Where Am I Going?
After worship last Sunday somebody asked me if I was having a midlife crisis because of my sermons the last few weeks, “Who Am I?” and “What Am I Doing Here?” I laughed and said I was fine – these three sermons were a response to what I have been hearing from other folks about questions they are wrestling with in their lives. As a pastor, I sometimes hear questions like, “How do I know what God wants me to do?” Or, “How can I know God’s will for me in this situation?” “I wish I knew what direction I should go in. I just feel lost.” Jeremiah 6:16 provides a path for us to follow when we truly wish to know God’s will for our lives so that we can do it.
August 7, 2011
Jeremiah 6:16, Matthew 7:13-14, Where Am I Going?
Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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“Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and
ask for the ancient paths where the good way lies; and
walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
This one verse is brief, yet very profound in its implications.
The first thing to note is “Thus says the Lord.” This means we
1) Listen, which reflects a belief that God communicates with us. If we want to know God’s will for our life or in a particular situation, first we need to believe God is willing and able to communicate with us. God will speak to us through the Bible, prayer, other people, even through God’s creation. In Jeremiah, “Thus says the Lord,” announces to us that what follows is very important for us to hear. One aspect of spiritual growth is learning to recognize and listen to God’s voice. It was high noon in Manhattan, and the streets were, as usual, buzzing with crowds, cars, taxis, horns blowing, brakes screeching, sirens wailing. Two men were making their way together through the crowd. One was a native New Yorker, and the other a visiting farmer from Kansas. Suddenly the farmer stopped in his tracks. “Hold on,” he said, “I hear a cricket.” His friend replied, “Are you kidding? Even if there were a cricket around here, which isn’t likely, you’d never be able to hear it over all the noise.”
The farmer remained quiet for a few moments, then walked several steps to the corner where a bush was growing in a large cement planter. He turned several leaves over and found the cricket. The New Yorker was flabbergasted.
“What great ears you have,” he said. “No,” the farmer replied, “it’s a matter of what you’ve been conditioned to listen for. Look, I’ll show you.” With that, he pulled a handful of coins from his pocket and let them drop to the sidewalk. As if on cue, every head on the block turned. “You see,” said the farmer, “you hear what you want to hear. It’s a matter of what you’re listening for.”[1] When we think we hear God speaking to us, the first thing we do is stop and try to listen with focused attention.
“Thus says the Lord, Stand at the crossroads.” 2) Stand implies we Stop and reflect. Most accidents that happen at intersections occur because someone is speeding or fails to stop at a red light. I learned to drive in Boston where green means go, yellow means go faster, and red means proceed with caution. When we find ourselves at a crossroads, we are at a place of decision, a moment when our future will be shaped by the direction in which we go. When we’re at crossroads the thing to do is to stop and reflect and not to rush forward as fast as we can.
A newspaper in Tacoma, Washington shared the story of Tattoo, the basset hound. Tattoo didn’t intend to go for an evening run, but when his owner shut his leash in the car door and took off with Tattoo still outside the vehicle, he had no choice. A motorcycle officer named Terry Filbert noticed a passing vehicle with something that appeared to be dragging behind it. As he passed the vehicle, he saw the object was a basset hound on a leash. “He was picking them up and putting them down as fast as he could,” said Filbert. He chased the car to a stop, and Tattoo was rescued, but not before the dog reached a speed of 20-25 miles per hour, and rolled over several times. (The dog was fine but asked not to go out for an evening walk for a long time.)
There are too many of us whose days are marked by “picking them up and putting them down as fast we can.” When the pace of our life is picking up, when changes are coming at us with increasing speed and frequency, what we may need to do is to stop, stand still, and catch our breath. In times of change and decision when we need to determine our direction, rather than charging ahead, we may need to slow down and stand still.
“Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look.”
Looking implies Gathering Information. A number of years ago an older lady in our church, who has since died, was in an automobile accident. When I was called, I went to the hospital to visit her. I sat down next to her hospital bed and asked, “How are you feeling? Can you tell me what happened?” She looked at me and said, “Well, it was raining and I was waiting to pull out onto Main Street.
