“Breaking Hodophobia” (Luke 8:26-39)

Last Sunday I was at my “other” job at the university welcoming 36 teacher/scholars from all over the country to Montana to attend a National Endowment of the Humanities workshop we were hosting on the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  One day we visited the vision site of Sitting Bull and the Rosebud battlefield.  On the return trip to the university we stopped to get gas and take a potty break in Lame Deer.  As you may be aware, Lame Deer is the tribal headquarters for the Northern Cheyenne tribe.

The only gas station in Lame Deer was hopping.  For many of the people at the workshop, this was their first time on a reservation . . . and, their first encounter with Native Americans.  In one of the cars, the people refused to get out.  They were scared.  One of the presenters who was driving, finally told them they had to get out . . . told them that they weren’t in danger . . . that the locals were going to bite them.  It took a little convincing, but they did eventually exit the car and experience the people of the Northern Cheyenne tribe.

It turned out to be one of the best experiences of the whole week for those people.  Yet, until they were “forced” out, they were scared.  Scared of the unknown . . . unknown culture, unknown people.

We all have our “fears” . . . things that we fear.  In our reading this morning we hear about one of the miracles of Jesus.  Jesus and the disciples sail across the sea from Galilee to Gerasenes.  Upon their arrival they encounter a man whom the locals feared . . . a man that was possessed.  Jesus throws the demons possessing the man into a herd of pigs that end up running into the sea and drowning.  The man returned to normal.  It was a miracle . . . the divine was exposed.

The herders of the pigs witnessed it all.  Having witnessed a miracle they ran off to the town and reported what they had seen.  Of course, such news is bound to get a reaction.  Thus, it was that all the townspeople went out to see what had happened.  Upon their arrival they saw the man at the feet of Jesus . . . dressed and in his right mind.   “Then all the people of the region of Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear.”  They banished Jesus.

It was a dramatic scene . . . a possessed man . . . demons possessing a herd of pigs . . . and, then the pigs running into the sea drowning.  It is not something that one would see daily.  Because of this people were more than a little scared.  It is no wonder then that they wanted Jesus to move on down the road even though the man was returned to his normal state.  He was able to return to his community.  The people wanted nothing to do with anyone who had the power to do such acts.  They were scared.

Fear has a way of grounding us to a halt . . . especially when it comes to experiencing new things.  One would think that witnessing such a powerful miracle that the people would want to learn and see more from the one who performed it.  That they might want to hop on the “Jesus train”.  Clearly, we see that this was not the case in this story.  Nope, they wanted Jesus to keep on moving on down the road.

Instead of joining in the adventure . . . instead of claiming their place in the parade and making the journey with Jesus . . . they tell Jesus to “hit the road!”  Jesus always issues the invitation to join him in the journey . . . always leaves the door open for people to come and join in.  He invites us all to make the journey.  It seems that the flashier the invitation, the more who join in . . . except in this case.  Jesus scared the bejeepers out of these folks.  They wanted nothing to do with him.  They were not going to make the trip with Jesus.  They had the fear of hodophobia.

Hodophobia is the fear of travel . . . the fear of making the journey.  These people were not going to follow Jesus.

I guess we can give them people credit for having a good excuse . . . witnessing what took place would be a little on the scary side . . . possessed man, possessed pigs.  Sounds like some sort of cheap horror flick.  But the fact is that Jesus always invites all to join him in the journey.  Invites all to join in the journey towards the Kingdom of God.  Invites all to move towards deeper relationships with God and one another.  Invites all to be a part of seeking God’s will in the world in which they live.  Invites all to travel down that spiritual road.  It is the journey that Jesus took.  He tells us to come and follow him . . . come and make the trip.

I imagine all of us gathered here this morning know all about the “trip” Jesus calls us to take as individuals and as a body of believers—as a church and congregation.  And, I imagine that most of us can admit that there have been moments in that journey in which we froze in our tracks, shaking with fear, and wished we had never agreed to make the trip.  Why?  Because the trip is not all peaches and cream.  Nope, the journey is a constant challenge. 

Jesus asks us to . . . feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, welcome the stranger, minister to those less fortunate than ourselves.  Jesus asks us to go to place where we are outside of our comfort zone.  Jesus while on the journey asks us to step into that which we fear.

Now, I do not know about the rest of you, but I like to know where I am going when I go on a journey.  I like to have some idea of what lies before me when I travel . . . and, what I will find once I reach my destination.  When I don’t know where I am going or what I will encounter, I am more apt to stay right where I am and not make the journey.  It is too scary.  And, I think all of you know what I am talking about.  In these moments we all experience a little hodophobia.

We are scared to make the journey.

