Invitation to the Quest
10-10-03
My message this week is addressed to everyone in our church who is under the age of 18. But the rest of you are welcome to read it, as well. Because those of us over 18 still have parts of ourselves that are under 18! With some effort, all of us can see with those eyes...
That under-18 part of me still registers the feeling of anticipating an adventure. I wanted to do something worthwhile, take on something bigger than myself. I wanted to be on some kind of heroic quest, but it was hard to know where to start -- hard to tell what quest was worthy of my commitment. I wish the 50-year-old "me" could have a conversation with the teenaged "me", to make it easier to find my way to the start of that quest, and then find my way along it.
If I could, this is what I would say:
You were born to take on a special challenge that will be exciting and difficult, sometimes thrilling and
sometimes painful. You were born to take on a unique task of service, one that matters much to you and to other people.
This heroic quest is yours! It's not somebody else's. Neither I nor anyone else can show you the life
adventure that is uniquely for you to pursue. You will have to find it for yourself. It might take you
to strange and wondrous places far away from your home, or your heroic journey might happen right in
your neighborhood. I cannot say.
Part of your quest is learning who and when to ask for assistance. I and others can observe you and tell you what we see about your gifts and about the challenges that seem appropriate for you. We can give you supplies for your journey, and directions along the path. But only you can choose and commit yourself to take on the quest that was meant for you.
I think you will find that whatever your personal adventure may be, whatever your quest is all about,
the most challenging part won't be mental or physical. It will be spiritual. Your adventure may leave your muscles sore and your belly empty. It may keep you up late into the night, studying or thinking hard to solve, important problems. It may take you to distant deserts, faraway jungles, exotic cities. It may take you into the outer space beyond the sky or to the inner space of the atom. But the biggest adventure, the toughest challenge, the hardest yet happiest quest of all will be the one you meet in your own soul. Can you prevail over your fear of death, or even your fear of failure? Can you resist the temptation to return the anger of others with your own anger? Can you act with kindness even when people say bad things to you and treat you poorly? Can you keep a joyful spirit in a tough world? Can you tell the difference between having good self-esteem and having an attitude of superiority over others? Will you learn to know the ways of your soul, so that you can restrain your unhelpful impulses and release your positive ones?
The hardest, and I think the best, part of your quest will be to take on the challenge that Jesus laid
before us all in the 5th-7th chapters of the gospel of Matthew in the Bible -- words we call the Sermon on the Mount: to love even your enemies, to store up treasures in heaven (to invest in your spiritual
growth), to let go of worry, to serve others, to pray whole-heartedly, to pay more attention to inner
realities than to outer appearances. You will have your own personal path to follow, your own adventure - but I predict that the toughest and best things you will do on your quest will be to do the hard and beautiful things that Jesus listed in those chapters.
The great teachers of the other religions of the world gave similar roadmaps through the realm of the soul. Religion offers a way to see and interpret the signs of the soul. Christianity has been a very helpful tool for me in finding my way through my own adventure, a quest that led me to become a minister, work with homeless people on the streets for many years-- through marriage and painful divorce and remarriage, through the joys and tough times of parenting. Through the hard work of studying and writing and organizing. It took me through Russia, through Mexico -- it took me through even more amazing places in my own neighborhood! But the greatest parts of my adventure have been those times when God gave me the strength do do what Jesus talked about in his Sermon on the Mount... the spiritual achievements are the ones that matter the most. And from my spiritual failures I have learned the most, as well. From my spiritual struggles have come all the ways that I have been most useful to other people. It is hard to climb the highest earthly mountain, through snowdrifts and wind, in breathtaking altitude. Higher yet is the mountain of the soul, which Jesus invited us to climb in his Sermon on the Mount.
I invite you, then, to find and take up your quest. The rest of your church community has so much to learn from who you are and what you will do. You will be our hero as you take on the hard but excellent task that is meant only for you, and follow it as it leads you through the rugged range of your soul.
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