Dear Congregation

Something happened to me in the last few years which means that the act of walking has gone from a begrudgingly inefficient mode of personal transportation to a legitimate form of exercise. I used to laugh at people who walked for exercise. Now I give them the knowing head nod as we pass each other (albeit slowly) with our arms pumping under our Lululemon (or Costco imitation in my case) athleisure gear. I used to think that walking was walking and now I have learned that there are different sorts of intensities, paces, and even intervals that make up walking workouts. I love being middle-aged. My new standards are so much lower, which means that I disappoint myself a whole lot less than I used to. 

All this walking around has got me thinking though. Life - and especially the life of faith - is like a walk, a really long one. There are seasons where the pace is high, or when the incline feels impossibly steep, and there are times when the road is flat and wide and the pace is easy and steady. There are also seasons when it feels like you are injured and it takes all of your energy to just put one foot in front of the other.

But still, we walk.

This imagery stuck out to me a few weeks ago in our sermon on Enoch from Hebrews 11. My friend, Will Bostian, did an excellent job explaining that pretty obscure reference to us, and I have been thinking about it pretty much ever since. 

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. - Heb 11:5 (ESV)

Enoch is said to have had a life that pleased God. What did he do that caused that pleased response from God? Genesis 5 tells us. 

24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. - Ge 5:24.

Enoch walked with God. 

In the easy seasons, he walked with God.
In the slow going seasons, he walked with God.
When the road was smooth and wide, he walked with God.
When it got narrow and steep, he walked with God.
What mattered most in Enoch’s walk wasn’t its pace, or duration, or intensity.
What mattered most was who he walked with.
And Enoch walked with God.

Back in Hebrews 11, the writer goes on to explain a little more about what this looks like in reality. He says, 

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. - Heb 11:6.

There are two elements to Enoch’s faith-filled walk that mean that his walk is one that is “with God.” Wherever Enoch walked, he believed in God’s reality and in God’s reward. No matter where the path led him, he continued to believe that God existed and he continued to believe that the path that God laid out for him would present greater reward than a path that he could lay out for himself. 

So friends, as we near the end of the year, I have no idea what lays ahead for you in your walk. I know that some of you would describe 2023 as a flat and wide road where the pace has been steady and sustainable, and that you leave this year feeling great! Praise God! Please make sure that you remember the reality and reward of God! He is walking with you and if the road is flat it is by His good grace. Walk in thankfulness and humility. 

I also know that some of you have walked the toughest path of your life this year, and for some of you, you aren’t sure if you can take another step.

Remember God’s reality.
Remember the certainty of God’s reward.

And then walk with Him, knowing that He will get you home. 

One day, when my journey on this earth is over, I can’t think of something better to be said of me than that people would gather together and say … “He walked with God.” In light of God’s reality, and in certainty of His waiting reward, I can’t think of a walking partner who could be better.

Walk on friends.
Walk on.

The music this week has to be U2 singing “Walk On” which was the closing song to their iconic 2001 Boston show. The thank you “Unto the Almighty” followed by the “Hallelujah” at the end still gives me goosebumps. And also, how great is it to see footage of shows with no one holding up phones?

U2 - Walk On (Boston 2001)

See you Sunday.
Ross