Overwhelmed or challenged?
Many years ago the great explorer, Sir Francis Drake, was attempting to recruit a number of young men for an upcoming exploration. He gathered them around and told the group that if they came with him they would see some of the most marvelous things their eyes could ever behold. Sandy white beaches, juicy fruits, foreign peoples, priceless treasures, and gorgeous landscapes. And he told them that this wild adventure could be theirs if they came with him. Not one of them enlisted for the journey.
The next day a different group came out. Drake told them that if they came with him they would encounter storms that would terrify them into tears. Tiger winds would hammer them and blow them off course for months. Water would frequently be scarce. At times they will be so thirsty that their very souls would cry out for simply one drop of water. In short, danger would always be their constant companion. Drake concluded by declaring
that if they could handle these things, the joys of exploration would exceed their wildest dreams. Every single one of them in the group joined Sir Francis Drake that day, some did not even go home to say goodbye to their families, they just boarded the boat eager for the journey.
Blair goes on to offer the following observation:
What made the difference in these two groups? Why did the first group turn down the mission and the second jump at the chance? Was the second group different and more adventurous than the first? The answer is: No. It is not the men who had changed; it was the message. The first spoke of rewards; the second spoke of challenges. The first offered comfort; the second promised suffering. The first tempted them with things; the second
seduced them with an experience unlike any other.
In this Sunday's gospel lesson, Luke 5:1-11, Jesus issues a similar challenge to a small group of four friends minding their own business trying to earn a day's living fishing. Now with Sir Francis Drake, he had an established reputation as a captain. Jesus was an unknown interloper who was hitching a ride in a fishing boat. But Jesus gave some fishing advice about casting their nets in a certain place, and when the catch was huge, the men in the boat were as overwhelmed as their boat.
Or take this little dude named Isaiah who was loitering around the temple in Jerusalem somewhere around 742 BCE and all of a sudden he realizes the temple is filled with an Presence that knocks him to his feet. Isaiah 6:1-8 relates what happened.
The Apostle Paul had a similar knock-you-to-the-ground experience that turned his life upside down. He talks about it in his letter to the Corinthians in 15:1-11. The story is found in Acts 9:1-9.
Each of these persons encountered God in some way that was overwhelming to them. The challenge was great. But like the sailors that received the grim-sounding challenge, they turned and responded. They gave their lives. They risked it all.
There are some people who say that today we have made the Christian Way sound like the promises of white sand beaches and luscious fruited trees of Drake to his first group of potential sailors. No wonder fewer and fewer people are attracted to the message of the church, these people say. There is no risk. No adventure. No cost.
William H. Willimon, former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University and now Bishop in the UMC, once delivered a sermon in which he described a career day hosted by the university. Speaker after speaker made glowing pitches about how promising their careers were and the sort of entry-level salaries students could expect upon graduation. One woman represented the Missions agency of a church. When it was her turn to speak, she looked out over the audience of eager, intelligent students who, with a degree from Duke, could go anywhere. She basically then told them that she could see she was wasting her time. Who of them would want to travel halfway around the world, possibly live in humid, sweltering climates, face uncertain futures, work with people with diseases, speaking unknown languages just to bring them the Good News of Jesus Christ. Surely they would rather plan on 5 bedroom homes and two cars in the driveway than learn more form her. She sat down. Willimon was chagrined and felt sorry that the woman had been asked to come.
When the speakers finished, however, and students could talk with the various presenters, the woman was mobbed by students. Like Drake, she had issued them a challenge that invited them to give their all, to live for something more than the fleeting material rewards of the world. She knew, like Drake, like Jesus, like God, that humans long for lives that make a difference, that make the world a better place, that can help change the world for the better. Even at the cost of their own lives.
Is your life all that it could be? Are you living for white sands and fruited fields? Or might you give your life to a Life bigger than your imagining? The call may be overwhelming. But the challenge just might be your salvation.
Very good article.
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