“How Long, O Lord?” 

John 10:22-30 

What do you want to be when you grow up? It is a question sometimes asked of children. 

When I was a child, I wanted to grow up and be the point guard for the Lakers, but Paul Davis has seem me play and knows that I am no point guard. 

One of the other answers that I remember having in my mind was to become, no sorry dad, not a minister, but a naval officer. I was reading books like the Horatio Hornblower series, about sailing the seven seas, about mighty acts of gallantry, and I was smitten with the sea. Then I started growing in the direction of non-violence, and that quashed that idea, though it is an honored and necessary career. 

When I was in college, and Carrie asked me that question early in our relationship, I told her (and I firmly believed that this was a strong possibility) that I was going to become an informed lifeguard. I was going to hang my International Affairs diploma on my lifeguard stand, save pretty girls off the beaches of HI, and teach them about the problems in the Middle East as I brought them back to shore.  

This answer, by the way, went a long way, when I first met Carrie's parents. 

But God had other plans. Sitting outside the Damascus gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, where I went to study when I was in college, I began to question where my life was going. I had an awakening of my faith. As I thought about my future, I wanted God to tell me, in plain language, what God wanted me to be and do when I grew up.  

God's answer was for me to go to seminary. I thought at the time it was for a career in teaching. 

Eventually God, bringing more surprises out of the bag, has brought me to this place. Now I am a Presbyterian pastor, and you know what? God still hasn't told me what I am going to do when I grow up! 

But I have learned that I am on my way. I have also learned that God is with me.  

Sometimes I am satisfied with that, and sometimes not.  

I don't struggle so much with whether Jesus is the Messiah, but I do, like those who approach Jesus in this morning's text, long for some plain answers to questions. Perhaps you do to. 

What do you want me to do Lord? What college do I go to? What job do I take? Should I become a Utah Jazz fan, or should I stay a Laker fan? Tell me in plain language. 

How long O Lord, is this mess in the Middle East going to last? When are the answers to the bloodshed going to come? Tell us in plain language! 

How long, O Lord, are you going to keep us in suspense? Can you tell us in plain language why innocent people suffer great injustice? Why that faithful, loving friend of mine is diagnosed with cancer, and why evil seems to prosper and be blessed at the same time?  

How long is this building project going to take, Lord? 

We want plain answers. At the least, we want to know how long we have to hold out until God does provide chose to provide them.  

Like our Bible story, God, many, many, many times, answers in ways we don't expect and don't even want.  

Jesus was walking in the temple, and some came to him wanting some straight words, plain and clear, whether he was the messiah or not.  

I have told you, Jesus replied, you just weren't listening.  I have been showing you - in all the things I have been doing and saying, in all the people I have been feeding, and in the people I have been healing, in the demons I have cast out, in sitting down with Nicodemus, in reaching out to the Samaritan woman, in turning the water into wine to keep the party going. In all these things, if you were listening, you would know the answer to your question. The sheep know the shepherds voice. If you are truly looking for the messiah, you would know. If you were one of my sheep, you would know.  

You see, what Jesus is getting at, is that the answers that we are looking for are not found in the simple, pat doctrines that we proclaim with a few words. The answers are found in coming to know the shepherd - in walking with him and listening to his wisdom, in watching his actions and witnessing his compassion. 

The answer is not in stating the conclusion, it is found in the journey getting there.

I know that it sounds like a cliché. Life is not the destination, it's the journey. But there is wisdom here. 

Our faith is not about what doctrinal answers we memorize, but in the lives we live.  

I came across this short story called, "Whom Should You Ask?" 

An Amish man was once asked by an enthusiastic young evangelist whether he had been saved, and whether he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior? 

   The gentleman replied, "Why do you ask me such a thing? I could tell you anything. Here are the names of my banker, my grocer, and my farm hands. Ask them if I've been saved."¹ 

   A few weeks ago I attended a Christian event. I quickly discovered that the Christians who were there had a very different perspective on things then I. During the discussion, I put in my two cents worth in comments. I must have said something that made a woman worry about my salvation, because at the end, she asked me if I was “born again.” She wanted a clear answer - a simple yes or no. I was put on the spot, and I answered with what came into my head. I told her, “Absolutely, I'm born again, but probably not as it is defined by many here tonight.” I didn't satisfy her.  

   What I should have done was to invite her to get to know me, for us to spend time together as brother and sister, for us to share about what we believe, and work together in loving our neighbor, like Jesus did. 

   I don't know if that would have satisfied her. But in getting to know each other, I believe we would have accomplished something much deeper than a simple “yes” to the question of whether I was born again.  

   Our deepest answers are not in the conclusions, but in the journey of relationship. I admit it, it is easy to say, but tough to live.  

   Yesterday, we were blessed with an invitation to go canoeing in the wetlands with the Dennison's. I learned a few lessons.  

   Lesson number one - wear sunscreen! 

   The second lesson had to do with where we were headed. We knew where we were going. We could see the place in the distance, but the water didn't go straight there. It curved and twisted. It went this way and that. Sometimes the paddling was easy. Sometimes we had challenges in making it through narrow places where the current was moving against us, or where the water was very shallow. In other places there were big branches in the way. We had to work together.  

   With all of the hidden twists and turns, I found that I had no idea how long it was going to be until we were going to get there. I did discover, however, that there was stunning beauty on the way. Molly Van Appledorn counted 35 different species. There were garter snakes sunning themselves on rocks, and blue herons majestically flying this way and that (or eying us suspiciously from there nests making sure we did not get to close). There were carp swimming out of the way of our canoe.  

   All in all we had a wonderful day.

   Our journey of faith is a lot like this canoe journey. How long will our journey take? How long will it be until God answers all of our questions? I am not sure. But until we get there, we can listen for the voice of the shepherd together. We can listen for wisdom on the issues that divide us, listen for living words that bring hope and nurture peace. We can listen for the word to move forward along a particular course.  

   We can work together to make it through the narrow places. We can pray, serve, and love each other. We are going to do this in a few moments as we pray for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. This is the paddling that God empowers us to do in order to move toward the goal of God's kingdom. We need to paddle! 

   Finally, we can enjoy the beauty of the journey on the way. We can notice the wondrous diversity of God's creation. We can enjoy the cool water, and the fellowship of the others in the canoe. Getting to know each other better, listening to each other, sharing who we are, this is how God speaks plainly. 

When we focus on these things - on the journey itself, and the people who are along for the ride - then we proclaim the good news that the journey of healing and wholeness is authentic. When we encounter those who are lost, in body, mind or in spirit, we can point to the future. We can point to God's intention of wholeness for the entire creation with hope, and say, “See? That's where we're going! It's real, because God is building it among us, and showing it around us right now.” 

God's answers to our questions are offered in our prayer, in our listening, in our compassionate and purposeful action, in our appreciation of the adventure, and in the beauty of the journey along the way. When I think about out it, these are about the best answers God can give and the best answers that we can get. These answers make a difference.  

Amen.

 
 

April 29, 2007

Rev. Paul Heins

First Presbyterian Church

Logan, Utah