Get in the Boat

By the Rev. Dr. Andrew McDonald, Senior Pastor, Westminster

Countless sermons have been titled, "You Can't Walk on Water Unless You Get Out of the Boat!" Point well taken. you have to take initiative to follow Jesus--including courageous actions. Therefore, when Jesus calls, step out on to the water. Discover when you follow him, you can do things you thought were impossible. The world needs people like peter who have the audacity to believe Jesus can make them walk on water.

But Peter never would have walked on the water if he had not been in the boat. The point of the story is that God comes in power to the church when we are together in the boat. When the church is doing the ordinary things Jesus expects us to do, suddenly the extraordinary becomes possible. The impossible becomes possible. Miracles happen through the church.

The word miracle comes from a root word that means "to smile, to laugh." I think of the smiles that beam forth when the church comes together and builds a new home for someone through

Habitat for Humanity. I think of the laughter that comes on Christmas when the miracle of giving shows itself. And when some group from our church goes down to serve dinner at Matt Talbot or the Gathering Place, how deep inside, people are fed not just with food, but with the knowledge that there are people who care about them. That joy is miraculous.

There are many water walkers in the church. You may be the next. In the midst of doing these loving actions together, Jesus may come to us, and inspire us to do something so marvelous, it seems to have come from God. That's what a miracle is. We will probably recognize it by the joy and the laughter.