Pastor Jonathan Burgess
August 30, 2015 - W1535

When I think of the topic for today I can’t help but think of Peter and the experience he had when he tried to walk on water. You remember that story don’t you? When in the midst of a storm at sea, Jesus comes out to the boat by walking on the water, and Peter in his exuberance asks to also be able to walk to Jesus on the water? I think that all of us have been in the same spot as Peter, haven’t we?

Peter had the choice to stay in the boat along with the other disciples, but he is the only one to step out of the boat. He is the only one who said, “Jesus, if it’s You, call me out to You.” Peter was the only one who was so desperate for the presence of Jesus that he decided in his heart that he would rather be in the middle of storm with Jesus than to be in the middle of the boat without Him.

The message for today speaks to the very heart of all of us. We are all so desperately seeking the presence of Jesus that we are willing to go wherever Jesus goes or takes us. But are we as willing as Peter to step out of the safety and comfort of that which we are used to and to move away from the people, places and things that are familiar to us to be able just to be with Him and to go wherever Jesus goes? Are we as desperate to be with Jesus as Peter was?

Why didn’t Jesus just calm the storm? We know He can do that. He’s done it before. He silenced the storm after Peter stepped out in Faith. Sure, he sank, but then don’t we all? It’s like what we read in James 4:8:

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8 NKJV))

Yes, this may sound like two opposing ideas. First, “draw near to God and He will draw near to you” sounds great. It’s God saying that our purpose is to draw near to Him and He will be near to us. It’s what we, as Christians, are meant to do and God through His Son Jesus the Christ made it possible. But, the second part says that we need to cleanse and purify ourselves and goes on to call us double-minded. What’s up with that?

Well, it’s like this, we may first start out focusing on Jesus and follow where He goes, but after awhile we start to look at the waves and the storm and we realize this may not be such good idea. We begin to doubt and sink just like Peter did. How many of us, after a great, inspiring church service, or a wonderful time of worship or after a great retreat feel revived, but in the long run we begin to be reminded of our sins, our fears, our faults and failures? We begin to doubt. That is when we become double-minded, which means divided loyalties. We then become self preserving over self sacrificing. So then we miss out on what God has for us along the way. We lose the opportunity to experience what God wants to do for us next in our lives. Then some of us begin to feel stuck, confused and maybe we even start to second guess what we might have missed out on. We begin to even doubt the very presence of God.

This message entitled “On the Move” does not imply that you need to go home right now and pack, but it is saying that you need to be ready to move when God tells you to move. Just like Peter moved to be closer to Jesus on the stormy waters.

Change is never comfortable, in fact we often get caught off-guard when change happens. But it is inevitable, change constantly happens. When I was reading John where it says to abide in Him, I became very honest with God. I said to Him, “Okay I know that change is inevitable, but instead of hiding, avoiding, ignoring and resenting or refusing to acknowledge the change, I need to embrace what it is that You are doing here, God.” I felt overwhelmed with the massive amount of change in my life. But when taken to prayer, I felt God challenge me to not seek a new normal, meaning not to live in the same familiar way as I have in the past, but to discover a new abiding. Abiding means I’m going to be where ever He is at in my life and allow to change the familiar so that I can find a new and deeper connection in Christ. So we need to cleanse and purify ourselves, we need to break out of being double-minded or divided in our loyalties and really spend time alone with Him so that we can connect to Him without the distractions of the world and all its devices. We need to be able to move when He tells us to move and the only way we can do that is to have that deeper connection with Him.

There are two kinds of people in the world, as I see it. There are those who are Campers. These are the ones who upon finding a comfortable place really begin to settle in. They set up camp and put things out for a comfortable living space and they shun change for a long time to come. They are satisfied to just stay where God has put them at this time and they don’t want God to move them along too quickly. “I’ve gone this far so I don’t need to go any further, right?”

It’s ok in some ways to be like that, because they are the firm ones, the dependable ones. But change frustrates them. I do want to, however, encourage the campers to embrace change because we are all in a movement process with God. We are not meant to be a museum. God calls us to move with Him.

The second group of people are Hikers. They are the ones who like change. In fact they get bored if they are in one place or situation too long. They are constantly on the move, they don’t like things staying the same way. But they also don’t want to take time to enjoy the view. So sometimes they miss out on what God has for them because they are moving on their own.

But regardless, whether you are a camper or a hiker, we all need to be Backpackers. In other words, we cannot allow ourselves to accumulate too much baggage that it takes us too long to move along. We need to only carry the essentials like the Bible and your journals. So when God says, “Go!” we are ready in an instant to move with Him.

