A Journey so Great: Psalm 34: 1-10, 22; Matthew 5: 1-12
Sometimes we all take a tough journey. Years ago, I decided to visit my cousin while she was studying in Oxford in England. I was excited for the trip as it would come right after a particularly tough semester of law school and would make a welcome break from the work. What began, and for the most part, was an amazing journey and vacation, turned into something of a full-blown nightmare near the end. The day before flying back home, I came down with a horrendous stomach virus and was so sick I couldn’t even stand up. The next day, my grandmother also became sick with the same stomach virus. During this time, we had to move hotels 3 times due to reservations running out. This was also the year the volcano in Iceland erupted and grounded all planes for days. Finally, because we were gone longer than expected, the bank cut off the credit card for possible fraud.
I have never travelled internationally since this hot mess of a trip, and, in our own lives, sometimes the journey can be tough or even horrible. But in those times, we have a resource as Christians. We have God traveling with us, the church family who loves and saves us, and the saints who have given us wisdom over the years to help us until we reach our heavenly home. So, today, we ask why must we journey, how is God working along the way, and what awaits us at the end of our journey here?
Our first question, then, is why do we even have to go on a journey? Typically, there are a number of reasons for us to travel someone. At the holidays, I often travel to visit my family, and many of us, then, probably would travel to see or visit someone we know or love. Other times, we travel for vacation or to get away from the grind of daily life. Sometimes we travel to learn something. I remember taking field trips to museums and plays in high school to learn or experience something new.
But in faith, we journey because we cannot stay where we are. There’s no growth, no message of the gospel, no spreading the word of hope and grace if there is no journey. We cannot stay where we are. Philippians 3:14 tells us “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Jesus Christ, is calling us.” We journey, we press on, because Christ has called us to move forward with him. In all of our lives, God calls us, and God sends us until the journey here is done. But we can’t stay where we are. It gets old and stale. We never learn or grow. If we never journey with God, we will never be prepared to weather the storms that hit us. They may still be rough, but with God, and a mature faith, we will survive.
If, then, we can’t stay here, how is God walking on this journey with us? We read the answer in the Beatitudes for today. Jesus says for the poor in spirit there is the kingdom of heaven, for those mourning—comfort, for the humble—the inheritance of earth, for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—satisfaction, for the merciful—mercy in return, for the pure-hearted—seeing God, for the peacemakers—God’s children, and blessings for the mocked and scorned. These are powerful statements of Christ’s teachings for how to live and act on this earth, and the list gives us the characteristics which please God.
We see these characteristics in each one of the saints we celebrate today. In Betty Heath, we saw a loving, gentle person who was always telling us she loved us. She was kind and welcoming, loving in raising her nieces and nephews. She was pure of heart in every way. In Lilla Hullender, you could find the most abrupt phone call, but it always ended with “I love you, and I hope you have a glorious day.” From my understanding, she had a very hard life at times growing up, but she was never bitter, nor did she lose her faith or love of others.
Sissy was probably one of the wisest theologians I’ve ever met. The woman knew the Bible better than any professor and could proclaim it better than any preacher. We often called her Saint Sissy, jokingly, but perhaps with a bit of seriousness as well. She may not have had much, but she never turned anyone away, never held a grudge, and prayed with power and conviction. And we have Roger. There are few people as generous with his time, his money, and his help to others as Roger. As a veteran and retired police officer, he exemplified the idea “blessed are the peacemakers.” Each one of them leaves a stinging loss on our hearts, but each one shows us what it means to be the faithful.
From each one of these saints we see and learn the characteristics and lessons which help us as we journey. Jesus is our guide, but he often sends us folks to help out with direction on the way. Today we celebrate the wisdom, love, and encouragement these saints of the church gave to us. But we, too, are given a promise in the Beatitudes: blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Let us never forget that Paul tells us that death is swallowed up in victory, and what seems to be the end of life is actually hope eternal.
Lastly, we come to the end of the journey. What awaits us there? The gospel tells us in verse 12, “Be very glad! For a great award awaits you in heaven.” Too often, we focus only on what we get on the journey. Unfortunately, we are not promised a simple or easy journey here on earth. Jesus says in verse 11 of the gospel that you may face mocking, persecution, lies, and other evil things coming against you. Then he reminds the people that the prophets also suffered, but we can still have joy because of this promise of an eternal hope.
As the hymn, “Day by Day” says, “Help me then, in every tribulation, so to trust your promises, O Lord.” This comes after the phrase, “Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here.” We are not promised an easy journey on earth, but we are promised a destination overflowing with hope and joy—face to face with Jesus Christ our Savior. So be careful of worrying over the troubles, for we cannot judge God’s love by how hard our journey here is. We know and understand God’s love through the hope made real, the joy fulfilled, at the glorious welcome at our journey’s end from our God who loves us.
Therefore, it’s time to get out our hiking boots and pack our bags. God has a wild adventure planned for each of us and a journey for us and Christ to travel together. It may be easy, or it may be very hard, but ultimately, we cannot stay here where we are. We journey on looking to the wisdom of the saints gone on before us and the help of our church family who walk with us. And mostly, we look to God’s help to save and sustain us.
We journey on, awaiting the promise of the mansion over the hilltop, the heavenly reward, the eternal hope. The place where we see Jesus and the we realize the reward at the end of our journey is far better and more amazing than any struggle along the way. All of our struggles, our heartaches, our pain here and now will melt away in the light of Christ’s glory when we see him standing in front of us, face to face. What a day, glorious day, that will be!
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/269205454518526