I want to begin this morning by publicly thanking our incomparable Lay Leader, Jill Obery Dodd and all the laity who participated in leadership in last Sunday’s moving Laity Sunday worship services. They were inspiring and I know that each one of them put a lot of heart and soul and thought into their contribution to the service. Their willingness to stand up here and speak gives witness to the path we are all on together in this congregation. We are the church, all in ministry together through our baptism and we can all be truly grateful for the powerful ways in which the Holy Spirit is working within us and among us to shape us into Christ’s faithful disciples.

That same Holy Spirit has gathered God’s faithful people in this place, this welcoming place, this beautiful, holy place, this sanctuary, for fifty years now. Joy Detmer described last week how she moved into the neighborhood and wanted to find a Methodist church. She literally looked out and saw our steeple and found her way here. In this place we are formed into the likeness of Christ - through Word and Sacrament, through prayer and praise, through learning and fellowship. This holy place is our spiritual home.

But it is course not our resting place or our destination. We come only to be sent forth. The same Spirit that calls us here, that invites us home, is eager to pick us up and send us packing. Our ministry to which we witness here is lived out there - among friends, family, co-workers, strangers, among all the people of God. As Linda Diane Anderson said last week, “What we experience here enables us to first see the face of Christ when we look in the mirror, and therefore we can learn to see Christ in the face of others all around us.”

In his testimony last week, Ron Theile described church as a “way station” and that caught my ear. I’ve sometimes referred to church as a launching pad. We come to worship, to study, to fellowship, we come to heal, to connect, to center, and then the Holy Spirit launches us, flings us out into the need of the world.

But upon reflection, I really like “way station” better. Thank you, Ron. For one thing, it’s biblical. It has roots in both the Jewish and Christian experience as God’s people. It implies shelter along the way; a safe place for rest in the midst of movement; a spot where connections are made, provisions refreshed and from which the journey continues.

A way station - it is an evocative metaphor for church and different ones of us can relate to it in different ways.

If you’re an “out-doorsy” sort of person, a hiker, you might think of the Appalachian Trail. 2172.6 unbroken miles of trail extending from northern Georgia to north central Maine. Along the entire length of the trail is a series of three-sided lean-to shelters, way stations, spaced about a day’s journey apart, built and maintained by volunteers - just like the church.

If you’re a history buff, for example, you might have come across a great variety of way stations cross crossing this continent. Throughout Gold Country here in California for example, many roadhouses, inns and lodges were built as way stations for travelers to get a meal and spend the night: Acorn Inn, Ahwahnee Hotel, Clark’s Station, Green’s Store, and the Cold Spring Stage Station to name a few. Or, you may recall that before and during the Civil War, the Underground Railroad depended on way stations hidden or disguised in homes to provide safe way stations for slaves on their way to freedom.

You might be a journalist, and know that “way stations” also refer to those critical links between news services, networks, cable stations, etc. that determine the flow of stories. If you’re interested in the Internet and cyberspace, you’ll be interested in way stations as points where information is connected and transferred.

On the other hand, scientists of various kinds deal with way stations, too. On the micro-level, it’s been determined that there are “way stations,” connecting places, in certain molecules that permit the combinatorial biosynthesis of new antibiotics. If you’re an entomologist, you know that bees have a complex system of way stations on their path to the hive. If you’re an astronaut, you know that space stations are the essential “way stations” in space travel and exploration.

Way stations, are at almost every level of our history and our knowledge, from the micro to the macro. What they have in common is that they are places where essential shelter and safety is found, where information is shared, where food and water are found. Way stations make the journey possible, whether it be a hike, a mail coach, a chemical, a bee, or an escape to freedom. Way stations facilitate communication and interaction. Way stations provide respite and sustenance, so that the trek, the hike, the story, the mission can go forward.

What a beautiful metaphor this is for the church. Remember that even before followers of Jesus were referred to as “Christians,” they were called “the people of the Way.” They weren’t people who “went to church.” They weren’t people who joined a church. They hadn’t been in a sanctuary for fifty years. They were people whose lives were transformed and made new by the teaching and preaching and healing ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, people who came to understand that he was the Messiah, people who said, “Yes, I want to be part of this new way of living and talking and acting.” I want to share this love with others. I want them to know the freedom and the grace I have found. I want them to be born into this new way of being alive. I want to be part of making God’s justice and peace real in this world. Like the fishermen who left their nets and the women who opened their homes and the tax collectors and the lawyers whose lives were turned upside down, like Bartimeus who had been blind but now could see, they all said: “I want to join you, Jesus; you who are the Way to God’s New Heaven and New Earth. I want to walk that way with you.” They were called the people of the Way.

Each year when we work with the kids in our Confirmation Class, we introduce the idea to them that the life of Christian faith is a journey. Spiritually, you see, we are all still people of the Way. When you’re a kid, you think adults surely have it. When you’re an adult you think someone else must have it. But faith is not something you “get.” It’s not something other people “have” but you don’t. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen as Paul said.

Faith is found, over and over again, along the way stations of life. Faith is the willingness to go ahead and take that first step when you can’t see the end of the trail. Faith is going forward, trusting that there will be a lean-to, a way station, at the end of each day’s hike where there will be shelter, water and food. Faith is reaching out and finding that there are myriad ways to connect with others and draw support from them. Faith is knowing that there are safe houses along the way, and if we have the courage to go keep going, we will find freedom and hope.

Faith is not a journey we take alone. There’s an African proverb that says: “If you want to walk fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, walk together with others.” Later this afternoon, a group of youth and adults from our congregation will be joining many others in the annual Westside Hunger Walk. For our walkers, church this morning is the spiritual way station that gets them ready for this day’s chapter in their faith journey. Their spirits will be refreshed for the walk ahead. The power and love of God will fill their hearts. The support of the congregation in sponsoring them and praying for them and giving thanks for them will give them energy and power.

They will walk far today because they will be walking together, and walking together they join Jesus himself on the Way, reaching out and providing food for those in need.

Rick Warren, in his book, A Purpose Driven Life, gives a definition of church that describes what we’ve been calling church as way station this morning. He says: “God created the church to meet your five deepest needs: a purpose to live for, a people to live with, principles to live by, a profession to live out, and power to live on.” This is church as a way station, meeting our needs for purpose, people, principles and power. A way station for believers who are people on the Way, going about the business of walking with Jesus along the way that leads to righteousness, salvation and peace.

Sometimes the road is long and hard and sometimes it’s even and smooth. Sometimes it is lonely and dangerous and sometimes we are blessed to walk in the company of friends, and always with the great cloud of witnesses supporting us and praying for us. Sometimes we think we’ll never see the light at the end of the tunnel and sometimes the light dazzles us with its brilliance. Sometimes it’s all we can do to keep putting one foot in front of the other and sometimes we sing and dance for joy.

It’s a journey and we are people of the Way. We’re on this journey together, and church is our way station. It is the place we find purpose, people, principles and power.

May God bless you this morning, to go forth from this way station remembering our sacred story, refreshed, renewed, ready to serve.

Amen