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Let me know what you think. The church Email is: slumc@direcway.com, Phone: 480.895.8766

February 16, 2002 Sermon:
"From the Fog of Uncertainty....."
Scripture: I Corinthians 9:24-27
Reverend Larry Gerber

Two hundred years ago, Lewis and Clark set off on their transcontinental trek, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose. Do we have that same courageous faith today?
From a recent A & E Travel company brochure: "Thomas Jefferson called it one of the greatest adventures in American history, and historians from film maker Ken Burns to best selling author Stephen Ambrose have endorsed this sentiment with recent tributes. Here is your opportunity to participate in the 200th anniversary of the epic journey with an escorted tour of the historic route. The adventure of a lifetime awaits you!" The "adventure" referred to here is a tour of the Lewis & Clark Trail, lasting 16 days and costing $2,362 per person, not a bad deal considering that 200 years ago, the entire Lewis & Clark expedition, involving 33 people and lasting four years, cost only $2,500! This is the bicentennial year of the expedition, and numerous celebrations are planned to both commemorate the trip and emphasize the traditions and heritage of the Native Americans Lewis and Clark met along the way. It's been just under 2,000 years since the apostle Paul spoke of his own adventures, and referred to his life and ours as a race. The race he was thinking of may have been the marathon of Greek tradition, or a sprint on a well-defined course. In any event, it was quite different from the journey undertaken by Lewis and Clark. Paul argues that to win a race, five things must happen: We must run "in such a way as to get the prize," we must undergo "strict training," we must run with purpose (not "aimlessly"), we must run efficiently (not "like a man beating the air"), and we must avoid disqualification. Each one of these ideas merits further amplification. Add to this, however, the Lewis and Clark adventure, and we have another approach to the same lesson Paul was teaching: Life is a journey, and those who would complete it successfully must be willing to pay the price. Most people can do whatever they want if they are willing to do what they have to do. The apostle Paul and Lewis and Clark knew all about getting the job done. They paid the price of uncertainty. Not knowing what exactly was out there, they set out anyway. They were given a map, but it was a bad one, which is why they drew a new map as they went along - much like the way we find ourselves living life - stumbling into uncharted territory, drawing new maps as we go.

For instance, would you have a problem if your daughter, son, grand daughter, grand son, showed up at home with metal pins piercing nostril, eyebrows, and navel? Would you know exactly where you are when the doctor says that you have a tumor pressing against the retinal nerve in your brain, and they're going to take a plug out of your skull, insert a probe and slice up that tumor, hoping they don't destroy short-term memory cells while they're doing it?

I don't know about you, but the map that I was given to chart my course in life did not have any directions for pierced body parts, other than a woman's ear, and even that was not on my fathers map.

I had no map for a sense of direction that allowed a procedure such as inserting a probe in my skull. But at the same time, if I followed the old map, I might have a sense of misdirection in my life. What would happen if I did not alter and add to the old map now and then. Would I be lost along the way? Would I be safe in my little box, yet not enlightened by changing times and up to date medical procedures?

Would you feel totally comfortable if your stock portfolio collapsed in the crash of the era, and instead of retiring as you had planned, you had to take a job picking up Big Mac wrappers off the floor at McDonald's? Does your map allow for alternatives, in the event that the main road is no longer available?

Lewis and Clark stayed alive to their task on the long journey west because they knew how to deal with the unknown. It wasn't the hominy and bacon or pan-fried catfish or "simple meat soup" that kept them going. They had faith that they had been given ample resources to make it through the fog of uncertainty, and that someday they would walk into the sunlight of victory. Of course, after Lewis and Clark completed their journey, thousands of second- generation travelers did so as well - using the map they drew. Not unlike our own experience in following the time-tested "maps" of others who have walked the journey of faith and keeping in our hands the Word of God which, as the psalmist points out, is a "lamp" to our feet and a "light" to our path (119:105). William Clark and Meriwether Lewis also accepted help. Without relying on the advice of others, they could not have survived. So they enlisted a guide to help them. Their reliance on Sacajawea was severe - no wonder their relationship with her was so complex. Bottom line: Without her, they don't make it to their destination. Sacajawea knew more about where the explorers were going than they did. Lewis and Clark made friends along the way. As the expedition made its way west, the travelers presented medals (Jefferson called them "marks of friendship") to Native American chiefs and warriors to assure them of their peaceful intent. The medal depicts two hands shaking - a sign of friendship.

On a missionary trip to Fiji in 1993, I was welcomed by the village chief with this sperm whales tooth. The chief explained that it was a sign of peace, and that I and my people were welcome on their island, and in their village. A sign of peace......

The Christian life is not one that can be lived in isolation. We can't make the journey without relying on others to provide guidance, companionship and tips about their own experience on the same landscape. We're foolish to attempt to do so, and impoverished if we do.

Lewis and Clark relied on a compass. At first they attempted to simply follow the rivers. After the rivers failed them, they resorted to a simple compass.. This compass kept them from getting lost, on an otherwise foggy and uncertain journey. We may be in uncharted territory, and we may be running a race we don't quite understand. But we have a compass: Jesus Christ. He is the one who sets our direction. When we line up with him, our lives have purpose and meaning. Lose the compass, and we lose our way. Lewis and Clark took notes. For example, Meriwether Lewis observed, sketched and described many species of trees unfamiliar in the Eastern states and noted information about their habitats and uses by Native Americans. He drew white bark pine, lodge pole pine, mountain hemlock, Engelmann spruce, Alpine fir, and Western larch. They also encountered many bufflehead ducks along the way ... "buffle" is an old word for buffalo. These ducks are found only in America and are the smallest diving ducks.

It's not a bad idea to keep a journal of our spiritual life - a log of our Life Expedition. What a story we have to tell! Why not tell it? Louise Began, the great American poet, says that whenever a poet substitutes an outer journey for the inner journey, the poetry goes bad. Clearly, Lewis and Clark were writing a great poem in their trek west on our behalf. They took their trip inside as much as outside.

We are part of a humanity that is running a race toward home, but we also have groceries to buy, and dry cleaning to pick up and stories to tell. While we are on the long race, we also get to rest. We will have to turn around as many times as Lewis and Clark did to retrace our steps and make sure we know where we are going. We get time to sit, think and remember. We get "simple meat soup" and count it enough. We pause to observe and record and to marvel at what we see.

Both Paul and the Expedition of 200 years ago offer us a valuable paradigm for living a life of meaning and service. Both challenge us to the race for the sake of race, for the sake of our partnership with God, and not worry about the outcome.

Our map is given to us by God, but our compass is Jesus Christ, and our Guide is the Holy Spirit. The map is the basic set of directions, but the compass helps us to fine tune, and chart new courses along the way. If we run the race with courage undaunted, we will surely get home.

Are ye able said the Master.......Yes we are able the sturdy people answered

Let me know what you think. The church Email is: slumc@direcway.com, Phone: 480.895.8766