July 2, 2010 The Journey Continues...
After 128 days at sea, the founders of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, arrived at Cape Henry, Virginia, on April 26, 1607. When they disembarked, these grateful settlers raised a large wooden cross and thanked God for their safe arrival on the soil of their new home.
It wasn’t all pleasant from that point forward. There were dark and dismal days for these new settlers. Disease-filled swamps, skirmishes with Native Americans, and untold challenges claimed many lives. Of the several hundred who arrived in Jamestown during the first six years, only 60 survived.
When you visit Jamestown today there is an authentic reproduction of the three ships that made the initial crossing. The smallest vessel, the Discovery, displaced about 20 tons of water and measured 50 feet 2¼ inches from stem to stern. Below the deck there were four bunks to house the 12 passengers and the crew of nine.
After looking at the ship, a visitor to Jamestown said, “You certainly would have to believe in something, wouldn’t you, to come across in this thing?”
Yes, you would … and they did.
The journey of the church is one of great hope and expectation. We who believe in the grace-filled message of God’s love have great joy in being able to be representatives and stewards of this message.
Yet the journey has more challenge than we often realize. The seas of life are often rough and perilous. The shoreline is often more rocky and unsettled than we anticipate. The people around us are often more unreceptive than we thought they would be. Those with a shallow faith often fall victim to these perilous challenges. Even those with a deeper faith find it challenging to navigate the waters of the 21st Century.
These days it would be easy for someone looking at the church to say, “You certainly would have to believe in something, wouldn’t you, to be a part of this thing called the church.”
Yes, you would … and you do.
That’s the real story of faith. It is never easy to be a representative of God’s love in a violent world. Ask the original 12. While they immediately dropped their nets and followed Jesus, they had no clue how difficult and challenging their assignment would be. Yet, by faith, they carried the message into their world and beyond with such vigor and joy that it remains alive today!
The real story of faith is one of perseverance in the midst of challenges, joy in the midst of sorrow, hope in the midst of adversity, and a relentless pursuit not only of spreading scriptural holiness across the land, but planting and re-planting the seeds of that holiness within ourselves.
That’s the message for you today. As we begin another conference year, as pastors assume new assignments and return to existing ones, as laity adjust to changing times and continue to find ways to carry God’s message into the world, let us not shy away from the journey out of fear. Instead, let us set sail knowing that storms will beset us, but believing that God will never leave us, nor forsake us and, by faith, will see us through to the promised land of God’s love.
You certainly would have to believe in something to embark on the journey of the Christian faith, wouldn’t you?
Yes, you would … and we do.
May it be so!
The Journey Continues ...
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