POWERBOAT OR SAILBOAT CHRISTIANITY?

Have you noticed all the activity on the river these summer days?  It looks like 494 at rush hour out there.  I want to use this picture of boats on the water to open your eyes to a spiritual truth.

As I was praying months ago about what God would have me teach in July, a spiritual question came to my mind.   Am I living Powerboat or Sailboat Christianity?  This seemed like a strange question so I probed the spirit of God on the issue.

As I considered what God was trying to get me to see, the clarity began to come.  God has always wanted His creation to enjoy the ride but mankind has always looked for ways to resist the flow.  In fact, people have for years pursued a resistance against the unseen forces of both faith and gravity.  They want to fly even though God didn’t give us wings.  Mankind even searches for ways to travel down the road well in excess of his ability to run. The current record holder is ThrustSSC, a twin turbofan-powered car that achieved 763 miles per hour, breaking the sound barrier.

Human beings even want to go deep under the sea, though we can’t breathe under water and the pressures are enough to crush steel.  They feel driven to skyrocket to planets they have no way of surviving unassisted on.  Man is never satisfied with what he has but always wants what he doesn’t have.

So lets get back to the spiritual significance of the powerboat or sailboat imagery?  Think for a moment about the powerboat.  It has enormous ability and is at the complete control of the driver.  Aggressive horsepower and knots per hour are all you think about.  Wind and waves are obstacles to be defeated and the bigger the obstacle the bigger the horsepower.  

I struggled with this being a negative, as I like to feel horsepower underneath me.  I love the exhilaration of acceleration.  So when I compare powerboat and sailboat Christianity I struggle.  Why would God not want me to pursue more power as a Christ follower?  Doesn’t He want me to become stronger and more courageous?  Isn’t He interested in me becoming a warrior?  Isn’t having the ability to resist the current the goal?  I thought God would applaud a plan to become more powerful.

So, does God does want us to have more power?  YES!  But God asked me to have you look at the sailboat.  God is not opposed to power but He wants us to get the most out of life and find ways to enjoy the journey.  He desires that we avoid just burning out from effort.  So the sailboat is completely dependent on the wind.  No wind no advancement.  Mankind understands that the wind is a force outside of his control and utterly a force of cosmic proportions.  The wind is invisible and must be yielded to.  The sailboat operator must find ways to cooperate with the wind and make his craft take as much advantage of the force of the wind at the moment it arises.  Words like efficiency and skill come to mind over horsepower and fuel consumption.

(John 3:8)  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

(Ecclesiastes 11:5)  As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

Do you see what God is trying to tell us yet?  When you look at your life, are you muscling your way through, struggling at every turn or are you increasing your dependency on the force of universal proportions that is God?  Are you looking for ways to become more self-determined and more self-motivated like a powerboat or are you becoming more aware that the real goal is actually less of you and more of God.  Are you becoming more like the sailboat being catapulted by the wind while its captain hangs on?

Note the less human effort or energy to make the sailboat go.  You might argue that all you need is the strength to push the throttle and steer when it comes to the powerboat but don’t forget all of the effort to find the oil, extract it, refine it, distribute it and then dispense it.  Then design and build the engine, maintain it and pay for it.  Add to this the force needed to carve your way through the resistance of the water consuming hours and hours of human resources.

Let’s take a little closer look at the simple sailboat.  It has very few moving parts and is not very complicated.  Basically you need to raise your sail into the sky and capture what is already present.  You can’t add more of your man generated refined fuel or increase the horsepower by tweaking to the nth degree until you have surpassed what the last guy did.  All you have is what God has provided and you need to but cooperate with it.  Capture more wind and get more power.

One of the goals in sailing is to remove the resistance you add with your own hull.  Become more streamlined and one with the wind and you will move at wind speed.  The more debris collected in or on your boat the more you are bogged down.  Lighten your financial, physical, and emotional load and sail with me.  This is a word for all of us in the room.  The bigger your boat the more it takes to move it or turn it.

My goal here today is to use an illustration.  It is not a perfect illustration, but like Jesus I’m using a human experience to reveal a God spoken word.  I’m trying to teach the need for less of you and more of God.  The more I cooperate with God, the more I get to travel at His speed and use less of my effort and energy.  I could have taught using a wind turbine or parasail because the illustration is the same.  My question is; are you getting the point?

Are you exhausted at the end of the day?  Maybe you need to investigate if you are tapping into the wind.  Are you tired of always fighting for your life?  Consider if maybe you are consuming far too much energy and working against all the forces of this Christ centered existence.

I’m not talking some no-input living or just sitting at the end of the drive waiting for the check to arrive.  Sailing is a skill and requires your full attention.  My goal as a Christian however, should be to let the wind of the spirit move me along life’s path instead of using pure human effort.  Allow God to fill your sails and determine how fast or how slow you go.  Read your own Bible, pray and worship God and your sails will be billowing.  

Finally, there is a question often posed to us.  How can Christians follow a God they cannot see?  Can you see gravity or the wind?  No, but you can see its effects and that makes it fully real.  The presence of God in a person’s life has effects.  They are quite where they were disquieted.  They are patient where they were impatient.  They are caring, merciful and loving where they were previously a jerk.  I see the effects of God like the effects of the wind and I recognize its reality.

The above notes are from Pastor Pasch’s July 19, 2009 sermon.  If you would like a free CD of the complete message, contact Christ’s Family Church at 651.437.2340.