2. Stepping Out From The Circle Of Comfort (to the Zone of the Unknown)
Have you ever gone somewhere where you don’t know people, you are not sure what to do, what it is going to be like?
First day at a new school.
Visiting a housegroup.
Going to a party on your own?
Visiting the Wharfedale Vineyard
What’s the main emotion you experience? Fear?
- Fear of the unknown
- Fear of looking stupid
- Fear of doing something wrong
- Fear of people you don’t know and being rejected
- Fear of not being worthy
Standing there, on your own, not sure what is going to happen next or what you should do and feeling very conspicuous.
Imagine too that someone breaks away from whatever they are doing or from who they are talking to and comes over to you and says, “Hi, my name is John/Julie, what’s your name?”
All of a sudden, everything changes: acceptance, belonging, a way to get established.
We are called to be that person, the one who walks across the room (or the playground, the office, the coffee bar); the one who takes a risk, detaches themselves from their own safe place and comes says “hullo”.
Just as Jesus leaves the comfort of his place with the Father and steps across the cosmos to rescue me in my loneliness and fear, so he sends me to step across the room to bring his rescue to another.
Alison had a picture the other week for us – a circle of people standing beside each other and facing inwards to the centre. Then the people turned around and faced outward. And then they turned again and again.
In other words as a community of faith we stand together facing inward some of the time, and then we turn and face outward some of the time.
At the moment, under the overall theme of STEPS we are thinking a lot about how we face outward, how we go into our communities and workplaces as people who are used by God to bring his love to others. Near and far, Leeds and Cambodia.
He almost certainly used someone to bring his love to you. And now there are others nearby and he is asking you to STEP OUT to share his love with them.
Today we are thinking about that second stage in STEPPING OUT.
The 1st stage was understanding God’s amazing love for us, such that he sent Jesus to die for us and rescue us for eternity.
The 2nd stage is seeing how Jesus left his circle of comfort to do that for us and how we, as followers of Jesus, are now called to do the same.
John 4
A story of Jesus, moving away from the circle of comfort of his disciples and into unknown territory talking with (1) a Samaritan, (2) a woman Samaritan and (3) a woman Samaritan of poor reputation. An unheard of breach of social etiquette.
There are three parts to this stage of STEPPING OUT
- Seeing where we are
- Hearing the Holy Spirit
- Walk across the room
1. Seeing where we are
Sometimes we don’t realise where we are. We just enjoy being in comfort. That was why earlier on I asked you to move one chair away from where you were. Even moving one chair aroused in some of you a resistance.
What do you think of when I say Circle of Comfort?
- Money
- Housegroup
- Friends
- Family
- Workplace
- Sports team
- Vineyard
What makes them a circle of comfort?
What you have in common: History, language, culture, cause
(Although a non-Christian CoC can quickly become something else as soon as you start talking about Jesus).
Who is not in your circle of comfort?
Those who are different: clothes, culture, colour, social-economic, department, opposition, stranger, newcomer (here).
Sometimes we come to ww, say, wander in with friends or family or if not, find someone who is a friend or family as soon as we can. Have a coffee and a chat with them. Sit with them. Pray with them. We quickly form little cliques – housegroups, young people, family – and that is fine. We need that. But … what about that person who is new, different, hasn’t got a clique? Welcome the non-regular.
2. Hearing God's prompting
He is always on the look out for ways to show other people his love for them and he often wants to use you. Not everyone and not all of the time. But some people and sometimes.
How would he do that? This is the activity of the Holy Spirit in your life. Often he will give you a nudge as if to say, “Hey, just look away from your circle of comfort, can you see that person there? I know they look different and they are a stranger but I would like you to STEP OUT toward them.”
- You notice someone a bit more than usual, something stands out as you look at them
- As you see someone you hear God’s voice or feel his urge
- Notice someone alone, upset, hurting
- God gives you a name, maybe as you look at a list
- Recognise someone from a picture or a dream
- Opportunity presents itself
- Proactively looking for an opportunity and God gives you a word to speak or a prophecy to share or an act of kindness to do
3. Walking across the room
Thinking: what am I doing? What will people think of me? I am going to make a fool of myself? They will ignore or be rude to me? Fear.
And Jesus says, “Fear not, for I am with you. Yes they may reject you, you may be laughed at, you may stumble over your words. So?"
Or, you may find that just like you once were: on your first day at school or at work or walking into here for the first time; you may find that they are lonely and uncertain. Fearful perhaps and very grateful for someone else taking a STEP away from their circle of comfort to come and say, “Hullo”.
And you will quickly see the wonderful person inside. The person who is worth it, loved by God, rescued by Jesus and needing to be filled with the Holy Spirit like you.
At that point of contact, what Hybels calls entering the Zone of the Unknown, anything can happen – including God touching that person in some way.
It may be obvious, maybe not. The worst that can happen is that you have been a friend to someone in the same way that others have been a friend to you.
Stepping Out from the circle of comfort
So let us be a people, knowing we are loved and rescued by God, who recognise where we are. Let us be a people who know the Holy Spirit’s promptings, who choose to STEP OUT of our circle of comfort from time to time and who make that walk across the room. And let us look around us one day when we are standing in a new heaven and a new earth and see the people who are there at least partly because we did just that: left our circle of comfort, listened to the Holy Spirit and walked across the room to say, “Hullo”.
In future weeks we will examine closely what happens next, how do you make a friend, how do you share your story, how do you pray for people and how do you help someone make a decision to follow Jesus.
David Flowers, 06/04/2008