Never despise a daft idea

To state the obvious, God is not limited by our imagination. And later this morning, I shall be walking the gangplank onto one of his amazing acts.

You may be aware of Operation Mobilisation (OM), an international Christian mission movement involving over 4,500 workers from 125 nationalities, active in more than 147 countries. As it happens, Jacqui was involved in its early days in the UK, when its headquarters was located above a fish and chip shop in Bolton.

Founded in 1957 by the irrepressible George Verwer, OM always gave priority to persevering in prayer, seeking God's guidance and trusting in his amazing provision for the work of mission. And they prayed big, on the simple basis that God is God, the creator of heaven and earth.

It was during a prayer meeting in those early days, praying for India, that someone pointed out that the country was a peninsula, albeit a very large one. Moreover, many of its major cities were on or near the coast. Then came the imaginative leap. How about a missionary ship to share the Good News of Jesus?

A daft idea, of course – but one thing I have learned in ministry is never to despise the day of daft things. It seems to be a favourite way of working for the Holy Spirit, taking us well beyond what we can imagine.

So they began praying for a ship, asking God to provide not just the right vessel but also a crew to sail her. I said that they prayed big!

I'm not quite sure of the details at this stage, but soon afterwards a qualified ship's captain offered his services. Wonderful! The only problem was that there was no ship for him to captain. However, he could wait only so long, and eventually he moved on. But OM kept on praying.

Strangely enough, I became involved with OM in the very month, October 1970, that it purchased the Danish vessel Umanak for £70,000, to be renamed Logos and converted into a floating bookshop and missionary vessel. Its maiden voyage was to India, of course.

Since then, OM has operated five ocean-going missionary vessels, welcoming more than 52 million visitors in over 150 countries. And it hasn't, to coin a phrase, all been plain sailing. The original Logos sank after striking rocks near Cape Horn in January 1988. But wonderfully, all 141 people on board were rescued. Not a single life was lost.

OM currently has two vessels, and one of them, Logos Hope, is currently moored at the cruise liner terminal near the Pier Head in Liverpool. And this morning I shall be attending a meeting on board for elderly ministers, encouragingly entitled Same Strength.

Maintaining this maritime ministry must be a continual challenge. You may have read that earlier this week an upmarket cruise company went bust, reportedly because of very high fuel costs, stranding its wealthy passengers in Cambodia. Even so, OM continues to rely on God's provision, often against all the odds.

One of the pioneers of Christian ministry in India, William Carey, would certainly have endorsed this venture of faith. "Expect great things from God," he urged. "Attempt great things for God!"

It was in 1993 that Christ Church, where I was vicar, had the opportunity to acquire the Old School Building next door, a three-classroom, single-storey Victorian edifice. So we organised a series of prayer meetings, seeking God's guidance. I then invited church members to write down their own vision for the building.

I still have these musings, suggesting a variety of ways we might use the building for ministry. The point is that no one even dared to suggest that we might build a brand-new, state-of-the-art Ministry Centre costing £1.3 million. Nothing remotely like it. None of us could venture beyond what we thought possible, even in our imaginations. Essentially just improve or adapt the existing building, no more. 

Hilariously, one member concluded his suggestions by insisting that under no circumstances should the building be demolished. Hilariously, because fifteen years later (that's a story in itself), this very same person commissioned its demolition to make way for the new Ministry Centre, to be funded entirely through the sacrificial giving of church members.

We needed those fifteen years, painful though they sometimes were, to allow the Holy Spirit to stretch our vision, to help us grasp what he was guiding us to do.

And here is the challenge for us all. Not simply to ask God to bless what we can imagine, but to trust him for what lies beyond our imagination.

It is so easy to allow our own experience, expectations and common sense to set the boundaries. And common sense, valuable though it is, can sometimes be a poor guide to the purposes of God.

Of course, this does not mean that every daft idea comes from the Holy Spirit. Far from it! We need prayer, patience and discernment. But we also need the courage to venture beyond the familiar, trusting that God will provide what he calls us to undertake.

After all, who would have thought that a prayer meeting above a fish and chip shop in Bolton could eventually lead to a fleet of missionary ships sailing the oceans of the world?

And if God can surprise us so wonderfully in this life, just imagine what he has in store for us in the next.

Or rather, don't imagine. For as the apostle Paul reminds us of the glorious future God has prepared for those who love him:

"No one's ever seen or heard anything like this,

Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—

What God has arranged for those who love him."

(1 Corinthians 2:9, The Message)