There are many stories of journeys in the Bible. Abraham journeys to the Promised Land from someplace called Haran, not knowing where he was going. For Abraham, this God and his promise was not a fixed point, but a God full of surprises. The children of Israel left Egypt and wandered in the wilderness following a moving cloud. They wondered where they were going and if they would ever get there. They messed up big time along the way. And the disciples journeyed to Jerusalem, following Jesus, who is ever and always – in my experience, in theirs, and in the experience of anyone who has ever tried to follow him – a moving target.
Imagine thinking of your days, your life as a journey, not as a geographical journey, but a journey across time and experience and relationships. Each of us, no matter who we are, stand at the starting point of that journey every moment, and before us is an unknown. We try to make the future as predictable as possible; we hedge ourselves against calamity, but none of knows what awaits us around the bend of the next day, next moment. This is true for people of faith and those who believe in nothing at all but themselves.
Now, imagine that God is like a star before you, and that the goal of life is to see the Christ, and to know him, and to bow before him in joy. But remember, the star moves. The star doesn’t hang in the sky like the North Star, every night the exact same place. Because God is not static and dead, and neither are we. The world we live in is constantly changing and so are we, and God is before us, moving the new you and the new world and the newly created circumstances of our lives toward a place, toward Christ. Our job is to follow, as we able, and to thrill at what is coming, even the difficult stuff, because we know what the goal is, though we have no real idea how we will get there.
How do we follow? First, I think, is to believe that God does lead, and that God leads to Christ. We have to say in truth that that is where I want my life to go. Then, I think, we have to renew that belief every day, and maybe many times a day. Then, I think, we need to ask God to lead us and look for signs of his leading along the way. Following the moving star requires a certain freedom to change directions, a trust that where he leads is the right direction. Following the moving star means looking to the Bible and the Spirit and to worship and to one another guidance. It’s a walk. We will get off course. The star moves.
The disappointing thing about the Church is that as an institution it tends to get calcified. The goal, the object, of our life together becomes a fixed point: realized budget, full pews, people having needs met, expanding programs. All of that is fine, but the real object is that we should be following the moving star, constantly changing, not for the sake of change, but for the sake of following, because God is leading us to Christ. What a tragedy, what a desperate tragedy, to seek the fixed goal of “God’s will for me”, only to finally arrive and find religion with no Christ. Are you stuck with a calcified faith? Then open your heart to the Living, Moving, God.
Religion is important. Traditions are important. Doctrines are important. But they are inert and lifeless. They are valued signposts. They are not God, for God is alive, and God’s will for you and me is a moving target. We find that will by following, not knowing for sure where we are going. Every day is a new day….God’s day.
Tupper Garden is the Senior Pastor at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church. Visit them on the web at rcpres.org.
