03-16-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 16, 2024
In tomorrow’s sermon, I will be quoting a character from the limited series Lessons in Chemistry. Like Ted Lasso, I really did not want to see Lessons in Chemistry come to an end. It was powerful and profound, funny and heartwarming. The main character, Elizabeth Zott, was played brilliantly by Brie Larson. In the last episode, she says (and I rewatched it numerous times to make sure I got it right), “If your life is anything like mine, your dreams will not come to you in a linear fashion.” That is such a scientific way to say it, but that’s who this character was. But you don’t have to be a scientist to see how your life, the steps toward fulfilling a dream, are sporadic, with numerous detours, bumps you never imagined, and a whole lot of head scratching. Oh sure, there are probably a handful of folks whose road to the fulfillment of their life dreams was well paved, a little like what Isaiah suggested as the way of God—every hill made low, every valley lifted high, and all the rough places smoothed out. But for the rest of us, it is a journey. Yet when I pause long enough, I am able to name the unexpected and rough moments, or even the unyielding obstructions, as the times and places where I learned some character and tenacity. It was during what I might have called a detour that I met amazing people. And it was when one dream appeared to come to a crushing end that another one came to life. To be clear, I do not believe God is throwing obstacles in our way or making the road rougher than it needs to be. Instead, I believe life just does that, and though I am a bit surprised that I will say this out loud, I am sort of thankful for the life dreams that do not come to us in a linear fashion.

Whether the journey is smooth or rougher than I ever could have imagined, I claim you to be present alongside me every step of the way. Thank you, O Living God, for your faithfulness to me and to all creation. Amen.