I looked and saw a black car was coming very fast. And I pulled out and he just hit me.” They don’t teach you in seminary how not to laugh during a hospital visit, so I bit the inside of my cheek, and said, “Oh, that’s terrible.”
God says when we’re at the crossroads we are to look as far as we can down the different roads which is a way of saying, we are to gather as much information as we can about the consequences of our decision. “The road is wet, there is a car coming quickly, I wonder what will happen if I pull out in front of it?” What are the likely results of going in each direction we might take? What will I think about this ten even twenty years from now? Often times we don’t look far enough down the road before we make a decision. Sometimes we cannot foresee all the possibilities, opportunities, or dangers that a certain way holds for us. That is why the next step is vital.
“Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and
“Ask for the ancient paths where the good way lies.”
Looking implies our action; we are doing the looking and using our powers of vision and discernment to help ourselves. Asking means seeking direction and guidance. Asking implies we are going beyond our own abilities, seeking the Lord’s guidance. Asking implies we are humble enough to recognize there is wisdom beyond ourselves in God and in other people that may benefit us as we seek God’s will for our lives.Sometimes we can stubbornly persist in going in a certain direction no matter what because we’re so sure we’re right and we don’t listen to God or anyone else. When that happens there can be negative consequences, kind of like the incident of the battle ship at sea in bad weather. The captain was on the bridge. It was foggy. Just after dark the look-out spotted a light on the starboard side. The captain asked if it was steady or moving. The look out replied the light was steady meaning they were on direct collision course with that ship! The captain ordered the lookout to signal the other ship. “Change course 20 degrees. We are on a collision course.” The signal came back: “Advisable for you to change course.” The captain replied, “I am a captain. Change course 20 degrees.” Back came the answer, “I am a seaman second class. You had better change course 20 degrees.” The captain was furious. He sent back, “I am a battleship. Change course!” The seaman second class responded, “I am a lighthouse.”
While we live in a culture that worships at the altar of the new, the latest, and the cutting edge, Jeremiah invites us to ask for the ancient paths where the good way lies. The good way is not one that is hidden or obscured although it may not always be easy.
It wasn’t easy for Jeremiah. The message God gave him to preach was a hard one that condemned religious and political leaders as well as the people for their disobedience, corruption, and worship of others gods. Jeremiah struggled with God, cried all the time, was put on trial by his people, had the scrolls with his prophetic words burned, and he endured opposition right up to the end of his life.
Later Jesus said to those who would follow him (Matthew 7:13-14),
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow & the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” As G.K. Chesterton wrote many years ago, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.”
“Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and
“Ask for the ancient paths where the good way lies and” “Walk in it.” Once we have looked and listened and received instruction and guidance then it is up to us to Take action, to take responsibility for the direction of our life. Jeremiah reminds us of our own responsibility for our fate. He warns the people of his time and they refuse to listen. They looked to blame their enemies, God, even the prophet himself, anyone but themselves. Unwilling to hear, they were heading toward catastrophe. We do not want to suffer paralysis by analysis. We can’t wait forever to make a decision; often times this process we’re talking about needs to be done in a relatively short period of time. There comes a moment when we need to get moving. We need to start walking in the direction God has revealed to us. Some of this walking and taking responsibility is part of growing up and maturing.
The Result of listening to the Lord, standing and reflecting, looking and gathering information, asking for direction and guidance, and then taking action is we will “Find rest for our souls.” This is similar to when Jesus invites us to himself saying, “Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Why would someone who is weary and carrying heavy burdens volunteer to take on another yoke? Perhaps because it is a yoke custom fitted for us. Yoked with and walking with Jesus in the ancient and good paths God has laid out for us, we will find rest. Rest doesn’t mean inactivity or laziness that leads to spiritual weakness. Rather we will have the assurance that comes from knowing the direction we’re taking, the decision we’ve made, has been shaped by using our best abilities of discernment and observation as well as the revelation of God.
