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St. Andrew's Church
An Anglican Church • Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
Preached by
Stuart Pike
Rector
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Lent 2 C - Beyond the Obstacles
4 March 2007
St. Andrew's Church, Grimsby
Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18
Luke 13: 31-35
Some of you know that my father grew up the son of a Mennonite preacher. Unfortunately, I didn't get to know my grandfather very well because we usually lived far from him and he died when I was only around 9 or 10 years old. I wish I had known him better because he was, by all accounts, a pretty remarkable man. My father was born in 1929 and so he spent a lot of growing up years during the Depression. He and his siblings grew up in several towns in rural Ontario.
Grandfather was a very resourceful man - far handier than I am. My Aunt tells me the story of how in one town the only way for them to get to the Church in the winter time was by cross-country skiing. Of course there was no money for skis and so grandfather made them himself using boards and cutting them to points at one end. Then he pulled a taut wire from the tip to the bindings which he made, to curve the tip of the ski.
On Sundays, Grandfather would take the lead followed by his four children in order of age because it would get progressively easier for the children behind who would be travelling in a track formed by their predecessors. Grandmother would not be able to go to Church because she would have to stay behind to keep the fire at home burning. She would watch them ski off over the fields until she could no longer see them. She would pray by herself and wait until her family returned in the afternoon.
Grandfather and his family were often destitute. Often there simply wasn't enough to feed everyone. My Aunt tells me of the times when all of the kids would go to bed hungry. She remembers how the hunger would stop her from being able to concentrate in school. In order to go to high school, the kids had to work for room and board with other families closer to the school. My father and his brothers worked on farms near town. My Aunt worked as a maid and nanny for a family. The family was split apart.
One of the most difficult times for the family, though, was when the youngest child died tragically while still a young boy. My father, while still a young teenager suddenly became the youngest in his family. The family was devastated and for the sake of my Grandmother they had to move away to another house in another county along the banks of a river where, for a year, she healed.
Grandfather, finally unable to keep his family going in the Mennonite Church, left, taught school and eventually became a United Church minister.
My father, being an extremely positive person, rarely spoke of the difficult times. He would tell me of the winters and of hockey games played on frozen ponds. He would tell me of his work on the farms. Most of the difficult stories of their childhood, I have heard from my Aunt who has only told me of them in recent years.
Somehow, despite amazing obstacles, my father's family was able to continue not only to survive, but to remain a family full of faith and hope.
I remember visiting my Grandmother who lived in the upper half of a duplex owned by her son, my Uncle. She would tell me that faith doesn't grow during the easy times in life, but during the times of testing. When you're facing the greatest obstacles is when your faith is growing.
Today's readings speak about faith in the midst of great obstacles. Abram had already left his home and was following God's command to go to the place where God would show him. It must have seemed like his whole life was a great journey. God had already promised to Abram that he would make of him a great nation, and yet, Abram and his wife, Sarai remained childless.
In the face of his despair, God speaks to Abram and tells him to look up to the stars. "Count the stars, if you are able," God says, "So shall your descendants be." And Abram believed God and God considered his belief to be righteousness.
If you follow the story, it still took many years before Abram's wife, Sarai bore his a son, and yet Abram continued on in his journey of faith. The more obstacles which were placed in his path, it seemed the greater was Abram's faith. Instead of giving up his faith, Abram remained faithful.
In the Gospel story, obstacles were placed in Jesus' way as well. He is on his way to Jerusalem, travelling from village to village, preaching and healing. The obstacle which is in his path is Herod, who the Pharisees say wanted to kill Jesus, just as he killed John the Baptist before him.
The safe thing for Jesus to do would be to go away quietly, as the Pharisees are suggesting, but Jesus would not let any obstacle stop his journey of faith. Indeed, not even death stopped his purpose. No power of this world would be powerful enough to stop the purpose of God's love for humankind.
Jesus considered the problems which faced him not as obstacles, but as an important part of his journey of faith. Otherwise the sick reaching out to him might have been considered an inconvenience or an obstacle, and Herod's treats might have stopped him cold.
Instead, Jesus considers everything that he meets as a challenge and a way to move forward in faithfulness. Nothing will stop him in his mission.
What obstacles are you facing in your faith journey? How can you choose a faithful path forward in the face of these obstacles?
When my grandmother was a widow in her eighties, on nice Summer days, she would walk down Kennilworth Avenue to the park at the beaches and she would sit on a park bench in the sun and enjoy the flowers and would smile and say hello to any who would walk by. If they stopped to talk she would befriend them. She would listen to people's stories and would share her own. And she would invite them to Church. They could tell by the lines on her face, that she had been through a lot. But the deepest lines were smile lines. She had found not only hope and faith through her adversity: she had found peace.
Her experience and my father's and Aunt's and Uncle's experiences are all part of what has made me who I am today. Mostly, I am humbled by their examples and I pray that I may choose my own path forward, even through adversity, in faithfulness to God. Amen.
