Traveling by Faith

 Now faith is the assurance

 of things hoped for,

 the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

No, I'm not still stuck on I-81 hoping to be on my way as soon as possible. A tow truck big enough to haul a tractor-trailer rushed past on the shoulder followed by a VDot pick-up. I had faith that somehow the road would be cleared or traffic detoured around the crash. Slowly, we came to an off ramp, were directed up it, across a main street and down a ramp onto I-81. We we on the road again.

This, of course, is a shallow understanding of Hebrews 11:1. 

For me, hope is in found in God's Word as I look at what is, could be, and should be as I head toward the "Highway of Holiness" to be among the righteous who walk on it.

The author of Hebrews describes faith as assurance and conviction.

Faith is trusting God. For example: By faith Abraham, was called to go somewhere to receive his inheritance. He obeyed and went, not knowing the destination.

Faith is walking with God. Walking by faith, it seems to me, involves the real world. What you do as you walk according to God's Word. It is following God's law and Jesus teaching in Scripture. Particularly, loving your neighbor as yourself. Our baptism vows call us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression as part of our walking

Faith is praying. Prayer is essential because it is communication with God. To stay committed, keep talking to God through times of rough and smooth sledding . In God's time God answers prayers. Maybe not when you want or what you are expecting, but answers come. God answers personal prayers and prayers concerning injustice and oppression.

Country Roads

 A highway will be there, a roadway,

And it will be called the Highway of Holiness.

The unclean will not travel on it,

But it will be for him who walks that way,

And fools will not wander on it.

Isaiah 35:8

It seemed like a good idea at the time. We hadn't seen our sister-in-law since she moved to South Carolina nearly 3 years ago. Using Google Maps, I indicated a starting point and a destination. The first set of directions were to use I-95 through Washington and Baltimore. NOPE. I checked the map further and decided that an I-81 route around major cities and through the countryside was the best choice.

It turned out I-81 was not a good choice. I-81 is a major truck route for truckers who want to avoid Washington, Baltimore, and major cities. It also happens to be a major route for drug and human trafficking. So much so the FBI formed a task force to combat these issues. It is not by any means a "Highway of Holiness". 

We came to a crash. Two trucks had sideswiped each other and blocked both lanes of traffic. That was when we found that fools wandered this highway as they cut through the narrow way called "Authorized Vehicles Only" to head in the opposite direction. 

Over an hour later, as Isaiah wrote, "Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee" as we headed on our way.

HOPE is God's word in these series of events. In spite of what we experienced and learned about I-81, there is a Highway of Holiness. That is God's promise from Isaiah's words. No matter what road we travel, no matter what bumps and detours we experience, there is a "Highway of Holiness." 

HOPE is God's word as we  long for the "Highway of Holiness" taking us beyond pandemic, hatred, racism, and violence.

HOPE,  the highway will be there and the righteous will walk on it.

Standing in the Crossroads

This is what the LORD says: 

"Stand at the crossroads and look; 

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it, 

and you will find rest for your souls."

Jeremiah 6:16

Yogi Berra said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

The entrance to the summer camp I attended had a gravel road with a fork. The left fork led to the visitor parking lot. The right to the trucks' garage and then became an overgrown dirt logging road. One evening as I was riding my horse, a Cadillac appeared on the garage road just before it became the logging road. The driver stopped, rolled down the window and asked, "Is this US Route 7?"

The people of ancient Judah were at a crossroad. They could turn toward God or they could continue down a path of self-destruction.

 

What do you do at a crossroads? Jeremiah says, ask for the ancient paths where the good way is. “Ancient,” means going back to creation and further. The ancient path is the good way. It’s morally good, beneficial and biblical. It’s leads to the correct destination. It’s the pathway that causes things to work together for good in our lives. It brings rest for your soul — inner peace, sensing God is in control, and you are in God's hands. It is like having a life anchored to a rock. 

For me, the ancient way is summed in Jesus response to the question, “What is the greatest commandment” and Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

It seems to me that when we are at a crossroad and need guidance, asking, “What is the ancient way for me?” God will open a path?

What do you think?

A Lesson in the Unexpected

 

What did you think when you first heard that President Trump was infected with the coronavirus?  “What else did you expect? You were warned! What’s next, more chaos? What happens to our nation?”

I think there is a lesson here beside the ones about wearing masks, washings hands, and social distancing. That lesson is found in Luke 13:1-9, the parable of the Fig Tree.

Two events serve as the lesson’s background. First, while Galileans were sacrificing animals at Jerusalem, Pilate came suddenly upon them killing them, mingling their blood with the blood of the sacrificial animals. Second, eighteen people died when the tower in Siloam unexpectedly collapsed on them. It's in the setting of unexpected tragedy that Jesus tells the Parable of the Fig Tree. 

Keep in mind that in Jesus day, tragedy was considered the result of sin.  Jesus suggests not equating tragedy with divine punishment. Sin does not make violence come. It just comes. So, since we all need to repent, take advantage of God’s grace and repent now. before the unexpected.

That’s what the parable a fig tree is about.  A carefully tended yet fruitless tree may continue to live because it has been given more time to bear fruit. If it doesn’t, the result will be the ax.

So, which will happen? The tree producing fruit and avoiding the ax? The tree taking advantage of second chances? 

Today’s crises of the unexpected, shake our foundations of life and faith and the complacencies we use to get through ordinary life. They impress upon us the risks in our existence.

Our hope is that God's work of faithful love, like the parable's gardener, prepares us for the unexpected. That in this moment of the unexpected, God transforms us through grace to bear the fruit of compassion toward those still trapped under the anxiety of the unexpected.