Walking the path

What an amazing Holy Week at Amberlea!  Beginning with our Community Easter Event, followed the next day with Palm Sunday. On Friday we gathered for a powerful Good Friday service, and then on Sunday, we had wonderful celebration, complete with bubbles, easter eggs, puppets and powerful music! Throughout Holy Week we had the privilege of walking the Prayer Labyrinth in the Fellowship Hall.  I say privilege because my very first experience on that exact mat, was — at the risk of sounding dramatic — life changing.

It was almost 20 years ago, before beginning my studies at Knox College at the compulsory Guidance Conference for all Presbyterian Church in Canada potential ministerial candidates (whew, that was a mouthful ;).  I remember it like yesterday. I really wasn’t quite sure why I was there. I didn’t want to be a pastor, and yet circumstances, and encouragement from others had led me to this place. A Master of Divinity degree? Me?  I remember feeling very alone and very confused when I found myself in a room where the gigantic Prayer Labyrinth was laid out on the floor.  The purpose was to focus on prayer as you walk on the blue path that lay before you.

“How hard could this be?” I thought.

I stood at the edge of the mat, kicked off my shoes and began the walk.  I wasn’t very far along when I began to feel rather anxious and even panicked.  I could see the centre of the mat – which was a large blue circle – but I had no idea how to get there. I remember having a conversation with myself about how “…this was so stupid…” and “… no one was forcing me to stay on this mat and no one would know if I jumped off…” (which, by the way I was tempted to do).  As I was having this conversation with myself, however, I kept my eyes on the path and kept walking and the next thing I knew I was standing in the centre of the labyrinth.  Having arrived in the centre with bold blue lines swirling all around me, I fell to my knees and began to cry.  I called out to God saying, “I don’t get why I am here.  I don’t know what you want me to do.  I don’t want to be a pastor.  I can’t see me doing that. I am not gifted that way. What do you want me to do? Tell me! What do you want me to do????”

And then it became very clear.  The whole walking-on-the-labyrinth was like my life.  It was as though God was saying to me, “I have set the path before you.  Walk in obedience.  Don’t worry about the end.  I know what it is even though you don’t and that is OK.  Just be obedient and walk.  This may not be the plan you have, but this is My plan and I will reveal the plan in MY time”.

At that moment all the anxiety I had felt before was lifted.  I knew that I had to prayerfully and obediently walk the path before me even though I wasn’t quite sure where the path was leading and what the end would look like.

Now with the benefit of hindsight, I can honestly say the journey, though not always easy, has been amazing, particularly because it brought me to you —to Amberlea.

God has a plan and a calling on each of our lives.  Take the time to stop and listen.  Here’s the thing, you don’t have to walk a laybrinth to hear the heart of God.  And don’t be afraid to listen, for fear of what you might hear. God may not be calling you to something big that uproots your life, it might be something small that has big, maybe even huge impact. Like,

• Text your wayward kid that you love them.

• Stop self-medicating.

• Call your mother.

Or maybe God is calling you to something bigger.

• Go back to school

• Start a business or a not-for-profit

• Give back generously

Our response to God’s leading is an act of obedience and faith.  Oh, and just wait for the outcome — I promise, in hindsight, walking the path God lays before you will be worth it.

What is God calling you to do?

Born to serve

This week, Holy Week, we reflect on Jesus. His life, death and resurrection and what that means to you and me.  As I have been taking my own time to reflect, this verse has repeatedly come to mind.

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the Light of the World, the Vine, the Resurrection and the Life… came to serve.

One thing is clear, that the kingdom of God operates very differently from our world - the promises of heaven, the fullness and newness of life, healing and so much more. It seems to be completely opposite to the world we live in.

In the scripture found in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is taking the opportunity to teach about the Kingdom of God after a heated moment among the disciples. It seems that earlier in this chapter the mother of James and John wanted to make sure that her boys had the best seats in heaven.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

LOL…I get it.  As a mom, I want the very best for my kids. I want them on the top, in the front or at least on the list, right?

The disciples, however were none too pleased about this request. They were like, “Dudes, you sent your mom? Really?” Which led to a kind of uproar among them.

But Jesus knew what was at the heart of the matter, they didn’t understand how the Kingdom of God worked.

So he begins to break it down for them, leading to what he said in verse 28. It’s as if he is telling the disciples, I am not here to show you what it looks like to be at the top.  I am here to show you what it is like to be in My Kingdom.

As a Son, Jesus understood the depth of God’s love but as a servant he understood the seriousness of God’s command.

This is what Jesus wanted us and the disciples to know, that the hierarchy of the kingdom looks nothing like our world. It is as much an honour and privilege to be a servant of God as it is to be a child of God.  And, to serve God is to see the act of serving as one of the greatest honours on this side of heaven.

So, friends, today as we prepare for Good Friday, and the celebration of Easter, remember that Jesus was sent to give His life as a ransom— for you and me. Which means we have been set free of sin and shame. We are new in Jesus Christ… Hallelujah!! So, with that knowledge and gratitude let us continue to seek God first and serve God well!

fearfully and wonderfully made

For you created my inner being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

There have been several times in my life when this verse has captured my heart and stirred me like no other.  For instance,

• When I first became a Christian and understanding the depth of God’s love for me.

• When I was expecting each of our beautiful children. This verse reminded me of how God was in control and the precious cargo I was carrying were first created by the Creator.

• When I taught prenatal classes. For 15 years prior to becoming an ordained pastor, I had the honour of guiding women and their partners through the joys of pregnancy and childbirth. I wanted my clients to embrace the miracle of what was happening. I wanted them to appreciate the awesomeness that even without being conscience of it, a human being is being formed within her womb! This verse laid the foundation for me.

• And today as I reflect and pray over my son and daughter-in-“love” as they expect their first child, our first grandchild. This cherished little being they carry is fearfully and wonderfully made, first and foremost, by God.

David, the author of Psalm 139, points out in other portions of the Psalm that God knows everything about us; God’s presence is inescapable; and God thinks about us so much that such thoughts can not be numbered. In this scripture we read that there is a God who has a design, a plan for each one of us, with all of our complexities and intricacies, God has designed us uniquely.  God knit us together.  God wove us together. God was intentional about our design — which means there is no part of us that is a mistake or mishap or a blemish.  And that sets the tone for where David, the author of Psalm 139, takes the text next.  David burst into an expression of praise when he says….  “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”.

Fearfully and wonderfully and not words we often use to describe ourselves.   But here in the text, it has a really robust meaning.

Fearfully means to be in awe of, or to bring reverence too.

Wonderfully means to be distinguished by; to be distinct or set apart.

And that sets the framework for everything that David is trying to communicate.

David is telling us that we— you and me — are people who are set apart. We are people who are created and designed to inspire awe, not just in one another but in the world. This is cause for David to worship and praise God.

There is much we can glean from this passage but the most important truth, and I pray you take this in… God has spoken over you. You are distinct, and you are aided to inspire awe in the world and in one another. So, allow that reality to shape how you show up, not just today but in the days ahead!