Pilgrimage and trust

So there they were, those fishermen, just fishing and minding their own business. And then along came Jesus. And immediately, immediately, they left their nets and their boats and their fish and their father and they followed him. And off they went, starting on a journey that would take them throughout Galilee, to homes and synagogues and villages they’d never seen, and on into Jerusalem and beyond. Every time I hear this story of the fishermen called to be Jesus’ first disciples, I marvel again at how ready they were to follow – without any real idea just who he was and where he would lead them. It was completely different than the life they had been living, all the assumptions and understandings they started out with must have turned upside down. They had less than three years with Jesus. But it doesn’t seem to have taken them long to get to know him, and one another, very well indeed – traveling can do that.

There’s something about what one of my colleagues called ‘together-movement’ that bonds us. There’s a strong tradition of pilgrimage in the Christian faith – and in other faiths, too: traveling with a spiritual intention, seeking a deeper connection with the divine along the way. Pilgrimage is different from tourism mostly in intent, the desire to find something, learn something, more than just collect experiences. And quite often, fellow pilgrims, the people we travel with, become more than just acquaintances. Being on the move, out of our comfort zones, experiencing new things and new places, we learn to rely on and trust each other, and maybe also to know each other’s foibles a little more keenly. And pilgriming together, we’re more open-hearted, readier to share on a deeper level as we seek the ultimate.

The call of the disciples is a wonderful story for us to ground ourselves in today, the day of our annual meeting. Being part of a congregation is a kind of pilgrimage. We come from different places and have different ways of doing things and different reasons, but we’re all on the same path. Today gives us a chance to look back over our first year of life together at St Francis and take stock. We’re really just starting together, like those early disciples who didn’t know what they were in for. It’s a chance to ponder just what we’re doing as we travel along together.

We started our time together in March, so my report has to start there. (The wardens later at the meeting can fill in the months before I came.) Now, I’ve started out in other congregations before, so I had an idea of how we’d start out together here too. But as I look back over the year, I notice a few surprises:

·      We came together in the middle of Lent, so right away we had to figure out what to do for Holy Week and Easter. What have you done before? I asked. Well…you said, it’s different every year, so how about you choose. Uh oh! Not what a new rector wants to do! I approximated what I thought might be familiar and meaningful for Holy Week, and we worshiped together in that intense week of observances, and on into the glory of Easter. It’s all a blur now – but I don’t think we stumbled too much out of the gate.

·      And then I put out the word that I wanted to get to know each of you, offering to meet for lunch or walks or just conversation. This has always worked for me elsewhere, and indeed, some of you signed up and came right in. And then a lot of you didn’t. It seems that sitting down one and one with a priest and talking just wasn’t quite your cup of tea. Hmm.

·      But then people asked, how about a Bible study. Oh sure, I thought, every church says they want a Bible study, and then nobody ever comes to it, but fine, we’ll try that while I figure out what else to offer. But more and more people came every week, and with this year’s study of The Path, we keep having to add tables. (This is one thing I keep marveling about with my clergy colleagues, by the way – they all marvel about it too.)

·      The Bishop scheduled my installation, and we had a big celebration in June. And then, three months later, she came again for her official visit! In my last diocese we got a bishop visiting every two years. That’s a lot of a Bishop showing up here! Talk about a surprise.

·      With the Bishop coming, we had to think about confirmations. So I offered a few classes over the summer and several of you responded. Suddenly there we were, this small congregation presenting 8 people to the Bishop in that ritual of renewing their faith. That was a wonderful surprise.

·      What about our anniversary? folks asked. What anniversary? So we looked up the dates, and saw that it was 50 years since this church was built, so we celebrated it. A small group of people were game for planning the festivities, and we had potlucks and fondue and a video of memories. But the biggest event of all was the Saturday pet blessing, more than three times the number of other years, full of new people and their dogs. No one expected that.  

·      We had a Christmas week with wonderful attendance for Christmas Eve – even though it was raining, and then also on Christmas Day - ! , and then even the Sunday after - !!!. All surprises!

·      We have solid candidates for vestry that we’ll elect in our meeting today. That’s not a surprise, that’s just good news.

So has this year been quite what I expected? Not exactly, because I really didn’t know what to expect. I don’t know if it’s what you expected either. But as I look back, I can see that through it all we’ve slowly been getting to know each other, bit by bit by bit. Around tables as we talk about little things of life, about our prayer practices, about church finances, about our response to the wonderful and horrible stories of scripture. On walks as we learn about each other’s backgrounds and the history of this valley. And while we’ve set up and cleaned up from all the different events and worship services we’ve had throughout the year. We’ve traveled along, and we’re coming to know and trust each other. And I think we’re learning that the relationships we’re building here, with one another and with God, really are the main thing. They’re more important than anything else we could spend our time on. Which is pretty wonderful, in my view.

I think this is why those fishermen Jesus walked by on the Sea of Galilee were so ready to drop it all and follow him. They were plenty busy with their work and their livelihoods and their families; they were mending their nets and tending to their boats and bringing in fish to sell to support themselves…and then Jesus came along. ‘Follow me,’ he said. And it became crystal clear to them in that moment what was really important, and what really wasn’t so necessary after all. The only activity that mattered was getting up and walking after Jesus, making community with one another as they went. There wasn’t anything else they needed.

As we head into our annual meeting today, and as our new vestry gets itself underway in the weeks to come, my prayer is that we will take stock not only of the tasks, things done and things left to do, but of the relationships that we are growing and deepening. In the community organizing training I did at the seminary years ago, one of the nuggets I took away was, never pass up an opportunity to build relationship. In other words, no meeting or volunteer opportunity should happen without people knowing one another better – and, as Christians, knowing God better too. In this coming year, we will have countless opportunities to know one another more deeply, to talk together more openly about our journeys with God and others. I want to make the most of that.

And in this coming year, we will find ways that we can cast our nets wider, reaching out to others to build relationships there too. We are surrounded by all kinds of different people in this valley, and God has something in mind for how this church will serve them. If we are looking, we will see ways to serve with our money and our time and our skills. But even more importantly, we will find ways that we can know and love others well. I’m looking forward to that too.

Follow me, Jesus says, as he strolls by. Come and be in relationship with me. I’ve got the one thing that will put everything else in order. I Am the One your soul needs. I am what you are seeking, and what you are here for. Follow me and you’ll find companions for the journey, fellow pilgrims, people both like and unlike you who will travel along together with open hearts and hope for the future. And we have a good long ways to go in this journey together. I’m so curious where it leads.