Sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Lance Moore on Sunday, April
27, 2008
Deuteronomy 1:30-33: “The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey... to search out places for you...and to show you the way you should go.”
Psalm 119:32-35: “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.”
Mark 10:28-31 (excerpts): “Peter said to [Jesus], "We have left everything to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no-one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age... and in the age to come, eternal life.... They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.”
~~~
Life is a journey.
When I was a 13-year-old Boy Scout, it was required to pass the rank of Tenderfoot that all scouts take a ten mile hike. Even at 13-years-old, it should not have been a difficult journey for us. However, one of our Boy Scout leaders, intent on helping us get our merit badge perfunctorily and without distraction, chose to march us five miles alongside a straight highway and five miles back—in the peak of summer heat. The boredom was worse than the heat. The only pleasure in the whole journey was my canteen. With an eye only toward passing the test for rank, our leader had missed the deeper value of the journey itself. He took the short, easy, simple route alongside the paved road. I have since listened with envy as other Scouts have told about the joys of hiking on the Appalachian Trail, the delights of exploration and discovery on the mountaintop, or other adventure-filled hikes. We just endured exhaust and litter alongside the highway.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines a hike as “an extended walk for pleasure or exercise.” Hiking is a journey with specific starting and ending points, for the purpose of enjoying the travel. My scout leader had wrongly defined it as “the shortest distance between two points, by which one can get a merit badge.” He missed the scenic route. I hope he later learned that often the best parts of life are found on the detours.
It is tragic when someone spans their entire life using that same perfunctory method. Despite my strong belief in the importance of goal-setting, I would argue that life is not a football game. Crossing the goal line is not life’s sole purpose. Learning, growing, sharing and enjoying the travel is as important as the final arrival. The journey is as important as the destination.
When not distracted by glitzy trophies and looming goal-lines, we may connect with our innate appreciation of the value of “the journey” itself. Many of our greatest fairy tales, epic poems and novels are about journeys. Homer’s Odyssey even uses the synonym for “journey” in its title. What is the most famous odyssey in history? I have two answers: in biblical history, it would be the journey of the Hebrews out of Egypt, through the wilderness into the Promised Land. In modern “pop” culture, it would be the journey which Dorothy and Toto took along the Yellow Brick Road to Oz. Let’s consider that first.
Dorothy’s hike along the Yellow Brick Road actually began on a dusty dirt road in front of her farm in Kansas. It was a journey of adolescence. When Dorothy’s guardian, Auntie Em, failed at protecting her dog, Toto, the teenager struck out on her own. The purpose of her journey was not to reach Oz. In the end, Dorothy’s only desire was to get back home, back to the very place from which she had run away. The person who asks, “Why take the journey at all if I simply end up where I started?” is like my tunnel-visioned Scout leader. Most people never catch the paradox of the Oz story, because the tale is so well told we become engrossed in the Yellow Brick Road journey, with its accompanying discovery, adventure, moral challenges and the struggle against the forces of evil (the Wicked Witch of the West). Dorothy ended up back in Kansas, at the same old farmhouse with the same old aunt and uncle. Nothing there had changed. What had changed was Dorothy herself. She had achieved a measure of maturity. Through the joys and pains of her journey, she had become more confidently autonomous, more her own person. As the good witch had said at the end of the movie, “You had to learn it for yourself.”
Do you have the mistaken notion that the journey of life is about acquiring a big home, a fancy car, or diplomas and awards to hang on the wall? That is not what the journey is about. In the original book about Dorothy’s travels to Oz, by Frank Baum, another purpose for the journey is given. Dorothy had come to the end of her adventure, and shared a parting conversation with the so-called “Good Witch,” Glenda. Glenda informed her that she could have avoided the journey entirely by using the power of her silver slippers (they were changed to ruby slippers in the movie). But then, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion all pointed out that each of them would never have received their gifts of brains, heart and courage had it not been for Dorothy taking them along on her journey. So Dorothy agrees that the dangerous trip was worth it, saying, “I am glad I was of use to these good friends.” [L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz, George Hill Co., NY, 1900, p. 257]
If I could speak my own eulogy, I’d like to say that about my life: “I am glad I was of use to my good friends.” We must never believe that the end of life’s journey, the goal of living, is just self-aggrandizement or personal pleasure. For indeed, one goal of life is to journey along with a few good friends. This is what Jesus decided to do with his disciples. And they responded by saying, “We will follow you anywhere.”
And by the way, if this sounds familiar, it’s because it is taken straight from the pages of the book, Outdoors with God. Since I wrote the book, I can plagiarize from myself now and then!
Now let us go back to our Old Testament lesson. The exodus of the Israelites through the wilderness is another epic “journey” tale with many lessons to teach us. You know the story. The Jews were traveling from slavery to freedom, from the tyranny of Egypt to a place of autonomy in the Promised Land of Canaan. God miraculously helped them across the Red Sea, and offered to lead them straightway into the Promised Land. But they grew impatient with the desert journey and allowed their eyes to wander from the holy prize aside to chintzy, glittering, golden idols. They showed all the human foibles which we, too, embrace all too often: lack of faith and trust in God; a tendency toward whining and negativity; unwillingness to follow good leadership; unbridled appetites and lusts; impulsiveness; disobedience.
The consequence of their bad behavior and poor attitude was that they circled the desert for years, compounding their own self-created misery. It should not take a genius to learn from the mistakes of their journey and apply it to our own. The virtues of love, trust, faith, positive thoughts, kindness, temperance and moderation can change our journey in life from one of toil in the desert to rejoicing at the sight of the Promised Land. The journey itself can be almost as good as the arrival.
But we do know that in the end, life’s spiritual journey does indeed have a destination. And if we miss it, then the journey was pretty much a waste of time. Because our destiny is to live as mature Christians in the Kingdom of Heaven. When the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, God “went before them” with a pillar of fire, a light to guide their way.
Unfortunately, the Israelites eventually drifted away from God, lost sight of the light, lost their sense of direction. and managed to waste forty years lost in a relatively-small desert, an area smaller than the state of New Jersey. They knew the sun set in the west, they knew the North Star, they were not geographic idiots. But they grew weary, they lost their vision and hope for the Promised Land. And for an extended period, they settled. They decided to give up on the journey, set up their tents in the desert, and just live there for years. Green fields and flowing streams were only a few miles away. But in their impatience and distrust, they settled. They quit moving. They gave up not only on the destination, but even on the journey.
This happens to modern folks as well. Some are lost from the get-go, they never find God and never even begin the journey. Others discover that Jesus was right: the path to destruction is wide and easy, and they drift off the narrow way. And some, like the escaping Hebrews, just settle. They settle for a modicum of comfort and never move forward toward the greater promise God has in store for them. They settle for paths of dirt and sand rather than waiting and striving for golden streets.
The spiritual journey of life winds, at times, through briar patches and dark valleys and dry deserts and rough wilderness. Sometimes the journey includes even the darkness of facing the death of a loved one, or the diagnosis of cancer, or dealing with a job we don’t like, or a problem at school or a troubled marriage or financial worries. But most of the time, the journey itself is a joyful adventure, an opportunity to experience and learn and grow as we trust God to guide us to the Promised Land. Don’t get lost, don’t settle... trust God, follow Jesus...
you’re not in Kansas anymore.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Closing Prayer is adapted from St. Alphonsus:
“O Jesus Christ, my Lord, with what great love you traveled the painful road of life... even unto death. And how often have I abandoned you. But now I love you with my whole soul. I am sincerely sorry for having offended you and for losing trust in you. My Jesus, pardon me, and permit me to accompany you on this journey. Amen.”
Foley, Alabama