Sermonette: Notes from the Trail
#FT24-02s
James C. Stoertz
Given 18-Oct-24; 16 minutes
description: We dwell in physical and stationary homes throughout our lives. Some of us may go camping occasionally, but at the Feast of Tabernacles, we are commanded to live in temporary dwellings for seven days, metaphorically mirroring our temporary lives during which we live perhaps 70 or 80 years, described by Koheleth as vanity and striving after wind. Our physical trek teaches us that 1.) less is better; the less we carry, the longer we can go in a day; 2.) peer pressure must be discarded, 3.) it is wise to cast aside our wants and stick with our needs, 4.) we must avoid distractions and stay on the trail, 5.) we must keep our lamps trimmed and burning, and 6.) we must avoid the temptation to bail out, but maintain our motivation to move forward. With time, experience, repetition, and mostly faith, the impossible becomes possible when we maintain a vision or hope that keeps us from perishing. We may one day be required to come down from the rooftops and leave everything behind, fleeing for the mountains. Make time to visit the wilds, learning from God's creation, using our faith like Joshua and Caleb, considering the great joy of leaving this world behind.
transcript:
My dad was a geologist for the federal government, and he took the family with him, camping out. As a result, I have spent a good deal of my life in a tent in the desert; the very definition of a Bedouin. I have not been able to leave that life behind completely.
For most of us, we dwell in physical and stationary homes throughout our lives. As we contemplate this Bedouin lifestyle, our imagination can play tricks on us: Hardship; sand in your clothing; sand in your eyes; scorching heat until sunset, then chilled until dawn; dumping scorpions from your boots before you put them on; rattlesnakes snuggling up to you to escape the chilly, night air; a time of tents, tarps, and sleeping in the open.
Some of us do go camping occasionally. But at the Feast of Tabernacles, we are commanded to live in temporary dwellings for seven days, a metaphor of transitory Bedouin life mirroring our temporary lives in this temporary world. We are given three-score and ten years or perhaps four-score to work out our salvation. Then we die. And so does this world that we know. But then comes the Millennium also pictured by the Feast!
Let us turn to Isaiah 51 where we can read a great message of comfort to us from God. Isaiah quotes God and we will quote an excerpt.
Isaiah 51:6 “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will grow old like a garment, and those who dwell in it will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever.”
That phrase, “My salvation,” is feminine; something saved, or someone saved. In context, that is us—the saved—the Bride of Christ.
There is a permanent aspect and a temporary aspect to the creation, to our journey, and to the Feast. The permanent aspect is the spiritual (the forever). The temporary aspect is the physical (the temporal, vapor, and vanity).
Speaking of the vanity of the world, let us look at Ecclesiastes. The word translated as “vanity,” used 37 times in Ecclesiastes, is hebel.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
The word “vanity” is used 5 times in this one verse alone. But it is also translated quite differently in many other places.
Turn with me to Deuteronomy 32 where we can pick just one of many examples.
Deuteronomy 32:21 “They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols.”
The word translated as “foolish idols” is that same word, hebel. And in fact, my margin even says vanities. This world is nothing but vanity and idols!
But back to the Feast: The Feast of Tabernacles reflects a time of the Israelites living in tents, constantly on the move through a physical world. Looking forward the Feast of Tabernacles pictures a time of permanence, living under the governance of God through Jesus Christ, and we in a spiritual state. Our path in life is to move from this vain world to the rock-solid spirit. Think about the Temple of God made from stone with Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone.
The time the Israelites spent wandering in the desert would have been a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow. This was a great metaphor for the path from the temporary, physical world to the rock-solid, spiritual world. But it seems that only two of the original men, Joshua and Caleb, learned it. We can speculate on what made them different and that may be a different sermonette. One difference is that they were optimistic. It is worth taking an optimistic view when we are in trials.
I have spent a lot of time in the wilderness throughout my life, and I would like to share some experiences from being in the wilderness. Aside from homelessness, this is the ultimate condition of being in a temporary state. This is in many ways like our temporary state at the Feast, and it is something we may all have to do as this world goes more and more crazy!
Come with me as we explore a list of “Notes from a mountain trail” paired with lessons from the Bible.
1. You quickly learn that you do not need all the physical accouterments that you always thought you must have. Particularly when you have done a lot of long hiking, when you must carry everything on your back, you learn that each ounce counts. The less you carry, the farther you can go in a day, and the less weary you will be. You do not need your earbuds or your music. The majestic silence of the mountains will be enough.
Think of Jesus Christ sending out the disciples with nothing but one staff, one coat, and one pair of sandals in Matthew 10 and Mark 6. That coat and sandals will have to do, for both travel and the Sabbath, no matter what the Pharisees say.
2. This crazy, mixed-up world of politics, finance, and peer pressure is left far behind and far below. You can go for months and when you come back, nothing has changed, and nothing has improved. You can literally leave this world behind. I particularly like James 4:4 here because of its boldness.
