Wednesday, March 26, 2025 – Lent Four

                                The Lenten Journey: The Road Less Travelled

 “And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”  Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? (John 14: 4 -9)

               Yesterday, Susan shared a news story with me. It was about an American woman who was being interviewed and asked the question about how she would react if Jesus returned in the United States (of all unlikely places). She replied that it would be fine “as long as he entered legally.” Perhaps, she meant it as a joke, but I doubt it. If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny. In today’s America, in his triumphant return, Jesus Christ would likely be deemed an illegal alien and deported.  Well, he has had to deal with hostile powers and principalities before. This would be right up his alley:  “Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.” (Ephesians 1:21)   

                 But that aside, the woman’s remarks illustrate a fundamental ignorance of Jesus Christ – who he is, what he is, what he has done for us, what discipleship means. Perhaps, unwittingly, she does see Jesus as some sort of alien, an outsider, an intruder, someone outside the rules and regulations of her world.  I am sure that she is not alone, throughout the world. The presence of Jesus invokes choices, sometimes radical ones, always life changing ones. “There is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.” (Matthew 12: 30, The Message Bible)

                Like Thomas, so many people no longer know the Way. They have become unfamiliar with the paths of righteousness i.e. goodness, mercy, compassion, truth, justice and love. The Rev. Dr. Peter Holmes, in Sunday’s sermon, told the story about a recent Elon Musk interview in which Musk said that the problem with America (i.e. USA) is that there is too much emphasis on empathy, of trying to help others and going the extra mile. He treated empathy like a social disease which needs to be eradicated in order to make America great again, I suppose. Yikes!

                No, we don’t know the way. Sometimes, maybe often, we have absolutely no idea where we are going or where Jesus is leading us. So how can we know the way, we ask.

                There is a lot about the disciple Thomas, I can appreciate. He seems to want to follow Jesus but he is always looking for assurances, road-signs, evidence, and confirmations that the way ahead makes logical sense. He needs a spiritual GPS. He wants clear and precise directions, not spiritual mumbo jumbo, not vague religious platitudes.  Philip joins the chorus of those seeking clear answers: “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Give us the plain and easy road, dear Lord. “Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.” (Isaiah 40:4, NLT) Then we will follow.

                But this is the road less travelled and it’s not always filled with Holiday Inns and nice restaurants. It is a road that has some hills and valleys, bumps and obstacles, roadblocks and detours. Yet, even under these circumstances, it is okay to ask our Lord about how we can know the way. What strategies, what principles, what tasks, what direction, what plan will Jesus give us to know the way.

                “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”  It isn’t about maps, explanations, procedures or such; it is about our relationship with Jesus himself. We follow Jesus, not a CAA trip-tik. As we learn from him, see him action, watch him deal with others, even and especially the outcast, the immigrant, the poor, we are given insight and instructions for the way ahead to live a wholesome, thriving Christian life. “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.” (Psalm 25:4) We have been shown the path. It is to walk with Jesus all along the way and to do so in faith, trust and obedience.

                “In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.” (Ephesians 4; 1 -3, The Message Bible)

                Best you put on you running shoes for this.

 Dale

Wednesday, March 19, 2025: Lent Three

                The Lenten Journey:  The Road Less Travelled

 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.  Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. (Matthew 4: 18 – 20, New Living Translation)

                 Sometimes, simply following along is not the best recipe for fulfillment. To go along with the flow may seem to avoid pitfalls and mistakes, but it may also lead to poor choices. I would seldom recommend just following blindly.  To some, perhaps, following conjures up images of timidity, servility, avoidance of change and new directions. Others might see following as passivity, meek compliance, maintaining the status quo or taking the easy or simple way through life. All of this may be true. Following the crowd is not always our best option.

                Yet Jesus spoke to Peter and Andrew and beckoned them both to “Come, follow me.” Incredibly, it seems that they immediately left their nets and followed Jesus. There was nothing certain or normal or conventional about their decision or the path they were choosing. It boggles the mind. The Message describes their decision: “They asked no questions.”  Any of us might want more details, answers, explanations, time to think it over, time to make arrangements, time to pack. But, “they left their nets at once and followed him.” Were they acting like two gullible, naïve, ignorant dupes? Did they have any idea what they were getting into or the outcome of such a radical decision?

