A Road Less Traveled

Job 42:1-6

Mark 10:46-52

 “A Road Less Traveled”

25 October 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

A man suffers tragedy after tragedy, most of which we can’t really fathom. Despite repeatedly getting kicked while he was down and losing everything that ever really mattered to him, he never gave up his faith. As a result, he didn’t get to see God eye to eye, but he did get to hear God speaking from inside a whirlwind, probably the whirlwind of tragedy. That conversation solidified everything Job knew about God, vindicated his faith, and changed his life.

Years ago a boy was born and baptized with one name, but called another by his father. He grew up wealthy as his father was a prominent merchant. At a young age he once gave money from a clothing sale to a beggar for which his father chastised him. As young men are wont to do, he went off to war, was captured and became a prisoner of war for a year. After this, he returned home to the life of wealth not earned but given. Most likely out of a lack of calling he returned to the military, but had a vision that made him return home.

While home again, he withdrew from his life in high society and was drawn closer to God. Eventually, he had another vision, this time an icon of Christ that said, “Go and repair My house.” This led him to sell some cloth from dad’s store to provide money to the priest for restoring the church that housed the icon. Dad was none too happy such that he physically beat this young man for his new life. The young man would not be swayed, so Francis of Assisi renounced his father, even taking off the clothes his father had purchased and became a beggar while he restored other churches around his hometown.

            A woman has been discovered having an affair, or some other culturally inappropriate relationship and is being dragged out of her home for punishment at the hands of the all male authorities. Another man walks up and confronts the mob of self-righteous men asking which of them had never made a mistake in their lives. While he awaits the response he focuses on the dirt and inscribed something of which to this day no one knows what was written. As he writes, the judgmental men leave and it is just this woman judged immoral by society and Christ. He looks at her and says, “I don’t judge you, in fact, I forgive you go forth and live.”

            A man that has brutally hunted and murdered Christians is walking along the road, probably on his way to continue his righteous work of ridding all that are impure. However, Saul experiences a blinding light from which he sees the risen Christ standing before him. He is told to go and seek help from the very people he has been chasing. He regains his sight and from then known as Paul he spread the Gospel throughout world and is the attributed author to the majority of the New Testament.

            A young woman of 18 embarking on a modeling career finds herself in a dark and dreary Parisian room, that the other models in the house call the dungeon. She had just come back from visiting family back home. While unpacking, she discovered the small Bible her mother had slipped into her bag before her flight. Because she was jet lagged and feeling all kinds of confused due to the time difference, she opened it and began to read. She discovered that Jesus loved and honored women, including her. Today, Kathy Ireland is remembered as one of the greatest supermodels of all time, but has dedicated her life to following Christ through family and philanthropy. 

            He followed Christ everywhere for years. He was in the inner circle, even got to see the Transfiguration. But, like all 12 disciples, he had trouble figuring out what it was all about. What following Jesus really meant. He was once even called Satan by Christ. He promised to be there with Christ through it all, even boasted about his dedication at the Last Supper. However, after the cross he denied Christ three times. Then, one morning after a tough night fishing, because what else did he know, where else could he go? Christ walked up and forgave him and gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom and made him the shepherd of the flock.

            When she was 18, her parents divorced. She blamed her mother and put the source of all her pain on her mother. This led her to an eating disorder where she ate to hide the pain, but got caught in an endless cycle of pain and eating to ease the pain. One day, in a holy moment, she got a call to appear on TV in The Biggest Loser. So, she called her father who, in what can only be described as divinely inspired insanity, told her to do it…with her mom. So she publicly fought her demons with the one person she saw as the source of the pain, and Michelle and her mother won the show, but also so much more.

            A man senses Jesus walking down the street, because he was blind. Maybe he hear the crowd, felt the feet pounding on the ground, or tasted the cloud of dust get thicker as they approached. Whatever let him know Christ was near also gave him courage because he yelled out the Kyrie, “Christ, have mercy on me!” Because of that faithful cry, Jesus heals his blindness and Bartimaeus removes his robe and follows Christ on the way to Jerusalem.

            All of these individuals met God in someone else or some situation or had the honor of seeing Christ in person. And in each instance, that encounter changed them for good. Their stories aren’t odd or isolated. Testimonies like this abound in our shared story.

For some, they were at rock bottom and saw Christ because typically when we are in the valley of the shadow of death, Christ is the only one left there with us, so it’s pretty easy to see him. But, God isn’t only found in suffering. Sometimes we find God in the midst of success because God is the one whispering, “I can give you so much more.” Christ is the road less travelled.

Job and Bartimaeus saw the Glory of God first hand, not through a glorious sight that transformed their skin like Moses bur rather they saw the it in the transformation of their present situations, and hence their lives. Job was in the midst of unspeakable tragedy, something we touched on last week while Bartimaeus was unable to see and that is all he asked for.

One was wealthy, one was an outcast. One was blameless, one we know little about. However, both were restored, both were loved by God, both show us our lives have purpose. We may never understand that purpose, but only God can define and guide us to that purpose. Both had hope that there was someone bigger than the world they saw that could change their world. That is faith.

And that is hard. It’s hard to believe that we are meant for something greater than ourselves. Both of these individuals have inspired people for centuries. All of the examples I provided earlier have impacted thousands of people. None of them knew the reach their lives would eventually have. Most of us won’t discover the full impact of our lives until we’re standing face to face with the risen Christ.

That’s ok, because Christ tells us we have a purpose. No matter how dark things may seem, no matter how on the sidelines society places us, no matter how our mind tries to trick us and tell us we don’t matter, Christ says “I’ve got this. Trust me, follow me. It won’t be what you expect, but it’ll be worth it because you are part of my plan, so much so that I don’t have a backup.”

So, let us always be looking for God speaking to us and through us. Sometimes God will tell us to go onto a TV show with the one that has caused us pain. Sometimes, God will speak to us from the whirlwind of life. Sometimes, Christ will touch our face and we’ll see things anew. But, if we’re not looking, not expecting to see Christ in everyone, we not sense his presence and won’t be able to tell him to have mercy on us. Let us go forward with the faith of Job and Bartimaeus that God has a plan for us and that Christ is always near to guide us towards his purpose for us if we’re looking.