Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!

This young boy loved the seas so much, he

joined the navy when he was just 9 years old.

Back in the 1800s you could do that sort of

thing.

That boy was David Farragut.

Farragut rose quickly through the ranks and by

the time of the civil war he commanded his own fleet.

During the Battle of Mobile Bay, Farragut

ordered the fleet to charge the bay.

Farragut tied himself to the mast so that he could

watch the battle from the flagship.

What he saw was that his ships were not

charging the bay, in fact they were pulling back.

He shouted through a trumpet to the neighboring

ship, “What’s the trouble?”

They shouted back, “Torpedoes. Torpedoes are

coming at us.”

Farragut shouted back, “Damn the torpedoes!

Full speed ahead!”

Despite the odds, Farragut was successful, and

helped to bring an end to the war.

All because of “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed

ahead!”

AMAZE

Well guess what?!

Today is all about “Damn the torpedoes! Full

steam ahead!”

Look.

Jesus is down south in Israel.

He has been baptized and been on retreat in the

desert.

He hears that John the Baptist has been arrested.

And our gospel says that Jesus withdrew to Galilee.

Nice little sentence.

But if we knew Greek, the language the gospel

is written in, we would be on our feet cheering “Go Jesus! GO!

Withdraw means movement from one place to

another in the face of danger.

Make no mistake about it, the arrest of John

means Jesus is next.

If government and religious leaders did not like

John the Baptist, wait ‘til they get a load of Jesus.

So Jesus withdraws to Galilee.

Sweet placid Galilee.

Wrong?!

Jesus goes two hundred miles on a foot, that’s a

deliberate intentional movement.

Jesus goes to Galilee.

Where the Roman presence in all of Israel is the

greatest.

Jesus is going directly into enemy territory.

Damn the torpedoes of government, of beingarrest…full speed ahead.

And did you notice the Matthew said the land ofZebulin and Naphtali, not once but twice.

He needs us to know specifically where in Galilee Jesus is going.

Because this particular area of Zebulin and Napthali had an 800 year old history of being the part of Israel where the naughtiest,the most sinful people lived.

And Jesus says, “damn the reputation. I am going there full speed ahead.”

But wait we are not done with our theme by anymeans.

Jesus walks by the sea of Galilee and sees…people fishing!

Fishermen were the second least liked people in

society.

They were just above shepherds.

Fishermen were in the same category as thieves.

Bus Jesus says to heck with social stigmas, follow me!

And the theme is contagious because Peter and Andrew say, to heck with our livelihood, full speed ahead…and they follow Jesus.

Jesus keeps walking.

He sees James and John..and who else, their

father!

For you see, taking care of your aging parents

was important in those times.

It was what you did.

It was so important, so intrinsic in the culture,

that there was a written law saying you had to care for your parent.

Not only that there was also a written Biblical law that demanded you take care of yourparents.

The ante on this call has gone way up!

Can you guess what’s gonna happen?

Jesus says Follow me.

And James and John say Damn custom! Damn

what we are supposed to do. Damn the law.

Following Jesus is primary.

Full speed ahead.

In a politically subversive, religious turning of

heads, and cultural counter revolution, Jesuswent throughout Galilee teaching and proclaiming the good news.

But wait we are not done yet!

For Jesus cured every disease and sickness.

Illness was caused by the brokenness of the

world, by the evil.

And Jesus even looks evil in the eye and says

“Damn the torpedoes! Full sped ahead!

Nothing is stopping me and my ministry.

Nothing is stopping me in making the kingdom

of heaven known.

In fact Jesus’ whole ministry is summed up by

the saying for he will continue, story after

story, to face torpedoes of all sorts and Jesus swill continue full speed ahead.

WHINE

Listen.

We are in a battlefield, for torpedoes are a

reality.

We are barraged by them.

A torpedo is anything that seeks to prevent us

from following Christ.

Torpedoes are those things that get in the way of

us making Christ’s love known to others and

those things that come between us and God.

For instance, time is a major force.

The words time bomb is right on the mark.

