Put your toes in the water… cast your nets… make some
ripples.
As I’ve come to think about this new year those three
phrases have come to mind.
Put your toes in the water… cast your nets… make some
ripples.
As I pray those words kept coming… kept coming as encouragement, kept coming as challenge
kept coming as vision for us all this year.
Put your toes in the water… cast your nets… make some ripples.
Put your toes in …
Our Old Testament reading this morning came from the book of
Ezekiel. Ezekiel is writing to the exiles in Babylon and in a series of wonderfully
vivid visions he paints a picture of God restoring his people to the land. The
one read this morning is of a river flowing from the temple of God, out into
Jerusalem, out in the barren countryside, down through the wilderness and into
the dead sea, and everywhere the river goes life flourishes. The dead sea is
refreshed and teaming with life, the banks are lined with trees that provide
fruit all year round, whose leaves are a source of healing. It’s a wonderful
promise of the presence of God and God’s love for his people, being the source
of new and abundant life, in the desolate, the desert and even the dead. A
picture that points us forward to the coming of the kingdom of God. In John 7
Jesus at the festival of tabernacles, stands on the very steps of the temple
where Ezekiel had seen the river flow and said come to me and drink and never
be thirsty again, and who ever believed in his rivers of living water would
flow from with in them… the presence of the Holy Spirit, within us,(which we looked at last week) that brings new life and fruitfulness and
healing and wholeness to us and through us.
Like one of those travel shows on TV a guide leads Ezekiel
along this river from it source in the temple to where it outlets into the Dead
Sea. At intervals the tour guide leads him into the river to see how deep it
is. A cubit is based on the length from your figure tip to your elbow, its
about 46cm more or less, (more for some of us and less for others) so about
every half a kilometre the tour guide leads Ezekiel into the water, into the
river. The first time its ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep…then
about 2km along the journey this river is so deep and fast flowing and vibrant,
that it couldn’t be crossed. A great picture of the depth and width and abundance
of the presence and the love of God.
Put your toe in the water… This year wherever you are along
your journey with the river, can I encourage you to put your toes in the water
and see how deep and wide and wild and life giving is the presence and the love
of God.
Put your toes in … also means to do something new, take a
chance, go and check it out, … put your toes in the water… is an invitation to
do something new, step in in a new spot in a new way, go deeper, take your feet
off the ground and float or swim. Andrew Dunn who was one of the founders of Spiritual
Growth Ministries gave an illustration that as
a surfer stuck in my mind. He said when we go to the beach (mixed
metaphors here) we are used to be being told to “Swim between the flags”, and
when we’ve got children that is what we do, but often there is that longing
within us to go where the wild waves are. To go deeper and be immersed and feel
the power and the wonder.
Our vision as a church has at its centre that “we are
growing as followers of Jesus”. In our new testament reading today we see that
at the core of Jesus call, is into relationship with him, “come and follow me”.
This year put your toes in the water is an invitation, encouragement,
challenge, call to look at something new or renewing something that will draw
us closer into the relationship with Jesus. On a practical level it may to take
advantage of the word for today, or other bible reading and devotional material
we have available here. It may be to join a small group, and we will be
starting some groups for people to put their toes in and see if its for them,
over lent, leading up to Easter. Small groups are the best way to grow in your
faith. Find a prayer partner. Something
that will as the arch Bishop of Canterbury
Justin Welby says ‘ cause us to be captivated again by Christ’.
Put your toes in the water… cast your nets
Our New Testament passage was Matthew’s account of Jesus
calling his first disciples. On the sea of galilee Jesus came across two sets
of brothers, all fishermen. Jesus calls both sets of brothers to come and to
follow him, to Andrew and Peter he adds, and I will make you “fishers of men”.
Both pairs leave their net, and James and John also leave their father and
boats and family business and follow Jesus.
We’ve already touched on the fact that the focus of the call
of Jesus was into a relationship with him, but the passage tells us that that
new relationship also changes the priorities that disciples have. Peter and
Andrew and James and John were fishermen, the leaving their nets symbolised
their willingness to give up that for Jesus, now they would be about fishing for
people, living in a new community and in a new way that pointed people to life
in Jesus Christ, welcomed them in and enabled them to live that life as well.
This year I simply want to encourage people to…cast your
nets… to be intentional about allowing that relationship with Jesus to lead you
to be outward looking. To be about… as our church vision says inspiring others
to join us on the journey of growing as followers of Jesus.
