Copyright ©2019 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
For this calendar year 2019, my Congregation embraced for our annual theme, "If Thou Shalt Seek." Seeking the LORD is a common refrain in religious circles. Indeed, it is the whole point of why religion came into existence. There is even a scripture that is frequently used (from Isaiah 55)to encourage spiritual aspirants in the seeking of God.
However, I was led to use a different scripture as a reference point. Seeing that so many people are experiencing difficult trials and tribulations, are suffering the consequences of mistakes made in life, and/or are feeling lost and disconnected from God, the scripture in Deuteronomy 4 speaks to the context of one who has made mistakes, or one who is lost, or even being oppressed. With this in mind, let us continue with our topic.
In the classic film, "The Wizard of Oz", the main character, Dorothy finds herself transported by a tornado from her home in Kansas to an alternate reality. Realizing that she was in a strange land, she says to her dog, Toto, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!" Of course, there was nothing that the dog could do.
In short order, she met the people of that place (Munchkins). When she told them about her dilemma, they reasoned that "the Wizard of Oz" would be able to help her, and they encouraged her to follow the "yellow brick road" to get to him. Along that road, she met some companions who were seeking missing pieces of themselves, and based on the advice she received, Dorothy encouraged them to journey with her. These companions also encountered some trouble-makers along the way, but they still pressed on.
Eventually, Dorothy and her companions reached Oz and met the famous "Wizard", only to discover that the "Wizard" was a charlatan who had no power or ability to help them. There was, however, a "good witch", who counseled them, and they ended up discovering that the missing pieces they were looking for were already inside them!
The journey to Oz turned out not a bust after all, however, because the challenges they faced along the way compelled them to draw out and use the very qualities (intelligence, compassion, and courage) they thought were missing. Even in the case of Dorothy, she was already wearing the red slippers, which she picked up early on; and they turned out to be her way home. All she had to do was just click the heels together and say, "I wish I was home..."
This American literary classic is full of wisdom and revelation, much of which falls beyond the scope of our time today. But, let us extract a few nuggets for our instruction presently.
In the scripture from Deuteronomy 4, we find Moses pleading to the people to trust in God and to obey His commandments. We can imagine Moses' deep, heartfelt yearning for the people to continue in the right way, as he himself confessed, "I must die in this land."
Moses, reflecting on his years of sacrifice, found himself excluded due to a mistake he made acting presumptuously. You could almost hear him say, "God has already decided to keep ME out, and He caused your fathers to die in this wilderness, so PLEASE believe me when I tell you, do what God says--or else!"
But, understanding the frailties of humanity, as well as the mercifulness of God, Moses gave the people practical advice for getting back on track when the inevitable happened. In short, he said, "Getting off track incurs unpleasant consequences, but even if the worst case scenario happens, you can still get to God "if [you] seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul."
Moses' plea was like a parent telling their child heading out on their own to stay away from certain things. Almost certainly, that child will, in fact, be faced with one or more vices about which they were warned (drinking, drugs, promiscuity, credit...), and inevitably, the child, bowed by peer pressure or emboldened by curiosity, will try at least one of those things. But in most cases, the child realizes the error, sees the bleakness of that negative path before too long, remembers the teachings, and gets back on track.
Still, this profound scripture, serving as backdrop for this American classic, is instructive for us today.
Some people, as well intentioned as they may be, could lead you down the wrong path. The Munchkins had heard the rumors of the great Wizard, but obviously had no idea of the reality (i.e. that he was a fraud). But, their heart was in the right place, in that they wanted to help Dorothy. Proverbs tells us, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding [especially when you are lost/ignorant]. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."
We see that, although the Wizard was not helpful, the journey itself was. And, I would conjecture that, in this story, as well as in life, the desire to help mattered more than the path taken; for as we saw, although the Wizard could not help, someone else they met on their journey DID help!
Speaking of the path, we make note here that the path was aptly named "the yellow brick road" because it was made of gold bricks. Certainly, a road paved with gold would lead someone to salvation, right? (At least that is the conventional thinking...) But, we learn from Jesus that such things are often misleading, just as we learned with the Munchkins, well intentioned as they were. Matthew 7 reads:
[13] Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
[14] Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
One might argue that journey to Oz was a waste of time and energy, but if we think about it, was it? Certainly, it was not the shortest or most efficient route. But, if they were not faced with fear, would the Lion have discovered his courage? If they were not faced with a problem, would the Scarecrow have discovered his intelligence? If they were not faced with sadness and pain, would the Tin Man have discovered his compassion?
God sometimes whips up a tornado of trials and tribulations in our lives so that, if we are to survive, we will be compelled to draw out qualities that we didn't know we had. They compel us to knock down walls that separate us from one another. They compel us to cry out and reach up to a higher power, greater than our own. For, if we notice, the final destination of the companions was not a place; it was a state of being! Even Dorothy, although she was from Kansas, did not say, "I wish I was in Kansas." She said, "I wish I was home!"
As the cliché says, "Home is where the heart is!" Home is a place of love, joy, and peace. Home is a place where we feel safe, warm, and valued. Even if the Wizard of Oz was who he claimed to be, Oz was never the destination. They ultimately weren't interested in going somewhere as much as much as they were in BEING someTHING.
And thus, we approach this profound scripture (Deuteronomy 4:25-29) with greater context. We hear the words that Moses is speaking. We feel the urgency, passion, and compassion by which he speaks. But as a people, Israel didn't really put two-and-two together until they found the Assyrians and the Babylonians beating down the door. Even in our individual lives, we often don't realize that we're off track (or how far off track we are) until trouble comes knocking like the police!
Sometimes, we're definitely like the Prodigal Son in that we're on a path that we willingly (and perhaps eagerly) chose, a path that glittered, a popular, wide, easily accessible path that appealed to something inside of us; but a path mistakenly or hastily chosen without regard to long term consequences. After a while, we often find out that what we're doing is not working. The pleasure and gratification that we were receiving is no longer there (or comes with increasingly diminishing returns), and now we feel pitifully stuck along the side of a road that we chose to take.
Sometimes, we unwittingly turned down Destiny Boulevard, and find a rough and rocky path, a path that, as we make our way down it, we can't turn back. We feel similar concern, fear, despondency, and yes, loneliness. We sense deeply that the destination is surely there and worth the trip, but we can't see it because of the fog, the darkness, and the twists and turns.
These roads are, by design, lonely, because they are paths that we chose on our own and for ourselves. We chose them, perhaps with good intentions, perhaps for selfish pleasure; chosen with the best information we had at the time. But, no matter which road we're on, no matter how or why we got on that road, Moses told us, "If thou shalt seek... thou shalt find Him..."
In the old days, they used to say, "All roads lead to Rome." Well, if we have a deep faith and a yearning to seek, then we will find that all roads lead to God! And, it will dawn on us what the Psalmist meant (from Psalm 139):
[7] Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
[8] If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.
[9] If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
[10] Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.
So, regardless of the circumstances, even in the bleakest moments when our eyes are a fountain of tears and our heart faints in despair: "If, from thence, thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, IF..."
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