Always get out of the boat

My sermon for this week was based on Matthew 4:12-23.

To download an audio of my sermon, click here.

One of my favourite movies is Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.  Loosely based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, it tells the story of an American army captain named during the Vietnam War named Willard, played my Martin Sheen.  Willard is called upon to journey by boat up a river to eliminate Kurtz, a colonel who has apparently gone insane.

Without giving you a whole synopsis, the further Willard travels geographically, the further he descends into the darkness of the human heart and soul.

There is a scene in this movie where Willard and another of his boat-mates (Chef) pull the boat ashore to forage for mangoes and are attacked by a tiger.  Narrowly escaping, they make it back to the boat and as they set out again, Chef breaks down and starts screaming, "Never get out of the ****ing boat!"

In a voice-over, Willard says, "Never get out of the boat.  Absolutely ***damn right.  Unless you were willing to go all the way".

Today I would like to challenge you to get out of the boat.

The boat, of course, represents safety, security, the things we know, the things we can count on, rely on and control.  It marks the boundary of a comparatively small space where we are master and commander.

The water (or the shore) is an undiscovered country, the unknown, the places we have never been before and the things we have never done before, both literally and metaphorically.

I have a phobia of deep water.  I am a great swimmer and I am fine in a boat, but if I can't see the bottom, forget about it.  I am not getting out of the boat.  My mother tells me she watched Jaws while she was pregnant with me, maybe that's why, I don't know.  But I have friend who jump off the boat in the middle of the lake to go swimming and even though I know there is nothing bigger than a carp down there, I'm like "Are you insane!?  You have no idea what's down there!"

And that's the thing about the water.  It doesn't just contain the unknown, it is the unknown.  And yet that is often where we are called to be, where we need to be.

There is a fair amount of boat-leaving in today's Gospel.  Andrew and John literally leave their boat to follow Jesus, chucking in solid careers as fishermen.  Sure, they were never going to get famous or rich fishing, but it was an honourable profession.

But what often goes unnoticed is that Jesus steps out of a metaphorical boat.  We are told that he moved from Nazareth to Galilee, a distance of 40 kilometers.  Now that might not seem huge by today's standards, but bear in mind this would have to walked.  That would take about 7 hours at a good clip.  This was also before the dawn of our modern communication devices and even of a reliable postal service, so he would be out of contact with friends, family and loved ones.

Jesus, John and Andrew totally tossed their lives up in the air and said, "Ok God, take care of us".  How many of us would do the same?  I for one don't much like change.  I don't even like sleeping away from my house.  These were big changes, big risks, big adventures.

The problem is that we don't often grow by remaining the same.  In order to grow, we must always be learning, moving, trying new things, gathering new experiences.  We must constantly be getting out of boats.

If you want a comfortable religion, don't choose Christianity.  Contrary to what many seem to believe, the purpose of Christ was to make us comfortable, but to make us deeply uncomfortable.  Uncomfortable with our own faults, hypocrisy and mediocrity.  Uncomfortable with the abuses of elected and religious officials.  Uncomfortable with greed and consumerism.  Uncomfortable with injustice.

I say this because I suspect with recent political developments to the south, there is about the be a lot more injustice in the world, and I am aware that I am a white, heterosexual male.  To quote Louis CK, you can't even hurt my feelings.  I have never wanted for justice or opportunity, I have always been at the top of the pile.

In other words, I have always been in the boat.  Not everybody has that luxury, and Christ calls us to do something about that.  Christ calls us to rock the boat, because as the saying goes, real boats rock.  That's what they do.

The world needs people who have the courage to take those risks, rock those boats.  Whether it is something personal like you are thinking of starting a new job, moving to a new country, asking that person out on a date, or whether it is something wider like fighting for the rights of women or trying to assist refugees, the world needs people who are willing to get out of the boat and brave that unknown.

Today, rock the boat.  Get out of the boat and into the great unknown where life abundant lies waiting for you.