Joe had crowded with the family
into the car and they headed south to the church. Joe began to see more houses
and then they came upon a little town. The sign at the city limits said, “Greenwood.”
Paul turned left between a gas station and a pizza parlor and a block later
they came to the church. Joe had pictured a white building with a steeple and a
cross, but this church looked like grade school. He found out later that in
fact it had been a school, but when two schools were consolidated, this one became
available, and the church was able to purchase the property. They had services
in the gym and used the classrooms for Sunday school and office space. They
also rented space to a counselor and an insurance agent. It helped pay for the
mortgage.
The backboards in the gym had been
cranked up to the ceiling, and the floor was covered with folding chairs. Joe
followed Paul, Priscilla and the kids up the center aisle. They sat on the
right side about halfway back. “Closer to the bathroom,” Priscilla explained. A
lot of people were standing around visiting. Joe was surprised to find that
there was a band up front. When they began to play everyone settled into the
chairs. Joe noticed Pastor Nate in the front row with his family. The Easter
service was unexpectedly wonderful. There was lots of singing and joy. Some of
the songs sounded like rock and roll, but he liked the music, and at times it
moved him.
After the music a drama group came
up and presented a short play. He had vague memories of kids in bathrobes with
papier-mâché props acting out a story, but this was different. The actors
presented a ten-minute performance of what Peter might have gone through on the
Saturday before Jesus’ resurrection. It was definitely not a feel good play.
Peter’s anguish came out in tortured screams. His guilt at betraying Jesus
overwhelmed him. His sense of loneliness and loss of purpose brought him to his
knees. But almost more than all those, Peter himself felt betrayed. He couldn’t
escape the feeling that Jesus had let them all down. James and Matthew tried to
console him but they weren’t in much better shape. Mary, the mother of Jesus,
finally came and said, “Peter, there is much about Jesus that doesn’t meet
expectation. I’ve had to change my thinking many times. It isn’t him, Peter, it’s
us. Listen Peter! I watched my child hang on a cross and die. I felt like I was
dying there with him. I don’t know all the right words to say to make you feel
better, but I do know this: God is good. I trust God-even when life doesn’t go
the way I had planned. Peter nodded but said nothing. When Mary left he
stretched himself out face down on the floor and the lights went out.
The lights came back on and Pastor
Nate came to the front. He was wearing slacks and a dress shirt, but no tie, no
jacket, and no black shirt with a funny collar. He didn’t use a big pulpit
either. He just had a music stand to hold his Bible. He began to speak about
how the women made their way to the tomb on Sunday morning. He touched on the
play that had just been presented. “What was going through their minds?” Nate
asked. “Were they worried, depressed or just quiet? But then there was an
earthquake. They must have been frightened at that point. They hurried to the
tomb. They were going to put spices on Jesus body, earthquake or no earthquake.
But when they arrived their expectations were shattered forever. Jesus wasn’t
in his tomb. Even more, two angels appeared and spoke to them. ‘He is not
here;’ they said, ‘He has risen!’”
Pastor Nate paused, and then said,
“Over five hundred people claimed to have seen Jesus after that Sunday morning.
Now fast forward a few weeks. On the Jewish holiday called Pentecost Peter
stood up and claimed before a large crowd that Jesus had risen from the dead.
What do we conclude from this? We know this much: Jesus died, but then the tomb
was empty and Jesus appeared to all those people. Peter himself was radically changed. In fact
all the disciples were transformed. What changed them from doubtful, fearful
people, grasping at the remnants of a faith that seemingly died before it
began, to men and women who would not be denied? They had courage and power.
They were bold and confident. We may believe what we will, but those who were
closest to Jesus were fully convinced that he had risen from the dead. In their
letters and correspondences they wrote about it again and again. Lastly, many
of them died for this belief. But of course the story does not end there. After
Jesus’ resurrection there were only a hundred and twenty people who called themselves
disciples, but that little group changed the world. Threats and opposition
couldn’t stop them. Persecution couldn’t stop them. So many of them died for
their faith that the ancient word for “witness”-martyr-eventually came to mean
someone who witnessed by dying.”
