Pastor's Message
February 2010
Meeting God on the Way.
What does it mean to be on the Way?
Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath
and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to
the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the
synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in
the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there.
(Acts 9:1-2a NLT)
Over the centuries we assume those who follow Jesus Christ have always been known as “Christians.” However, that term comes later according to the Book of Acts. Those who were the first followers of Jesus were known as people of the Way. What does it mean to be a people of the Way?
Jesus tells his followers they “know the way to where (he is) going.” Thomas claims and asks at the same time, “No, we don’t know, Lord. We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
The response of Jesus was direct and probably more than a bit startling. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:4-7 NLT) It will remain a puzzle for the followers of Jesus even after such statements. It will be in the disciples’ daily walk with Jesus while on the road they travel with him that their understanding of him will grow and mature. This seems true even today. We are more like the followers on the way to Emmaus after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus than we may care to admit. We are like them in that Jesus will need to meet us on the way; traveling down the road of life in order for our understanding of him and his purpose to become clearer to us.
In this sense, the Way is not so much about spiritual practices, but about recognizing we are on a journey where God meets us. God comes to us as we are traveling to instruct us and to guide us in the direction God would have us go. It is on this journey that we are called to risk our lives and to be open to the possibility that whomever we might meet just might be Jesus. We travel looking to the Morning Star to guide us, but also trusting that the Holy Spirit is around and within us speaking a word of guidance to us while we are on the way. Paul S. Minear writes, “Few pictures are more ancient…than the picture of the pilgrim…Each day the pilgrim must ask again: what am I able to take along? What must I take? So whenever we think of ourselves as pilgrims, we begin instinctively to choose and to reject, to weigh and to measure, whatever is to go with us.” In our backpack we carry some holy tools that we dare not leave behind, but there are other things that might be let go of that may ease our burden or make room to place some special tool.
God meets us on the Way. Let us assume that God may be hiding in a stranger or foreigner we meet along our pilgrimage. If Jesus might come to us via a stranger or foreigner; it seems probable that Jesus can be experienced through us by someone we meet along the way. Paul was so bold as to proclaim that “the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you” and allows us to believe that our lives will be used by God to touch others we meet along the way. The wonderful gift of being on the Way is that God will not only teach us but use us to share God’s love and desire for the entire world.
Lent begins soon and will allow us to reflect upon the Way, the pilgrimage and the road we travel. It is a time to reflect upon, study and ponder where God is leading us on the Way. It is a time to listen and learn how God wishes to work through our lives while we are on the Way, the pilgrimage and the road we travel.
The journey for us will be especially significant this Lent. A team of people from Emmanuel will help us to discover how God is moving in our journey and where God is guiding us. A Renewal Enterprise will be helping us to reflect and ponder how God is already guiding us. It is a time of discovery and adventure as well as a time to draw out the tools God has given us for our journey. Some of these tools are the sacraments, the Word of God and prayer. These alone can help sustain us while on the road. However, how these tools are used may require us to offer them up to others and the world in some very creative ways. It is time to get underway.
One of Christ’s servants,
Pastor Dave Hendricks - Child of God