Traveling Together

Here I am meeting our group. People from all over: Oregon, Indiana, Florida, and other fun spots. What else do you do when you sit in O'hare with 2.5 hours before our flight leaves. The nice thing about this is that we are not traveling alone. We have a great group of brothers and sisters of Christ on a "family" vacation.

Our guide, leader, rabbi, or George, went to seminary with me, oh so many years ago. It was really nice to see him again and we are looking forward to renewing acquaintances.

Back when I was in seminary I served as the student body president. So I was asked to give an official "thanks" for a painting that was donated. It was called "The Joyful Procession" and depicted a group of disciples enthusiastically following Jesus. I got a real strong feeling that the group we are with will be a lot like the group in the painting. Everyone seems very enthusiastic and eager to walk with Jesus on the rocky paths where scripture was written.

Preparing for Life

On most occasions when I take a trip I will usually pack my bag a half hour before we take off. However, going to the Middle East has fired me up so much that I packed my bag two weeks ago. In fact all of the preparation that Laura and I have done has been exciting, from reading the books, buying the clothing and gear, to getting in physical shape for the trip. All of this for two weeks of traveling.

This has made me question why I do not do this type of training for life, or I should say the Christian Life. The training has been part of the trip itself, making the trip that much longer and more enjoyable. It has taken some extra money and certainly more time, but it has been quite enjoyable preparing for this adventure.

What if we would work at preparing for the rest of our lives, or say eternity, like we might prepare for a trip of a lifetime? I think this would make life much more of an adventure all the way to the very end. I hope to continue the preparation once we are back from Israel. Only this time I will be preparing for the "other" Promised Land.

Preparing for a Trip

When Laura and I were given a very generous gift from our church to travel to Israel we quickly looked at a variety of options for going there. We decided on traveling with Under the Fig Tree Ministries. This is an organization which takes you to Egypt, Jordan and Israel to follow in the footsteps of the people of God and of our Savior. The teacher/leader is Rev. George DeJong who will serve as our guide. We will be doing a lot of walking and go to places that are not normally on an itinerary to The Holy Land. In fact, our trip will begin in Egypt and pass through the Sinai Peninsula, head to Jordan and then cross the Jordan River into Israel.

The philosophy behind this trip is that we will learn with our feet; that is, we will be hiking almost everyday from 6 to 10 miles, much of it up and down mountains. We will also be reading and taking notes on all of the places we will be traveling to. So in preparation for this trip we have been doing a variety of things.

We have been hiking and running to get into better shape. I like to run so I have been running a little over three miles a day. Laura has been doing some vigorous walking and running stairs. She likes to go to the Grandville Middle School football stadium and run up and down the bleachers -- 34 steps up and 34 steps down up to 30 times in an evening. That is just over 2,000 steps. However, climbing Mt. Sinai will be twice that just to get to the top! Usually we try to save Fridays for a long walk together. We strap on our hiking boots, grab our hiking poles and take off for a hike of four or five miles in the hilliest places we can find. We are finding out that we like both the hiking and the time to talk.


We are also doing a bunch of reading. We have read The Source by Michener which is an historical fiction book about the history of the Jews in the land of Israel. It is an interesting book but can be difficult to read as Christianity is not placed in a very warm light. We have also read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus by Bruce Fisk. This is an innovative approach to the study of the life of Jesus. It is written from the perspective of a college student who travels through Israel looking to fortress his faith with an in depth study of the life of Jesus in the same places where that life was lived. Laura has also read a novel about Masada called Dove Keepers and I read Who’s Land, Who’s Promise, a commentary about the contemporary political situation in Israel and Palestine. Presently I am reading The Great War for Civilization by Robert Fisk, which is a journalistic history of the Middle East conflict over the past 20 years. We have also been reading the historical books of the Bible from Moses through Jesus.

The most important preparation for such a trip is the opening of our hearts to what the Lord will tell us during this experience. Obviously the Lord speaks the most clearly through the Bible. However, when you take the Bible to the place that it talks about and describes, we anticipate that there will be another level of revelation which will speak to us. It is a revelation which I am sometimes able to enjoy when, in the study of the context and culture of the Bible lands, I all of a sudden experience an epiphany of understanding into the will of the Lord. How much better it should be to travel through this country with an expert teacher who will point out to us so many things which will add understanding to our faith. This will be wonderful.

So our preparation is close to being complete. We are almost ready to hike, climb, see and experience the Land of the Bible.