Nate then had everyone turn to 1
Corinthians 15 in the New Testament. He pointed out that this passage taught
that since Jesus had risen from the dead, so would all who followed The Way. He
told of how we were going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so we
would be with the Lord forever. Then he concluded by saying: “It’s not enough
just to know this truth, as great as it is. It must become true for you
personally. That requires a response. If you already are a follower of The Way,
then your response ought to be something akin to courage, or faith, or power,
because death no longer has any power over you. If you are not a follower, then
I want to encourage you to consider this great truth. As a theologian said a
few years ago: “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not
risen—nothing else matters.” In other words, if Jesus rose from the dead, there
is hope for life everlasting, and if he didn’t there is no hope. If you would
like to pursue this come see me after the service. Let’s pray.”
Afterward, the people visited like
they had before the service. Joe stood with the family and said hi when he was
introduced. Eventually they made their way out to the parking lot, and it came
time to say goodbye. He walked with Paul, Priscilla and the kids to the car.
They all knew he was leaving and little Meg clung to his leg all the way across
the parking lot.
“I don’t want you to go, Joe!” she
cried.
“I know, Meg. I’m going to miss you
a lot.” Joe said. “But you know, I follow Jesus now, and sometimes that means
doing things we don’t want to. I promise I will come back and see you, okay?”
“Okay,” she said as she went and
buried her face in her mother’s dress. He turned to Ben. “Thanks for helping me
learn to be a farmer, Ben. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
They shook hands like men might do,
and when Ben got into the car there was Andrew standing behind him looking shy.
Joe knelt down next to him and whispered “Andrew, you are a special boy. I am
so glad you asked me to tell you about Jesus. Don’t tell anyone, but I am going
to miss you most.”
“Here,” he said as a reply, and
held out a piece of paper to Joe. “It’s my address. Could you write me
sometime?”
“Of course I can!” Joe replied. He
put the paper in his backpack. Then he hugged them all again and watched them
drive away. He was going to miss them all. He walked back inside and found
Pastor Nate talking to a couple. While he waited he browsed the tables and
bulletin boards. They had pictures posted of missionaries the church supported.
He found a booklet the pastor had written that covered some of the material in
his sermon. It was about 10 pages and entitled “The Christian Apologetic.” He
wasn’t sure what that meant, but he put one in his backpack. He waited another five
minutes, and when he glanced over Nate was praying with the couple. When they
walked by him to go out, he noticed the woman was dabbing at her eyes with a
tissue.
“So, Joe,” Nathan said as he walked
over, “I’m going to my in-laws for dinner later today, why don’t you let me buy
you lunch?”
“That sounds great, but I do have
money.”
“Save your money, Joe. I’d love to
do this,” Nate responded.
“Okay.”
They walked around the corner to a
little place called the “Greenwood Grill” that reminded Joe of Sharon
“Pastor Nate! Don’t see ya here on
Sunday much. You guys want menus?”
“Hi, Mandy. Yeah, I just brought
Joe here over for lunch. I told him if he didn’t repent, he’d have to eat the
food here. But at least he will go to hell with a full stomach.”
“No way. This food will take all
day to kill you. Joe, you’ll have plenty of time to repent,” Mandy said. She
laughed all the way back to the kitchen, and a minute later she brought them
menus, still smiling. They ordered, and while they waited for their food Joe
asked, “So how do you know the waitress?”
“I did her wedding a few years ago.
She and her husband had a landscaping business, but he threw it all away on
cocaine. He’s doing time for possession and we’re praying it will wake him up
to the truth of his addiction. It hasn’t been easy for Mandy. She calls me on
the phone and cries a lot. My wife sees her once or twice a week also.”
“So, what’s it like being a
minister?” Joe asked.
