This year has definitely been my year of adventures: a
pilgrimage on a bike to Holy Island a building project (involving for me a
pilgrimage from office to office!) and now a trip of a lifetime with my family
to Uganda. We often hear life described
as an adventure, but not so often the lives of those who call themselves
Christians. It was not always this way. Although Jesus’ own life could be
described as almost domesticated: he didn't seem to travel much beyond his own
borders. The life of the early church was anything but. Paul is of course
famous, and many of us learnt all about his travels when we were at Sunday
school. But Peter also traveled to Rome, Thomas perhaps as far as India and
there are even the stories of Joseph of Arimethea, the supplier of Jesus’ tomb,
travelling to Glastonbury. History has seen many like them, St Patrick, Gladys
Aylward in China, David Livingstone to Africa and countless unnamed ones. They
seem to have taken Jesus’ command to preach/ live out the good news in “Jerusalem,
Samaria and to the ends of the earth” very seriously. Let’s be honest about
this, it wasn't always the spirit of adventure that moved them. Sometimes it
was persecution and the need to flee, that led to the opportunity to spread the
good news. However they certainly did take some risks, and one could well say
that they learnt to live their lives to the full, just as Jesus promised they should.
Of course not all of us are called to adventures in travel,
or to cross cultural encounters, but the idea of our Christian life as an
adventure is a rich idea. This is something of what pilgrimage or even
discipleship means. I wonder though are you comfortable describing your life or
your faith with this language? Sometimes I think we have made the fundamental
mistake of mixing up faith with certainty and we thus become encamped around
certain ideas; static and immovable. This is my one fear with the beacon
project; that we will see this as an opportunity to settle down again in our
new, now comfortable, surroundings. A beacon is a flame that lights up a pathway;
an adventure is a journey without certainty where there may be struggles. Faith
is the same. None of us can understand or comprehend completely where our life
will lead, there are always surprises. Faith helps us to face these challenges
and keep moving forward. Faith is the hope that at each crossroad there is
still a pathway that leads to peace, and also the re-assurance that we are not
called to travel that pathway alone. By faith we take hold of Jesus’ words
that: “he will never leave us nor forsake us,” that he is with us, “to the end
of the ages.” For the man or woman of faith these words give us strength for
each day and the adventures that they may bring.
Stephen Newell
I look forward to sharing my adventure stories from Uganda
with you, and also listening to the stories of your own adventures and
struggles and joys.
PS if I get the chance there may well be a blog to follow
while we are travelling in Africa see: www.zuchurch.co.uk
for details