I think that it is only natural.  I know that I am a leery of the unknown.  I also know that I have let my fear of the unknown keep me from experiencing some wonderful things in my life.  As my partner at the workshop told me about those people in his car that were fearful of getting out of the car to take a bathroom break, I thought that they must have had some of the best bladders in the world!  I don’t know about you, but when Mother Nature calls . . . I have always answered that call.

Yet, when they finally took that step out of the car and into the whirl of activity happening around them there in Lame Deer . . . they were surprised.  They were surprised that these people . . . these Native Americans . . . were not much different than they were.  There were those who needed gas for their cars . . . those who were thirsty or hungry and wanted a snack . . . those who needed to use the restroom.  They witnessed kidding around and laughter.  People having good days and bad days.  They discovered that they were not much different than the people that they had feared.  It is amazing how a tiny bladder level the playing field.  They discovered that, and they discovered blessing.

In their experience, they grew.  They grew in their understanding of those who are different.  They grew in who their neighbor was.  They grew in acceptance.  It was a life-changing experience.

Jesus wants those who follow him to step beyond their hodophobia and to make the journey with him.  He wants us to step out of our comfort zone and enter the lives of others no matter how different they might be from us.  Jesus wants to make the journey toward intimacy with God and others.  Yet, at the same time, Jesus understands the fearfulness that there might be in following him in the spiritual journey.

Consider this . . . in the story of the healing of the demon-possessed man . . . the man, upon being healed, begs Jesus to allow him to go with him.  Jesus refuses.  Instead, Jesus tells the man: “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.”

It has been said that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.  The journey begins where we are.  Thus, it is that Jesus tells the man that he must begin where he is.  He is to return home and tell of his experience with the Holy.  For this man the journey begins right where he is at.

Begin where you are at.  To overcome the fear of travel . . . hodophobia . . . one begins wherever he or she might be.  That is the first step in the spiritual journey . . . to share one’s experience of the Holy with other right where he or she might be.  To tell the story.  The Spirit will lead from there.  That is where we begin . . . where we begin to break the hold of hodophobia in our spiritual journeys.  We begin where we are.

The journey begins with a single step . . . let us take the step.  Amen.

“Picking Teams” (Romans 8:14-17)

We live in a competitive society.  If you are a sports fan, you know what I mean.  Right now, we are in the midst of championships for several sports . . . the National Hockey League is in their finals to crown the champion . . . the National Basketball Association is in theirs.  On the college level baseball teams are competing to be the national champions.  Odds are there is probably a boxing championship . . . a tennis championship . . . even a golf championship going on. When it comes to sports our nation is pretty competitive.

That competitiveness is not reserved to just sports.  As a society we compete in just about everything to see who the best is.  When it comes to academics, we compete to see who is the smartest and brightest.  When it comes to business, we know that businesses compete to be the best.  Even communities get into competition to see which community is the best . . . we constantly see rankings that tell where the best places are to live.  We do it in our daily lives when we express that one brand of soft drink is better than another, one automotive company is better than the other, and even which is the best undergarments to wear! 

Competition in bred in us.  Everyone wants to be a winner or at least on the winning team.  We even see this when it comes to faith.  Churches compete.  They compete just like sports teams as to which is the “best” church.  Check out the advertisements in a Saturday edition and tell me that there is not competition between the faithful.  As I said, everyone wants to be a winner or at least on the winning team.

I can’t imagine a human being that has not ever gotten caught up in competition . . . the desire to be number one . . . to be the winner . . . to be the best.  And, I also cannot imagine a human being who has not had to endure the embarrassment and humiliation of having to go through the process of picking teams.  If you were ever in school or goofing off in the neighborhood, odds are you ended up being a part of the process of picking teams.

You know what I mean.  Standing in a line of peers as two individuals—usually deemed the “best”—picked teams.  You can remember as the most athletic were picked first, those who were semi-athletic second, and those who would do the least amount of damage were picked third, and then the scramble to stick the other team with those who were pretty worthless when it came time to compete.  If the pickers had their way, they would tell the leftovers to go on home.  The goal in enduring this endeavor was to be chosen early or at least by the mid-point . . . at least in that situation there was nothing to be embarrassed about.  To be chosen at the end, with all the haggling going on between the two teams as who they were going to get stuck with . . . well, that was hard to endure.

You know what I am talking about, don’t you?  You also know what “picking teams” felt like.  You quickly realized your value by where you were picked.  The sooner you got picked, the better.  As I said, the goal was always to be picked as one of the chosen few.

Competition . . . determining who is the best . . . who is “in” and who is “out” is not reserved for only our time.  It is a problem that has been going on since the beginning of time.  We get hints of this competition as we read our scripture lesson this morning . . . on this Day of Pentecost.

