Bike Ride - A Metaphor

BIKE RIDE: A METAPHOR

 

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – August 11, 2013

Genesis 15: 1-6

Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16

Luke 12: 32-40

 

                Well, it has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown.  Pastor Liz needed some peace and quiet, some rest and rehabilitation yesterday.  Her legs felt like jello and she was afraid that if she stayed on them any longer she would melt into a puddle of goo.  What she really wanted was to hop into a hot tub and turn up the heat and turn on the jets and soak her aching body.  But people in central Minnesota don’t take to hot tubs, and certainly not Lutheran pastors.  She knew of a couple of Norwegian bachelor farmers who had saunas, but that wouldn’t be appropriate for her to ask to use them.  So her own tub, with Epson slats and maybe a lavender bubble bath would have to do.

                She had just biked 16 miles in a 14 mile fund raising event sponsored by Karen Warnecke and Chrissy Soderberg.  They were holding a walk, run or bike event to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to fund research for a cure and assistance for those in need.  Now Pastor Liz enjoyed biking, but she wasn’t a biker, if you know what I mean.  Other participants arrived in tight, spandex short and tops with cycle machines that put her 3-speed to shame.  And Pastor Liz isn’t particularly athletic.  Oh, she likes to keep in shape.  She often walks the stairs when she visits in the hospitals in St. Cloud or Bimidji, but most of the time she spends sitting at her desk.  What she is is a bit more on the dramatic side; isn’t every Lutheran pastor?  And part of the experience of the event was a murder mystery.  Clues to the mystery were posted along the route and when all and returned they would act out their parts, decipher the clues, and attempt to figure out “who done it.”  Karen and Chrissy knew that Pastor Liz could enliven the participation so they urged her to sign up.  There was a 50 mile bike route or a 14 mile one.  Pastor Liz knew that even 14 miles would be a stretch for her.

                Runners, walkers and bikers were given directions for the course and instructions for their roles, and they were ready to go.  Pastor Liz started a little bit before everybody else because she figured she would be the slowest and everyone would be passing her.  So, starting at Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church, the course took her along back roads to the village of Millett, then around the lake and back into Lake Wobegon.  It was a beautiful, crisp Saturday morning.  The scenery was spectacular.  You can see so much more, moving as slow as she was on her bike, than she could by speeding through in her car.  She had traveled all these roads before, but had never really seen what they had to offer.  On her way into Millett, a six-point buck came out of the bushes and stood in the middle of the road, staring at her, until she got too close and then he darted back under the cover.

                She followed the directions precisely and was quite pleased with herself that she was doing so well.  By mile 13 there were still two bikers behind her.  But coming into town, she was surprised that the directions didn’t seem to take her onto the road the church was on.  Instead she turned in the opposite direction, making a big loop around town which she just assumed added the necessary miles to the course.  When she finally arrived at the church, they were all waiting and cheering for her.  She was the last to arrive!  In fact, they had even sent out a rescue vehicle to look for her.  She had made a mistake and turned left when she should have turned right and her 14 mile course became 16 miles!  That was kind of embarrassing, but all had reached their final destination safe and sound.

                And although her role in the murder mystery made her look very suspicious as the villain, she was one of only three who correctly identifying the culprit as the leader of the local Sons of Knute lodge.

                The two and a half hours on the bike gave her a chance to reflect.  Life is like a journey; it’s like a bike ride.  We all know what the goal is and what the final destination is, but we have no clue how to get there or what will happen along the way.  We may have printed directions, like the Bible itself, but that doesn’t mean we completely understand what they mean, or we make mistakes and choose to turn in the wrong direction.  Some people just take a little longer than others to get there.  And we may have instructions for the role we are supposed to play in life, but every other person’s role affects you and changes your perspective.  This bike ride was like a metaphor for life!

                Imagine Abraham, called by God to leave his home and family and travel to a new destination.  All he knew was that he was going to a place promised to him by God.  He didn’t know where it was; he didn’t know how to get there; and he had no clue what would happen along the way.  All he had was faith, trusting in a God of whom he believed would never lead him astray; and if he turned in the wrong direction, would turn him back with forgiveness, with mercy and love, and with a new direction.

                She thought about some of the twists and turns in her own life.  Who would have ever imagined that a young woman from New Jersey would wind up serving a Norwegian Lutheran congregation in central Minnesota!  Sometimes God’s plans seem to unfold with a certain degree of humor.  Or was Lake Wobegon a matter of her turning in the wrong direction?  Following a pastor who had been in the pulpit for 35 years may not have been such a smart idea.  We never really know, do we?  We only trust in faith that God will lead us in the right direction or lead us back to the right direction.

                After a good, long soak, Pastor Liz climbed out of the tub and toweled herself dry when the telephone rang.  It was Judy Engqvist, wife of the former pastor of Lake Wobegon Lutheran, now retired.  The two women had become fast friends, working together in what they called the 4Ls, League of Lutheran Ladies by the Lake, attending daughters of Norway meetings, and lunching together at the Norske Nook.

                Judy was in uncontrollable laughter at the other end of the line.  “Liz, you’ll never guess what happened to us.”  Liz asked, “Who is ‘us’ and where are you?”

                I’m in New York with my sister for a convention in Hudson, that’s Hudson, New York, not Hudson, Wisconsin.  It’s a little city right on the Hudson River.  We flew into Albany and rented a car.  The directions we were given said to take the New York State Thruway south to the Catskill exit and cross over the river on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.  Isn’t that cute?  But anyway, my sister and I were talking and laughing so much, we felt like Thelma and Louise!  The next thing we know, we’re going through some toll booths.  My sister said, “I don’t know where the heck we are!”  Although she didn’t say ‘heck.’  And I suggested that we had better get off at the next exit.  Well do you know what?  The next exit is New Jersey!  We’re in New Jersey, so I thought of you and wanted to give you a call.  I think we’re going to be late for our meeting.  I hope they forgive us, but we have had absolutely the best sister time ever.”

                Pastor Liz hung up the phone and thought, “Yes, even wrong directions can sometimes turn out for the best.”

                Jesus said to his disciples, “Have no fear, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  What a promise!  That’s our future destination.  That’s our final destination.  And God will see that we get there no matter how many wrong turns we make.  Have no fear; just enjoy the ride.

                Maybe that’s why the first disciples, before they were ever called Christians, were called ‘Followers of the Way,’ because life is a journey and faith is the only road map.  Jesus said, “You know the way where I am going.”  But Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?”  Jesus replied, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father but by me.”

                Like Abraham who didn’t know where he was going and trusted in God; like Job who couldn’t understand why all these bad things were happening to him but still trusted in God; like wise men from the East who followed a star and trusted in God for revelation, we trust in Jesus and follow the way that he sets before us in his life, death and resurrection.

                As for Pastor Liz, she wasn’t about to go anywhere else.  Her legs, her bike, her desire had gone about as far as she was going to go for now.  But tomorrow she would continue in the journey of a new day and proclaim the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life to her flock at Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church, helping them to find the way to their final destination.

 

And that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.  AMEN.