FAITH IS PILGRIMAGE

 

 

“But Grandpa, you’re old!” Now that is a blunt observation from a thirteen -ear old.

This Grandpa did not miss a beat. He looked at the thirteen-year old, “But there’s a lot of living to do yet!”

 

Apply this to our life of faith in Jesus Christ. The worse thing that could happen is for a human being to think they actually know God! This is a black side of religion. When w think we have got it made, we are bankrupt!

 

When our faith is lived authentically it is always a journey, a pilgrimage. There is always a lot more to live and discover. 

 

Pilgrimage is an insightful way to describe what is supposed to happen. When people go on pilgrimage they are searching. It can be described as a vision quest.  We make this long journey (by walking hundreds of kilometers) to arrive at the holy shrine, the holy place. We are making ourselves vulnerable so that God can touch and strengthen our lives.

 

One of the things that should be happening in our Sunday worship is that we are exposed to and we explore the Word of God. Each Sunday we are given a small portion of the Bible – but it is meant to be a time when the people of Church are actively saying, “Now how is the Holy Spirit moving in all this?”  How does this apply to our lives?

 

Our life change.  I am thinking f the young couple who are planning to get married a year from today. A few days later his corporation offered him this wonderful executive position (with corresponding salary) in Austria. Their plans changed immediately. The yconcluded, “If you only have five weeks to plan your wedding, you ;can do it!” And five weeks later they were on the plane to Austria. 

 

Your life changes just as fast.  Now, where is God in all this?

 

How is God trying to deepen your sharing and living in and with the very spirit of Jesus? How is the spirit of Jesus moving you to great love and compassion for your fellow human being?

How are you becoming more a person of Christ’s love?

 

We want to say to everyone, “In the Church, you have not got it made!” How, how is the Holy Spirit moving and working among us?

 

How can we discover the Holy Spirit  today? and always on God’s terms?

 

 

 

 

 

LEARNING TO LIVE WITH A MERCIFUL GOD

Each person has their own journey of faith. And like any trip or journey, there are ups and downs. Have you ever made a  road trip or a holiday excursion where there was no upsetting moments?  Remember the last time that you told the kids to be careful with their ice cream cones and one of them dropped the ice cream on the car floor? 

 

When Christian people reflect on their life with God they will have had moments of unexpected grace and moments of great struggle with God. You shouted at God;  “How could you have let this happen to me?”  

 

There are moments of great happiness at the grace of God and there a moments where we were furious with God.

 

Now this is where we need to be challenged to have an adult experience of God. And this Sunday’s gospel story of the enemy planting weeds among the wheat is a perfect example. The wise farmer tells the hired hands to wait until the harvest and then we will separate the weeds from the good wheat. There is a final judgment and it will be left to the hands of God to separate the sinners from the faithful ones.

 

We live in a world where there is evil. Grown children abandon their aged parents. People cheat each other out of fair wages. Government employees steal resources from the government in ways that are illegal but they know how to cover their tracks. And then we humans make war on one another! 

 

Sin and evil are all too real. No one needs to run far to identify evil. And we all struggle with all the many forms of evil.

 

And here is where our struggles with the real God (not the god of our preferred preferences) come into play.

 

God is a God of mercy, healing and forgiveness. God will separate the good from the evil at the last judgment.

 

The God of mercy challenges us to believe that every human being is always capable of conversion to change from their evil ways and turn toward honesty, compassion and healing  for others. We must believe that everyone is always capable of changing their life decisions to a life of goodness and service of God.

 

Forgiveness is always possible with our God.

 

When you walk down the street in East Hastings in Vancouver and you see men and women bent over due to the crippling effects of fentanyl addiction, I am challenged to recognize the great love that God has for this very broken and suffering human being.

 

As we struggle with the real God our faith will mature. How has your faith matured over the years? 

 

 

 

 

WE STAND TALL

 

 

 

When the Church bends down to lift up a fallen sister or brother, it is then that she stands so tall.

 

The people of the Church do not exist for themselves. This is not a profit making corporation that tries to enhance your financial well-being. We have been established as a community of service and care for our fellow human being. 

 

When our Christian faith is actually lived there is a wonderful dynamic that happens. The closer one draws toward God, the closer you draw towards your fellow human being.W e cannot plan that to happen but I  am sure that this is the power of God’s grace moving within us. 

 

Look at the Christians who take time to visit and care for the elderly with their different degrees of dementia. They take time to just be present, to assure them of the care of another human being. There may be no words spoken but the human care that is given is precious. 

 

Look at the Christians who get  organized to  provide meals and human friendship to the homeless and those struggling with mental illness. 

 

There are  so many examples we could examine but it is in these moments of bending down to help another that we stand so tall.

 

I find this image encouraging and gives me strength in my Christian life.