February 22, 2015
Obstacles on the Journey- Suffering
- Mark 1:9-15
- Dr. Teri Thomas
If you are new to Northminster or if you really don’t pay any attention,
you may not know how much I love to travel.
I will go just about anywhere, anytime
My first travel itch was inherited from my grandmother.
She traveled the United States every opportunity she had.
She always told me to go now even if you cannot afford it,
because by the time you CAN afford it your body will give out on you.
So I travel.
When I started, I thought it was just for fun.
But then I realized that every trip changed things.
They changed the way I saw the world and the people who inhabit it.
They changed my perceptions and attitudes.
Travel takes me out of my ordinary,
away from the comforts and habits that keep me from having to change.
Travel puts me in a disorienting space, unknown cultures,
where often my ways of daily living and even communicating simply fail me.
Each journey stretches me
challenges me
teaches me
frustrates me
energizes me
and in the end I come back changed in some way.
On this first Sunday of Lent we begin a journey.
This journey invites us to examine our souls to see where we fall short,
it is a journey into our own personal lives of faith.
But at the same time we are called to travel between the oases that reveal God's mercy.
To travel with God, seeking closeness, understanding and trust.
So the trip has two destinations-
Knowing ourselves in a new way and knowing God in a new way.
We face our own imperfect humanity and glimpse God’s grace-filled divinity.
There is new life on the other side at both ends.
The idea of traveling a new path or following a different way
is a frequent metaphor in the story of God’s people.
Adam and Eve journey from Paradise into the world.
Abram and Sari journey from their homeland to a new land.
Abraham and Isaac journey up Mt. Moriah.
Moses leads the people of Israel on a 40 year trip through the wilderness.
Elijah travels up Mt. Horeb.
Jesus travels from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.
The Apostles go forth to the ends of the earth carrying the Good News.
Religious life is not one of standing still, it is living in the journey that follows God’s way.
So welcome to the journey we call Lent.
We begin in much the same way we begin any trip.
First we decide what we take along and what we leave behind.
When I pack for a trip I lay out everything I think I will want or need. Then I reduce that by half.
We need to spend time asking what is a necessity and what is excess baggage we do not need to carry.
We need to plan our time. It is important to include some rest time- time to think, time to write, time to take photos or paint pictures. Otherwise the whole adventure becomes a whirlwind and we forget what we experienced.
We need to be open to new lessons. I had to let go of trying to control everything and thinking I could make the trip go exactly as I planned. If we can accept what happens and trust the path ahead- it will bring us what we need for the journey.
Remember- there will be obstacles. I’ve never taken a trip where I didn’t encounter some obstacle along the way. Spiritual journeys are no different.
In our Old Testament lesson this morning we heard the end of the story about Noah.
Think about his journey.
God says- be faithful, trust me, build an ark. So Noah does as asked.
Then his friends and relatives, his entire community is destroyed.
His reward?
Living on an ark with birds and snakes and hippos,skunks, lions, elephants and all their poop.
Is this how you love us God? Is this where our righteousness gets us?
Or look at Jesus in the New Testament reading.
Jesus is baptized.
God says to him- You are my son whom I dearly love. In you I find happiness.
Then in the next sentence Jesus is tossed into the wilderness alone,
tempted by Satan, his buddy John is thrown in jail.
What happened to the dearly love you stuff? If this is how you treat the people you love…
In our lives- our daily journeys – we all confront obstacles.
Things go wrong, people do wrong, sickness, suffering, death interrupt our plans.
We come to church and hear that God loves us, God accepts us
God forgives us, God wants us to be happy, and then wham
the next minutes our job disappears, our relationship dies, our health deteriorates.
We don’t choose these times of trouble, trial or struggle.
they simply happen to us and often they create road-blocks for our faith.
If God loves me why do I have to suffer like this? How can I overcome this?
What does God want?
I wish I knew!
All I do know is what I believe. I do not believe God ever wants us to suffer.
I do not believe God causes suffering- not to teach us, or punish us.
But I do believe that God is with us when we suffer.
And I believe that God can do great things in us- even in the midst of our obstacles.
When our personal journey is thrown off course by suffering, we can look at the scripture and ask- “Even though I did not wish for this,
how might God be at work through this difficult period.
What can I get out of this?
How might God use me to help someone else?”
These kinds of questions aren’t going to change or remove struggle and suffering
but rather they remind us of God’s presence during those wilderness times
that leave us feeling stretched beyond our abilities.
So let’s look at our struggles, hear the promise of God’s presence with them,
and then look for God at work in and through them.
Then we can emerge from our obstacles renewed in hope, faith, and confidence.
Then we can continue the journey, the journey toward knowing ourselves in a new way
and knowing God in a new way.
We can face our own imperfect humanity and glimpse God’s grace-filled divinity.
Remembering, there is new life on the other side of both ends.
Thanks be to God
Amen