Regardless
of how elected members of the GAC organize to do their work
or how staff structures organize us to reach Mission Work Plan
goals and objectives, I hope that what feels like constant change,
plus our commitment to be “always reforming,” will
result in better ministry in the name of Jesus Christ. Through
it all, rest assured that some of us will be striving to support
your ministries as you
- nurture believers to grow in faith;
- equip leaders to move Christ’s mission forward;
- inspire members to make a difference in the world; and
- share in word and deed the good news of Jesus Christ.
Your national staff is working hard to identify and do what
can best be done in support of all, so that each one of you
can be in ministry to and with those where you live, work, and
witness.
All of this reflection sets the stage for questions.
As I sit next to my fireplace, the 218th General Assembly
has not yet happened. Will we sail through on calm seas? Will
there be a rainsquall or two? Will there be a storm to swamp
the boat? Will there still be fear that we could perish?
I have a lot of questions. I wonder how or when I might ask
the right one. More important, when am I going to hear an answer?
How I am challenged to listen may help me discover an answer
that’s been there all the time.
To calm my questioning I think of Jesus calming the storm
at sea. Reading Luke 8:22–25, Matthew 8:23–27, and
Mark 4:35–41, I discover two things: First this story
tells me to ask for help. Second, and more important, it tells
me how Jesus, the teacher, asked the question that could call
forth a stronger faith from everyone in the boat. In Luke, the
people with Jesus in the besieged boat awoke Jesus and declared,
“Master, Master, we are perishing!” Did they believe
their master would fix the problem? In Mark’s account
Jesus said, “Let’s go across.” But it also
said they were taking him with them in the boat. Did they want
to maintain the responsibility of keeping Jesus safe in the
boat when they asked, “Teacher, Do you not care . . .
?” Was it a “misery-loves-company” mode that
led them to waken Jesus? Or maybe they thought he really could
help them bail. They were in the midst of a storm so they were
thinking under pressure.
In Mark and Luke the educational moment—when realization
would lead to a deeper faith—came after Jesus stopped
the wind and calmed the waves. The water was still in the boat
as a reminder, but the sea was calm and there was no wind. It
is then that Jesus, the teacher, asked, “Why are you afraid?
Have you still no faith?” “Where is your faith?”
Matthew’s account captured what some others in the boat
experienced. Mathew said Jesus got in the boat and others followed.
When the storm threatened, the followers exhibited some faith
in Jesus when they said, or pleaded, “Lord, save us!”
However, in this account the educational moment, the question
that challenged their little faith to grow, was asked before
the storm was calmed.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize when
too much water is coming onto the boat. Those who followed Jesus
or those who thought they took Jesus with them onto the boat
knew when they needed to ask him for help.
To all my questions came this answer. Even those with little
faith realized that when they asked Jesus for help, he helped—and
he will help again. After all, in calm seas or during a nasty
storm, our Savior is still with us in the boat. |
