Having declared my immunity to the Tolkien bug on more than one occasion I still allowed myself to be conveyed to the cinema to see the first installment of The Hobbit. I am still not totally enchanted but there is something timeless and appealing about the basic plot. A very conventional and settled life is suddenly disrupted by a call to go on a journey which will involve personal challenge, perhaps even danger, but in the end there is the promise of great benefit coming to a large number of people - or rather, dwarves, hobbits etc.
The subtitle of the movie is An Unexpected Journey and when you examine some of the greatest stories of faith you will find that an unexpected journey is involved. You can start with the ‘spiritual father of us all’, Abraham, probably leading a comfortable life but unexpectedly hearing the voice of God to go on a journey to a land which will be the base for the descendants of Abraham, destined to become ‘a great nation.’
There is also Moses, raised as an Egyptian prince yet becoming aware of his Hebrew roots and eventually being called to lead his people on a journey of liberation out of slavery and into the Promised Land.
In a sense the earliest followers of Jesus were called to a journey. There is something quite dramatic about the way Jesus seems to break into people’s lives while they are going about their daily business, fishing, collecting taxes, even in the case of the Pharisee Saul on his way to arrest Christians! He calls them all to follow as He seeks to build His kingdom.
As we face the future together we have to be prepared for The Unexpected Journey, the call to go into an area of service, perhaps previously unknown, but a need is presented and the pressure to meet the challenge is not easily resisted. It is always daunting but like Abraham, Moses and the early believers we have the promise of God’s presence and His resources as we go forward. David was asked to go on many unexpected journeys and there were times when he was stretched to the limit but he was still able to say:
You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;
My God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop;
With my God I can scale a wall.
Psalm 18: 28-29.
May this God be with you on all your unexpected journeys in 2013 and beyond.
