On the other side of the lake...

This morning, while reading in Luke's Gospel chapter 8, I was struck by two verses that are very close together in the text, but very far apart in terms of the actions and attitudes they describe.

Luke 8: 37 says that all the people in the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they felt afraid of having him with them. So Jesus got into the boat and sailed across to the other side of the lake (the sea of Galilee.)

There, on the other side, Luke 8: 40 says that a crowd of people welcomed Jesus with great joy, because they had been waiting for Him.

Two sides of the lake; two completely different attitudes towards Jesus.  Both groups of people had seen evidence of Jesus' supernatural power to heal, restore and deliver. The group on the Gerasene side of the lake had just witnessed how Jesus completely transformed the life of a man who had been oppressed by demons for many years. On the other side of the lake, some of the people had previously seen Him teach, heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out an evil spirit. Both of them had evidence of who Jesus was, yet one group was fearful of what Jesus' presence might mean for them and the other group was joyful. One group begged Him to go away and the other group gave Him a warm welcome. Why such a huge difference in reaction? What could be behind the enormous contrast between these two groups of people?

Could it be something to do with what happened to the pigs? (vs 33) Yes, a man's life had been saved, but there had been an enormous financial cost involved. Were the people on the Gerasene side of the lake afraid that Jesus' priorities and values (believing that one man was more valuable than a whole herd of pigs) might imply too great a cost for them?

How many of us subconsciously keep Jesus at a distance today because letting Him closer would be costly for us? We instinctively know that it will cost us time, effort, money, pride or independence, and so some people choose not to let Jesus get too close. Which side of the lake are you on?

Birthday babies head for senior status

Yes, amazingly, it's that time of year again. Whenever the time rolls round for Teddi and Tobi's birthday, it makes me realise just how long I've been "back in Europe" and living here in Southern Spain. My furry house mates turn eight years old today; in cat terms, that makes them "middle aged," and in another couple of years they'll qualify for "senior cat" status. When I look at their kitten photos, taken in 2009, it seems like a lifetime away. How time flies!
Eight years of Tobi and Teddi draws my attention to the fact that I've now lived for eight years in Alhaurín de la Torre. That's longer than I lived in Vienna or Paisley, longer than the seven years in Muizenberg or seven years in Durbanville. It's a strange realisation, because Alhaurín became my home sort of "by chance." It wasn't planned or prepared for. In fact, if you'd asked me ten years ago to describe my probable future, it certainly wouldn't have included speaking Spanish or living with cats. I wonder how many more years this lovely Spanish pueblo will be my home, and how many more birthdays I'll celebrate with my fluffy friends.

The doubts of disappointment

Reading this morning in the first chapter of Luke's gospel, it struck me how easy it would be for us to judge Zechariah for not believing the word of the Lord to him, even when an angel was standing right there before his very eyes. I preached on it myself, one Christmas not so long ago: how Zechariah's response to the angel's message differed from young Mary's response to a very similar and equally impossible angelic message.

But let's not forget that this old man had been living with years of disapp-ointment: he'd prayed for a child (vs 13), nothing had happened, and now, in their old age, it seemed as if it were too late. Perhaps Zechariah interpreted their childlessness as a sign of God's displeasure towards him. It's probably hard to believe good news when you see God through an assumption that things aren't going to work out well for you.

I suppose, for example, that it would be hard for me to grasp if someone came and told me I was going to be completely healed of arthritis. Not because I'm aware of living with any major disappointment, but quite simply because I've been prayed for many times, without there being the sort of noticeable change that you would chalk up to a "miraculous" healing. Even with my cat, Teddi, and his rather amazing recovery from a thyroid condition last year, it's hard not to be swayed by the vet's conviction that his health improvement is "too good to be true." Any sign of dandruff or a slightly greasy coat can so easily spark a concern that he might need medication again.

So let's not be too hard on Zechariah, an old man whose faith was filtered through the lens of his disappointment. God "muted" Zechariah's words of unbelief for a while, and gave him his voice back when the old man was full of faith and vision again. Let's take a warning from that for ourselves: if life has been hard, if there have been disappointments, if things haven't worked out the way that we hoped for.... let's not allow that to influence our picture of who God is and what He may be desiring to do in us and through us. Sometimes our miracle is just around the corner.... and other times our miracle is the evidence of what God does in our lives despite the thing that didn't turn out the way we hoped for.

Read on below for the story of another man who was dealing with disappointment.

If you say so...

