Have you ever been lost, really lost? It can happen anywhere: in a dark forest where you've lost the trail or in a crowded shopping mall where you've lost sight of Mom; on the backroads of Indiana where all you can see is corn or in the bustling canyons of New York City where the buildings block out the sun. You can be lost in a foreign country where no one speaks your language and you don't speak theirs. And you can be just as lost with a group of people who just don't understand what you are trying to say. And, of course, we can be lost within ourselves. It is this sense of lostness that the Apostle Paul recorded so eloquently in the letter to the Romans:

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate ... For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self ... wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? -- Romans 7:15, 19-22, 24

Feeling lost, not knowing where to turn, is one of the most hopeless feelings any of us can experience. The Good News of the gospel is that there is resolution to this universal human experience of lostness, and it is found in Jesus Christ. Paul's often quoted words about lostness are not the last words, thankfully; there is another sentence in the paragraph: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25). It is no wonder that one of the earliest -- perhaps the earliest -- designation used to describe those who were devoted to Jesus was "followers of the way," in Greek hodos, a path, a road, a highway, but a term that soon enough came to mean a way of life. Commitment to Jesus Christ, Christian discipleship presupposes, then, that we live in a world where it is not only possible to get lost in a variety of ways, but that it is likely. And it presupposes that in Jesus we find a way of life that will enable us to make our way through this world. Christian discipleship is not an abstract philosophy or a code of beliefs: to be a Christian is to live in a certain way, to follow a certain path. How we find this path and how we stay on it -- the Christian journey -- is one of the fundamental motifs of discipleship. Today and for the next few weeks, I want to share some biblical images of the Christian journey -- how we make our way through this world of lostness; but more than just making our way, how we mature and grow in our commitment to Jesus Christ. There are three images of people on the way that each speak of how we follow Christ at different times in our lives. Perhaps the most familiar is the one from the Gospel lesson: "And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you fish for people.' And immediately they left their nets and followed him" (Mark 1:18). There are times in our lives when Jesus dramatically beckons us to stop what we are doing for the moment and to make a real commitment to follow him by redirecting our lives toward him and others -- fishing for people -- taking our own place on the path of discipleship and helping others find theirs. The drama of this familiar story does not mean, as is sometimes implied, that the call came out of nowhere and that these fishermen were gullible Gusses who would just as well have followed some lunatic looking for a spaceship behind a comet. The yearning was no less than that felt by people today who are searching anywhere for meaning in life, calling psychic hotlines and falling for every new television guru. But within Judaism at that time and place there was a high level of expectation that God would work in some new way to show God's love and compassion as God had in the days of the patriarchs and prophets. John the Baptist in particular had prepared the way for Jesus, announcing that God was working in a particular way to reach out to humankind one more time. Furthermore, we know from John's Gospel that there had been talk among John's disciples and others about Jesus. So while the call from Jesus was dramatic, as was the response from the disciples, it was not without preparation. But the drama of this familiar story does mean that the time comes when Jesus calls, and we had better follow. There are different kinds of preparations and a variety of calls. For some, church membership or confirmation training is a time of intense preparation to follow Christ; for others it may be a church camp or retreat, a special youth rally or a revival at church. But there comes that moment when the yearning and the thinking and the listening come together and we hear Jesus saying, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." For some of you, these factors have come together and you are on the way, and you need to stay on the way; for others, you may have heard the call but, for whatever reason, are still mending nets; for others the call will come soon, maybe this morning or in a Christian group meeting or on SEARCH Retreat, maybe sitting alone in your dorm room. This image reminds us that the journey on the way must start somewhere, and after all the preparation is said and done, the time to follow comes, and we need to get moving. But the journey does not always begin with Jesus speaking. It may just as well begin with us. Later in Mark's Gospel, there is another interesting story that is set at the side of the path.

As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you." So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again." Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.-- Mark 10:46-52

Once again, it is obvious that some preparation had occurred, because when Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus passing by he knew enough to cry out for help. We have no idea if he had just heard about Jesus from the crowds, or if he had long heard stories about the wonder-working rabbi from Galilee, but he had heard about Jesus from somebody, and he cried out for healing. Once again this image of Bartimaeus crying out fits many of us at various times in our lives. There are those times when we know in our minds that there has to be relief for the pain we feel, for our blindness or deafness or inability to see a direction out of a dilemma. We may even be in a crowd of believers, like that throng exiting from Jericho with Jesus, but we feel left out; we are along the side of the road, and we want to cry out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" There are two things to notice about that crowd surrounding Bartimaeus. First, the positive: he heard from the crowd that Jesus was passing by. Now, the negative: the crowd told him to shut up. "Many sternly ordered him to be quiet...." This crowd behavior actually reminds me of a lot of Christians today. The church and church folks know all about Jesus and talk about him a lot, but if someone who really needs to see Jesus begins to make noise, the church can be awfully inhospitable. Too often the blind, the addicted, the troubled, and the hurting feel alienated because they really are not welcome in the church. They have a way of shouting out and letting others know about their troubles. They make the church people uncomfortable. You may have been in this scene one way or another. Maybe you have been hurt or in pain and shouted, "How could God have allowed this to happen to me?" or just, "God, please help me if you can!" only to be told to hush up. Or maybe you've been one of the hushers and mistaken a heart-felt plea for God's mercy for doubt or disrespect. I am sure that at least some of those who chastised Bartimaeus were trying to shield Jesus from this nuisance; but this kind of nuisance was precisely the center of Jesus' ministry. God does not need to be shielded from our pain and hurt. "Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way." Both of these stories, the call by the seashore and blind Bartimaeus calling out to Jesus, are stories of beginnings, and that's a good place to start. But the metaphor of journey, of path, reminds us that our relationship with Jesus Christ has not only a beginning but a middle and an end -- it is meant to lead somewhere. In Matthew's Gospel Jesus says that his disciples should follow him through that narrow gate "For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:14). The third image of a path captures two people rather far up the road, and the journey has not become any easier. On the road to Emmaus two persons, Cleopas and no doubt his wife Mary (see John 19:25), were rightfully distraught after the dreadful end of Jesus' ministry. The forces of evil had prevailed, and Jesus lay dead in the tomb, or so it seemed. But in the midst of their pain, as they struggled to make sense out of what had happened, out of what they had felt and heard and seen, the risen Christ came to them, walked with them, and opened their eyes to the real facts. This image teaches us about the trials of the journey. The way does not become any easier, in spite of the misimpressions we may sometimes get. Indeed, if scripture is to be believed, the way often becomes more challenging as we become stronger. Peter, who so readily left his nets that day by the lake, later publicly denied Jesus, and at the hour of our Lord's greatest need all twelve disciples faltered. But the good news is that as we progress and are challenged, we are not left alone. We too are met along the road by the resurrected Jesus in the experience of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus promised in John 14:26, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you." As we continue on the path, as we struggle with new situations and grapple with their meaning, as did Cleopas and his companion, Christ will come to warm our hearts and open our eyes so that we can continue to grow and to encourage others to join us on the way. The biblical metaphor of Christian journey reminds us of three things: our life as disciples has a beginning; it has a direction and a goal; and we are not there yet. Have you begun your journey with Jesus Christ? Are you making progress toward the goal? How far have you come along the way?