April 18, 2004 - Second Sunday of Easter
Psalm 139:1-10, 17, 18, 23-24
    NRSV KJV CEV
Philippians 3:7-17
    NRSV KJV CEV

Rev. Peter and Mrs. Linley Kennett
"Following Jesus"
A sermon dialogue

L          Ask and you will receive.   Search and you will find.  Knock and the door will be opened.

Peter, we have been traveling for 21 days.  Can you think how many times we have asked for anything?

P         Every day we have asked something like - 'When do you serve breakfast?' - 'Have you changed your watch to the new time zone?' The list goes on. We have traveled from the end of summer in New Zealand, to the beginning of the hot season in Hawaii, to the thawing of the frozen lands of Western Canada, to the awakening of spring here, in 21 days.  We have received information, directions, kindness, grace and support.

L          Sometimes it has been difficult. Our language, although similar, has not been quite like the language of the people we've been talking to, and we've had to search for ways with our words to help our listeners understand what we are asking.  We searched and found the right words, and so found the answers to our questions.

P         Jesus told stories to help his listeners find out what God wanted of them.  He spoke of their ordinary everyday lives in ways that opened their eyes to the Grace of God which surrounded them. He encouraged them to participate, to be active responders, to question, to search, to knock at closed doors.

L          In Hawaii, I walked out alone into the desert of the newest volcano lava flow.  Everywhere was black, poured-out, now solid rock.  Ten months before, this had been 2000 degrees of flowing molten lava which covered the road, a village, a church, the trees and grasses.  Just occasionally the flow had left a pocket of the original land.  Here was a partly burnt road sign, saying - 'SLOW DOWN'.  There a small tree, now bursting with bright red blossom; or a piece of the black top road, still with the paint marking the centre line.  The guide told us that at one place people running away from the heat had left footprints, which could still be seen.

As I remembered this I looked back to see whether I had left marks with my feet.   No marks.  And in this desert of rock I thought about Jesus.  Forty days in the desert.  Among rocks and heat.  No one has recorded that he left footprints.

P         But he did leave markers. Just as the Parks Ranger had been out on the cooled lava and placed yellow markers along the safe paths, Jesus left indicators for people to follow.  Stories to guide, actions to ponder and wonder at and accept.

The healings, his acceptance of people at their deepest need. All his actions glorified God.  The gospel stories trace the development and maturing of the disciples as they received Jesus' message.  They also show up the people whose doors stayed shut - the Pharisees and other leaders.

L          Because of these records we receive, …  we can know God's Grace….   But I have a question for you.  In his letters to the Philippians Paul spoke to the people of his life's travels.  Paul was a Pharisee.  He followed the markers of the Law of Moses.  What were the markers that Jesus left for Paul to follow as he ran towards his goal?

P         The Law of Love - the grace of a life laid down to redeem humankind; the resurrection of the life of the believers in covenant with his body, his church.

L          While I was waiting for you in the bookstore of the University of British Columbia the small pale pink petals of a cherry tree were being wind brushed to the ground, then trodden into the hard pavements.  Some petals were still fresh but others were beginning to be blended into the stone.  Some had almost disappeared.  Who would notice that they had gone?  Who would realize, that for many springs, petals had been vanishing?  Who cares about bruised petals?

A shocking memory I have of Vancouver is the number of  beggars we saw on the streets, not in the central business district, because we didn't go there.  In the suburban shopping centers, young, bedraggled men were sitting on the pavement against the buildings, upside down cap in front of them.  More energetic men would come up to us with their hands out.  Shops had notices - 'NO SOLICITING' on their doors.

Bruised petals falling from the community tree.

WHO cares?

P         WHO cares?  What did David say in Psalm 139? - 'You notice everything I do and everywhere I go…  Your thoughts are far beyond my understanding…'

Who was he addressing?

If God is so much beyond our understanding how can we know him?

We know him in Jesus Christ who has forgiven us, who is in us, and who gives us our way for the future.

L          So that is what Paul means about running towards the goal.  His goal is Jesus Christ who has already walked before us in God's Grace.

How did Paul run?  Have you ever thought about that?  Did he run as though he was being chased?  Was something horrible out to get him?  Or was he running towards a target, filled with wonder that he had been chosen to belong to Jesus; that whatever the struggle and striving he was filled with joy.  He knew his place in God's plan.

And we, too, walk together towards the goal, freed from fear, knowing that we have been chosen.  We are filled with joy as we are challenged to leave the marks of our journeys for others to follow.  We are pilgrims on a journey we are travelers on the road.  We are here to help each other walk the mile and share the road.  And, as Paul wrote to the people of Ephesus -

We pray that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will Give peace, love and faith to every follower!

May God be kind to everyone who keeps on loving our Lord

Jesus Christ. Amen.