First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa
“The Journey”
Rev. Bill Trump
August 11, 2013

One of the foundational elements of our Congregational Christian faith is the study of God’s word. We read our bibles and carefully examine the message verse by verse, but sometimes it is important to step back and look at the scripture on a larger basis. It helps us to better understand the writers and their purposes.

When one steps back and looks at the gospels, we notice that the primary way of telling the story of Jesus is as a journey. You see this in all of the gospels, but Mark, in particular, is always showing Jesus on the way to somewhere else. He tells the story of Jesus at a breathless tempo.

The image one gets of Jesus’ disciples, is of a group of people who are always breathlessly trying to catch up… always one step behind Jesus as he moves on to a new place.

I love the way Mark describes the calling of Jesus’ disciples in today's lesson. A couple of the disciples are at work one-day bent over their nets, working on them. While they were working, they saw a man walking along the Sea of Galilee, and he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."

Mark says they stopped everything they were doing, left their father, and went trudging right after Jesus. One would think they might have asked, "Well, who are you?" or at least one would say "OK, fine . . . but where are you going?"

The way Mark presents it, they asked none of that. They just stumbled after Jesus. Maybe that's exactly the way it happened. Mark gives us that image of discipleship throughout his gospel. Discipleship is following Jesus on a journey, without ever knowing exactly who he is or precisely where he is going.

The other episode in Mark is when the disciples are in a boat on the sea. A storm comes in, the sea gets ugly, and it appears that the boat is going to be swamped and everyone will drown.

But who should they see out on the water but Jesus. Mark says he was walking past the disciples. He isn’t coming out there to pull them out of the boat; he’s just out for a stroll. Jesus is always on the move.

And think about the end of Mark’s gospel, when the women came to the tomb on Easter morning. But by the time they get there, they’re greeted by a young man in white, who asks, “You’re looking for Jesus? Sorry, you just missed him.”

Isn’t that typical of the way of Jesus? Just about the time we are to get the point –– almost ready to catch up with him –– he’s on his way to somewhere else!

It is a journey that is an adventure. One of the things that makes a journey an adventure is when we don’t know the destination.

We have a word for it, coming from the name of a ship in a story about a group of adventurers. The word is serendipity. It means making a surprising discovery while on the journey to somewhere else.

Mark ends his gospel with the women at the tomb, shocked that Jesus is not there. He is going before them to Galilee. That sums up the entire experience with Jesus. Just when they get there, he has already moved on to somewhere else. Originally that’s where the gospel ends, with the women standing there, stupefied and amazed and Jesus has moved on to somewhere else.

I think this is Mark’s way of saying that, because of Easter, this journey is not over. We certainly thought that Good Friday, and the cross, led to the end of the story, that death had the final word. But no; we come to the tomb to find jesus is not there. He has moved on. The journey continues.

So when we think about faithful discipleship, don’t think about getting your heads straight on a list of fundamental beliefs.. Don’t think about discipleship as memorizing a whole string of bible verses. Think about discipleship as a journey, a journey with Jesus.

This is a story that each of us is finishing for ourselves. Each of us is tagging along behind Jesus, being surprised by him, trying to figure out what he said at the last stop –– being amazed at the places that he leads us, on this adventure.

Let me say just a few more things about this journey of faith. As most of you know, I took part of a week after the national meeting for some vacation time with my kids at Disney World. The key to the trip was that we were there together. The journey we took was not just a trip to Disney World; it was about being together.

The journey with Jesus, also, is not just an adventure; it is a relationship. You are not following a set of laws, not trudging along behind a set of beliefs. You are walking with God. Christianity is not so much a set of intellectual propositions that you must affirm. Rather, it is relationship with someone else. And you don’t know what turns that relationship may take.

For me, a vacation always means going somewhere. It’s near impossible for me to take vacation time at home. The same is true with our faith. A journey implies movement from here to there. The long journey of faith is one of giving up the old ways ­­–– one of growth –– one of surprise. God accepts me “just as I am,” as we will sing later. But God will not leave us there; we are on the move.

There are bound to be times when we wonder if we are getting anywhere. Any time one drives on Los Angeles freeways, there are times when one is traveling at 5 miles an hour! You get the feeling “We are never going to get there.” As with any journey, there are times when we wonder if our faith journey is working. We have setbacks, long stretches of boredom and burnout –– times when the scenery is not that interesting. But on this journey of faith, there will be peaks and valleys. What we need to do is to just keep walking.

There is an old Taoist saying – “The journey is the reward.” There is real truth in that, as we follow Jesus on our journey of faith. As we learn from him, growing closer to God and to one another, riding out the highs and the lows of this journey of faith . . . we realize that we are better people for having started this journey. And so, now, come with me on this journey of faith, and see where God leads … Amen