The Long Journey

1 Peter 5:6-11
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Like many people in Midian, I have lived in a lot of other places before settling here. New Jersey, New York, California, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania....all have been home to me.

When I lived in Georgia, I was eleven-years-old. I was living in a small, fairly poor, little agricultural town. I lived with my grandparents as my mother slowly succombed to cancer, and my father was off in another state trying to secure a job. It was, in several ways, the defining period of my life... the combination of the actual events, made even more intense by the age during which they occured, set a powerful mark upon my character. In may ways, I am still that eleven-year-old, in a town far away from home and friends, in a culture very different from where I grew up. But, of course, I am also a completely different person...leaving the age aside, I have been blessed with a wide variety of experiences and relationships that have further shaped me as a man.

As I sit here at this desk, peering over the woods beyond my back yard, I am struck by how long the life journey has been...and how it has changed me.

While every church-going Christian has encountered stories about Peter, I think we often forget what a long journey Peter made from his calling by Jesus, until his own crucifixion in Rome. Peter, the brash young fisherman who said exactly what was on his mind (and whos actions were always led by his emotions), turned into Peter, the Elder of the Church, a man who preached humility, peace, and getting along with others.

Arguably, while the focus of the New Testament is on Christ, there is no one we follow for a greater duration than Peter. Peter is the bold disciple who cuts off the soldier's ear, but, then retreats into the cowardice of denial the very next day. Peter, the missionary to the Jewish diaspora, is, later, the first to reach out to the Gentiles (with the baptism of Cornelius). Peter, the staunch defender of the church, turns into a supporter and brother of its greatest enemy and killer (Saul/Paul). Peter...the man who never seemed able to put two plus two together while in Jesus' company, becomes the rock on which His church is built

The first letter of Peter gives us some indication of what the first Apostle has taken away from this great journey...a life that the rest of history will view as one of the most remarkable of all time. Though Peter was given great power by the Holy Spirit, great responsibility by the Church leadership, and a special place amongst the Twelve by Christ, Himself, Peter marches into the twilight of his earthly life concerned mainly about humility and love.
I guess it can't be so surprising that a man who denied that He knew Christ mere hours after he promised not to do so, only to be forgiven by the Risen Lord three days later, would know something about the importance of humility, forgiveness, and love. On the long journey from follower to leader, Peter relays the importance of laying the stresses, strife, and false promises of the world behind in order to rest in humility with a forgiving God.

The long journey, for many of us harboring old memories in Midian, can lead us through times when we are consumed with our own weaknesses. The long journey takes through many times when we wish we could simply cast aside all of our problems and flaws, and live the life of supermen. If we are lucky, though, we end the long journey in a place where we give up regret and disappointment, in order to rest in the mercy of God.

Like Peter, a man who God Almighty called his friend, there is no escape from our own imperfections...there is only a long journey to a place where their sting is taken away by a loving Creator. Like Peter, the keeper of the keys, we must realize that God blesses the humble, and that being right is less important than showing love.
On the long journey, eventually we can leave behind our heavy baggage, if our hearts and minds are focused on the road ahead.
Journey well........

Resurrection Perspective

The Road to Emmaus

13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. 17 And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” 19 And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. 21 “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. 22 “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. 24 “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” 25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
28 And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. 29 But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. 30 When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33 And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

No one expected the resurrection. Jesus kept quite a diverse group of disciples; you would think that one of them would figure it out. There are no "I told you so," stories in Acts; but, there are a lot of people who are shocked by God's plan...even those Jesus called His friends.

On the walk to Emmaus, the disciples that Jesus encounters are lamenting a tragic loss. Their Lord has been killed; their direction has been lost; their world is in a fog. I think it is remarkable that Jesus does not choose to reveal Himself to these two disciples at the beginning of His walk with them. Instead, He chooses to wait until they realize what is really going on. There is something about the awakening to reality that is worth waiting for. Jesus walks all the way to Emmaus with them; He goes to their home for dinner. Why was it important to be present for so long before He was revealed?

In Midian, it is not uncommon to get hung up on our situation. A lot of us are dealing with challenges and disappointments that color our views on things. We spend time praying; we cry; we talk with people we trust...but our situation doesn't leave us.

It's interesting to note that these two disciples had probably not ever been as close to Jesus, physically, as they were on this walk. Ironic that this proximity did not keep them from their mourning of the very same Lord. Their emptiness, their confusion, their discontent was not quieted by the proximity of Christ to them; but....He was still there. At the end of the passage, when the disciples realize what has been going on, their perspective changes completely. Though the historical events that they mourned were still a fact of life, their tears were dried with the understanding that He walked with them.

The resurrection perspective is not that bad things do not happen. When we go through the loss of a child, the guilt of a loved-one's injury, or the long hours of loneliness, they are not illusions...they are really there. The resurrection perspective, though, is that while history unfolds as it will, Christ still walks with us. Though He may not make Himself known, He is still interested...and He is still in charge.

Happy Easter....