Rev. Dr. Paul R. Adkins

                                        Scripture: Mt. 15:10-20

                                        August 14, 2011

                          SEEKERS AND PILGRIMS

One of the most enjoyable books I ever read was written by a man named Fynn.  With the rather appealing title, Mister God, This is Anna, the book gives a delightful and warm account of the friendship between a little five-year old girl and a nineteen- year old young man who took her into his family.

Anna turns out to be an amazingly precocious child, and she demonstrated an understanding of God and life that left most others feeling inadequate.

She spoke reverently and yet intimately of God as Mr. God.

For Anna, Mr. God is greater than most folks think, and the more she delved into the wonderful world around her, the more she thought of  Mr. God. The point of religion, she discovered, is not just to be generous and kind, but to be like Mr. God and then you’re generous and kind without knowing it.

This beautiful and profound little girl probed and questioned and thought so that her life became one thrilling adventure.  Her faith – dynamic and alive – might be characterized at best – if characterized at all – as one of asking questions and seeking explanations.  She was a seeker, a pilgrim as it were.

The disciple Peter was of a similar pattern.  He regularly asked questions, never letting anything go for granted. In this morning’s reading, for example, Jesus teaches a parable, and at the end Peter jumps in and says, “Explain the parable to us.”  He, too, was a seeker.

The other disciples were apparently content to let the parable come and go, perhaps assuming they knew what it was about. Or, perhaps, just as likely, they, too, had questions, but were reluctant to ask them.  How many times have you been in a group where something was being explained and even though you didn’t really understand it, you were reluctant to ask a question? 

“Someone might think I’m silly if I raise this issue.”  So most of us have learned to let a lot of things go by, and, as a consequence, over the years our natural sense of inquisitiveness becomes dull, and even though we hear things of  great importance, we no longer get excited because we’ve deadened our sense of exploration.

But that sense of exploration, of being a Seeker and a Pilgrim is at the very heart of being a person of faith.  Because it is, it can be destructive to read the Bible with a “the – case – is - closed mentality.”  As we like to say in the United Church of Christ, “God is still speaking” to us.

We see that in new things going on in the world, we see it in renewal movements in the Church, and, of course, we see it through new and deeper  understandings of the Bible.  This is why the great teachings need to be met as Peter met them, “Explain the parable to us.”

The Lord saves us by making us Seekers, and by opening our eyes to the growth that is possible, by renewing our child-like capacity for discovery and excitement. To put it another way, a Christian is a special kind of person – a person growing, a person on a journey – and here in Peter’s action it is exemplified.

 All too often we define ourselves in fixed terms and see ourselves in fairly set ways. Someone says that Joe is a plumber, and so we think of Joe in a particular way.  But Joe is not really a plumber – plumbing is what he does.  Joe is a person like other persons.  Even so, we tend to define who a person is and relate to him or her in different ways according to what she does for a living, or according to age, race, or ethnic background.

We immediately shift gears when relating to Mary who is a lawyer, George, who is a garbage collector, or Sasha, a newly-arrived immigrant. Each time we let labels trip us up, we fail to understand that the Christian perspective is to see each person on a journey, and it doesn’t matter where he or she came from, what they do for a living, or what their race or ethnic background is.

Reuel Howe tells about the time a man sitting next to him on an airplane asked him, “What do you do?” Rather than answering right away, Dr. Howe – who is a clergyman, teacher, and author, thought: “If I tell him I’m

a clergyman, that might terminate the conversation or turn it to some heavy discussion of religion. If I tell him I’m a teacher, that’s not quite right for I think of myself more as a learner. If I tell him I’m an author, he might think that I am pretentious.”

His plane companion followed up Dr. Howe’s hesitation by asking further, “What are you?”to which Dr. Howe replied, “I’m a Pilgrim.”

Needless to say, this surprised the fellow who proceeded to inquire what Dr. Howe meant.  He answered, “I’m a pilgrim trying to find his way from his birth to his life.”

The pilgrim journeys on, always on, reaching for new experiences, tasting of the newness of life, groping, sometimes stumbling, even falling, but always looking, inquiring, and questioning, much like Anna did when she talked to Mr. God.

To stay at one level, to wrap life and religion around oneself like a protective cocoon, to see no real need to reach out, are so many ways of dying.

We are saved finally, not through a message of ease or a message of security, but we are saved as we risk what we have and question what we are. The Lord saves us by making us Seekers and Pilgrims, not by fluffing up pillows on which we can recline.

St. Peter, never quite satisfied, and never certain, but always a Pilgrim, asked, “Explain the parable to us.”

One senses very much the spirit of Jesus’ teaching and ministry in Peter’s questions. Jesus taught, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” (Mt.7:7). What is being said here?  That everything a person might desire, be it good or bad, constructive or destructive, will be given for the asking? Of course not.

God would not be much of a God if he gave us all we asked, for like all children, we often don’t know what it is that we ask. Those who tend to picture God as One who should give when asked, meet all distress situations they find themselves in, fail to see how utterly harmful such a God would  be.  God is no automatic dispenser of everything we ask or seek, and we can be  thankful that he isn’t.  For if God simply took over all of our problems and struggles, we would quickly cease to be less than human.

As people of faith, we are called upon to seek and find, to learn and grow in our life’s journey. Part of that involves curiosity, being in touch with the Spirit that is all around us and within us, and an openness to new ways of understanding.  Little Anna was inquisitive, St. Peter was questioning, looking for further explanation, and in them we see a model of the person of faith.

Unfortunately, many people I talk to, whether on the golf course, or the super market, or anywhere else, seem to think of the Christian faith as being pre-packaged in a box of some sort. In order to be a Christian, you need to agree to take the pre-packaged box, and then you’re all set.

It’s kind of like opening up a birthday or Christmas present.  Take it and use it when you want, and put it away when you don’t. But Biblical faith is not a package of many things, some of which you feel you have to apologize for, some of which you can’t agree to.

Rather it is entering into God’s story, knowing that is the greatest story ever told, but at the same time, knowing that it is a story that requires our involvement as we seek and search and ask questions:  Explain the parable to us.

We are called upon to be Seekers and Pilgrims on the journey, learning as we go.

                                                        AMEN.