No Parking

As we continued our journey down Jesus Road in our Easter message series, U-Turns Allowed, we considered the power of a transformed life in light of the No Parking sign. To help us better grasp this concept, we looked at the life of Peter as an example.

If you read the Gospel accounts of Peter, you find a very passionate and impetuous person. He is the disciple who in one moment is ready fight to the death for Jesus, and literally hours later, denied he even knew Him. Yet after Jesus’ Resurrection, Peter became a completely different person and embodied the qualities of the rock upon which the Church would be built, just as Jesus said. The transformation we see in Peter’s life is extraordinary and shows that there is hope for all of us.

As we make our way down Jesus Road, we will experience various triumphs and tragedies ourselves. The temptation is to park and stay right there. When we experience a triumph, we never want that feeling to end and park in hopes of staying in that moment. On the other hand, when we experience tragedies in life, the temptation is to allow the pain and potential loss of hope to cause us to stop along our faith journey. Stopping in either of these situations is not good for us. We need the mountain-top-type moments to build us up for the valley below, but we also need the valley moments to help maximize the beauty of the view from the mountain top.

The bottom line is the highs and lows of life help make us who we are, and when we can see God’s power and presence in the midst of them both, we experience transformation. The funny thing about transformation, though, is it is almost exclusively understood in hindsight. When we are being molded and shaped, we often do not know what is transpiring in the moment until we have a chance to get a few more paces down the road and can see the difference versus where we were when we began. 

In 1 Peter 3:15, we read that we all should be able to give a reason for the hope that we have in faith. What are the highs and lows in your own life that give you the hope that you have in Jesus Christ? This is the foundation of your story of transformation! Your story needs to be shared with others who are seeking hope that God is still actively at work in the world and in our lives, despite how bleak it might seem at the moment. If we park ourselves after experiencing a victory or defeat, then we scuttle our spiritual development. It is the highs of the mountain top moments that prepare us for the journey in the valley below, and it is the hope that the valley is not our destination that keeps us going. 

So keep trekking in your journey down Jesus Road. There is certainly time for rest and reflection along the way (more on that in a few weeks), but for now, no parking in the midst of your journey, because there are still miles to go and people to meet before it’s all said and done. We’ll explore this a bit further on Sunday in our message, Merge, where I will teach about the necessity of relationships for ministry and service.

God Bless, and I hope to see you Sunday (if not before)!

Pastor Mark