Unwanted Journeys. Unexpected Discoveries.

Unwanted Journeys.  Unexpected Discoveries.

Reflections on Luke 2.1-20

 

‘On the Road to Bethlehem’

Christmas Eve

24 December 2022

 

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

 

         In late 2007, Bishop Jim Cowan, then Bishop of British Columbia, invited me to be part of the Anglican Church of Canada’s delegation attending the installation of the new Primate of the Church of the Province of Myanmar.  The installation was scheduled for February 2008 and there were intensive preparations for our journey in the months leading up to our departure.  Since I have always loved travel and have taught about the relationship between culture and Christian worship, I was excited about going.

         But as the day of our departure drew closer, I become more and more anxious.  I had recently learned that I had both coronary and respiratory conditions that were life-altering. Myanmar was then, as now, under the control of a military junta that actively monitored the activities of both Christian and Muslim minorities.  For example, citizens of Myanmar were not permitted to entertain foreigners in their homes.  Militant Buddhists regularly disrupted Christian and Muslim worship.

         My anxiety become so acute that I ended up in the UBC urgent care unit two days before our scheduled departure.  After a fair number of tests and lots of questions, my wise ER physician asked me, ‘Do you want me to write a medical excuse for you not to go to Myanmar or do you want to face your fears and go?’  I chose to face my fears and go on what had become an unwanted journey.

         But out of this unwanted journey came so many unexpected discoveries of the presence of our living, loving Creator.  I have not forgotten the fears, but the memories of the gifts far aweigh them.

         Have you ever gone on an unwanted journey?  Have you gone on such a journey and, despite your fears and misgiving, had an unexpected discovery of God waiting for you?  I have.  So did Joseph and Mary.

         Over the many centuries Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem has been romanticized.  We can be led to forget that this was no voluntary visit to Joseph’s family’s home town for pleasure.  It was a journey forced upon the people of Palestine by their imperial and colonial rulers, so that tax records could be updated and tax revenues increased.  Thousands of people were forced from their homes to travel hither and yon at their own cost and at some peril.  Hardly a scenic tour of old haunts!

         But even unwanted journeys can play a role in God’s saving purposes.  The Child was born.  Poor and humble folk caught a glimpse of the world as God desires it to become.  Exotic visitors from foreign lands came to see the Saviour, the Light of God.  And, in this place, at the end of this unwanted journey, hope is born and the world seems ever so much more beautiful and holy.

         Right now there are many people who are on unwanted journeys.  Some of these journeys are, like Joseph and Mary’s, imposed by political leaders and situations with the possibility of grievous harm and life-altering consequences.  Other such journeys are less dramatic but still have life-changing possibilities.  Perhaps you know someone on such a journey; perhaps you yourself on such a journey.

         When travelling on an unwanted journey, be watchful.  Be attentive to the signs.  God is not loathe to send angels, messengers of grace and good news, to point us in the direction of unexpected discoveries and signs of hope and renewal.  Sometimes those angels wear faces very much like our own.

         Unwanted journeys need not be fruitless.  They may lead us to places where our living, loving God reveals a glimpse of the world as it can be, the world as God is working to bring into being.

         After all, the angels led us here tonight, didn’t they?