God Protects Us Along The Rocky Road

Focus Statement: God is with us and comforts us through Christ as we travel the rocky roads.
It was a beautiful Chicago summer day as I left the Evanston campus. The lake was pounding against the lakeshore, the sun was shining warmly and the smell of afternoon barbeques was permeating the campus neighborhood. Usually I drove through the neighborhoods to my destination, the Edens Tollway. But this day, I chose to drive Sheridan Road all the way home instead. This day was the exception to my normal journey. However, on this day, the beauty of the Lake Shore Scenic Circle Tour was not totally what I had envisioned. Driving along the winding road with tall trees on one side and the rocky lakeshore on the other side, the sound of the waves pounding the rocks was interrupted suddenly. I was stunned by a large number of "road kill" or dead animals along the road. The stark contrast of the dead goose, cat, squirrel, and raccoon against the life along the beautiful road brought great sadness. This is sometimes the case when we choose a new route, an alternate way to journey to our destination.

Ten days ago we began our Lenten journey. We have contemplated the solemn humility of Ash Wednesday and humbly accepted the journey along the road less traveled. We wore ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross as a reminder of our baptismal covenant with God. Last week we wrestled with the Truth found in the contradictions of this earthly world. And, again we were reminded of the truth of the Gospel received at our baptism, proclaimed in scripture, and received at the table in the bread and wine.

In today's Gospel, Luke tells of the Pharisees choosing the safety of Jesus and Jesus defiantly, boldly going straight down the dangerous road to death in Jerusalem. Likewise, in Philippians 3 we find Paul choosing a path of persecution for the sake of the Gospel. And in our Old Testament reading from Genesis 15, God invites Abram to walk the road of danger with the knowledge that "I am your shield; your reward shall be very great". The Psalmist today in Psalm 27 speaks of being afraid and finds comfort knowing he "will live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life… For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble."

Jesus laments about the unwillingness of Jerusalem to be protected like a brood of chicks. He surely would be willing to gather and protect them lovingly as a mother hen would as they journey along the road. This journey towards Jerusalem was not easy even though Jesus knew the outcome to be death. Yet, as he traveled the rocky road, he was true to his mission of gathering God's people.

God calls us to gather together in his name. God gives us comfort as we are sent out on the roads in the world to do God's work. Sometimes the roads we travel don't always take us where we plan to go. Many times, we find ourselves "lost" along the way and waiting for someone to "find" us and redirect us, or assure us. Although our calling as future leaders of the church may not involve death, we certainly will have to deal with it.

As commuter students, perhaps you too have wandered off the main road and ventured to try a new road instead of the interstate. This new road offers new perspective and many times, a better or more enjoyable route to your destination. Sometimes, the road ends up being busier or not as scenic as our usual route. And, occasionally the road is not what you expect…sometimes danger or death is lurking around the beauty of a winding road along the lakeshore.

This week we commemorate the lives of four women who boldly chose the difficult, less traveled, dangerous road in life. The martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, Sojourner Truth and Harriett Tubman. Sojourner and Harriett, were born slaves and chose to travel many treacherous roads to spread the word of God. Sojourner traveled the United States telling how God changed her life. Harriett chose the path of freedom fighter and helped hundreds of slaves escape bondage by developing the Underground Railroad. Despite the danger of this path to her personally, she found comfort and protection in God.

We find the grace of God to be a gift received freely through baptism as a child of God and a commitment to a Christ-centered life. No matter how undeserving we might be, this justification through grace by faith alone is the gift God bestows upon us through baptism and faithful living. The Holy Spirit has presented us to God through baptism and our faith in Jesus Christ. We encounter the Holy Spirit in the baptismal font and the true presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine at the table. It is in this gathering that Christ offers us the respite and comfort to continue on our journeys no matter how difficult they may be.

As future religious leaders, we are to uphold this mission by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus. In doing so, the public proclamation of God's saving grace through the Christ Jesus is essential. Jesus directs us in the Commissioning of Disciples in Luke 24 "Thus it is written that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

Others may have tried to thwart the efforts of Perpetua, Felicity, Sojourner & Harriett. What would have happened if these women succumbed to the distractors? What would have happened to the hundreds of slaves? And, more specifically, when our church faces the possibility of closing its doors, what will we, as identified religious leaders, do?

Jesus Christ has shown himself willing, freely willing, to receive the poor souls that come to him, and put themselves under his protection, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, with tender loving care. We are asked to extend God's word to all in the world through Word and Sacrament, servanthood, compassion, justice, ecumenism, worship, and evangelism. The ministry of church invites all members to minister to each other as well as support the wider mission of the church.

We do it every day. We choose to take an easier road because someone else has already trampled down the thistles and bushes for us. When we choose our friends, we tend to find others with similar interests. When we choose our significant others, we typically gravitate towards those with whom we are comfortable or have life experiences like ours. It is when we step out of the main flow of traffic that we find the true comfort and protection of God.

It is precisely while we are on the rocky road that we will find the good news that God is with us and has given us comfort through Christ who died so that we may live in fullness of life.