                Perhaps, they had heard of Jesus or even seen him in action, but the text doesn’t say that. I think the Gospel writer wants us to understand the compelling choice which Jesus gives any of us when he calls us by name.  The brothers were about their normal, everyday occupation - fishing. It was hard, manual labour, working often through the night, sometimes coming up empty. Jesus interrupts their work and calls out to follow him.  It is not just an invitation or a suggestion or a request. It is a call. Maybe not a demand exactly but a challenge, a test, a life-changing choice.  I think the brothers knew the radical nature of that call and chose to follow Jesus despite the sheer nonsense of it in anyone else’s minds.

                Much later in this journey with Jesus, Peter askes Jesus, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?” (Matthew 19:27)  There is enough evidence in the Gospels to see that the disciples, Jesus’ band of followers, were often expecting glory to be their end-game, to have power, and sit in high places of honour.  They are amazed and dismayed to hear Jesus talk about the need to pick up crosses and follow him to the Cross. Surely, that wasn’t what they signed up for when they left their nets. In Matthew 19, Jesus responds to Peter: “And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.” But the pathway, the road less travelled, is one of humility, sacrifice, service, loving others and giving up blindly following the ways of the world. “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12)

                Following Jesus is unlike any thing else we can choose to do with our lives. It alters our perspective; changes our direction; gives us purpose; holds us to account, and leads us in paths of righteousness, justice and love. And, oh yes, did I mention it is the road to our redemption, the forgiveness of God and our salivation? What more do you want? It is not always easy to take this path to follow Jesus. There are those who will try to dissuade us and lure us into following some other road. There can be trials and tribulations which will tempt us to give up and walk away. We can get discouraged and disappointed. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (Matthew 7: 13 -14)

                There were many ups and downs in Peter’s and Andrew’s discipleship. But they persevered. They didn’t quit or give up. They grew in knowledge, experience and faith. They lived up to the challenge that Jesus gave them that day by the shore. May we simply stop what we are doing and pay attention to the voice of Jesus and turn our faces and move our feet in the direction he is leading.

                I have decided to follow Jesus;
                I have decided to follow Jesus;
                I have decided to follow Jesus;
                No turning back; no turning back.

                If no one joins me, still I will follow;
                If no one joins me, still I will follow;
                If no one joins me, still I will follow;
                No turning back; no turning back.

                The cross before me, the world behind me;
                The cross before me, the world behind me;
                The cross before me, the world behind me;
                No turning back, no turning back. (Simon Marak)

Dale

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 – Lent Two: The Lenten Journey: The Road less Travelled

 The Lord gave this message to Jonah, son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”  But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. (Jonah 1: 1 - 3, New Living Translation)

                Don’t tell me what to do.  Don’t nag me.  Don’t remind me constantly about what I haven ‘t done and should have done. The more you nag, the more I won’t do it.

                Were she still alive, my mother would tell you that one sure way for me not to do something was to repeatedly nag me about it. Even today, the more anyone nags me, the less likely I will do it. I will confess that it is not an endearing quality to have. But I will resist and procrastinate and neglect the task at hand if anyone starts to badger me about it. (I need to add, for the record, that my wife, Susan, never nags or perhaps she has simply  found a craftier way of doing it!)

                So, perhaps, I can muster up a little empathy for Jonah. God wants him to do a difficult task for him; go to a foreign nation and give them hell for their rotten behaviour. Like that is going to go well over in Nineveh. “Thank you very much, God, for your trust in me but I have business in Tarshish, I’ll get back to you, later.”  So, he books passage on the first available boat out of the country and hightails it   as far from God and Nineveh as he can get, “away from the presence of God,” repeated twice in verse three, making sure we understand Jonah’s motive.  Thus, Jonah “sets out to flee”.

