Here is the text of the talk I gave to my Church yesterday morning, which can act as a Lectionary Rambling for that day! (I got a bit behind with being away at the end of last week and over the weekend. Many apologies!)
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I wonder, how many of us are backseat drivers? You know the sort of person. You’re being driven around, but you don’t think too much of the quality of the driving, or you see an opportunity to overtake, or you think your driver is moving too fast or too slow, or you worry about running into oncoming sheep. When I was young, my grandmother had a wonderful habit of doing this. We’d round a bend and she’d be gripping the door handle, silently praying for deliverance. I find now as I get older (having reached the grand old age of 30) that I do the same. It doesn’t matter who is driving. Nor does it matter that I can’t drive. I have a kind of messed up Spidey-sense for danger or potential difficulty. Quite often I find myself bracing, or holding the car door, or imagining some terrible thing is about to happen. But the thing is, it never does. I’m here to tell the embarrassing tale. And more than this, I’m not the one in the driving seat.
Jesus is talking about something similar in our reading today. It’s a mistake for us to think that we’re in charge, that life is all about us, that we control everything. God is in charge. He loves us. He knows what is best for us. He has offered us life now, and eternally. We can be forgiven, free, hopeful, joyful. Quite often though, we just want what we want, don’t we?
I don’t know about you, but I like getting my own way. I like eating the food I like, when I want to. I like watching the TV programmes I want to watch when I want to watch them. I like working hard, making my life better, getting my own way, doing my own thing, even making sure that life for Jo and I is good because I am doing well and working hard. In and of itself, working hard for my own future and for my family isn’t a bad thing, but as Jesus warns us in our reading this morning, we have to be careful. What good is it for us to work so hard that we gain the whole world, but we forget that we are made for God? What good is it for us to be “successful” or even “rich” if we lose the bigger picture of what life is about?
So what is life all about? Well Jesus loves us. God has had our names and our lives on His heart and mind since before eternity. We are made for Him, for His pleasure, and to love one another, as well as loving ourselves. Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. Jesus died so that we could be forgiven for all the ways we’ve lived and will live that don’t please God. Jesus rose again to show that He was more powerful than any power in all of creation, even death. Jesus went up to heaven to be with His Father to spend the whole of our lives praying for us, so that, when the time comes, we can join God in the age to come.
“Anyone who wants to follow after me has to let me lead” says Jesus. We don’t like that so much often. We think we’d be better at leading. “Self-help is no help at all”. Again, not so keen on that one. We’re told that God helps those who help themselves. This is nonsense. God waits for us to come to Him with arms wide open, to rely on Him, to trust Him. Are we willing? Are we brave enough?
“What could you ever trade your soul for?” asks Jesus. Well indeed. I’m not sure my soul is my own to trade anyway. That kind of thinking comes from thinking or wishing that I was in the driving seat.
After all, soon, Jesus promises, He will come with His angels, all will be changed, all will be new. There will be no more death, no more pain, no more tears, only freedom, hope and joy. It is something for us to hold on to hope for. How do we prepare for a life like that? We put God first in our lives. We seek to follow Him as best we can and accept His love and forgiveness when we get things wrong. We look out for others, we put their needs and what they want before what we need or want. We share, we play nicely together, we talk well of each other. We are generous, we give of ourselves, just as Jesus gave of Himself for us. The best way that we can be remembered when people talk about us is to be known as people who made sacrifices, loved God and loved people.
“But, Haydon” you might ask, “what difference does all that make? What should I do differently?” Well here’s what I think. This week, find ways to put other people first. Find ways to care for one another, to serve one another. Share food, share games or books. Give time to each other. Most of all, pray for each other, pray for the people you meet, that God would give you a chance to show them how much He loves them, and that he would help you to love them too.
So, what kind of a person do we want to be? Are you going to carry on trying to backseat drive your life, or barge Jesus out of the way to get in to the driving seat and put your foot down on the accelerator, or are you going to be content to let Him drive and enjoy the ride?