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.
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