The Cathedral Church of the Nativity 2 Lent Sunday March 16, 2014 The Rev. Judith Snyder Often times one’s life of faith is referred to as a journey. The season of Lent is also described as a journey. The scripture readings for today suggest a deeper, more exciting metaphor—that of an adventure. There is a difference between a trip and a journey and a pilgrimage and an adventure. A trip is about getting your body from one place to another. “I have to take a quick trip to the grocery store.” A journey is a more formal kind of trip—there is something intentional about a journey--we pay attention to a journey. A pilgrimage is a journey for one in search of a deeper life experience, usually to some historical or religious site. But an adventure . . . an adventure is all these things and more. A dictionary definition would say that adventures are unusual, stirring experiences—they are exciting and even dangerous undertakings. There is an element of risk in setting out on an adventure. There is the unknown, the unexpected, and the element of surprise. Let’s consider Abraham for a moment. His story was shared this morning in the Old Testament lesson. There he was, presumably minding his own business, and along comes God with a rather startling proposal, or more like a command. God said, “Go forth from your country and your family and your father’s house to the land I will show you.” This would be no ordinary trip but a real adventure. Abraham was not told his final destination or even given a reasonable itinerary. He and his family were simply to go to the land that God would show them. All the elements of adventure were there—the unexpected, the risk, the potential danger. It was indeed a daring undertaking. Adventures are ultimately transformative. At the end we are different from when we set out. Getting there is not just half the fun, it is where the adventure finds its most powerful expression. Unfortunately we often rob ourselves of the joy of the moment in which we are living. By failing to live by faith and instead always anticipating what is to come, by not trusting that God’s grace is sufficient to take care of tomorrow, we miss out on the lessons and the blessings of our adventure. It is important to remember that it is faith that is the fuel that moves us along our way. Abraham and Sarah are often referred to as the father and mother of our faith. So what is the faith that these two advanced risk-takers show us? Some people think of faith as the belief that God would not let anything bad happen to them, and if they prayed hard enough God will grant them what they ask for. In my opinion, St. Paul explains faith more accurately in Chapter 8 of the Letter to the Romans. Paul says that faith is the deep assurance that “all things work together for good for those who love God.” ALL THINGS encompasses all the uncertainties of life with the assurance that even though we can’t see the end of the road at the present, we will be led to the journey’s end. So our trailblazers of faith—Abraham, Sarah, and Paul, remind us of something we often forget. Life is movement. Everything that is alive is moving. As soon as movement stops, life stops. They remind us that we are most fully alive and our spirits are gaining the most, not when we are anxiously holding the fort against life’s uncertainties, but when we are on the move, facing and embracing life’s challenges, walking in the faith that in the end, we are bigger than anything we might lose and God’s love is bigger than anything that can happen to us. Abraham and Sarah help us journey further into Lent by helping us think about our own life’s journey. Most of us live very ordinary lives—so ordinary that we may find stories such as Abraham and Sarah a bit unbelievable—so very different from our rushed and demanding lives. But is it so far removed? Perhaps there is some place where you have been holding out against life’s relentless movement and flow? Maybe you are resisting changes that are happening in your family or with loved ones. Maybe you are denying a restlessness with your career. Maybe you are afraid of facing changes in your body or your health. Could you be repressing parts of yourself that are struggling to come back to life? Listen to that small voice within. Do you hear God’s call to leave the dead certainties of what you know and step out toward a new place God wants to show you? Can you trust and have the faith to believe that God will meet you in the midst of the movement of life more than in the stagnation of your security? Can you walk in the assurance that nothing will ever be able to separate you from the love of God? Many of us remember the time when our children wanted to jump off the diving board into the deep end of the pool for the first time. We were usually already in the deep water, waiting for them and assuring them that we would be there to catch them. In a word, what God told Abraham and continues to tell us is to jump into the deep end. Jumping in over our head is frightening and it requires risk, but God is already there waiting for us to take the plunge. Each of us needs to find the depths to which God is calling us. Sometimes the depths are far away. There are times when God calls us to the unknown, exotic places without giving us a map. Sometimes it may come in the form of a task that we haven’t a clue about how to accomplish. Or sometimes the deep end is right here at home in resolving a problem we have been struggling with for a long time. When we step out in faith we are able to venture out into the chaos and deep waters of life. Some time ago I saw a church sign that said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for God is already there.” Let us remember this promise as we face the uncertainties of our adventures. Let us celebrate today our calling as those who have been touched and reassured by Jesus in knowing that we need not fear whatever lies ahead. We hear today a Holy call: “Go from your land and your family.” Go forth from your fixed mental boundaries and your restricted sense of family. Go forth to an open-bordered land God will show you. Go forth, not worrying about tomorrow, for God is already there. AMEN