Packing for a Trip

How do you get ready for a trip to the Middle East?  Well first of all you need some type of luggage.  Even though I have traveled to a variety of countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa, I have always used an old backpack that my dear wife bought me for Christmas about 30 years ago.  It is still going strong and I could take it on this trip too.  But I thought that this trip deserved something new, so I got a new piece of luggage from Patagonia called the MLC -- Maximum Legal Carry-on.  I figure that going to the Middle East in the summer, when the temperature will be about 100 degrees during the day, I will not need to take too much clothing along.

Laura also got a new piece of luggage.  Her duffle bag of 25 years was stolen in South Africa and she really needed something new.  Actually hers is what I call “pullage”.  I have to lug mine and she gets to pull hers because they took a couple wheels off a roller blade and bolted them to the end of her luggage, turning it into pullage.  Hers is bigger than mine and does not fit in the overhead compartment.  But that is just fine.  If I run out of room I will just stuff something in her bag and she can pull it around for me.

Besides new bags we decided we should get new shoes.  (This trip is getting expensive.)  I have been wearing some Asolo hiking shoes for five years; I mean every day for five years.  They have finally worn out, at least there is very little sole left.  So I thought I would just get a new pair of the same thing.  Can’t go wrong with that.  Laura lost her best hiking shoes in Africa and has not been able to find anything that fits her glass-slipper feet.  Finally, she fell in love with a pair of Keens and has been breaking them in for the last couple of months.  Those boots were made for walking and she can walk all over me.

So now we have bags and boots.  We are almost packed.  Moving up the anatomy we have a few pairs of short, wool hiking socks and also water sandals for when we are not hiking.  We have a couple of convertible pants which we can zip the legs off when it gets hot and turn them into shorts.  Both of us have a few light-weight shirts to protect from the sun.  We also have to take a light jacket along for the night we spend on Mt. Sinai.  Each of us also has our favorite quarter-zip fleece that should work out well.  Oh yes, something for the head.  I still have a floppy hat from Africa and Laura will be crowned with a wonderful sun hat.  I was looking for a fur felt fedora on the order of Indiana Jones, but I can’t believe how hot they are.  Harrison Ford had an air conditioned trailer when he made that movie in Jordan.

There is really not much more to take.  But some extras that we will take along include a camelbak for our water and “stuff” for the hikes.  We have a little camera and I am also taking my iPad so I can take notes and stay in touch with family and church.  And of course we will have our binoculars.  We don’t go anywhere these days without them.  Israel is one of the best birding destinations in the world.  In the land where Jesus told his disciples to “watch the birds,” we want to prepare ourselves to be as obedient as possible.

Now we still have to find out if it all fits into the bag.  After doing a bit of traveling we have developed a Mary Poppins knack of packing everything into our bags so I don’t see any trouble in getting it all in.  We are not really looking to bring home any religious relics from our trip.  No pieces of the cross for us.  We just want to be light and nimble so we can walk in the steps of God’s people and of our Savior for a couple of joy-filled weeks.

The Legacy of Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed was about as strange a character as you could find. He was born in 1774 in Massachusetts. His father was in the Colonial army and his mother died when Johnny was only two years old. He and his younger sister were cared for by relatives. When Johnny was 18 years old he set out for the “frontier.” He went through New York, into Pennsylvania, and then Ohio. He never really did settle down in any one place.

Johnny was trained to be a nursery man; and as he moved around, just preceding the wave of immigration from the East Coast, he planted apple tree nurseries where ever he could buy land. He would go to any cider mills he could find and get the seeds for free. He proceeded to plant the nurseries, putting a local person in charge of taking care of the trees. He would then move on and come back to check on the nurseries after a few years. The person in charge was asked to keep some money from the sale of apple trees and give it to Johnny when he came back through. In this way, Johnny Appleseed planted apple trees all through out Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and southern Michigan.

Because he never stayed long in any one place, Johnny often just lived in little Indian huts made of poles, covered with bark, and having a hole in the top to let the smoke out. Not wanting to spend his money on himself, he lived a very generous and simple life. He often went bare foot even during much of the winter. He dressed in plain clothes, and often ate a meal of simple mush, washing it down with only water.

Johnny was known for his ability to get along with the Native Americans that he came in contact with. They often received him warmly and he eventually learned several of their languages good enough to converse with them. He was often even invited to their tribal counsels and is said to have negotiated various agreements between the Indians and the settlers. But what he is most famous for is the sheer number of apple trees that he planted. He died in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the month of March, 1845, at the age of 70.

Johnny lived a very sacrificial life just so that he could plant apple trees and bring a better life to people in the frontier, both Native American and settler. I wonder what would happen if more people would become as dedicated to planting the seeds of the Gospel as Johnny Appleseed was to planting apple seeds. You have to applaud those people who have been called to a Johnny Appleseed ministry in planting churches. They are the present pioneers and we need to pray that they will also harvest a wonderful crop. We cannot forget the words of Jesus which still ring true today, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Absorbing Evil

One of the more puzzling verses in the Bible is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Here in chapter one verse twenty four Paul says, “I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.”

