“Faith To Face Change”

Date: June 27, 2010

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20; Luke 9:51-62

Revd Randy L. Johnson, First United Methodist Church

St. Cloud, Minnesota

Changes in our personal and family lives can be both exciting and challenging at the same time.  Recently a man in his thirties shared with me all the changes he and his family had faced in the past few years – changing jobs, moving to a new home and new schools, finding a new church home, making new friends, and all the other adjustments that come with major life transitions.   After he shared all of this, he ended by asking me, “Does life ever calm down and become easier?” 

His question reminded me of a book I read several years ago whose author suggested that we need to look at change and transition differently than we have in the past.  While we have tended to view change as the exception to our normal, stable lives, the author of this book argued that, in fact, change and transition are the norm while stability in life is the exception!

We will be reminded of how change marks our lives at every stage of our journey later in our service this morning.  We will be officially saying “farewell” to Howard Smith, a long time member and friend of our congregation.  That there is a special order of farewell found in the United Methodist Book of Worship affirms the truth that change marks  not only our personal lives as individuals but also our corporate life as a faith community. 

All three of our Scripture readings today address the reality of change and transition.  Second Kings describes the passing of the mantle from the old prophet Elijah to young Elisha.  In Psalm 77 the writer cries out to the Lord on behalf of the chosen people of Israel who have been taken from their home to live in exile in a strange, new land.  And in the Gospel story, Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem, signaling a transition in his journey with his disciples.  From these Scriptures we see how God enables us to face change with faith and courage.

In Second Kings, we see how life-giving relationships of faith mentoring  support and empower us through times of transition.  You recall how in last Sunday’s Scripture lesson we saw how the prophet Elijah found himself running for his life after having been threatened by Queen Jezebel.  While the queen publically broadcast her determination to kill Elijah, the prophet ran and hid in the wilderness and complained to God, “I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”  While in that life-threatening context Elijah was feeling afraid, alone and hopeless, in today’s lesson we see him in a life-giving context of a mentoring relationship of mutual support and commitment with the younger Elisha.

What a difference having even one caring support person can make in our lives!  While like Elijah, we need support at every stage of our lives, we also are reminded by the example of Elisha how especially critical it is for young people to have caring adults in their lives.  Elisha did not want to lose the older Elijah.  He stayed with Elijah as long as possible and sought to receive a special blessing, a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. 

Like young Elisha, we all can recall mentors, adults who helped us discover our gifts and self-worth, people who led us to better understand God and who helped support us with practical wisdom and love.

One of my mentors in the Christian faith was a college student named Ben.  Ben led a young people’s Bible study in my church when I was in junior and senior high.  Ben helped navigate me through some troubled teenage years – years when I viewed the congregation as a bunch of hypocrites, years when I pictured God as an angry, old judge who only wanted to punish me.  Despite my rebellious spirit, Ben affirmed me as a brother in Christ and taught me that I didn’t need to be angry with or fear God.  Ben patiently taught me that God loved me with an unconditional love.  Ben was my mentor, my Elijah, who took an interest in my spiritual life, saw some spiritual gifts within me, and sought to pass on to me the mantle of ministry, of sharing with others the good news of God’s love for them.

I am sure most of us here today can recall mentors in our lives.  I thank God for all of these Elijah’s who have helped us through some challenging years of change and transition in our lives and who passed on to us the mantle of God’s love.

I also thank God for all of you who serve as mentors and take an interest in the spiritual lives of the children and youth of our congregation.  It was great to see over 50 of you who serve as mentors when we recognized your ministry during our recent celebrations of Youth Sunday and Children’s Sabbath.  When you take the time and use your God-given gifts to help nurture the faith of young people in our church you are supporting them through some of the most challenging transitions of their lives.  As one young adult put it, “the leaders of our youth ministry were with me through my formative years, and helped shape who I became, spiritually and mentally.  So when I got in a rough patch they were always there for me, supporting me, encouraging me with a listening ear and keeping me on the straight and narrow.  I think they have been the wind beneath my wings and I thank them for it.”

I encourage you to consider the difference you can make and to say “yes” to serving in our Children and Youth Ministries when the call for volunteers goes out for this next program year.

