Walking in Holy Week

Well, it's been quite a week. I've been really impressed by Pope Francis and by Justin Welby, who seem to me to share a humility and a simplicity which are refreshing. It was a shame about all the establishment paraphernalia of the Inauguration of the Archbishop's Ministry (as he chose to call it rather than "enthronement" - as the media still insist on saying), but at the heart of it was a straightforward man, aware of his own limitations, talking straightforward language. The text of his sermon is not easy to track down, but it is here. His sermon touched on many things, but was based around the account of Peter getting out of the boat on the Sea of Galilee. He said, "The fear of the disciples was reasonable. People do not walk on water, but this person did. For us to trust and follow Christ is reasonable if He is what the disciples end up saying He is; 'truly you are the Son of God'. Each of us now needs to heed His voice calling to us, and to get out of the boat and go to Him. Because even when we fail, we find peace and hope and become more fully human than we can imagine: failure forgiven, courage liberated, hope persevering, love abounding."

Coincidentally on Friday night when Pete and Jane were round for a FOF (Fellowship of Failure - see this blog FOFOF a fortnight ago), Jane (not mine) brought something to encourage us, while Jane (mine) produced an amazing chicken and mushroom vol-au-vent. I say coincidentally because Jane hadn't heard the new Archbishop, but has been reading John Ortberg's book, If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat - not the most encouraging of titles for us mere mortals! However Jane read to us from the chapter called "Learning to wait", which talks about the often quoted verses from Isaiah 40:
Why do you say, O Jacob,
    and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
    and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall soar with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

He wrote that "we must learn to live (the last three lines) - soaring, running, walking - one line at a time.

"Sometimes you will mount up and soar on wings of eagles. This is a beautiful picture. Ornithologists say birds have three methods of flight. The first is flapping - keeping their wings in constant motion to counteract gravity. Hummingbirds can flap up to seventy times per second. Flapping keeps you up in the air, but it is a lot of work...
"A second flight method is gliding. Here the bird builds up enough speed, then coasts downward a while. It is much more graceful than flapping, but unfortunately it does not get the bird very far. Reality in the form of gravity sets in quickly. Gliding is nice, but it does not last.
"Then there is the third way - soaring. Only a few birds, like eagles, are capable of this. Eagles' wings are so strong that they are capable of catching rising currents of warm air... and without moving a feather can soar up to great heights. eagles have been clocked up to 80 m.p.h. without flapping at all. They just soar on invisible columns of air.
"Isaiah says that for those who wait on the Lord, times will come when they soar. You catch a gust of the spirit - Jesus said, 'The wind blows wherever it pleases.... So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.'
"Sometimes in your life you will be in an era of spiritual soaring.... Be very grateful. Do all you can to stay in the Spirit's power....
"But there is another line in Isaiah's description. Sometimes we are not soaring, but we are able to run and not grow weary. If this is where you are, your life isn't feeling effortless. You do not see a lot of miracles. You have to do some flapping. But with persistence and determination you know you are running the race.... Do not try to manufacture spiritual ecstasy. Do not compare yourself with someone who is soaring right now. Your time will come. Just keep running.
"Then there is a third condition that Isaiah describes. Sometimes we will not be soaring, and we cannot run - because of doubt or pain or fatigue or failure. In those times all we can do is walk and not faint. This is not water-walking. It is just plain walking. All we can do is say, 'God, I'll hang on. I don't seem too fruitful or productive, and I don't feel very triumphant. But I won't let go. I will obey you. I'll just keep walking.'"

And as we noticed, according to Isaiah, the strength to soar, and to run, and to walk, all has the same source: God himself. As Justin Welby put it, "failure forgiven, courage liberated, hope persevering, love abounding." Holy Week is not about soaring or even running. It's about faithfully trudging the dusty road to the Cross with Jesus. It seems to me that we have to walk that way to get to the other end.