, sharing more. Friends, our lives ought to be a witness to our faith in holy supply!
This morning, we stand between the magnitude of human need and the magnificence of holy supply. God has placed this church at the heart of Detroit’s renaissance. And we find ourselves at the crossroads between great pain and great promise. When was the last time we allowed ourselves to be staggered by God’s capacity for miracles? When was the last time this church took on a vision so grand, so incredible, so beyond our own capacities, that our only option was to point to God in joyous amazement and say, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen!” Ephesians 3:20-21
Rev. Tonya M. Arnesen
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