Starting Out Right

Mark 1:1-4:
Today, we read from the very first verse of the first Gospel written in the Bible. Why? It tells us it is the beginning of the good news of Jesus the Christ. Let us listen to how the writer of Mark describes this beginning.

Read Mark 1:1-4

We hear that the beginning is the preparation of “the way of the Lord.” The word translated “way” is also a word that can be translated “path” or “road.” All of these words suggest that the beginning of the good news is getting ready to take a journey with Jesus. If we need to confirm this, Mark then said that we are to live a life or journey of repentance. The word repentance means to have a change of heart, mind and direction. To repent means to follow a new way, a new path in life. The earlier Hebrew understanding of repentance also helps us see that it is not just any path we follow, but to repent means to return to the answer, to return to God, and God’s path for us. Certainly Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John reaffirm this teaching. If you want to enter into the kingdom of God, you must be born again. The word translated again also means to be born anew and to be born from above. So to be a disciple of Jesus, to be a follower of the Christ is to journey with him along the way, the path, the road that allows us to be born again from above. Certainly we can begin to see the corresponding motif in the story of the Wizard of Oz, as we hear the words over and over again, “Follow the yellow brick road.” We will share a journey with different characters that are seeking answers and goals for their lives, and as we journey with them, we will capture many insights for ourselves in our own spiritual journey of finding God’s salvation for our lives.

Luke 2:39-40:
This next passage shows us that Jesus fully understands what it is like for us to follow this road with him. Let us read an almost obscure, but very important passage from the Gospel of Luke. Just prior to this passage Mary and Joseph have taken the baby Jesus to the Temple and dedicated his life to God. They have started out his life already focused on a life journey with God. Then we hear these words.

Read Luke 2:39-40

Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. We can take great heart in these words as they remind us that Jesus, himself, also went through his own times of testing and discovery in his own life. One can only imagine what the terrible twos were like with Jesus.

SERMON:
Irenaeus was a leader in the early, early church. In reflecting maybe upon the verse in Matthew that says we are a reflection of God’s light to the world, so let your light shine in all you do so God may be glorified. Iranaeus said, “The glory of God is a human fully alive.” Nothing provides a greater testimony to God’s love for all of humanity any more than seeing people who follow God emulating Jesus’ words of, “I came so you may have life and have it more abundantly.”

“The Wizard of Oz,” and more specifically the Yellow Brick Road, is a metaphor for following the “way,” “the path,” “the road” prepared for us by Christ. A road that seeks to lead us through the wilderness of distractions, detours, and misperceptions we may have learned about life. The Yellow Brick Road is a metaphor for repentance, newness and change that helps us to discover more fully who we are so our lives may be lived more fully alive. It is a metaphor for walking in the way and taking the journey to realize our hopes and dreams that God, himself, has placed within us that leads to the fullness of life.

The story is a parable, just as Jesus used parables in his own teachings. When you read Jesus’ stories they are based upon common, everyday occurrences, familiar and understandable stories of his day. Very few of his stories even mention God, but are about common, everyday events familiar to the people he teaches. They are about pearls of great price, unscrupulous stewards, hidden treasures, women cleaning their homes, wayward children, etc. In the Wizard we see the prodigal daughter who after running away seeks to come home. We see characters wanting to discover those pearls of compassion, wisdom and courage in which to live life. It is all about a journey to discover life abundant, and to become fully alive. It is why the movie remains timeless, just as Jesus’ original parables.

So the question now becomes, where do we start? Where is the beginning of this road to good news? Let’s see.
Show Video Clip:

We start at the beginning. Where else can we start? In Luke we see that the beginning for Jesus was at his birth and dedication at the Temple. It is why we, as United Methodists, believe and practice infant baptism. We understand, as Bishop William Willimon says, “Christians are made they are not born.” We have the values and mores, the world views and even our understandings about God taught to us by those who nurture us in our lives. We all have the potential inside, but it is the teaching of those who are significant to us that help instill these understandings of life for us. But, as we also know, especially in this information age, we have many conflicting values and understanding presented. All claiming that they are the way, the path, the road, the truth that lead to life abundant.