James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
3. When you are separated from the world, you still need your food, water, shelter, and protection. You do not need your iPad, recliner, golf clubs, or beer. The difference between needs and wants becomes stark. When you become acutely aware of your list of needs, pared down, there is a certain humility that comes from it. All the rest is vanity.
4. You had better stay on the path. Stray off the path and you can quickly get into big trouble. My son hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, and to do it within a year, you will have to hike in snow. He got off the path in deep snow in the Sierras, and it took him a day to re-find it. And deep snow is big danger.
Proverbs 21:16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.
5. It is always nice to have a campfire, especially in the high mountains when even in August, the night air becomes frosty. The cozy glow of a campfire beacons you to draw close.
We can be reminded of our Lord who appeared as the smoke by day and the fire by night that led and protected Israel in their desert wandering.
6. There are times on a remote trail when for the moment or the day you are beyond your ability. And there is no option to bail out. You will walk out, be carried out, or die. It is times like this that you see very bluntly that you are not as independent as you think. Your brother will help you but your action will also be required.
It is good and pleasant to be with others.
Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
7. My wife, Paula, recalls a conversation with a thru-hiker moving fast on the John Muir Trail through the Sierras. He said, “Part way through the trail, you become aware that you are capable, physically. But from here on out, it is mental.” Physical hardship is only part of the way, and for us it is spiritual as well.
There is no doubt that God put the Israelites through hardship in the desert. But this learning experience is a lesson more for us than for them apparently, since most of them did not learn it. For us, there may be a whole lot more coming, both mentally and spiritually.
8. A “saddle” is a low gap in a mountain ridge. You have got to hike up to the saddle to make it over the ridge, and it is always a tough slog up to the saddle. The whole way up, you probably have your eyes on the rocks under your feet with hardly a moment to look up. But when you arrive at the top it is almost always an awe-inspiring view. There are mountain peaks as far as the eyes can see, perhaps even jutting above the curve of the earth’s surface. Looking at the map, you realize that one of those peaks on the horizon is on your path. The first thought can be, “that’s impossible!”
With time, experience, repetition, and mostly faith, the impossible becomes the possible. This is like a vision, a hope that keeps you from perishing. Where there is no vision, the people perish. One step at a time, you will make it with patience and perseverance!
9. The pace of a walker is completely different from this frenetic world. When you walk for a long time, you start to see the details of the creation around you. Jesus Christ says,
Luke 12:27 “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
We naturally have an image of lilies, a flower important in literature and culture. But this reference is more likely the wild anemone, something like the orange California Poppy that covers mountainsides all at once. In fact, the quilt that you see wrapping this lectern was made by Ali Graham. And, its intricate pattern is named, “California Poppy.”
God’s creation is evident by the things around you. But not so much as in the wilderness, undisturbed by this world.
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.
This is actually an indictment of even those without the Holy Spirit. Surely, we should see it.
10. Once you hit your stride, there are hour-long periods of prayer and meditation, especially if you have chosen to leave your earbuds and music behind!
It is a wonderful Bible study to see the association between God and the mountains. Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Mount Zion is the New Covenant Jerusalem. Elijah prayed to God on Mount Horeb. Jesus prayed on the mountain to be alone in Matthew 14:23, and Luke 6:12.
11. When you are away from the light pollution, and the chattering of the world around you, look up at the stars! Did you know that 80% of North Americans cannot even see the Milky Way, the band of stars that make up our closest neighbors in the heavens? In the mountains, you can look up and see the Milky Way, the Pleiades, Orion, all the constellations, the Great Bear and the Little Bear, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Pegasus, and Perseus.
A poem by Walt Whitman sums it up. It is short and I will read it.
When I heard the learned astronomer [the title of the poem as well],
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wandered off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Looked up in perfect silence at the stars.
In Genesis 15, verse 5 God talks to Abram:
Genesis 15:5 And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.”
12. Pierre-Simon Laplace, regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time, presented his book on astronomy to Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France. Napoleon asked why he had not mentioned God. Laplace responded, “I have no need for that hypothesis.”
One final observation from the high mountains is that what science purports to explain does almost nothing for you out on the trail. It merely explains in child-like simplicity those things on a gossamer thread of the civilized world. Out in the wild, the clouds build up in towering piles far, far above you and this giant mountain.
The entire castle of scientific theories, hypotheses, postulates, and proofs crumble before the onslaught of God’s creation which will do what God wills.
We may one day be required to come down from the rooftops and leave everything behind, fleeing for the mountains. Make some time and come visit the wilds to learn from God’s Creation, but even if you do not, or cannot, you can do so in spirit. Review these notes from a mountain trail. Use your faith like Joshua and Caleb. Consider the great joy of leaving this world behind.
This is one lesson of optimism from the Feast of Tabernacles.
JCS/rwu/drm