“Like any occupation, it has its
plusses and minuses. I love helping people, especially those who realize they
need help. I love preaching and teaching. I hate the meetings and the hard
cases who seem to be disgruntled over the silliest things. We had a family quit
the church when we bought the school. ‘Not fitting for a church building,’ they
said. A few people complained when I quit wearing a tie on Sunday, but I just
sort of ignored them. Within spitting distance of this café, Joe, are a
thousand people who don’t follow The Way, and we’re arguing over the color of
the new carpet in the nursery! Incredible.”
“That does sound kind of silly.”
“I’m sorry, Joe, for complaining. I
hate the idea of going through the motions. I just want to get it right. I want
my faith to be real. I don’t have any patience for silliness, I’m afraid. Anyway,
enough about me, let’s finish what we were talking about this morning.”
“I told you that I felt unsettled.
I have found the Seven Truths, but my future seems uncertain.”
“Joe,” Nathan began, “our faith is
called “The Way” for a reason. It is all about the journey. Let me ask you a
question. Where are you going?”
“That’s just it, pastor, I don’t
know.”
“Oh, but you do know. What is the
Seventh Truth?” Nathan asked.
“Okay, so I’m going to heaven.”
“That’s right, Joe. But heaven is
not some far off place you’re going to someday. You are on “the way” there now.
Think of it this way: there is a destination and there is a journey to that
destination. So, it’s not two things, it’s just two aspects of the same thing.”
“I think I understand that,” Joe
responded.
“But, think of this also Joe. Like
every journey there is a horizon. There is always a horizon. You can’t really
see beyond it. That is why things seem uncertain to you. But what you have to
do is learn to balance the journey with the destination. You can never
sacrifice one for the other.”
“What do you mean?” Joe asked.
“When I was growing up there was a
phrase we used sometimes to describe a believer who acted more godly than
others. We would say they were too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. But
there is a flip side to that. Some people are too earthly minded to be any heavenly
good. You see, both attitudes are out of balance. The first type of person is
too focused on the destination, the second on the journey. We don’t want to get
so caught up in daily affairs that we forget where we are going and lose our
purpose in life. But neither do we want to be so focused on heaven that we
can’t function in the world.”
“Okay, I see that,” Joe said. “So
do you have any suggestions for me?”
“That’s a good question, Joe. I’m
not a prophet or a guidance counselor, but from what you’ve told me, I think
your journey lies elsewhere. By that I mean that I think the pursuit of the
Basic Lessons is going to take you away from our little town.”
When Nathan spoke those words,
Joe’s face got warm, and he felt out of breath. He both realized and accepted
what God was calling him to do. But he had another question for Nathan. “What,
then, are the Basic Lessons?”
“I think the easiest way to put it,
Joe” Nathan said, “is to think of these lessons as the steps that carry you to
your destination. They aren’t everything God requires from you, but without
them you can’t really be on the journey. Your heart is taking you somewhere
else.”
“I understand that,” Joe said.
“But you want to know what they
are?” Nathan asked.
“Yes.”
“There are ten Lessons, Joe, that
descend in a kind of order of priority, but don’t make too much out of that
except for the first two.” He took a clean napkin and wrote them down as he
spoke. “They are: One-Love God with all your heart, soul mind and strength.
Jesus said this is the greatest commandment. Two-Love your neighbor as you love
yourself. This is the second greatest commandment. Three-Forgive others as the
Lord has forgiven you. Four-Worship God and serve him only. Five-obey God’s
commands. Six-deny yourself. Seven-clothe yourself with humility. Eight-pray
without ceasing. Nine-be content in every circumstance. Ten-run the race with perseverance.
There you are, Joe. I hope this helps,” he said as he handed Joe the napkin. “Let
me say that sometimes God will drop a lesson in your lap, and sometimes you
will need to reach out and take hold of what’s offered. That is how The Way
works.”
The food came and they talked over
the meal. At one point Nathan asked, “So, have you decided where you are going?”
“I think so,” Joe replied, “I’m
heading back into the city.”
