They then addressed themselves to the water; and entering, Christian began to sink, and crying out to his good friend Hopeful, he said 'I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head, all his waves go over me!’Then said the other, ‘Be of good cheer, my brother, I feel the bottom, and it is good’
Those words have always meant a lot to me and even more so in my years of establishing a new church in this North West district of Sydney. There have been many occasions when the ‘billows’ have been over my head and I am ever grateful for my friend Hopeful, who keeps reminding me that he can feel the bottom and all will be well.
Hopeful comes in a variety of forms for me. It can be the encouraging words of a spouse who believes in me far more than I believe in me! It can be conversation with a friend/friends and/or colleague. Hopeful often speaks to me in a quiet place where I can hear a still small voice call me forward, and my friend Hopeful so often speaks to me out of the words of Scripture. Through these various avenues Hopeful opens my ears to hear the voice of Jesus saying to me, ‘Get up! Don’t be afraid.’
Last Sunday I heard an inspiring message of hope from a member of our community. Born very prematurely this tiny life was kept going by bucket loads of deep care, love and prayer. We heard of the times in those very early days when her dad would often re-start her breathing! That is INSPIRATION of the highest order.
Since our beginnings as a new faith community in the outer North West suburbs of Sydney I have talked about building communities of care and hope. Care and Hope are two very simple words but both have the power to transform and inspire people’s lives. The church will focus on the great miracles of Jesus: feeding thousands with a few fish sandwiches, or turning water into wine, or healing the sick, giving sight to the blind or even raising the dead!
Much of my inspiration from Jesus I find behind these things; in-between the lines of the great story as it were. Most of the stuff that excites me about Jesus isn’t even written down – it is more imagined. Mark 12:30 intrigues me: And the large crowd listened to him with delight. I don’t think it was just his charismatic way, his charm or even his wise words that did it for people; but there was / is something about this man that defies a simple description. There was about Jesus something about REALLY caring. There was something about Jesus that REALLY gave hope.
In Brian McLaren’s new book he quotes a Brazilian man called Claudio Oliver: ‘The Bible is a book that isn’t meant to be read.’ I know exactly what Claudio is saying. For centuries the Bible was only heard. It is only in recent times that we now have mass produced Bibles that often carry more dust than hope! If all we do is read the Bible then it is the words that we wrestle with not the things in between and around those words. Each Sunday at our church we have the Bible read and pandering to our modern needs the words are on the big screen for everyone to see.
More often than not I try close my eyes to shut out the vision and HEAR the words being spoken. It is in the hearing together that a community of faith can then wrestle with what these words mean for us today. It is why Christianity is not a singular – I can be a Christian at home – faith. That is a fairy story perpetuated by lazy people unwilling to test their faith in the cauldron of a gathered community. It is the gathered community that provides a crazy, confusing cauldron from which new lives reflecting a new hope and a new focus of care can be born.
Be of good cheer .. I feel the bottom, and it is good.’
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