You may remember that some time ago I wrote a series around the theme of “Life as Pilgrimage”,which continues here.
Hence my interest in the title and theme of this book: “Journey – he way of the disciple”, by Richard Littlejohn. Richard is a Baptist minister in Newbury, Berks. and has tried to compare discipleship to the stages on a pilgrimage.
The book gets off to a bit of a slow start, but quickly gathers speed as the print pilgrimage takes us through the stages of leaving, finding provisions for the journey, our relationships with companions on the way, distractions, arriving at our goal and the return to ‘normality’.
I think the highlight of the book for me was chapter 7, “Journey’s End”, which is a sensitive and powerful piece about death and bereavement.
All in all, a very thoughtful book, peppered with quotes from other ‘pilgrim’ literature and a range of ‘walking’ literature which firmly embed it in the real world.
Definitely worth a read!
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One of the retreats I sometimes lead looks at images of Jesus from different times and different cultures as we try to get a grasp of what Jesus means to each of us, in different times, places and circumstances of our lives.
An image that is both popular and controversial is the one known as the “Laughing Jesus” (Original name Jesus Christ- Liberator). Drawn in 1973, by Willis Wheatley, a member of the United Church, in Canada , the picture shows Jesus giving a great belly-laugh, head back, eyes sparkling.
Some find the picture irreverent…surely, they say, Jesus never laughed or felt such undignified emotion. Others see in it a picture of the human side of Christ, who attracted people in their droves and who was especially a hit with children.
I believe that there is ample evidence in the written record that Jesus shared with us in the full spectrum of emotion. Today’s passage is a passionate example of this.
[31] At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” [32] He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ [33] In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
[34] “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. [35] Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
Luke 13:31-35 NIV
The bit about hens and chicks reminded me of a story I heard at a summer Beach Mission when I was a child in the 50s or early 60s. It was a made-up story, originally written by Floyd McCague as a series of pamphlets for children in 1945, but it has taken on the status of an urban myth, with some even quoting (spuriously) National Geographic magazine as its source. Even Tom Wright includes the story in both “Matthew for Everyone part 2” and “Luke for Everyone”.
“In that parable from long ago, the bird was not a wild creature in the forest but rather a hen living on a farm. As a fire engulfs the farm, she gathers her chicks under her and protects them, giving her life for theirs.
The Little Red Hen was one of the thirteen original pamphlets published as part of the Illustrated Gospel Series, also known as “The McCague Lessons.” (Floyd McCague). The tale of a self-sacrificing mother fowl was not a true account but rather a yarn meant to teach a Bible lesson about the love Jesus felt for his children, a love so great that he gave his life so that they could be saved.”
Some people say that the story is trauma inducing…there is at least one instance in a blog online where the author tells that he was put off Christianity for life after hearing the story, because chickens were so much more relevant to his life that Jesus was!
Stories apart, what is inescapable in the gospel story is the passionate love of Jesus for his own people, and his desire to see them come to believe that he was the promised one, sent from God. The passion is made even more compelling by our knowledge (and maybe Jesus suspected, if he didn’t know) what awaited him in Jerusalem. The warning from the Pharisees (not all Pharisees are bad!) and the fate of the prophets who went before him must have painted a stark picture of future probabilities.
Jesus is not deterred. His love is total…he must press on.
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Ash Wednesday 2016
[51] As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem….[57] As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”[58] Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”[59] He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”[60] Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”[61] Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”[62] Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:51; 57-62 NIV
“Family life is holy ground”
Northumbria Community
I am challenged to think that sometimes we followers of Jesus get a bit hung up on the sanctity of family life to the point of almost making it an object of our worship. It is possible to read the gospels with an awareness that Jesus sometimes consider family to be more of a hindrance than a help, which I find quite shocking, if a practical possibility.
I’ve always believe that if Jesus is at the centre of my life, then other relationships will fall into place, and family life will be holy ground, in the sense that it’s the environment in which my faith in Jesus is worked out. So what do we make of Jesus harsh words to the people who expressed a desire to follow Jesus.
A number of years ago the Youth for Christ band, Alphabet, that I worked with, visited Zimbabwe where we were able to sing and speak to people about faith in Jesus.
Shortly before our visit, a well-known evangelist had visited Bulawayo and reported mass conversions to Jesus. When we arrived the local pastors told us that there was very little evidence that these new converts had ever found their way into the local Christian community.
The first time I spoke about my faith in Jesus, I think it was in a Bulawayo factory, at the end I gave people the opportunity to respond by standing if they wanted to know more or to become a follower of Jesus. I was stunned when every single person rose to their feet. This did not indicate a lack of faith on my part…I’m from the UK where people keep their bottoms firmly on their seats rather than drawing attention to themselves unnecessarily!
Afterwards a local black pastor who’d been with us took me on one side. Rather than encouraging me in my effective evangelistic ministry he delivered an encouraging education on local culture.
“You have to understand,” he explained, “that because you are a visitor people want to please you. If you ask people to stand, they will, out of respect for you, and not necessarily in response to the content of what you’ve said. They’re standing for you, and not for Jesus.”
So, from that time on, whenever I had opportunity to speak, I spent at least as much time spelling out the cost of following Jesus as I did talking about why it was a good thing!
As Jesus “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” he must have had an inkling of what sort of reception awaited him. His followers, still refreshingly naïve, seemed to have little clue about what was happening. In that context his determination to make people face up to the consequences of following seems less cruel.
This was not a jolly jaunt to Jerusalem…it was a date with a destiny that might well include death.
Pilgrim Traveller 