“You know, I didn’t want to say
anything, but I think that is a great decision for you. I wish I could take
you, but it’s just too far. I’m going south about five miles and then I have to
turn off. I can give you a ride that far. There is a train station in the next
town. If you could hitch a ride there you could take the train into the city.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
They got in the car and drove
south. When they got to Nathan’s turnoff he pulled the car over. He prayed for
Joe and then Joe got out and watched him drive away. Joe turned south and began
to walk. It was good to be walking and alone again. As he walked he thought
more and more about what was ahead. Slowly his reluctance to leave Gloryhaven
faded and after a mile Joe was feeling excited about the potential the future
held for him.
Joe had walked over two hours and
was feeling tired. Several cars had passed him going both ways, but none had
stopped. Then he heard the sound of a car approaching from the rear and before
he could turn around a red Porsche blew by him with the top down. Joe didn’t
even have time to put his thumb out. But then the car screeched to a stop. Joe
saw it whip around in the road and come back toward him. At first Joe was
concerned, but when the car got closer he saw who was driving.
“Joe!” Philo said as he jumped out
of the car almost before it stopped. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m on my way back to the city
Philo…I’ve been on the mountain….” Then Philo grabbed him and pulled him close
and hugged him.
“It’s good to see you Joe. I’ve
thought about you and prayed for you every day. Why don’t you hop in and I’ll
give you a ride?”
“Thanks, Philo. It’s good to see
you too.”
He popped the front trunk and Joe
put his stuff in there. Then they got in and took off. Over the wind Joe told
Philo the whole story from when he’d seen him along the river until now. The
country side sped by. They talked about The Way and about the city, then they
talked about sports cars and convertibles and driving fast.
“I can’t take you to the city,
Joe,” Philo said, “but I can take you to the train station. Would that be
okay?”
“Sure, Philo. Anything is fine.”
They talked for a while until the noise made it difficult.
Joe settled into his leather seat and enjoyed the day. The car was a dream.
Philo drifted through the corners with a sort of relaxed smile on his face. He
had Stevie Ray Vaughan on the CD player. The wind blew Joe’s hair all over the
place. What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon. A half an hour later they pulled
into a little town that didn’t seem to be much more than the train depot. There
was a store and a bar across the street. There were no curbs or sidewalks. Joe
saw a gas station a block away and a rundown motel across from that. Philo
pulled up in front of the depot.
“Can I give you some money for
gas?” Joe asked as they got out.
“Are you kidding? That’d be like
paying a kid to eat candy. I love driving this car Joe, especially on a day
like today. You just made it better. No, you can’t give me money for gas. I
ought to pay you for riding with me!”
“Philo,” Joe began.
“I’m just kidding, Joe. But I mean
it when I say I’m really glad we ran into each other. You look great, man. I’m
so happy for you that you found the Seven Truths, that you never gave up and
never looked back. The Lord has great plans for you, Joe. Keep on The Way.”
“I will, Philo. I promise.”
With that they parted. Joe went
into the station and bought a ticket for the city. The train would not be leaving
for several hours so he went across the street to the store. There was an old
man inside behind the counter who looked like a raisin. His face was a symphony
of wrinkles and age spots. He was smoking and reading a magazine when Joe came
in. He looked up and smiled. He had maybe four teeth.
“How do?” he said. His voice
sounded like a squeaky door.
“I’m fine,” Joe replied. I’d like
to buy a paper.”
“Twenty five cent,” the man said as
he handed Joe a paper from a stack on the counter. “Where ya from?”
“North,” was all Joe could think to
say without a long explanation. “But I’m headed to the city. Just waiting for
the next train.”
“City boy, huh? Used to live in the
city. Got too big.”
“Where can I get something to eat?”
Joe asked changing the subject.
“I got cold samiches in the reefer
back there,” he said pointing.
“Any hot food?” Joe asked
“Yeah, Suzy’ll fix you up somepin…next
door at the bar.”
“Thanks.”
“Farley,” the man said holding out
a wrinkled hand.
“My name’s Joe,” he returned as
they shook hands.