Sadly, Jeremiah’s people would not follow this advice and they paid dearly for taking the wrong path at the crossroads. God knows we all take wrong turns. We end up at dead ends or in a bad part of town and wonder how we got there or if we’ll ever get out. God’s grace is so such that even when we are disobedient, God keeps trying to speak to us and to direct us on the right path. When God’s people failed to listen, God ultimately sent Jesus to make the way plain. Jesus called people who didn’t follow God’s ancient, good path “lost.” Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to help us find and stay on God’s good path that leads to joy and abundant life.
Once when we were visiting my wife Jill’s parents in Pennsylvania, we drove to Frackville where my father-in-law grew up, to visit relatives. Frackville is in the anthracite coal region of upstate Pennsylvania. It was well after dark and terribly foggy when we were preparing to leave Frackville to return to Newtown. We had two cars and I was uncharacteristically impatient to begin the drive back to Jill’s folks, so instead of waiting for everyone else to come out and following their car, I asked which way to go and left with Nathan in the car with me.
The fog was awful and the mountain roads so curvy that driving was incredibly difficult and dangerous. I wasn’t sure if I was traveling the right way, but I kept on going because I recognized buildings and places I was passing. It was a good 20-30 minutes before I realized I was going in the wrong direction. We were going north toward Knoebles amusement park where we had been several times, which is why the landmarks looked familiar. I needed to go south to get to Jill’s parent’s home.
I decided to do a decidedly un-male thing; I stopped and asked for directions at a mini-mart. There were three people in line and a guy behind the counter. I looked them over to see who I thought could best help me determine the right direction to get where I needed to go. I picked the older, stocky man and asked him if he could tell me how to get on Route 61. He said, “Just pull out of here and go left and then turn right at the light.” I repeated back what he said, but of course I didn’t have anything to write down what he told me plus the mini mart was on a corner so I wasn’t sure which exit he meant to pull out of and go left. Getting back in the car, I looked at the map and figured out where we were. Angry that my impatience had gotten us off the right road, I pulled out of the mini-mart parking lot and was immediately shrouded in the foggy darkness. I was driving very slowly and a car came up behind me driving much faster than I was comfortable going so I pulled over into a parking lot so it could pass.
The car followed me in and pulled alongside. “Great,” I thought to myself, “what else can happen on a foggy, dark Saturday night in the middle of nowhere?” I lowered the passenger window and it was the man who had given me directions in the mini-mart. He said, “Follow me, and I’ll lead you back to Frackville.” With that he pulled out. He obviously knew the way and the road like a native. All I did was follow his taillights until we were outside of town. He pulled over and I pulled next to him. Our windows went down again and he asked, “Do you know where you’re going?” I told him the route numbers I needed to take, but he asked me again, “Where do you want to go?” “Newtown, in Bucks County,” I replied.
“Okay, that’s the best way to get there,” he said.
I thanked him very much for his help in getting me on the right road and in the right direction and he replied, “Well, I’m a retired State Trooper and I worked in this area for years. I could tell by the way you were driving that you were unsure of where you were going.” I asked him if he was going to church the next morning and he said no, they had already gone earlier that evening. So I said, “The next time you see your priest tell him you helped a lost Baptist pastor from Cape Cod get back on the right road.”
It seems to me you can tell by the way people are living that many are unsure of where they are going or don’t know where they want to go; that they are in several senses of the word, lost. Many people seem to be accelerating down the road to nowhere at faster and faster speeds, forgetting that if we’re lost, going faster only gets us further away from where we need to be.
It has always been and always will be the role of Christians and churches to help those who are lost to find their way to Jesus and life. Those of us who are unsure of what God wants us to do, those of us who are unsure which road to take, may need to humble ourselves and stop and ask God for directions.
God will not send us in the wrong direction. You can get “theah from heah.”
Like the retired trooper Jesus asks us, “Do you know where you’re going? Where do you want to go?” Jesus knows the road of life like a native, even in its darkest, foggiest, most dangerous moments because he is the way, the truth, and the life. If we follow his taillights, he’ll lead us safely home.