Luke 5 vs 1 - 11 is a scripture that God has given us for the leadership retreat centre this year. "Launch out where it is deeper,'' will be our theme for the LDC this spring. It was also our theme for the women's retreat last week, and it featured several times in morning worship during the coaching workshop the previous week. So I've read the passage more than a dozen times over the past fortnight, sometimes in different English translations and sometimes in my Spanish Bible.

Reflecting on it again this morning, I though it was interesting to imagine what reactions and attitudes were behind the fishermen's words, reported so simply and neutrally in the text. The passage focuses on their amazement and wonder at the end of the story, but glosses over their disappointment at the beginning of the account. These were men who had worked hard all night and who had nothing to show for it.  Perhaps this meant that they wouldn't earn any money and that their families wouldn't get anything to eat that day. Now they're sitting on the beach, coming to terms with the disappointment and trying to clean their empty nets, when along comes a man who's being pursued by a great crowd of people.

But, even amidst the noise and turmoil, Jesus "notices" the empty boats and asks permission to use one of them to push out a little onto the lake, from where He could teach the crowds more effectively. I don't know how long He spoke for, but it seems that Simon, still exhausted from a night of fruitless labour, was sitting patiently in the boat with Him. It was only when Jesus had finished teaching the crowds, that He turned around, looked Simon in the eye, and said, "Now launch out where it's deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish."

Did Simon roll his eyes when he heard this? What did this carpenter know about catching fish? Any experienced fisherman is able to tell you that the best fishing happens at night time and not in the morning light. They had already been fishing all night and hadn't caught a thing. Was there a note of sarcasm and patient resignation in Simon's voice when he said, "But if you say so, we'll let down the nets again."? Or had he been so impacted by the teaching he'd heard, that there was a genuine willingness to take a risk, to go against common sense, and to do exactly what Jesus was asking of him? 

Either way, he experienced a miracle that opened his eyes to see Jesus and to see himself in a different light. After this experience, his life was never the same again.

In different ways, God sometimes asks you and me to "launch out where it's deeper" - to a place or a situation where we perhaps feel out of our depth, or feel afraid, or feel that it's useless because we've tried before and failed. In these kinds of situations, I guess we face the same choice as Simon Peter did: will we roll and eyes and think that we know best, or will we be willing to step out in obedience, simply because Jesus says so.

At the moment, in the face of some health challenges of the kind that come with growing older, I'm trying to discern what God has in mind for my summer outreach involvement this year. I've been part of birthing a vision for a European outreach to commemorate 500 years of the Reformation, and at the same time I'm still part of the core leadership team for the Planting Together outreach initiative in West Africa. So I find myself seeking the Lord and wondering whether it is feasible for me to commit to both of these outreach activities this summer.

My prayer for 2017 is that I would be sensitive to the prompting of Jesus - that, no matter how challenging or even illogical the things He asks of me might seem, I would live my life this year with an attitude of, "If you say so...., I'll do it, Lord." Sometimes it's only when you go out where it's deeper, that you discover there's incredible fruitfulness waiting just under the surface.

Working with women...

Over the past week, we've been busy at the retreat centre with a women's retreat. There was a sweet sense of God's presence as we worked with these 22 ladies, who had come to us from all over Europe - from as far east as the Ukraine, and as far west as the UK.  Beginning with the Bible passage in Luke 5: 1 - 11, we were considering how we can go deeper with God, deeper in our relationships with others, and deeper in understanding God's calling on our lives. All kinds of creative activities, small group prayer times and one-on-one coaching and mentoring combined to make it a time when the ladies (who ranged in age from late 30s to early 70s) were able to reflect deeply on their own relationship with God and with others. We were a group of seven women in the staff team (some from the retreat centre and some from the North Africa centre) which allowed us to do all kinds of different and varied activities with the ladies.

Several ladies commented to us afterwards that the weekend had played a significant role in helping them grow in their walk with the Lord, or begin taking clearer steps towards something He is calling them to do. Meanwhile, our men (Stephe, Steve, Tony and Andrew) served selflessly throughout the retreat - from leading our morning worship to cooking all our meals and washing all the dishes.
The weather was kind to us and, after some light showers on the arrival day, we were blessed with dry and sunny weather for the rest of the retreat. We enjoyed a lovely outing on the second day to the picturesque mountain village of Mijas, where the ladies were able to take a relaxing walk and look at the traditional local pottery shops.

For me, it was particularly fun to host two ladies from my home church. They had applied just as the retreat was full up, but fortunately my house hadn't been included in the housing options, as I'd foreseen being in Eastern Europe this week. So the cats and I enjoyed having two Scottish visitors in our home - sitting by the fireplace in the evening as we debriefed the day. Thank you for your prayers during these few days of working with this wonderful group of women.