Returning to our Scripture lessons we see in the reading from Psalm 77 that mentoring relationships are not the only way we find faith to face life’s challenging changes.  The Psalmist finds himself in exile, far from what feels familiar or comfortable.  He feels hopeless and discouraged.  We have all been there- in that place of pain and confusion where everything seems negative.  In the day of trouble our faith can be shaken.  When the familiar landmarks which give us comfort are removed we can be overcome with doubt. All we have to do is read the news and we can become consumed with anxiety – worry about the future of our children and grandchildren, about terrorism, pollution, health care, job security.  Like the Psalmist we sometimes question God’s care and power, we struggle with prayer or cry out to God and find no comfort. 

But the Psalmist does not stay in despair.  In verse 11 he turns from despair to hope as he forces himself to shift his vision from the difficult days of exile to a vision of former better days.  He takes time to get a new perspective as he remembers the past faithfulness of God.  “I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old,” declares the Psalmist.  As part of his remembering, the Psalmist recalls how God led the way and was faithful even during those difficult times when people of his faith community did not recognize that God was present with them.  As the Psalmist puts it, referring to God’s unrecognized presence, “Your footprints were unseen.” 

Like the Psalmist, the author who is most often credited for writing the popular poem, “Footprints in the Sand,” remembers God as the faithful one who carried her during her most difficult times in life.  Her name is Mary Stevenson and she was born in 1922 in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania.  Along with her seven brothers and sisters, Mary was devastated at the death of her mother when she was only 6 years old.  Most of her childhood and youth were spent during the Depression, one of the toughest and most discouraging times in our nation’s history.  At age sixteen, Mary got into an abusive marriage that resulted in her seeking refuge along with her infant son.  It was during these troubled teenage years that Mary wrote “Footprints in the Sand.” Mary composed this now famous poem when looking back and remembering how God had helped carry her through the changes and challenges she had already survived in her young life. 

The Psalmist teaches us that remembering God’s faithfulness in the past provides a source of strength and confidence to face changes today.  It is especially comforting to be assured that God is present even when we cannot see the evidence.  Remembering how God was with us in the past re-affirms our faith to face challenging changes in the present.  As it says in Hebrews 11:1, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  While we may not see how God is present with us during times of change and distress, our faith assures us that we are not alone and that God will carry us through.    

Finally, turning to the Gospel lesson, we see that along with mentoring relationships and remembering God’s faithfulness we find faith to face change through centering our lives in God’s loving purposes.  To the disciples who want God to punish the Samaritans for their lack of faith and hospitality, Jesus simply says, “God’s mission calls us forward.”  And to those would -be disciples who said they wanted to follow Jesus but had other pressing priorities, Jesus simply says, “God’s purposes must come first.” 

While the words of Jesus in this gospel lesson seem a bit harsh, they teach an important lesson:  we can always find reasons to put off paying attention to our personal spiritual growth or seeking God’s purposes for our lives.  There will always be important matters competing for the center of our attention.

 Jesus reminds us that to follow him involves a sense of urgency and a re-ordering of our priorities so that God is at the center.  “Seek first God’s kingdom” was the central message of Jesus. This is our Christian calling.  Centering our lives in God and making God’s purposes our priority keeps us grounded and provides our lives with a sense of stability no matter else changes around us – seeking to put God first shapes our identity, our values, our choices- and it provides a faith focus and vision that keeps us moving forward through all the changes and challenges of our lives.

When all the other familiar landmarks slip away, our faith keeps us going with hope and strength even in the hardest of circumstances.  Just as Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem, when we turn to our faith we find light and direction for our lives.  In the book Psalms of Lament  author Ann Weems tells how the stars fell out of her sky when her son Todd was killed less than an hour after his 21^st birthday.  A friend suggested that she write out the laments of her heart.  Out of her pain she lifted up her anger and lamentations and wrote page after page.  Slowly she remembered God’s past faithfulness and discovered anew that God can wipe the tears from the eyes when no consolation seems to come and that God really does put the stars back in our skies.

The road ahead may be difficult and full of disquieting change, but the testimonies of God’s word and God’s people remind us that somewhere beyond the pain and confusion there is a new Jerusalem, a place of resurrection where we will find hope and peace once more.  Until we reach that place may our faith empower us with loving relationships, hope- filled memories of God’s past faithfulness and a vision that moves us forward with God at the center of our lives.