I attended church when I was in my late elementary years and through early high school. But as many in high school do, I dropped away. My life journey from that point was one that lead me to pursue all the world had taught me that would lead to happiness and fulfillment. I graduated from college, went to work for a large company, got married, had two children and bought a house. I did all I was suppose to do to find abundant life and be happy. So I sat back waiting to be happy. But I soon realized there was something missing. There was still an emptiness or a void in my life that left me feeling like something was still missing. So I began wondering if I needed a better job, or a bigger house. I knew I didn’t need more kids. But deep down inside I knew that was not the issue. So I asked myself the question, “Was there a time in my life when I was truly happy?” And almost immediately I remembered those earlier years in the church. I was back in church the next week, and the rest is history. We call that uncomfortable ness “Prevenient Grace.” As one of my professors described it, “prevenient grace is a spark of the divine that God places within each and everyone of us that does not allow us to feel comfortable until we turn to God.” Or as the Hebrew people understood it, “Until we repent, change direction in our lives that causes us to return to the answer.”

So where was the beginning for me, for us in our lives? Was it in God’s prevenient grace? Was it in my early years in the church which gave me a foundation and a time I could remember being more fully alive and happy? Or was it when I, as an adult, finally made the choice to follow the way, the path, the road to God. Maybe it was all three. What I believe with my whole heart is God meets us, and continues to meet us where we are. God is always ready to join our journey of life, whenever we say yes to God, when we say yes to the good news journey.

We see this very clearly in the movie. Dorothy’s beginning was at a different place than the scarecrow’s which was at a different place than the Tin Mans’ than the lion’s. Yet all are valid beginnings for each one of the travelers. It is such an important message to us as the church. We are all different, with different needs, different hopes and dreams, different reasons for following the road, the way. But the journey is always together toward the answer.

I believe this is important, as we see in the characters the calling of the church. Dorothy knew where she was headed, but it was only because she witnessed to the scarecrow and invited him along on the journey that he began his. And then together they shared their goals and hopes with the Tin Man, inviting him to join them. And then the lion. Each beginning, each start was because someone invited them along, so they could find a life fully alive. Each had their own reason for the journey, each started in a different place, but the hopes and dreams were no less real. The answer was the same.

Last week Nancy talked about trying to outrun, or even runaway from your witches, those deep problems and crises that we encounter in our life’s journeys. We all face them along the way, but we never have to face them alone. There are our companions, there is the church to support us along the way. As Scott Peck opens his book, The Road Less Traveled, again that metaphor of road and journey, he says, “Life is difficult.” Why? Because it is full of choices and decisions. The clip showed Dorothy coming to a fork in the road and wondered which way should I go? The scarecrow tries to help point her in the right direction. It is why we gather as the church, to try and help each other deepen our understandings about life, where it’s deepest joys and meaning can be found and choose the right path. But if we don’t, there is forgiveness and second chances. There is the ability to return to the answer, to seek a pathway home.

Life is a journey, a path we follow that presents many roads, many detours and many possibilities. Sometimes the choices are difficult because God blesses us with several wonderful possibilities for our lives. Which good do we choose?

What we will discover in the coming weeks, is the need to enjoy the whole journey, for it is in the living of the journey we discover life. One spiritual writer likens our living of life to a person climbing a mountain. Their goal is to reach the summit, but as they climb they keep their eyes focused on that goal. Consequently they miss the beauty that is all around them even now. They miss the flowers along the path, the way. The miss the view from that part of the mountain on which they presently are walking. They miss the enjoyment of all that life has to offer in that present moment. But as we will see in the coming weeks, they, we also miss all we can learn and know and understand about life that the journey itself brings to us. In fact it is the journey that helps us understand who we are and what it means to be fully alive.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on July 27, 2008.