Means of Grace: A bike ride

Series: Means of Grace - Prayer Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15 Title: A bike ride through the corn I don’t really have a sermon for you this morning. Instead, I want to tell you about something pretty ordinary. On Thursday I went for a bike ride. When I left I had a lot of things on my mind. I was feeling a little stressed, and I hoped that the ride would clear my head. I came out of my garage and turned right on Division. As I headed south I passed the library right away, and I remembered that I have an overdue book. A little farther along I passed the Duffy-Pills Funeral Home. I had been there earlier in the day and thought of the four men I met there, and of their father. I thought of Paul Martin and his life spent in Chenoa. I learned that day that all of Paul’s boys were baptized and confirmed in this church. They are now all adults and seem to be good men. I thanked God for this church, and the wonderful privilege it is to serve here. Before I got to Rt. 24 I passed the Kridners. The garage door was open, and I slowed down to see if George was there. For a second I thought I saw him, then realized that was the cut-out of Mark McGwire. I thought of Terry. I was happy that she seemed to be getting stronger. I thanked God for the healing that is happening in her body, and asked that she continue to gain her strength. Soon, I was across Rt. 24. I noticed two houses next door to each other, one with a Mets flag, and one with a Cardinals flag. I wondered which of them put their flag up first, and I made a mental note to go out and get a White Sox flag. Soon I passed the elementary school. I saw the name on the scoreboard and wondered who that was. Once I was out of town, I got off my bike. I made a quick seat adjustment, and took a look at the water tower before heading off into the country. When I ride out in the country, I always know I won’t get lost as long as I can see the water tower. I live right across the street from it, you know. Well, I got going pretty fast. The sun was to my right. So was the interstate. I could see the trucks speeding along, traveling down one of this country’s major arteries, stretching from Chicago to New Orleans. As I was heading south I wondered what was ahead. I went two country blocks and stopped at an intersection and thought for awhile. When I stopped I took a good look around and was awestruck by what I saw. I hear people from other states talk about how boring it is to drive through Illinois. They say its so flat and ugly. I cannot disagree more. I think this is the most beautiful place I can imagine. I looked out and could see green for miles and miles. Amongst the vast ocean of green were some silos, a few houses and a few patches of trees. I was awestruck by the beauty of the corn and bean fields and the big blue sky patched with puffy white clouds. All I could hear were birds singing. God’s creation was spread before me and I was left almost breathless. I thanked God for creating the birds of the air, and for the bountiful fields laid out before me, and I set out on my adventure. I looked back and could still see the water tower, but I couldn’t read it anymore. I realized that I had no idea what was directly south of Chenoa, so I decided to turn left. I put the sun to my back and got going again. As I was riding, I got to a point where there were cornfields on my right and left and I realized something. When you’re on a country road between two corn fields in August in Illinois, you can’t see anything accept in front of you and behind. Its like riding in a hallway. In other words, the water tower was out of sight. And I couldn’t help but get a little nervous. That water tower, my water tower, was my anchor. It was my north star. It was my compass. And I knew that as I rode, I would keep getting farther and farther away from it. I thought of all the times in my life - and I’d guess you’ve had times like these too - when you started down a path and you weren’t sure where it would take you. We all have our water towers. We all have our ways of getting home, back to where it is safe and people love us. But there are times when you can’t see the water tower. You’re not exactly sure where you are going, but you know you can’t turn around. You’ve ventured out on your own a little too far, and its hard to get back. Prayer can help bring you back. Some might say that God is the water tower, but that’s not exactly right. You can always see God. No matter how high the corn is, God is never hidden. All we have to do pray, and God can help lead us back to the place where we can see our water tower again, and then we can get back home. Eventually though, I reached a bean field, and I could see my water tower again. As I was riding I thought more about prayer. I thought of one of my favorite songs. It is a Garth Brooks song, and it goes, "Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." That makes for a good song, but I’m not sure that it makes good theology. Sometimes unanswered prayers hurt. Sometimes it seems that we can pray and pray and pray. We can pray earnestly and sincerely, and with true faith and God still does whatever he feels like anyway. One time I was listening to a Christian radio station and they started a time of prayer. They were taking call-in prayer requests. I didn’t call in, but I had a prayer request. I prayed that God would heal my aunt. She was sick with cancer, and had been struggling for a long time - most of her life really. I prayed for God to heal her. I believed it could happen. I had read the stories of Jesus healing. I believed it could happen still. I knew God could heal her if God wanted to, and I couldn’t think of a reason why God wouldn’t want to. I cried there in my car. I pounded the steering wheel and I begged, "God heal her. I know you can, please heal her." She died a few weeks later. Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayer? Well, I’d rather not have that gift. After that I couldn’t help but wonder, "What’s the point?" If God is going to answer some prayers, and not answer others, it seems like God pretty much does whatever he wants to. If we pray for something, and it happens, then we thank God for the power of prayer. If we pray for something and it doesn’t happen, then we just chalk it up to "God’s will." That’s troubling to me. I can’t be the only one that has thought of this before, "If God is going to do ‘God’s will’ no matter what, what’s the point of praying?" Well, that’s a good question. But as I came to an intersection I stopped and I wondered if there is actually a problem with the question. The question presumes the idea that God "does" everything. As if everything that happens is the will of God. Was it the will of God that my aunt had cancer? Is it the will of God when a child dies in a tragic accident? I’m not sure that the God of our Bible is a God that controls everything from on high like a puppet master. Some of God’s greatest gifts might be unanswered prayers, but God’s greatest gift of all was the gift of free will. Because with that gift came an authentic relationship. With that gift came our choice to follow God or not. Without choice, we are but puppets, and we would be no more capable of love then a dummy loves the ventriloquist. But we are capable of love. We are capable of choice. As I stood at the intersection I thought about which way I should go. It was my will that made me turn north, back toward home. I could have chosen to keep going, but I knew that I would probably get too tired if I did, and that I might not get home before dark. Was it God’s will for me to turn back toward home? Well, it is probably the decision God wanted me to make, but it was my decision. Aren’t our lives like that all the time? We have choices to make. Every choice we make there is probably a choice that God would like us to make. There is a choice that will move us toward the greater good - and this is God’s will for us all. Then there is the choice that will move us away from the good - we call these choices sins. Sometimes its obvious which is which. Sometimes it is much, much harder. I didn’t have to say a prayer at that intersection to know that turning left was the good choice. But there are times when it is not so clear. So our ongoing challenge is to know the will of God, to understand what God would have us do. When we face tough decisions, when we face challenges, when we face our fears, when we face tragedies, when we face the world and all the world throws at us, we long to know the will of God. Prayer helps us get closer to God - Prayer helps us to know what God would have us do. After a couple of miles I turned west. I made sure to head west before I got back to Rt. 24 - Now, the first time I went for a ride I got to the point where the only way I could figure out to get back to town was on Rt. 24, and if you want to have a quick lesson in prayer, try riding a bike on a highway with 20 ton trucks screaming past you at sixty miles an hour. So I avoided that path, and headed west on a much safer country road. The sun was in front of me. So was a long steady incline. It was tough. My legs were starting to get tired. My backside was starting to get sore from the seat. My face was dripping with sweat. My heart rate was increasing dramatically. I wondered when the incline would ever stop. I wondered if I was going to make it. Eventually I did, and I started to go down the hill. I picked up speed and shifted gears. I kept pedaling and soon I was going quite fast. The corn stalks were whizzing by me. Bugs were hitting me in the face and the wind was rushing through my hair. It was exciting, exhilarating, and a little scary. It was fun. As I allowed myself to slow down I thought more about our path in life. There are times in our life that are the fast times, the joyous times. The times that are exhilarating, exciting, and a little scary. The times that are fun. And it is easy in those times to just let everything fly by and miss it, but prayer helps to slow us down. Prayer lets us realize how good things are. Prayer helps us appreciate the grace and blessings in our life. But sometimes we are going uphill. Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes we wonder if we are going to make it. There are times when it seems like it would be easier to give up. Have you had those times in your life? Are you living through one right now? There are times in life when we wonder how we are going to make it, and yet we somehow keep going. We keep going by God’s grace. We keep going through prayer. So I thought again of my aunt. And I remembered her struggle. I remembered her fight. It was uphill. And I remembered how she never quit. I remembered how she kept going - she kept fighting - she kept laughing - and she kept loving. She loved until the very end - and she taught us all how to keep going. And I remember wondering at the time how she did it. She was powered by something I couldn’t explain. She was powered by God’s grace. She was powered through prayer. As I was coming back north, I could see my water tower. I was getting hungry. I was tired and sore. After a short time I could read the words. I knew that when I got home I still had a lot of things to do. But as I looked at my water tower I smiled. I knew that the church I served and the home I loved were right across the street from it. I felt warmed by the idea that the water tower was closer every second. When I got home I realized that I had spent the last half hour in prayer. Somehow the stress and the things I had to do did not seem to loom so large. They did not seem to matter quite so much. I had spoken to God and heard God’s reply on those country roads. It was just me, my bike and God and I knew that even though I ended up in the same place as when I began, I had somehow grown closer to God. God had led me through quite a ride. God was there in my thoughts of the Martin and Kridner families. God was there as I was awestruck by the beauty of the countryside. When I got a little nervous, and wondered if I would find my way home, God was there guiding me. At the intersections, as I pondered which way to go God helped me decide. On that hill, with my legs burning and heart pounding, God helped me keep going. Going back down, as I picked up speed, God was speeding along with me. On my way home, reflecting on it all, God warmed my heart. All along I prayed, and with every pedal, I came closer to God, and I was given God’s grace.