Navigation: Where to?

Turn round at the next opportunity: Is God a sat nav?

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Introduction

Geocaching: Simon

How many of you are still familiar with geocaching?

You can think of it as a treasure hunt with a sat nav.

You have a predetermined starting point and have to work out the coordinates of the next destination by solving a puzzle.

You then go from point to point until you reach the final destination, where a treasure is waiting for you.

This is usually a small box with bits and bobs from which you can take something out and put something else in, as well as a notebook in which you can immortalise yourself.

I used to do geocaches like this a lot when I was a child, both with my family and with friends at children's birthday parties.

And although we didn't always find the treasure, we always solved all the puzzles and reached our destination.

Bike navigation: Peter

When I got my new e-bike, I resolved to ride it to work once a week. That was before the quasi-permanent home office era.

And naive as I was, I got myself a mobile phone holder, entered the destination on Google Maps and switched to "bike".

Now you have to realise that back in 2019, Google Maps was already pretty good for cars, but not so much for bike tours, at least if you don't just want to ride along the road.

It started in Bennert. The sat nav didn't want me to go down towards Hülstrung - Kradenpuhl, but to turn right at the top and then left into the forest. Unfortunately, the road went down a metre.

I then took a different route, through Kradenpuhl, and it went reasonably well.

The second time, when I came back from work, I didn't pay attention at one point and as I didn't really know the area yet, I didn't realise it at first. The sat nav adjusted itself (new route) and I was somewhere else. The route wasn't that nice, but I arrived home anyway.

In the early days, I also tried alternative routes and, on the way back from work, I let myself be led into the forest on the edge of Kradenpuhl on a path that wasn't actually a path. In many places I had to carry the bike and then heave it up a metre at the edge of the forest. Suddenly I was in Bennert, where I didn't want to go on my first tour, and rightly so, as I then realised.

Comparison: Simon

Now you're probably asking yourselves: What are the two people in front trying to tell us? And what does the whole thing have to do with God anyway?

Well, if you compare the two examples, you can see that in both cases you are trying to get to a certain destination and in both cases a sat nav is used to find the right route. The only difference with geocaching is that the sat nav doesn't tell you directly where you need to go, it just gives you clues so that you have to work out the route yourself.

Peter's story with the e-bike is different. Here the sat nav shows you the way and even if you take a wrong turn, it knows the way home, even if it's a difficult one.

But both cases have one thing in common: you always arrive at your destination.

Now we have asked ourselves the question: What is it like with God? How do I know whether I am on the right path or whether I need to turn off and take a new course?

A journey

Previous story: Peter

There is a journey in the Acts of the Apostles that also involves a kind of navigation.

A brief prequel: the apostles Paul and Barnabas had already travelled together and told others about Jesus Christ in various places. In the process, the question arose among many Jews in the city of Antioch as to whether non-Jews had to abide by Jewish regulations if they wanted to decide in favour of Jesus Christ and join the church. This initially caused a dispute, but they then got together in Jerusalem and found a good solution: The non-Jews need not adhere to the Jewish regulations, but they should show consideration for the Jewish Christians in some respects.

Paul and Barnabas, together with two others, sent this decision as a letter to the church in Antioch and then everything was settled.

And now comes (Acts 15:36; NT):

Some time later, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us set out again and visit all the cities where we have preached the word of the Lord. We should see how the brothers and sisters are doing there."

Barnabas agreed.

They have what today would be called a project, a plan that seems plausible. In the Bible, this is just one sentence, but the two of them probably talked about it for a while, weighed it up and then made a decision. Perhaps they had already thought about an itinerary because they all wanted to visit these new churches again.

The first change of plans: Simon

But there was an immediate problem (Acts 15: 37-40; NT):

37 But Barnabas also wanted to take John Mark with him again. 38 But Paul did not think it right to take with him the one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and broken off their co-operation. 39 Now there was such a heated argument that the two parted company. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed to Cyprus. 40 Paul, on the other hand, chose Silas as his companion. And after he had been entrusted to God's grace by the brothers and sisters, he departed.

At least they stuck to their original plan and split up. Barnabas took over the churches in Cyprus and Paul took over the churches in Asia Minor, today's Turkey.

Despite their dispute, neither of them doubted the other's faith and competence to look after the new churches. One could understand the conflict as being necessary so that Paul and Barnabas could separate in order to train more people. But such a realisation should actually be possible without a dispute.