Joe left and went next door. The
sign said: “Town Bar.” It took him moment or two for his eyes to adjust to the
darker room. The bar consisted of a narrow room with booths along the right
wall and four stools to his left in front of the bar. No one was in the bar,
but Joe heard some noise back in the kitchen. He sat on one of the stools and
waited. Soon a woman came out with a tray full of glasses. She appeared to be
in her late thirties, but it was hard to tell. She had that resigned look of
someone who’d been around the block too many times. She was wearing jeans and a
Greatful Dead t-shirt.
“Didn’t know you were out here.
What would you like?”
“Are you Suzy? Farley told me I
could get something to eat here.”
“Yeah,” she said nodding.
“Can I just get a cheeseburger,
fries and a Pepsi?”
“Be a few minutes, if you can
wait.”
“No problem,” Joe said. Suzy went
back to make his meal and when Joe turned to go sit in a booth he realized he
was not alone after all. Somebody was sleeping in the last booth. He couldn’t
tell if it was a man or woman, he just saw a pair of white cross trainers sticking
out of the booth. He looked at the paper while he waited. There didn’t seem to
be much in the way of news. He kind of hoped for some morbid reason to see the
headline “Lost Passenger Aboard The Pearl
Still Missing. Presumed Dead,” but he knew it had been too long for that to
still be news. By the time Joe got to the comics Suzy had brought out his food.
He bowed his head and thanked God for the meal. When he looked up he was
surprised to see Suzy staring at him from across the room. When she realized
he’d noticed her she turned abruptly and went back into the kitchen. Joe ate
his meal and read his paper in silence. He was almost finished with the fries
when Suzy came back out and walked up to him.
“You mind if I ask you a question?”
she began.
“No problem. What’s on your mind?”
“I saw you praying over your food,”
she said, but did not continue.
“Okay,” was all Joe could think to
say.
“Well, I…you know…do you believe in
God, Joe?” she finally got out.
“Yeah I do. I became a follower of
The Way not too long ago.”
“Yeah,” she said, “I heard about
that Way. But I’ve been around Joe. I’ve done some stuff I’m not proud of. I
don’t know if God could forgive me.”
“I don’t want to be rude, Suzy, but
why would you think that?”
“Like I said, I’ve done some bad
stuff. I’ve had two broken marriages, mostly because of drinking. I have a
daughter who won’t speak to me because I divorced her father. Just last night I
broke up with my latest. That’s him asleep in the other booth. That’s a whole ‘nuther
story. I mean, I don’t think I deserve God’s mercy.”
“Thing is, Suzy,” Joe said. “If you
deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy.”
She almost fell over. She looked at
Joe with something between shock and wonder on her face. She sat down across
from him.
"Don’t mess with me, Joe. Is
that true?”
“Of course it is. God is in the
business of forgiving. It’s what he does, Suzy. Don’t you understand? He wants
to forgive you a lot more than you want to be forgiven. He sent his Son into
this world so he could do just that…Just for you.”
She started tearing up at that
point. She got a napkin out of the chrome dispensers on the table and started
wiping her eyes. That’s when Joe noticed the bruise.
“Suzy, what happened?” he said
pointing to her face.
“Ah, Joe, it’s not a big deal. Eddie-that’s
him asleep in the booth over there. I guess you’d say he’s my ex-boyfriend-we
weren’t good for each other. Booze and sex was about all we had in common. Most
nights we just drank and yelled insults across the room. He’s only hit me a
couple of times, but last night I’d had enough. I really wanted to get out of
this rut, change my life, you know, and then he punched me!” She looked
defiant, “Hell, Joe, I could have taken him right there he’s such a wimp, but I
kicked him out. I think he slept in the booth all night. He’s a bad drunk, Joe.
I gave him enough money to get home and told him I never wanted to see him
again.”
“Probably for the best.”
“Probably…Look, enough about that.
Tell me more about The Way.”
Joe took the next thirty minutes
and told her his story-everything from the mountain to Gloryhaven. She hung on
every word. Finally, he said, “Look Suzy, I met this pastor up in Greenwood. I
think he’s the kind of guy you could relate to. He’s not stuffy. You know, no
suits or anything. Will you promise me you’ll go see him? I think he can help
you find what you’re looking for.”
