Pastor's Newsletter
July, 2010
it's all about the journey
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 (NET1)
On the road again... I suppose most of us have heard the adage - success is a journey not a destination. However, most of us hope that life is a journey toward a destination worth reaching and not towards futility. The problem is that we may fail to grasp that we will never reach our destination on this side of the grave.
These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13-16 (NET1)
Retirement is a fairly recent invention by people who live in wealthy nations. The idea that we can earn enough during our "work" years to subsidize a leisurely lifestyle in our old age is remarkable, though quickly fading from the American landscape. Even if we don't dream of spending our last years doing whatever we want instead of working for a living, we most likely are hoping that at least life will get a little easier as we get older. One day I will be able to take it easy and not have to engage in so much struggle and conflict. Well, I have bad news: God apparently does not have a retirement plan, and he seems to enjoy commissioning older people to take bold steps of faith and launch out on formidable journeys.
Consider Abraham, for example. Wasn't he around 75 years old when God promised him land and multitudes of descendants? Surely God should have started early. He and Sarah were well past their prime child bearing years when God announced his plan. Abe had amassed some wealth and made a home for himself in Ur; so, why would God launch him on a journey to who knows where so late in life? And what about Moses? Wasn't he eighty years old when he got the assignment to lead Israel out of Egypt on a long and arduous journey that would end up taking another forty years to complete? Is there something about the journey that is fundamental to knowing God? I believe so.
The Bible calls believers "pilgrims." We are strangers in a strange land journeying toward an eternal home. We have no lasting inheritance here. Our treasure and citizenship are in heaven. God Himself is our reward. When we view the earth as our dwelling place, we may miss the blessings found on the journey. God loves to disentangle us from the things that try to bind us and keep us from following Him - lands, money, homes, possessions, jobs, even family sometimes. It should not surprise us, then, if God rips us up from what is comfortable and familiar and asks us to take a journey with him. After all, isn't that what the death experience is - leaving behind what is known to venture out into the unknown with Jesus as our only security?
When God takes away what we thought was our security, it is because he wants to reveal that He alone is everything we need. In his old age, instead of enjoying sitting on the front porch in a rocker, Job was sent on a journey into pain, loss and confusion. Instead of enjoying the fruit of his successes in his old age, everything was stripped from him, including his sense of right standing with God. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away so that he can give us even more, if we take the journey. It's all about the journey. Job ended up with twice as much as before, but, more importantly, he knew God on an altogether different plane.
When the two disciples journeyed down the road to Emmaus, they never imagined that their sadness and disappointment would be instantly converted to joy and fulfillment by meeting the Lord himself on the way. It on the journey that we meet the Lord. It's as we offer up our Isaac that we discover God's hidden and unexpected provision. Whether or not we lose what we previously had or receive it back in another form, the important thing is that we follow the One called the Way. As long as our decisions along the way are based on faith and a desire to know God more, we will make it to our destination. God's love and grace will see to that. If we try to "fort up" and conserve what we have, we may lose it all. Don't be afraid to take a journey with God. You can be sure that you will not be disappointed. As a church, as we contemplate where God is leading us and what he may require, let's once again place everything on the altar. Whether he allows us to keep our present facility or takes us somewhere new, it's the journey of faith that counts. What was before, is not necessarily what lies ahead. If God takes what we had, He will give us so much more and a new revelation of Himself as an incalculable blessing.
Don’t remember these earlier events; don’t recall these former events. 19 “Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the desert and paths in the wilderness. Isaiah 43:18-19 (NET1)
Until later...
Pastor Pete