Who is “in” and who is “out”.

This was a task that the “chosen disciples” of Jesus had to deal with . . . they had to pick a team . . . had to pick those who were the winners.  They definitely knew that they were “in” . . . after all, Jesus himself, hand picked them.  Odds are those other “disciples’—those who had been following Jesus and listening to his every word, witnessing his every miracle . . . they were probably in.  After that, the big question was . . . who would make up the rest of the team.

As far as the disciples . . . or apostles as they are now known as . . . were concerned, it was a matter of whether they chose those they deemed the most helpful to the team.  In this situation, the pickings were probably slim, after all, not everyone had the experience they had had.  So, imagine their surprise on that day of Pentecost when they encountered all those strangers and outsiders who were being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Imagine their surprise when those they would never pick for the team suddenly are touched by the power of the Spirit . . . of being “marked” to be on the team.  Certainly, these were not people the disciples would have chosen; yet, here they were . . . a part of the team.  There was no denying what was taking place.

I guess the apostles learned a tough lesson.  When it comes to picking God’s team, they really don’t have much of a say.  God does the choosing.  Instead of lining everyone up and saying, “I want you . . . and you . . . and you.”  God just proclaims to everyone, “Come on over and join the team.”  God tells them that they are all chosen.

All are chosen.

The Apostle Paul uses the idea of adoption to explain this.  Paul states: “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption.”  In other words, God picked you . . . and, everyone else.  God picked everyone to be a part of God’s family . . . God instilled in everyone the Holy Spirit.  God wants everyone to be on God’s team.  God wants everyone to know and understand that they are loved . . . desired . . . and, wanted.  God wants everyone to know and understand that they are valued and important . . . that no one is more valued or wanted than any other.  As far as God is concerned, everyone is the “best”.

Thus, the goal is fanning that spark of the Spirit within each of us into a roaring flame.  To make each and everyone of us biting at the bit to step onto God’s team . . . to acknowledge our place on God’s team . . . of claiming our place in God’s family.  God chose us!  And, because God chose us, we can proclaim that we are the children of God—the sons and daughters—as we cry out, “Abba, Father.”  In doing so we acknowledge our place in God’s family with all its blessings; or, as Paul stated it: “Now if we are the children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ . . .”

There is no competition when it comes to the family of God . . . we are all in.  We are the chosen . . . the ones God chose . . . the ones God adopted.  We are all marked by the Spirit that indwells in each of us, waiting to be fanned into a burning flame.  We are the children of God.  As the children of God we are blessed with the good and the bad . . . with all that life and the future promises . . . nothing less than Jesus himself received.

I guess that is the problem.  It seems too simple.  It seems too simple when we place it up against the competitive world we live in.  And, yet, that is the way that it is.  It goes against what we have been raised to believe . . . how we have been taught to behave; and, yet, it is that simple.

Sometimes we need to look beyond our own culture to understand that God’s ways are not always the ways we live.  This past week I took a workshop to learn how to teach Native American traditional games.  One of the games I learned was called “Rock in Fist”.  It is a simple game.  One person puts a rock in his or her hand while the other person must guess which hand it is in.  The idea is to trick the other person into choosing the wrong hand.  The first one to “three” wins.

Most tribes play variations of this game, but it is a game that all of us know and understand.  It is such a popular game that tribes will hold tournaments.  To enter the tournament each person playing must contribute a gift that is placed on a blanket.  Everyone is competing for what is on that blanket.  Everyone begins in a long line, two people facing and competing against each other.  The winner advances ten steps up while the loser plays someone else who has lost.  This goes on until there is one person who has not won a game on one end of the area, and those still competing on the other.  The tournament ends when there are four competitors still playing . . . they are given a place (first, second, third, fourth).

At this point all the competitors are called into a large circle around the four finalists and the person who did not win a game.  Second place through fourth, and the one who has not won a game, are told to pick up a corner of the blanket.  At that point, the winner walks around the circle with the four carrying the blanket gifting each participant with a prize from the blanket.  This goes one until everyone receives a gift from the winner . . . including second, third, and fourth place.  At that point the blanket is awarded to the person who did not win any games. 

The person is awarded the most valuable of the gifts to let him or her know that he or she is valued . . . that they are important . . . and, that they are apart of the whole group.

It is powerful.  Powerful to know that you are chosen . . . that you are wanted . . . that you are a part of the team no matter how the world views you.  On that Day of Pentecost, God sent a powerful message into the world.  God said, “You are all on my team . . . I choose you.”  We have been chosen.  We are marked by the Spirit.  All you’ve got to do is to believe.  Amen.