Times were tough. There was very little health care – and what they had was mostly quackery. No insurance. Taxes were exorbitant. But then along comes Jesus, a rabbi who not only heals the sick and makes the blind to see but also feeds the hungry with an abundance of food. There were even leftovers. Of course, people flocked to him. Lots of people wanted to be his disciples. But when Jesus started teaching about who he is and invited them eat his flesh and blood, and to abide in him and letting him abide in them... well…these images were, frankly “tough to swallow.” They complained, “This teaching is difficult, who can accept it?” Many people left.
Following Jesus was not easy then… and it isn’t always easy now. We have been living in a tough time. The coronavirus has killed over 3 million people and sickened far more… and now the pandemic statistics seems to be ramping up again with the Delta virus. I am weary of it. But worse yet, instead of coming together on this, our country and our world is divided -- about this and lots of other things. It is easy to wonder – where is God in all of this? Has God forgotten about us? Some people may think so – and have given up on God – or at least on the church.
When things got tough and some followers started to leave, Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”
But Peter responded: “Lord to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
“Lord, to whom can we go? … We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
The disciples had come to a crossroad. Do they abandon Jesus and their faith in him or do they follow – even though they don’t know what lies ahead? The people of Israel were at a similar crossroad before they crossed the Jordan river into the Holy Land. They knew what lay behind them. They did not know what lay ahead. Joshua asked them to choose – are they with him – or were they going a different way? He told them his choice – as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people agreed. Even though they did not know what lay ahead, they would trust in God.
There are times in our lives when we are challenged. Sometimes our faith is challenged especially when the bottom falls out of the life that we knew or thought we knew - a loved one dies unexpectedly, a fire or flood takes away our savings, a pandemic disrupts our life and the life of the whole world… and just when we thought we were over this coronavirus… it’s back… in a new variation.
It is times like these that we – as the people of God – need one another and we need to support one another even if we don’t always agree on everything. As a community of Christ, we are like a braided rope – each one supports the other and the Holy Spirit supporting us all. As it says in Ecclesiastes a cord of three strands is not easily broken. In challenging times, we need one another to help each other hold on to and trust in the promises of God and to simply move forward in faith.
Sometimes we have experiences that help put this into perspective. This summer I took a backpacking trip to the Bob Marshal Wilderness. I had been there before and an old knee injury had acted up and so one of my teammates ended up carrying my pack for the last mile one day because I just couldn’t carry it any further.
This time, there were just two of us going. We packed smarter and lighter and trained harder and even practiced spraying an old can of bear spray. When it was time to go, I felt much better prepared.
But you can’t prepare for everything. One day our goal was to reach the alpine lake, Lake Leval. We knew it would be a stretch so we had a backup goal that was closer. According to our map there was a little pond at the foot of the North Wall… a great mountain range that is part of the Rocky mountains. As I walked, I imagined this alpine pond glistening in the woods just a little further on… But while the distance measured as the crow flies was only a few clicks away – a click is the backpacker’s term for a kilometer – this did not take into account switch backs – going back and forth and up and then down and then back up the mountainside. Nor did it account for the intense heat of the middle of the day. Finally… we got there! But the pond had dried up. There was only a little trickle of water and no place to camp. We filled up our water bottles, and, disappointed, trudged on. But I found myself walking slower and slower. Finally, as I started to trip over my own feet, I realized I had to just sit down. So we rested for a time and when we looked up, we saw three trees that would be a perfect spot to hang our hammock tent.
It wasn’t the place we were looking for – but that mountainside became our refuge that night, a place to rest and to rejuvenate. As I looked around the huge mountains around me – I felt very small but not alone. I was struck by the grandeur of the mountains, and, like Peter, I stopped trusting in my own strength. With the Psalmist I prayed: “I look to the hills – from where will my help come?” My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”
Again, there is something about wilderness that puts life into perspective. This year’s mission trip wasn’t the one that they had planned last summer to New York City. That trip – like so many other things --- was cancelled because of the pandemic. So instead of the windy city – the youth went to Wilderness Canoe Base – also windy but a completely different experience. Like Peter, they had some things to wrestle with – and like Peter, they learned some things about themselves and about God.
What happens when you put a bunch of great youth in canoes in the Boundary waters with wonderful leaders and good guides trained in both leading Bible studies and in leading canoe trips? Amazing things. God’s creation inspires wonder and awe – even when there are hard and challenging experiences along the way. And… when you invite the Holy Spirit into the conversation it’s hard to say what will happen –-- but it will be good. Thanks be to God! Amen.
August 22, 2021 Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane