Matthew 14:25-31

This new message series is called Life- The Adventure with God. We’re going to look for the next four Sundays at how our giving lets the adventure happen. Because everyone lives a roller coaster life with many uncertainties and a lot of people call it a disaster and then there are some other people who say, Wow, this ride is so exciting and so great, that I would pay to ride it, and we call those people Christians.

 So what I want to ask is your life a disaster or an adventure? We have a couple of clips here from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom that illustrate the kind of lives that we lead.. Isn’t that how your life feels? There are some decisions in your future and you have studied as hard as you can and it is not certain what is going to happen. There are many pieces of life completely out of your control.

 And there is nothing more pathetic than a half Christian life. That is where you get started as a Christian and get to the top of the roller coaster and look down and suddenly think that it’s a bad idea. That’s the Christian life where you start to plow and suddenly realize that there may be bees or snakes just ahead of you and look back. That is where 95% of Christians are. We are half Christians. We got started and thought it was an adventure until the car picked up speed and now we are can’t figure out why God would let it happen.

If you are in a mine car, speeding along on tracks and not sure of where the tracks are going, the only you choice you still can make is whether its an adventure or a disaster. And that is a choice I hope you make today. We are going to look at a man and woman today who lived by faith and thought this was all an adventure. And we’re going to look at how we can copy them. So for this service, make sure your seat belt is buckled and let’s worship!

This movie is unbelievable. There are so many scenes in it just like what we’re seeing and I kept jumping up and saying, that’s me, that’s me! And its also like the disciples in the middle of the lake when a wind comes up that they cannot control. And it is a moment for fear or faith, because these men grew up on the water. They were commercial fishermen and went out daily to get their job done. So when the wind comes up, they tack to the left and they tack to the right and they let out the sea anchor. And none of it works. What really works is Peter’s decision to follow Jesus in a way that seems counter to common sense. He steps out of the boat and walks on the water to Jesus.

And I submit to you ladies and gentlemen that you are in circumstances like this or you will be one day and if you don’t have faith and know when to get out of the boat, your circumstances will be your disaster instead of your adventure. Most people are so determined to avoid adventure that they fall prey to disaster.

One of your key life tasks is to increase your faith. We are so focused on getting a raise a work, getting the right boyfriend, getting a vacation cottage, getting our pension. Those are not great enough to sustain you when the coaster gets to the high plunge. Only faith will get you through. Are you growing your faith?

How can we grown our faith? As I looked at this account, it seems clear that Peter got the faith well in advance of the storm. If he didn’t know Jesus fairly well so that he could trust him, then this is the story of a disaster and Peter had a death wish to get out of the boat. Actually Peter had built a faith into his life that would be so critical at this point of need. Peter was prepared.

And that is when I realized that the practice of giving is the most important way that you can build the faith that you will need for the adventures of your life. In Peter’s own life, he and the other disciples gave almost all they had. The Bible tells us that they kept their money in common. The implication is that they gave all they could and kept a little money together for expenses as they traveled. Peter tells the lame man in Acts 3, ‘I have no silver or gold.’ Peter has given all that he could.

When I first came out of seminary, I worked on college campuses in Western New York. And I had to stay at people’s homes in that area and then in other areas when we had Bible conferences. It is hard to stay in different people’s homes. In some homes, they turn the heat off at night. I got the flu in one house. I would have been warmer if I had slept outdoors. In a home in Rochester,  a cat jumped on me in the middle of the night. Not that I’m bitter, but you remember these things. When I got senior enough, I started to use hotels, feeling that the other way was too big a gift. My reasoning seemed flawless, because I was choosing a level of giving that my energy could afford. But what if the purpose of all those home stays was to keep me flexible and ready to trust God when the bridge broke? There is this incredible scene in Indiana Jones after all these earlier adventures where he actually walks off the cliff somewhat like Peter.

Mark and Luke both record the story of a widow’s gift. The Jewish practice was to place your gift into a brass bowl that looked like a small tuba before you entered the temple. Priests watched and the disciples happened to be watching this day as well. Giving was not a private act. So they can see that the widow is giving and they see how much she gave, a tiny amount in money, but a large percentage of what she actually owned. Jesus comments on her faith.

But In Mark 13:1, the conversation turns immediately to the destruction of the Temple. Israel is speeding towards a disaster since we know that 40 years later, the temple was destroyed. Even at Jesus’ day, Israel is incredibly vulnerable, under the domination of Rome. It’s a small nation on very valuable property. And Mark and Luke place both of these events next to each other to show that what the widow was doing should have been copied by everyone to save Israel. If the people of Israel had been faithful in giving, they would have trusted God’s power at critical moments and probably averted the loss of the temple. Instead, they had people like Zacchaeus, the corrupt tax collector and the Sadducees who as a group tried to promote diplomacy with other nations. All this wisdom and strategy, but it did not prepare them to live by faith.

If the people with more money had been givers, it would have turned their lives from a disaster to an adventure. The Christian life is not necessarily easier than the non Christian life, but it turns our disasters to adventures and you survive adventures. Tithing takes a significant amount of your resources and gives them away. It increases our sense of vulnerability and that leads us to more prayer and more faith in God. And God responds magnificently. It is the only topic where God says in Malachi 3:10, Put me to the test with tithes, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven. Don’t you want to face life with the windows of heaven open for you?

We have a growing group of people in this church who tithe, who give 10% of their income to God. And I want you to join them. It is going to change your life and bring some times of happiness that you will otherwise miss. Don’t lose out on this chance to build your faith. Maybe you did not bring a tithe to church this morning. I encourage you to use the credit card form on the back of the program. I really believe that you should get this new step started in life today. Many of us are so bombarded with directions and advertising in life that we are paralyzed and don’t take a step forward. Take a step forward right now and build your faith.

Before Cambodia was stable, I went with a small group in 1994 and Rev. Chan who will be our speaker in 4 weeks, wanted us to go into an area of fighting. I was not ready to give that much, but he felt that the Lord was telling him to offer this. Really, all of these deeds are deeds of giving, since you are giving of your life. So we went and were stopped by a militia within an hour and I honestly thought I was going to die. Guns were drawn on both sides. Our guard pulled out his pistol. I prayed and closed my eyes thinking that it would be less painful that way. So by the time we got Sisophon, I am really living by faith. Once you are on the faith track, you are converted. Your mind and heart are operating in a new way. We stopped at a house and there was a lot of talk in Khmer about staying the night there. While they are talking, an old man comes out wearing just a kramaa, and goes to a huge water vat and pours water over himself, takes a bar of soap and takes a bath in public. I’m just in shock thinking that soon I will be doing that. Then he takes clean underwear, slides it slowly up under the wet kramaa, and then when its in place, walks back to get a dry kramaa. By now I'm praying because I'm no good at balancing on one foot and I just know that my kramaa is going to fall off in public. But my faith is higher, probably higher than any other time in my life, so I tell the Lord that I am going to do this but any heavenly help would be appreciated. Suddenly Rev Chan says to me, Let’s go, I was just saying hi. Now we go to the general’s villa to sleep. Friends we pulled up in front of a mansion. There were rooms, wonderful food, and a cistern on the roof for a water supply. If I had not followed the Lord, I would not have experienced one of the most remarkable adventures of my life. There are some remarkable adventures ahead in your life. Walking on water is a story that I am sure Peter told for the rest of his life, but you will only live these adventures if you are building your faith.