"The utterly absurd becomes completely reasonable when it is Jesus who is calling".

These words were spoken by our new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, at his inauguration service. He used as his text the passage from Matthew's Gospel (14:22ff), where Jesus walks on water and then invites Peter to join him. All appears to go well for Peter as he walks towards Jesus but then he loses his focus on Jesus and begins to sink. Jesus rescues him with those well-known words "O ye of little faith".

I am sure that many of us have not been placed in such a difficult situation as being asked to walk on water or some such equivalent. I struggle to think of an example in my life of being asked to do something physically which would have been quite so crazy, although parasailing in the Mediterranean felt quite surreal! The only other example that I can think of is an exercise included in many team building events, where you allow yourself to fall backwards into the arms of a team member. Can you trust them to hold on to you?

Who can we trust? Well as a Christian I believe that it is only Jesus who we can fully place our trust in. Here are a few verses from Scripture stating this:

"Have faith in God." Mark 11:22

" Depend on the Lord; trust him, and he will take care of you." Psalm 37:5

"We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"Trust in Him at all times." Psalm 62:8

Justin Welby is emphasising the point that putting our trust in Jesus is not just like putting our trust in another human, who may let us down. There is something different about the person of Jesus that makes it possible to drop our inhibitions and to respond when he calls.

The big challenge is listening out for his call. When was the last time you heard his voice? When was the last time you responded?

On Easter Eve, seven people from Shelswell responded to his call when they were Confirmed by Bishop John in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. All of them felt that the time had come to publically affirm their faith and to put their trust in Jesus. May they be blessed richly in their lives to come.

With God's Blessings to you all.