When someone has the option to retreat, it is often an easy choice.  In 1519, as the Conquistadores made their way into Veracruz, Captain Hernan Cortes knew this.  There is a story that Cortes, in front of his men, burned the ships because he did not want his men to have an exit strategy, a backup plan, an easy way to retreat…….  (The reality is that Cortes did SINK a couple of ships and execute a couple of men to keep his men from defecting to Cuba….that he actually sunk the ships rather than burn them)

 

I still, however, have enjoyed the idea of this concept:  Burn The Ships.  This is because there are times when the worst thing that we can have is a backup plan.

 

The followers of Jesus, as He approached the cross, had a backup plan.

They were afraid.

They ran.

They betrayed.

They denied.

They doubted.

And when it came time to stand up….they disappeared.

 

We all have this very option….to simply retreat.

 

And all of us do it.

 

No, it might not be blatant like actually abandoning the Son of God in His hour of greatest need….but we do it…..and, we all know it.

 

So what happened to those followers not too long after that?

 

They went from afraid to absolutely bold………..and as a result a new FAITH was born 2000 years ago…..and it was different than anything the world had ever seen.

  • This FAITH inspired religious people to get rid of their rituals and traditions and things that they had been doing WITHOUT failure for thousands of years.
  • This FAITH crossed cultural, political, ethnic, and every other kind of man-made boundary imaginable.  People who had previously HATED each other began to come together and work together.
  • This FAITH included women.  In fact, the story of Jesus’ resurrection was based on the testimony of two women……which at that time that was not even permissible in court.

This FAITH only depended on one thing:  The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His establishment of the scriptures before Him……the world would never be the same again.

 

This FAITH was also based on Burning The Ships.

Men died to get us these scriptures.

And one of the men who wrote them (Paul) was a man who gave up all he had—his life’s work and training and privileges and status—in order to follow this Jesus.

 

So what are you going to do about that?

 

When John wrote Revelation he could no longer see Jesus in the flesh but had to write based on his spiritual visions and dreams…..One of the things that he wrote is a direct quote from Jesus.  And he wrote it to the Church in Laodicea:

Revelation 3  “15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!16So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

 

God is so awesome….the aquifer that fed the Laodiceans was luke warm.  It was not cold water and it was not hot.  And He uses that aquifer to show a city, and a people, how He feels about us standing with a foot in “both yards”.  I for one do not want Jesus to be disappointed……

 

I want to be a guy who will Burn The Ships.

 

I want to be a follower who pursues and is not thinking about my backup plan…..but pursuing in a sense where I am all in.

 

How will I do this?  How will we do this?

 

My answer is simple:  I have no idea.

 

But with God …. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

 

Father–Unite Your people in love….and give us the strength and courage and hope and love ….. to carry out the plan you have in our lives!

 

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J