After all, we just do not have enough time.

By the time we work, grocery shop, cook, clean,

babysit, run the children here and there, we are just too tired…too tired to add going to church or reading the Bible, or praying to our list of things to do.

We will do it next week, next month, next

year…and lo and behold we are stopped in our tracks by the torpedo of time.

Discouragement is a silent monition.

We are at work and we can see how wonderful

things could be, when we have a vision for growth, for improvement, but we can get our co-workers to go along, we can’t get our board to buy in…and suddenly our dream isn’t as shiny, or as important and we slow down.

We are met with that’s the way we have always done things.

We have to keep the status quo, make sure everyone gets along.

And we stop moving forward…and our ship sinks.

So what are we to do?

How can we have the courage to say “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead”?

Maybe this will help.

Listen.

ASSURE

A father was trying to teach his toddler son to

swim.

At the time, the child did not like getting his face

wet so they began by splashing around on the first step of the pool.

Then they graduated to blowing bubbles.

Eventually the father convinced the boy to let him hold him in his arms while dad walked

around in the shallow end.

The son had a death grip on his father.

Once he mastered a ride around the shallow end,

it was time for the big show, jumping off the side.

The father lifted the little boy out of the pool and

had him stand on the side.

The father then said, “Come on. Jump.”

The little boy wrote his father off as a crazy

man.

The tike’s face went from confusion, to

understanding, to amused rejection, to outright contempt.

The boy frowned and said, “No. I go see

mommy.”

And off he ran.

Dad chased him down and brought him back.

The father jumped into the pool and stood in

front of his son with outstretched arms and said, “Come on kiddo.”

The little boy bobbed up and down the way

toddlers do when they sort of want to jump.

The father continued, “Come on. Its ok. I’m

right here. I’ll catch you. I promise.”

The boy looked at him half skeptically, did a

wind up, and tehen fell into the pool, more than a flop than a jump..and Dad caught him.

“Doot ‘gain Daddy. Doot ‘gain.”

And so commenced an hour of jump, catch, lift,

reset, jump, catch, lift, reset.

The parents feared that the little boy might try

jumping when they were not around.

But never once sis the little boy jump unless his

father was standing underneath him, with arms open, promising to catch him…and then… then he would fly.

For you see, despite the apparent successes, the

son did not trust his own ability to handle the water.

It was the father and the father’s promise.

Come on kiddo.

Jump.

And I promise I will catch you.

HAMMER

And that’s the point.

Our God catches us.

No matter the hurdle.

No matter the torpedo.

Full speed ahead...and God is there.

God is to be found and supremely known when

we move ahead.

It is in taking risks, trying new things, assessing

today’s needs and responding, that ministry is done.

Life, church, relationships, may not look like

what we are used to, but God is to be found on the other side.

The disciples left behind social norms and

started the church.

The disciples left behind the familiar to reach

out to others.

The disciples stepped out the safety of their

livelihood to learn about Jesus.

If they had stayed in their boats, we would not

be here.

Jesus faced a storm of torpedoes but was not

dissuaded.

Jesus faced rejection from his religious leaders.

Jesus was bombarded by criticism from those in

the know.

Life even pulled out its heaviest artillery and

thought it had stopped Jesus once and for all.

After all Jesus was dead, in a tomb.

But a stone was moved, the tomb was empty,

because Jesus had won the war.

Jesus spit in the eye of death.

Jesus walked out of the grave on Easter.

PROPEL

And because oft hat fact, we can do anything.

We can find life in a dead thing.

We can make Christ’s love known in a new and

changing world.

We can find and know God especially in the

midst of hard times.

For friends, obstacles are nothing but

opportunities…opportunities to let God’s love flow in to our hearts and into the hearts of others.

SO friends, go forth from here today ready for

hurdles.

Go forth from here today knowing there is life

on the other side of whatever we are facing.

Go forth from here today filled with courage and

knowledge that God is with us and will catch us.

Go forth from here saying “Damn the torpedoes.

Full speed ahead!”