One of the things I noticed about this passage was that Peter
and Andrew, and James and John were fishing in totally different ways. Peter
and Andrew with a small hand net and James and John in a larger commercial
way. I think that has a lot to say to us
about fishing for men. It was bought home to me over summer when they closed
the Old Mangere Bridge to foot traffic for good. Bethany and Isaac and I went
for one final walk over the bridge, and I took my camera.
At the boat ramp, were a group of three Pilipino men, south
east Asian, they were using a throw net, I’d never seen anyone doing that
before in New Zealand, but obviously it was the way they were used to fishing.
They throw the net, the lead weights take it to the bottom, trapping the fish,
and then they haul it in.
Up on the bridge itself in the late afternoon sun were more
people fishing in a more conventional way, with a rod and reel. Now I couldn’t
tell who caught what, if anything…
then on the Onehunga side was the wharf where the big
commercial trawlers tie up. Boats able to fish out in the Tasman sea.
We often think of evangelism and outreach as a one size fits
all endeavour. We are put off by pictures of street corner preaching and mass
rallies and slick pre-packaged Used car salesman like presentations. But the call to cast your net
is a call to be outward looking where you are and how you are. In the
scriptures Peter stands up before a huge crowd at Pentecost he and John pray
for the man born cripple at the gate beautiful. While we know Andrew was an
apostle to the black sea area, in the gospel he simply speaks to one or two
people about Jesus. Peter and Andrew may have been so willing to follow Jesus
because Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist as we are told in John’s
gospel and goes to his brother after John meets Jesus and say “hey I think I
may have found the messiah, lets go check it out”. When a group of greeks come
to Phillip, the disciple with the Greek name and ask to see Jesus Phillip, goes to ask Andrew how to make it happen.
On a practical level, it may be involved in some of the
outreach things we do here at the church, it maybe that you take a step of
talking to a work mate and let them know you are a follower of Jesus or
offering to pray for someone, it maybe committing to pray for friends and
family… You know the number one reason people don’t come to church… no its not
your ministers bad preaching or bad breath… its that no one asks them…most
people come to know Jesus Christ because a friend or family member shares their
faith in word and deed with them… Cast
your net.
Finally… make some ripples… make some ripples talks about
change… this year we need to be open to change.
In Ezekiel, the river of God’s presence transformed the
countryside from desert to fruitful healing, orchard and forest. It transformed
the community that lived around the dead sea from people eking out a living to
being thriving vibrant community of fishermen(what a great vision for a church community, particularly one called St Peter's). In our New Testament reading
that call into relationship with Jesus and the call to be fishers of men, was
the seed and start of a community, the church itself, that was willing to leave
behind what it knew, its identity and its safety nets for the sake of Jesus
Christ. It was the group that Jesus gave his kingdom manifesto, the Kingdom of
God, whom he invited to live it out with and tech to do the things he did.
In our vision statement we say we are a authentic, vibrant
and sustainable community, but it does not mean we are a settled community, in
our vision we also acknowledge that we are on a journey following Jesus. Make
some ripples speaks of a willingness and an openness to change and movement, as
we become more a fishing community. Outward focused… On a practical level maybe
its letting the spirit of God move you about a particular issue, person,
situation, ministry that you may find yourself going deeper into or even
changing from what you are already doing, it may be answering God’s call to be
involved in leadership in the Church, service in the Church but it maybe out
taking yor fruitfulness and healing to the land out there, to the places that
lack life.
I want to finish with an image to tie this all together. I
went for a walk at the Taumanu reserve early one morning. It was what I call a
mirror Manukau morning. Not breath of wind, not a wave, The Manukau was even
blue rather than its normal moody, muddy grey. I took my camera with me as I
always do. But there was very little signs of life. I went round the boardwalk
and the tide was coming in and the mudflats were covered. Then I spotted this
blue heron. One bird out and about. It had gone out into the water up to its
thighs, and as I watched it dipped its beak to fish, and where it’s beak
impacted the water ripples were sent out. I took the photo behind me of it. It
had put its toes into the water, it had cast its net, well its beak and it was
making some ripples. It was this wonderful sign of life.
put your toe in… try something new
cast your net… be outward looking with Christ’s love
make some ripples… be open to change. To make change
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