                Let’s be clear about this. This is not mere procrastination, putting off something difficult or unpleasant for a future time. This is outright disobedience. This is refusing a command straight from God. This is open, although cowardly defiance of what God has asked for. This is intentional rebellion against God’s need of Jonah. Jonah has a whale of a problem. He thinks he can outdistance God. He believes he can escape his responsibilities. He tries to outmaneuver God and hide away somewhere until it all blows over or God finds someone else. So, he chose the wrong path, the wrong way, the road to sin. But he soon discovers that he cannot escape God’s call.
            “I can never escape from your Spirit!
            I can never get away from your presence!
            If I go up to heaven, you are there;
            if I go down to the grave, you are there.
            If I ride the wings of the morning,
            if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
            even there your hand will guide me,
            and your strength will support me." (Psalm 139: 7 -10)

                There is a character in one of my fantasy novels whose favourite saying is that it is better to get the job done than to worry and fuss over doing it. There is a great deal of wisdom in that. Especially when it comes to responding to God’s call upon our lives. I am not meaning being called into ministry or to become a missionary.  I am primarily meaning our baptismal call, when we have accepted God’s Grace and Mercy through Jesus Christ. We are given a new road to walk, a new task to perform, new words to say, new lives to give. Our Nineveh moment might be right in our own neighbourhoods and communities, places that need to see, hear and feel the Love of God, demonstrated by our obedience to follow Jesus. “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

                Give up our own way – this is indeed a road less traveled by so many of us. It didn’t work for Jonah. It won’t work for you or me.

            When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
            What a glory He sheds on our way!
            While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
            And with all who will trust and obey.
            Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
            To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

 Dale

Wednesday, March 5, 2025: (Ash Wednesday/Lent One)

                The Lenten Journey: The Road Less Travelled

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you…” (Genesis 12:1, New Living Translation)

               The season of Lent is about reflecting on the choices which we make in our lives. Which fork in the road did we take or are contemplating to take? Are we making healthy, faithful decisions? Where did we go wrong, perhaps? Moreover, it is delving deeper into our walk with Jesus. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.” (Matthew 7:13) The Lenten journey is about the nature of making of that walk with Jesus on roads that are far less travelled.

                We begin with Sarai and Abram. They lived in or near the ancient town of Ur, in what is now Iraq. They were probably simple, nomadic, animal herders, tending sheep and goats, maybe camels for their living. They come from a long line of such folk, with family roots deeply established for generations in this territory. We can assume that they accepted that this was their lifestyle. It was in their past, present and would be in their future. Like their forbears, the couple had settled into the familiar, daily routines of their lives. They seem to be prosperous enough, satisfied and probably content with where they were and what they had. They lived here; they would die here. Life went on.

                But God shows up, out of the blue, and radically throws their everyday lives into a sea of change and unfamiliar territory. Sarai and Abram were told to leave everything and everyone behind and venture into new lands and thereby new experiences, trusting only that God will lead them onward. “Go the land I will show you.”

                Now any of us might insist on some better GPS than simply the words “Go”. Some sort of detailed map.  We might insist on some guarantees about the benefits and rewards of such a venture. Where are we going? What road will we take? How will we know we are on the right path? Will it take long? Are we sure that this God can be trusted?

                It is hard to leave the familiar behind. It is difficult to let go of the past. It Is tough to try something new. It is scary to leave behind loved ones and go off on some new venture. Change can make us anxious, fearful, wary, reluctant, or just plain unwilling and stubborn.

                Yet, Abram and Sarai obey; always faithful that Abram! It was not a straight line to the promised land by any stretch of the imagination. It had a lot of twists and turns. It had detours. It had obstacles. It had stumbles. But eventually, they arrived in Canaan, the promised land, and settled there. (Genesis 13:12) But the road less travelled was not always smooth or convenient or welcoming. We can give them credit for their perseverance, their faith in God, their trust and obedience, their courage and fortitude. They weren’t perfect; they wavered a time or two; but by the grace of God, they ended up where they were supposed to be. “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)

                My lesson is this. This Lent, let us listen carefully to the direction which God sets before us. Let go of the past and look forward to new possibilities. with Jesus leading the way. In John’s Gospel, Thomas, always the sceptic, challenges Jesus’ word about knowing the way ahead. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5) Jesus replied with those iconic words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (14:6) We know the way because we hear and heed the Voice of Jesus. His is the Voice now which cries in our wilderness journeys and leads us out and brings us into a safe and premixing place. “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

                Be bold this Lent. Be courageous. Be prepared to walk today where Jesus walked. “If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.” (2 Corinthians 3: 9-12)

                Put on your best walking shoes this Lent. God has something planned for you!

 Dale