What could Paul be saying to us here? Well, we can say with certainty that the afflictions and suffering of Christ on the cross were sufficient to garner salvation for all who call on him in faith. So it is not that something required for salvation has not been accomplished by Christ. His sacrifice was enough. But what about the sufferings that Paul is talking about?

We can also be sure that Paul is not thinking that it is only he who suffers. Though he suffered considerably, he also is clear in teaching that anybody who follows Christ will suffer. So if our sufferings are not redemptive, that is they do not contribute in any way to our salvation, why should we experience suffering?

We often think that evil can be defeated by force. The greater the evil, the greater the force needed to defeat it. However, when Christ took on the greatest evil there has ever been, Satan, he defeated it by absorbing it. What I mean is that he took the hardest blows that evil could dish out and he absorbed it into himself. This is also what he taught his disciples to do when they would face evil.

If somebody is going to strike you on the cheek, turn the other cheek to them so that they can strike that cheek also. If somebody asks for your coat, you should give them your shirt as well. If a Roman soldier asked you to carry his back pack one mile, carry it two miles for him. This type of action is what destroys evil. Paul summed it up when he said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

So what is it that overcomes evil? Evil is absorbed and overcome by loving your enemies and those who do evil. This is what Jesus is doing and this is what he is asking us to do as well. His mission is now our mission. “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you,” says Jesus to all his disciples. So true disciples of Christ should be absorbers of evil and not perpetrators of evil. When we see suffering and pain, the right response should be to do what we can to enter into the suffering and pain of the person suffering it. We too are called to be carriers of pain and suffering. Now this is not a very jazzy calling and one which most Christians shy away from. But none-the-less, it is our calling as Christians to actively bear the burdens of others and not to run away from them or isolate ourselves from them.

To some Christians this may not sound very inviting, yet this seems to be the clear teaching of Christ for his disciples. We should look around us and be more willing to find the hurting and the suffering in order to come along side of them and carry their burden with them. Engaging in this type of action is the great destroyer of evil, and it is within our ability to do.

God the Seamstress

Some time ago I gave a funeral message for a member of my congregation. She was well known as a seamstress par excellence, sewing innumerable wedding dresses. So in my funeral message I encouraged the family to use their memory of her work as a seamstress to be reminded of the Gospel which saved her, and all those who are clothed in Christ’s garments of salvation.

After all God does indeed know a bit about sewing and clothing. In fact, on that dark day when his perfect creation was sliced open by sin, God sewed his first outfits and gave them to Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness; something they had not be aware of before. Their sin caused them to sense their need for clothing and their crude fig leaves were replaced with God’s garments.

Ever since Adam and Eve’s plunge into sin, mankind has had a sense of nakedness and the need to be clothed. This is a universal result of sin. Even people who live in the remote tropics and seemingly have no need for clothing still wear something without which they would feel, well…naked.

As a result of this universal feeling of nakedness, God has been a great seamstress who is clothing his family. Clothing is a symbol of God’s salvation and this can be seen even in the great sin sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. On this, the most holy day of the Jewish calendar, the High Priest would take off his priestly garments, the robe, the ephod and the breast plate, and was instructed to wear only the white linen tunic woven of one piece of fine fabric. Then in this white linen garment he was allowed to meet with God in the Holy of Holies as he sprinkled the sacrificial blood on the ark.

You know there was somebody else who wore a fine white linen tunic. He too was a High Priest, though unrecognized as one until his sacrifice was finally understood. The Apostle John gives us the story:

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

I have always wondered why Jesus would wear something that was so fine the Roman soldiers did not want to rip it up. I like imagining Jesus as the funky itinerant teacher dressed in something from Salvation Army. But under it all he wore a fine white linen tunic of the sort the High Priest would wear into the Holy of Holies. In the case of Christ though, it was stripped from him in order that he would take our sin, shame and nakedness on the cross, so that we in turn could be clothed in his righteousness. He was the only one who could stand before God naked and unashamed. He became unclothed, so that we could become clothed with the finest of wedding garments.

In this life we still feel a bit naked and exposed. Death is one of the things that can do this. Death reminds us just how feeble and frail we are no matter what we might be wearing. You cannot dress up death. Our own sense of nakedness simply moves us to find the greatest seamstress, our Father, who gives us the festal garments of salvation.

It is God who has created us for this very purpose, for this very wedding feast. And it is with confidence that we look forward to this feast for in Christ we will not be found naked but clothed in the white garments of righteousness.