Travel Light

Where do we start?  A new denominational connection?  A new name?  A new clarity to our mission?  Lots of new stuff!  Some of us are reading this and saying "Change, change, change ... I am tired of all this talk about change!"  Others are excited about the newness and clarity of a clear starting point and a clear destination.  You may fall in one of these camps, or maybe you are somewhere in between.  But next Sunday is January 1st, 2023.  Can you believe it?  How do we begin this new year?

I could give you lots of advice.  But I think my advice will be short and sweet ... brief ... concise.  Because I wonder if we make life and journeys far more complex that we need to.  To 12 disciples that were sent out into a hostile world with an unpopular message, Jesus had this advice ... travel light!  ""take nothing for their journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in their belts - but wear sandals and not put on two tunics (Matthew 10:8-9)."  Hebrews 12 says, when we run the race set out for us, "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles."  You get the point ... travel light!

How do we relate these passages to us?  I could go in many directions with this.  I could ask us to get our priorities straight ... out of our plan and into God's plan.  I could advise us to throw off the things we worship ... the things on which we spend the lion's share of time and money.  But I want to start simple with just one thing.

Last summer we took the grandkids to Washington, DC.  It was a fun trip, but one of the days was earmarked for seeing museums and monuments.  We packed snacks, water and sunscreen.  My little backpack was very light.  During the day, we ate some of the food and drank some of the water.  So my pack got lighter, didn't it?  Well ... yes, technically it DID get lighter, but as I carried it it seemed heavier and heavier.  Lee tracked the miles and after a pretty long day her watch said we had walked 8 miles and we were not back to our hotel.  That little pack was pretty heavy by that time.  When we got back it seemed to weigh 50 lbs.  When we carry weights for a long time, that is what happens.  And when those weights are worries, fears and other "weighty" things, they just get heavier and heavier ... like my backpack, but worse.

So here's my advice for starting a new year.  Travel light!  Take up the journey, but put down some things that will weigh you down.  The Bible says put down sin that entangles us.  I have found myself being drawn into some criticism of the United Methodist Church for placing us in the position we are in.  Then I thought ... why am I spending time, energy and thought on a denomination we are no longer affiliated with?  We've a story to tell to the nations, and that story is not about the United Methodist Church ... it is about Jesus.  The song says, "a story of goodness and mercy, a story of love and light!"  I need to leave that "entanglement" behind!

The Bible says, put down worry.  We can't add to life by expending it on worry!  Worry gets heavier and heavier as we carry it along.  It is like my backpack, that seemed manageable at first .. but backpacks and worry get heavier the longer you carry them.

Finally, stop carrying fear.  See the truth of God's love, because "perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18)."  Fear is a heavy burden, and fearing what God has overcome bears no fruit for us.

Our journey is filled with unknowns, pitfalls, enemies and danger.  All of those things are part of the world in which we live.  But Jesus has promised "I have overcome the world (John 16:33)."  The question is ... do you believe Him?  I do, and He has never let me down!  Throw off sin, put down worry, and lay down your fears.  Travel light!  Randy