August 04, 2024
• Rev. Rob Fuquay
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St. Luke’s UMC
August 4, 2024
Communion Sunday
Finding Your Mountain
“Keep Your Hearts on Things Above”
Colossians 3:1-10
Inside of every one of us is a mountain.
Inside each of us is something big that challenges us, motivates us, keeps us alive. A mountain. Something that inspires and compels us. Your mountain may be a career, or art, or hobby, or family, or being your truest self. It is something that becomes like a quest, you may never arrive or reach the top, but that’s not the point. It’s the pursuit that matters.
A mountain-sized pursuit draws things out of you, things you perhaps didn’t believe you could do. But it’s not just about activity or goal. The mountain is a metaphor. It’s about who you are more than what you do. And your mountain will draw you toward God.
Inside of every one of us is a mountain. What is yours?
I have just returned from the mountain top. (scroll pics of mountain views) Or more accurately, I have returned from seeing a lot of mountain tops, from the highest peak in the world to the highest peak in the alps to some of the highest peaks on three continents. (stop scrolling pics) I have been away long enough to be away, to be away mentally and emotionally. I have been away long enough to soak in the places where I was without too much focus on places where I was not. I have been away long enough to get in touch with my own mountain. And that is what I want to share with you.
This little series will come out of my experience while on sabbatical, but I don’t want it to be about me. It’s not going to be a travelogue. I want the things I share to have relevance and resonance for everyone who listens, because there is a mountain inside of all of us.
So let me begin helping us consider our own mountains by asking a question I have been asked a lot over the last year and a half, why Everest? That’s how I began my sabbatical (pic) with Susan, doing a trek to the base camp of Mount Everest. And people have asked me why I would choose that, and the simple answer is, I don’t know. I can’t explain where my love for mountains comes from. Its not something I created. I just remember from early experiences in childhood how seeing mountains would make my soul come alive. I grew up within sight of the distant Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia. Ever since, the grander and more majestic the peaks, the more I imagined seeing those mountains one day. So I’ve long had a desire to see the Himalayas and especially Everest.
One thing I’ve learned is that hiking in mountains is a spiritual activity. If you think I’m being biased then let me show you some pictures. (scroll pics of religious symbols)
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These are typical scenes we saw on our Everest trek. In the predominantly Buddhist region, there would be lots of stupas, or memorials, built along the way, some with the famous “eyes of the Buddha.” I’ll come back to these at the end of the series. But there would also be prayer wheels people are encouraged to spin as they walk past. The faith of the people gets expressed in climbing.
(scroll pics of crosses and wooden structures) In the Catholic dominated regions of the Alps, you often see crucifixes and shrines along the way. Most peaks are marked by a cross in the alps. And frequently on trails you pass stations with crucifixes or Madonnas. Again, the faith of the people expressed in climbing.
Maybe this is because of the idea that heaven is above us and the higher we go the closer we get to God. The word heaven comes from an old Germanic word meaning sky. While we know heaven is not a spatial place, we often talk about heaven as “up there.” So whenever we think of climbing, no wonder many people associate it with God.
No wonder the apostle Paul said, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2)
Twice Paul implores people to set their hearts on things above and set their minds on the things above. Don’t get caught up or pulled down by all the noise and distractions around you. Focus upward. Look toward God.
When you get pulled down by all the claptrap you hear on television, look upward. When you are wounded by the treatment of others, look upward. When you get discouraged about the state of our world, look upward.
But that sounds so Pollyanna doesn’t it? What really changes whether or not we look up?
We do.
Some scholars point out how Paul uses indicative and imperative statements in this passage. The indicative describes a condition of something. It indicates what is true about a thing. Paul says, “you have been raised with Christ…” (v.1) “your life is hidden with Christ in God (v.3)…“you will appear with him in glory” (v.4)
Then there are imperative statements, things we are to do: “Set your minds on things above” (v.2)…“Put to death…evil desires and greed” (v.5) “Do not lie to each other…” (v.9) The point seems to be that when we focus on the indicative first, our condition in God, our acceptance in Christ, then we are able to do the imperative, the actions that lead to true reward.
Let me see if I can illustrate this. The last third of my sabbatical was spent in Colorado. After a gathering with all our family I had roughly three weeks alone. Part of that time was with a Spiritual Director in Grandby, CO. When I arrived at the place where I was
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staying it had been their warmest day of the summer, and I discovered that like many places in Colorado there was no air conditioning. In fact there was a note above the thermostat saying, “Open the windows and let nature’s air conditioning in.” So I did that, but guess what, nature didn’t just fly in. It was 84 degrees inside and the temp wasn’t changing. So I went to a store and bought a cheap box fan and put it in the window. I faced it outward thinking I will draw the warm air out of the room, but guess what? It still didn’t lower the temperature. So I got smart. I turned it around and it brought the cool air in and that’s what changed the condition of things.