Travelling according to plan: Simon

We don't hear anything more about Barnabas in the Bible after this. According to Wikipedia, there are ecclesiastical legends that he died as a martyr on Cyprus. I don't know any more about this.

Paul continues his journey according to plan (Acts 15:41; NT):

41 He travelled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches in the faith.

In the city of Lystra, he then met Timothy, to whom two biblical letters were addressed, and took him with him as another companion.

(Acts 16, 4.5; New Testament)

4 In all the cities through which they passed, they informed the believers of the decisions that the apostles and elders had made in Jerusalem and told them to keep them. 5 In this way the churches were strengthened in the faith and the number of believers grew daily.

That is interesting. The question of whether non-Jews had to abide by the Jewish regulations once they had decided in favour of Jesus Christ was obviously not only a concern for the church in Antioch, but also for many other churches.

God's guidance or blockade: Peter

Then something strange happened (Acts 16:6-8; NT):

6 After this they went on through Phrygian Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had hindered them from carrying the message into the province of Asia.7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to travel on to Bithynia, but the Spirit, through whom Jesus was leading them, did not allow them to do so either.8 So they travelled through Mysia without stopping until they came to the port city of Troas.

These regions are in what is now Turkey and they had not yet been there on the first missionary journey. But they probably thought, if we are already here, then we will proclaim the message of Jesus Christ here too. The intention was good, the plan was sensible, but somehow it didn't fit in with God's intention. They were on the road and somehow realised where God wanted or didn't want them to go.

In principle, this sounds like a kind of divine satnav. But how does God navigate? Some people would like to hear God's voice physically, sonically, so that they don't make a mistake.

Another might ask for signs. In the Old Testament, in Judges 6, we are told of Gideon, who wanted a sign a few times. An example of this (Judges 6, 36-38; NT):

36 Meanwhile, Gideon prayed to God, "If you really want to deliver Israel through me, 37 then I will put freshly shorn wool on the threshing floor now. If the sheep's wool is wet in the morning and everything around it is dry, then I will be sure that you want to save Israel through me, as you have said."38 When Gideon got up early the next morning and squeezed the dew out of the wool, the water filled a whole bowl.

I don't know of many examples like this in the Bible where a sign is asked for. I think that this is a special case rather than the rule.

I also don't think that Paul controlled his journey with such requests for signs. You could take this to the extreme and throw the dice before every fork in the road and if the number is even you go to the right and if it is odd you go to the left and God should direct the dice.

As a Christian, you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you pray to him, you pour out your heart to him, confess your mistakes and expect help. A game of dice doesn't really fit in with this.

Paul and his people certainly prayed together from time to time, read the scriptures and exchanged ideas and thus received an open ear for the Spirit of God, however they perceived this exactly. The unity of knowledge was probably a good indicator for listening to Jesus.

A new plan: Simon

And then a whole new way was opened up (Acts 16: 9-10; NT):

9 There Paul had a vision in the night. He saw a Macedonian standing in front of him who asked him: "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" 10 As a result, we immediately looked for a ship that could take us to Macedonia. We had concluded from the vision that God was calling us to bring the gospel to the people there.

Apparently the areas of Asia and Bithynia had to be left out for the time being because Macedonia, today's northern Greece, the first place in Europe, was more important for God's overall plan.

In his third missionary journey, Paul also travelled at least partly through the province of Asia. And other Christians certainly travelled there afterwards.

You are travelling as a Christian, you have settled into your life, and then something completely new comes along, a new continent.

That can also scare you and you might prefer to do Jonah and run away. Jonah was supposed to go to Nineveh in the east and then booked a passage on a ship heading west.

And for Paul and Silas, their stay in Macedonia was not without its problems either. They were beaten up and sent to prison, but on the other hand they also experienced people getting to know Jesus and being changed.

I think we are similar to the people back then. Regardless of whether we are facing a big decision in life or here in the church, the uncertainty of where God wants to take us can be quite frightening.

It doesn't always have to be as blatant as it was for Paul, but I do believe that God has something new in store for us and will always lead us in the right direction, even if the path is sometimes steep and we have to push our e-bike up the hill.

Summary

Today we have heard something about the path we Christians are on. According to John 14:6; NL, Jesus Christ basically says:

I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

And we, each of us, are on our personal journey with him and that is what we have been thinking about today.

We summarise: