THE JOURNEY MATTERS

 

1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

               Last night Suanne and I watched a movie called The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. It is a fictional story about a man who receives a letter from a friend telling him that she is in hospice and dying. He struggles with how to respond to this friend. Through a chance encounter he is inspired to walk the 600 miles from his home to where his friend is, believing that his effort will extend her life. Throughout this incredible journey, Harold learns about himself and others. He faces his own grief at the tragic loss of his son by suicide. Near the end of his journey, he almost gives up, discouraged and spent, but his wife challenges him to finish his journey, which he does. His encounter with his dying friend is anticlimactic, but Harold is a changed man.

               At several occasions on his journey, he is offered a ride that would make his trip shorter and easier, but each time he declines, simply saying, I made a promise. He endures the 600-mile trip on foot, sleeping rough and depending upon the kindness of others.

               We are all on a journey through life that requires of us perseverance, stamina, and the will to keep going. Along the way, we have the choice to take short-cuts or to stay the course. There are parts of our journey that we would rather move through at a rapid pace or skip altogether. There are other parts of the journey that refresh us and renew our energy. We often wonder why God allows us to walk the paths that we do, but each situation is a part of our personal pilgrimage. Although we may want to rush to the end, the journey itself matters. It is the journey that shapes us as people. It shapes our character. It shapes our relationships. It shapes our faith. Without the challenges of the journey, our faith and our character will be weak and ineffective. It is the challenging times that build the spiritual muscles we need in order to endure to the end.

               When Jesus came into the world, he could have come as a fully grown man, displaying all of his power and glory. But he took the hard road instead. He took on our humanity and lived our life. At the beginning of his ministry, the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to face Satan. Satan offered Jesus several shortcuts to his end goal. It would have saved Jesus much pain and grief if he had accepted them. But he did not. Instead, he stayed committed to the journey that was before him. He literally walked his “unlikely” journey through the parched countryside of Palestine. He slept rough and depended on the kindness of strangers. He never wavered in his commitment to follow the path set before him all the way to the end.

               As followers of Christ, we have been called to walk our own “unlikely” journey of faith. Along the way we will face challenges that will require us to lean upon God and others. There will be times of discouragement and even disillusionment. At those times, God will send others to come along side of us and encourage us to keep going. As the writer of Hebrews put it, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)

               The year that is ending was a year of challenges, disappointments, and set-backs. There were some highlights along the way, but it was a hard year in many ways. It is natural for us to ask for an easier path ahead of us, but that is probably not going tom happen. There will be more challenges ahead. They are all part of our journey and the journey matters. It is the journey that is shaping us into the people we will be for all of eternity. As C.S. Lewis has said, we are either moving toward being such glorious beings that if we saw them today, we would be tempted to worship them, or toward being such distorted, twisted people that we would recoil from them in horror. The shape we will take as we enter eternity will be formed through the journey ahead.

               Harold Fry was a very different man when he finished his journey than when he began it. God has invited us into a journey that will transform our lives, if we don’t give up. The journey is essential. The journey matters for all of eternity.

Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.