That was probably a good experience before spending a week in spiritual direction, because when we start with imperatives, getting ourselves right, getting stuff out of the way in order that we can experience more of God, falls short. All we can do is just open ourselves to receive. Welcome God in. That’s what changes the condition of things.
We must begin with the indicative, the condition of God, who God says we are. Otherwise, if we start with the imperative, the things we must do, the changes we try to make, we just get defeated.
Look again at the imperatives Paul lays out: “But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.” (v.8) Those are pretty good imperatives aren’t they? Those are good things to change for sure. But let me ask you, have you ever had some personality defects you wanted to change? You would like to get rid of your anger? You would like to clean up your potty mouth? You want to stop thinking of getting even with someone? You would like to be more patient with others? But you feel like you just never get there. Those defects just keep cropping up and then you get down on yourself for being such a failure.
When you start with the imperatives its all up to you. Your willpower. Your strength. And when that’s not enough you want to just give up. That’s why Paul doesn’t start with the imperative. Faith just becomes a bunch of oughts and shoulds.
I heard a pastor in Cincinnati speak a few years back. He said he discovered that many people coming into his church were coming from churches where all they knew were oughts and should. You should do this. You shouldn’t do that. So they did a churchwide campaign, “Don’t Should on Me!” He said they chose not to start with the shoulds. That’s what Paul does. He knows if he begins with imperatives it just turns the faith into a bunch of should!
So without eliminating what we should do in life, Paul begins with the indicative. Who we are in Christ. What God has already done for us. Because if we stay in touch with the fact that God loves us, and God loves us without demanding first that we go do something good to deserve it, when we start there, we just allow ourselves to be filled with God, then the imperatives come more naturally and doesn’t require so much work. In fact, the imperative isn’t work at all.
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**Story about playing golf in Grand Elk (two pics from golf course) and feeling God filly my spirit (indicative) and then joining with a kid I could bolster his confidence as a golfer (imperative)…Now I’m sure those of you who have ever played golf with me are thinking, “Is this the same Rob Fuquay? Because the guy we know on the golf course is notorious for saying after a bad shot, usually a chip, “I stink! I’m so bad!” Well, all I can say is now you have the post-sabbatical Rob.
When we experience the indicative, the imperative comes more naturally. If all we do is the imperative, we grow weary, and weariness lowers our spirit, and a low spirit lowers everyone around us. As Nathan Foster wrote in his book The Making of an Ordinary Saint, “People who know they are deeply loved by God freely love others.” (p66) It starts with the indicative, the things that connect us to the way God made us, to what brings us joy. Because this connects us to God’s deep love.
The last time the summer Olympics were in Paris was 1924. That is when Scottish runner Eric Liddel won a gold medal in the 400 meter race. He was actually better at the 100 meter event and would have likely won gold, but the qualifying races were on Sunday and he didn’t run. He came from a very religious family, so much so that his sister didn’t approve of his running at all. She told him one day, “Brother, God made you to be a missionary and that is what you should do.” Liddel’s famous response was, “Aye, God did made me to be a missionary, but God also made me fast, and when I run I feel his pleasure.”
That was Eric Liddel’s mountain, running. That was the thing he did that connected him to God’s pleasure.
What is your mountain? When was the last time you felt the pleasure of God in your soul? Has it been awhile? If so, I want to encourage you to do something this week. Start to find your mountain.
You don’t have to go to Nepal or travel the world. You don’t have to leave Indianapolis. Just ask what are things that bring joy to your soul? What are things you love to do that because that’s how God made you? Does nature fill your spirit? Art? Being with friends? What can you do right now that makes your heart sing? What can you begin to plan that will fill your spirit?
God’s first desire for us is to enjoy life. To enjoy God. And then out of the fullness to bring blessing to the world. But it starts with the indicative. Who God made us to be and what God has given to us.
Let me close with this. Over sabbatical Eric Donoho in our church completed his book, (pic of book cover) Canyon of Hope for which I was privileged to write an endorsement. He got Erik Weihenmayer to write the Forward. Erik was the first blind person to summit Mt. Everest. In his remarks he recalled returning to base camp after that incredible feat. His team leader surprised him by saying, “Don’t make Everest the greatest thing you ever do.” Later he reflected on those words and realized that “meaning doesn’t come from what you’ve done but what you do with the experience.”
So go find your mountain and discover what God will do with it.