You can see it here in God’s Word. How did God lead His people through the wilderness? He used a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. When it moved so were His people meant to move along also. That’s what it says here in Numbers:

“Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay for only a few days, as the Lord commanded. Then at the Lord’s command they would break camp and move on. Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on. Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. So they camped or traveled at the LORD’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses.” (Num. 9:20-23 (NLT)

Now whether you are a hiker or a camper, you are all saying to yourselves, “But we don’t have a cloud by day or a pillar of fire at night, so how do we know when to move?” Well, we have something better dwelling in us - the Holy Spirit! God’s leaders follow through the Holy Spirit and God’s followers lead through the Holy Spirit. We only need to take the time to listen. If He’s calling us to put down roots and stay for awhile, we stay, but if He tells us to move then we better be ready to move with only our essentials.

So which stage are you in? Are you in the camping stage? If you are then this is the birthing place for that God-sized dream, so spend quality time with Him. This is the stage that you will discover what God’s Plan is for you. The God-sized dream for Moses was to set his people free. So they camped in the wilderness and established spiritual patterns for their families. It’s good to camp because that’s where God births the dream He has for you.

Maybe you’re on the hike right now and you are pursuing that God-sized dream. So you are on the move whether at your working place, your home, or church. Maybe God put someone on your heart to pray for or to offer help to. You are on the move with God and you are learning to hear and listen to the directions He is showing you to go.

Or maybe you’re in the backpacking stage, and God is asking you to make a decision. You are going to have to let go of some things because God is saying to you, “Here’s where I’m calling you to go, but I will be with you.” The destination at the end of that hike will be quite worthwhile because you are trusting in the God of the universe who has already been to where He is taking you.                

There’s only one who has been first and last and that is God. So why do we find ourselves doubting His lead? Hikers, campers, backpackers, we all have to trust God in where He is leading us. And God is leading us to move together as a team. Being a team means we work together and we move together. There are those of us who are already serving in some capacity in the church. And that is as Jesus did as He walked here on earth. He came to serve, not to be served. Then there are others who are seeking where to serve. So servants reach out to those who are seeking, but seekers you also need to reach out to discover an area in which God might want you to serve. I am sure you will not be turned down.

Don’t ever lie to yourself that there will always be someone who will fill the areas that need help. Don’t get stuck with the idea that someone else will do it. Someone else will pray for that person, someone else can pick that up, someone else can help those kids. No, don’t think like that because maybe God wants you to serve in that area. If we are going to move as a people of God then we have to come to the understanding then that we are all empowered for service.

You see, with a God-sized dream, we have to have a God-sized team. The only way we are going to get to where God wants us to be is that we all have to do it together. As we read earlier in Numbers, when they moved, they all moved together. And when Moses got overwhelmed with all He had to do, this is what God told him to do:

“And the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Then He gave the seventy elders the same Spirit that was upon Moses. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But this never happened again. Two men, Eldad and Medad, had stayed behind in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but they had not gone out to the Tabernacle. Yet the Spirit rested upon them as well, so they prophesied there in the camp. A young man ran and reported to Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!’ Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ assistant since his youth, protested, ‘Moses, my master, make them stop!’ But Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them all!’” (Num. 11:25-29 NLT)

Guess what Moses was saying here? He was saying, “Every one of you is equipped and empowered to serve God. If you have the Spirit of God, you are equipped.” How would it be if everything is left up to only a few? It’s like walking into a Baskin Robbins 31 Flavor Ice Cream shop and all they had was Vanilla. See God doesn’t want a church with only one flavor, He wants all of us. He want all the different flavors.

So where have you been equipped to serve? Well, you fill in the blanks. Maybe it’s in a place you are already serving in or maybe it’s in a place you are curious about. So whether we are a camper, a hiker or a backpacker, ultimately we have all been empowered to serve God so that when we move with God, we will be able to move together with God to where ever He takes us.

“‘If You are pleased with me, teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favor with You. Remember that this nation is Your people.’ The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then Moses said to Him, ‘If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.’” (Exod. 33:13-15 NIV)

As it says here, in the scripture above, it is important that we all understand we are called to move forward at the speed of trust. And as Moses said in that scripture, remember also, that we can’t move forward unless we are moving with God no matter how good it seems. Are we like Peter, desperate enough to be with Jesus no matter the storm and are we like Moses who says that we won’t go unless God is there with us? We ought to be.

If we no longer want to feel stuck, we have to make that first step of trust. You need to reach out and ask for help, guidance or teaching. But ultimately we all need Jesus, who says to let Him show you where you belong because He wants us to all move together with Him. So we need to trust in the God who has been where He is taking us but we also need to remember to go to that place where God is.

1) Are you a Camper, a Hiker or a Backpacker?

2) What stage in life are you in? (i.e. are you in the camping, hiking or backpacking stage?)

3) Where has God lead you or where is He leading you to?

4) What area of service in the church are you interested in?