Journeying with Jesus

Our gospel reading (Mark 9:30-37) describes a great journey – Jesus had been in the north of his country in Caesarea Philippi and was now travelling south through Galilee. It was a journey he would have done before but this time was special as he went to Jerusalem to die.   

We are told that this was to be a quiet journey, he didn’t want crowds of people – in many ways his public earthly ministry was nearing the end… But Jesus did have things to do, and most importantly of all was to try and prepare his followers for what was to come, and so he told them that he was going to be arrested and killed, that he would die but on the third day would rise again… And the disciples didn’t understand.

And, on the journey, we are told the disciples argued but when Jesus asked them what they argued about, they wouldn’t say because they were ashamed to say that they had been arguing about who was the most important of them… As Jesus spoke of his arrest and death and resurrection, they argued about who was the greatest.

And Jesus knew this and gave them a little lesson in what it meant to be important – he told them that whoever wanted to be first must be last of all and servant of all and then to illustrate the point he took a little child into his arms and said, ‘whoever welcomes such a child in my name welcomes me…’

These were incredible words remembering children really weren’t that important to people at the time – of course we trust there was love for a child, but equally important was the child’s use to a family – the work they could grow to do, the care they could give to parents and other family members in old age and so on… children were effectively useful as a kind of servant…

Yet Jesus was saying that to accept him meant to welcome a child – in other words welcome someone who was there to serve. And that was what Jesus was doing. The idea of Jesus being a servant was one that even his closest followers really couldn’t grasp, and as they couldn’t grasp that they couldn’t grasp the idea of him being defeated through his arrest and execution…

And that was simply because in many ways they didn’t listen to him – they thought in worldly terms of success meaning power and authority, perhaps even wealth. They didn’t think of success meaning caring for a person in need, whoever that person might be; they didn’t think of success as meaning offering people a chance to find hope and peace in their lives; they didn’t think of success as meaning making sacrifices for the sake of others….

But that was success to Jesus, and actually it’s success today as well… At funerals we give or listen to a tribute to the deceased person – and sometimes we can hear a long list of incredible achievements whether they be in work or sport or in an organisation, but hear nothing of love – of how they loved and how they were loved. Sometimes that is we all we do hear – but I’m sure we would all recognise that success at the end of our lives isn’t measured on wealth or power or position, but on what people think of us and what we do for others.

Jesus was teaching his followers a very important lesson, because they wouldn’t find riches through serving him. They wouldn’t achieve positions of secular power and importance, and they, quite frankly, wouldn’t have an easy time – but what they would have was the assurance that God loved them; that God saw everything they did and heard everything they said, and that God was with them in all the good things they would try to do… they would know, even in times which seemed incredibly dark, the peace and hope and comfort of knowing they were loved…

((((((((( Some of you may have heard this story of a young man (I’ve told it a lot !) taking a girl home at the end of their first date. Feeling quite brave in the dark he decides to try for that important first kiss. With an air of confidence, he leans with his hand against the wall and, smiling, he says to her, ‘how about a good night kiss?’

Horrified, the girl replies, ‘are you mad? My parents will see us!’

‘Oh come on – who’ll see us at this hour?’

‘No please. Can you imagine if we get caught?’

‘Oh come on, there’s nobody around. They’re all sleeping!’

‘No way. It’s just too risky’

‘oh, please, please… I like you so much !’

‘no. I like you too, but I just can’t.’

‘Oh yes you can, please ?’

‘No. I just can’t.’

‘Please?’

Just then, the porch light goes on, and the girl’s sister comes out in her pyjamas, with her hair dishevelled, and says in a sleepy voice: ‘Dad says to go ahead and give him a kiss... Or I can do it, or if need be, he’ll come down himself and do it. But for goodness sake, tell him to take his hand off the intercom button!’ )))))))))

God sees and hears everything we do, and that’s quite a scary thought – well, It’s scary until we realise that he isn’t trying to catch us out. God doesn’t want us to fail. God wants our love and he wants us to show that love to others.

Jesus made the journey southward – he knew where he was going and what he was going there for. And in our lives we too are invited to make a journey. Like Jesus we can start from a place like Caesarea Philippi, a place far away from the action, far away from our Jerusalem, but still an important place.

It was here that Jesus asked who the disciples thought he was, and here that Peter replied, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ An incredible proclamation and yet we know that Peter, even believing this would struggle as he approached Jerusalem – he would make mistakes and he would even deny knowing Jesus…

In our lives, we make important choices and decisions and we will hopefully make wonderful decisions about Jesus and who he is and what he means to us, but we will still sometimes get things wrong, but we journey on…

We journey through times and places in our lives which perhaps resemble Galilee – places of peace and calm and incredible beauty – times when our lives seem to be going so well that we never want them to change. The disciples of Jesus knew times like this in their times with Jesus, and we surely know them too.

It may be an incredible holiday, it may be a great family celebration, it may be a great success of some sort – it could be any number of different things, but we also know life rarely does stop in one place, and often that’s good because what is idyllic at one time may not be forever…

And so Jesus moved on to Jerusalem, and for us that can be the heart of the journey – the place we make big decisions, new commitments – and it was there that Jesus accepted the arrest, the torture, the humiliation and death on a cross. And each one of us is invited to take this journey – not to a horrible death, not to a painful crucifixion but to a place where we make a decision to commit everything to God, where we make a decision to put things in his hands – as the letter of James said (3:13-4:3,7-8a), ‘Submit yourselves to God… resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you…’

Recognising that we need God, that we need his help and guidance, is not weakness, but enormous power. Recognising that in welcoming a small child we welcome Jesus in our lives is enormous power… because in that illustration that Jesus used of the child, he was reminding us that we are called to welcome all… to welcome those who are different, who are struggling with life in whatever way; people who are poor, who are victims of injustice…

And so we continue our earthly journeys… There’s another story you may have heard about a former United States Senator, Dwight W. Morrow, who searched in vain to find his railway ticket as he was on a train leaving New York City. "I must find that ticket," he muttered. The conductor, who stood waiting beside him, knew him well and said, "Don't worry about it, Mr. Morrow, we know you had a ticket so just send it to us when you find it." "That's not what's troubling me," replied Morrow, "I need to find it to know where I'm going." 

As a church and as individuals I think we are being increasingly challenged to answer the question of whether we know where we’re going and whether we are really going there with Jesus as our focus….

And so, wherever we are may we keep travelling firm in the knowledge that God travels with us, that he loves us, that he is there as a guide, as a strength and as a comforter, that he is there with and for us – and he also surrounds us with people of all shapes and sizes and backgrounds with whom we can enjoy fellowship as part of his family…  

Let us pray : Loving Lord, we thank you for the gift of your love. We thank you that you care for each one of us and that your Son Jesus came and died for us. And we thank you that he rose again to offer to us new life, new hope and a new relationship with you. We pray that you will guide us on our journey through life, that we will enjoy the wisdom and faith to seek your will in all that we do and that we will have the courage to follow that will wherever it leads, knowing that ultimately it leads closer to you. This prayer we offer in Jesus’ name. AMEN