“Yes, I will, Joe. I’ll go
tomorrow.”
“His name’s Nate.”
“I promise, Joe. Trust me, I need
to do this.”
Joe heard the train pull in. It was
time to go. She didn’t want him to pay, but he made her admit that she wasn’t
doing too well financially, and so he paid and left a nice tip on the table as
well. He made his way across the street and on to the train. He found a seat
and stashed his bag. He tried reading the paper, but before long he fell
asleep. He woke up when the train started moving. He got up and went back to
the bathroom. On his way back he noticed Eddie from the bar was on his car.
Apparently all he knew how to do was sleep. He was curled up on the seat with
his head against the window pretty much in the same position Joe had seen him
in the bar. He couldn’t ignore the smell of booze as he walked by. He was
surprised to discover that it made him mad thinking about Eddie. He hardly knew
Suzy, but the idea of Eddie hitting her made him angry.
Joe used the bathroom and then made
his way up to the club car. He got some coffee, found a magazine on one of the
seats, and read until he got bored. He went back to his seat and slept some,
but the thoughts of returning to the city kept him awake. He got up to walk
around, and when he went by Eddie’s seat he was surprised to see him making out
with some girl. He had his hand up her shirt, and he was all over her. It clearly
hadn’t taken him long to get over Suzy. Joe kept walking. There wasn’t much to
do. He found a Spenser novel in an empty seat and went back and started reading
that. He had read several of Robert Parker’s novels, but he liked the Spenser
series the best. Spenser and his friend Hawk were simply the two toughest guys
in any crowd. Joe had always wanted that kind of confidence. Maybe that’s why
he liked the books so much. He’d just finished the third chapter when a middle-aged
man walked down the aisle past Joe and stopped at the seat where Joe found the
book. His graying hair seemed to have a mind of its own. Suddenly he said “Hey!
Who took my book?” so loud that everyone in the car looked at him. Joe got up
and went to the man’s seat.
“Is this what you were looking
for?” Joe asked holding out the novel.
“Yeah, that’s my book. Why’d you
take it?” the man demanded.
“Sorry. I thought someone had left
it on the train.”
“Yes, well it appears Ulysses has
returned to his own. May I have my book?” the man retorted as he adjusted the
wire frame glasses on his nose.
“Again, I’m sorry.”
Then, surprisingly, the man
relaxed. “So, do you like Spenser?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ve read a few.”
“It’s good, light reading,” the man
said. “Why don’t you sit down, and let’s talk for a bit?”
“Okay,” Joe said as he sat.
“What’s your name?”
“Joe. Glad to meet you.”
“My name’s Michael, but you can
call me Mike. So, what brings you to this point, Joe?”
It seemed an odd question and Joe
didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Way I see it, everyone is in
process. We are either traveling between destinations, or we are paralyzed. You
are on a train, but I think the train is more than just transportation. Perhaps
it’s also a metaphor. Do you understand what I mean, Joe?”
“I think I do. If I were paralyzed,
as you say, I would probably be at home right now in front of the tube watching
my shows.”
“I like the way you put it, Joe.
So, what brings you to this point?” He repeated.
Joe wasn’t sure where to begin, but
he gave Mike the highlights of his journey on the Way. Mike’s reaction was
surprising: he just smiled.
“Do you like stories, Joe?” Mike
asked.
“Sure. I mean, who doesn’t?”
“That’s what brings me to this point, Joe. I’m a writer.
I’ve got a little place I go to up the coast to write and think. Hey, I’d love
to get your opinion. Mind if I read it to you?”
“I’d love to hear your story,
Mike.” Joe responded.
Mike pulled a briefcase out from
under the seat and took out some paper.
“For lack of a better title, I’ve
called this story ‘Bobby Gets Even,’”
Questions:
1. What
did Pastor Nate mean by “But what you have to do is learn to balance the
journey with the destination.”?
2. What
is “the second greatest commandment”?
3. What
are some examples of how Joe was challenged in this area?
4. What
did Joe mean by “If you deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy.”?
5. Why
was that such good news for Suzy?
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