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John 14:23-29, Acts 16:9-15

Pastor Dean Byrom

How you prepare to go on a trip reveals a great deal about your personal character and your present life circumstances. Cautious travelers like I am used to contact AAA and get detailed “trip-tiks” to guide them. On-line travel services now give such travelers details as minute as how far it is between certain gas stations (or electric car charging units). Thus we’re able to choose a restaurant for our lunch stop before we’ve stepped out of the house. Such voyagers also make sure that they’ve picked up their dry cleaning, cleaned out the refrigerator, and checked the car’s oil before starting out.

Spontaneous, travel-as-adventure types (I’m told) like to hop in the car and head out of town before they even begin thinking about what route they might take. They buy toothpaste and new socks along the way. They turn off at those blue-signed intersections that promise a scenic route meandering out of sight. Seat-of-the-pants travelers don’t worry about what may be around the next corner because they like corners; they enjoy not knowing what lies ahead.

Of course, if you are traveling with small children, the journeying motif becomes less an adventure and more a survival test. Instead of AAA, parents head for Wal-Mart to pick up stacks of coloring books, portable games and batteries for video games. Sheetz is also a must for important travel food like beef jerky, nacho chips, fruit roll-ups, juice boxes, string cheese and cookies. Running out of Oreos is a disaster, second only to running out of gas if you are a parental traveler.

When we think of the Apostle Paul, we usually envision someone who is spiritually on fire, moving about, establishing churches, making daring escapes from the authorities, or boldly witnessing even from the confines of jail. But today’s Scripture lesson begins by depicting an almost stalled-out Paul - one who knows that he must get moving, but not at all sure of which way to go. His idea to head into the province of Asia (present day Turkey) had been nixed by the Holy Spirit. Paul and his companions appear to be on the verge of traveling in circles, when he finally receives, in a dream, the vision that directs their mission over into Europe, into Macedonia. Yet even when Paul appeared to be without a clue to the others, he knew that he was in constant touch with his primary navigator. For Paul’s spirit remained open to God’s messages and God’s guidance, an openness that perceived the divine presence in a “no” as it did in a “yes”. Throughout today’s lesson, Paul’s quest for his mission’s direction remains positive and unrelenting. Paul didn’t plop down and pout in Phrygia when he was denied an open door to Asia. And Paul didn’t moan when his intention of moving on to Bithynia was also closed. Rather, Paul’s own spirit remained in a prayer-like state that enabled him to receive God’s “trip-tik”. Paul’s soul had become acutely attuned to the frequencies of the Holy Spirit. Wherever his journeys took him, he was never out-of-touch, never “incommunicado” with God’s purposes and plans.

Some of us travel light, some travel heavy; some take off frequently, others stick close to home. Whatever kind of soul traveler you are - never, never, never undertake any journey in life without prayer. It is prayer that enables God to be present with us, to direct our path, to help us navigate the rough roads, and to rest easy on the smooth ways. To take off on any path without first listening for God’s directions is to travel into dangerous territory indeed.

The English philosopher/political economist John Stuart Mill was prepared for his profession by his stern Scottish father, James - himself a recognized philosopher/economist/historian. James Mill observed his son’s early brilliance and decided that the boy should be educated exhaustively in literature and the arts, science, history and philosophy. However, he declared that religious learning was unnecessary and distracting. So he kept any religious instruction away from his son.  Although John Stuart flourished in his academic studies, he later looked back on his youth and realized that a profound sense of lostness and longing had pervaded his heart. Although his mind was crammed with information, John Stuart Mill declared that his soul was “starved”. Without the directional guidance of a God known personally through prayer and faith, Mill likened himself to “a well-equipped ship, but with no sail”.

Then, several decades ago, a popular song hit the charts, making, if my memory serves me rightly, its crooner yet another “one-hit wonder”. Christopher Cross’ “Sailing” combined a floating lyrical melody with equally drifting lyrics that declared: “Sailing, takes me away to where I want to be….” How many weekend sailors would gladly chuck their “day job” to spend all of their time aboard ship, just cruising to wherever the winds would take them? Sailing has always epitomized an escapist’s dream as the ultimate getaway. Yet anyone who has ever really sailed knows that it involves a lot of hard work, expert knowledge of the winds and the seas, constant maintenance of the equipment and the sails themselves, not to mention having the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time to catch the most favorable winds. Is it the effortless appearance of sailing that commands our fascination and constitutes sailing’s appeal? When the proper sail is hoisted, a ship seems to magically move across the water, propelled by a great invisible, unquenched power. That is the kind of sailing John Stuart Mill yearned for with his starved and shriveled soul.

That is the kind of sailing Paul enjoyed - even when he had no clear picture of his destination. In today’s lesson, Luke notes what good time Paul and his companions made when they finally literally set their sails in the dream-inspired direction of Macedonia. They knew what it was to have “wind in their sails.” Also note that when they arrived they encountered a woman by the name of Lydia - a dealer in rich, expensive purple cloth who was, herself, without wind in her sails. Her life was well-ordered. She was successful and independent. Her “boat” was well-equipped. But even her exquisite purple cloth couldn’t furnish wind for her sails to move her heart and soul out of the spiritual doldrums. Only when she heard Paul’s preaching did Lydia finally see that there was a different way, a God-informed way, to direct her life. Her own “starved” soul listened “eagerly” to Paul. She responded with magnificent faith and her whole household and she herself were baptized!

Are you prayerfully in touch enough with the winds of God’s Spirit? Are your sails confidently filled with the breath of the Holy Spirit, such that you no longer “say a prayer” or “stay in prayer” but you actually become a prayer? There may never be a more opportune time in your life to do so than in this little more than a month until Rebecca DePoe begins her life with you as your new pastor. So, are you willing to change course, even recharge the direction of your life, if the Holy Spirit of God suddenly blows you in a new, unexpected direction?”

Is there wind in your sails?