Humans live by stories. They give meaning to our lives. Our stories define our steps. As Christians, the stories of the Bible are part of that, but as Americans, we have many other stories we layer onto the Bible that shape us. Even now, we spend billions on stories told in movie theaters, streamed into our living rooms, and downloaded onto our Kindles. We crave stories. We need stories.
The stories of our lives reveal that we desire predictable narratives. Childhood is a time for learning, growth, and fun. The teenage years are for exploration, pushing against old ideas, and eventually leaving home. Early adulthood is about making a living, experiencing freedom, and perhaps finding someone to join you on the journey. Middle age is more about being settled, letting go of some dreams, and fulfilling others. And when we are old, we simplify, enjoy relationships, and hope that we will end well.
Of course, we know that life never goes exactly like that and rarely goes as we have planned. Honestly, most of the pastoral care visits that come my way are because someone’s story has been interrupted by a loss of a job, by a bad diagnosis, or by a relationship ending, all things we would not write into our stories if given the choice.
We all want our stories to go well — it’s probably the reason that Hallmark movies are so popular (they reveal simple solutions for happiness) — but we know that’s not always the case.
Our stories follow a fairly predictable pattern that you probably recall from high school English class — exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. There’s a type of story that is very popular in culture that adds a bit more detail to this formula. It’s called the “Hero’s Quest,” and it was popularized by Joseph Campbell. It can be applied to so many of our adventure stories, and some of the clearest examples include some of our most popular books and movies like Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Matrix, Spiderman, The Lord of the Rings, and The Lion King. To illustrate this, I’ll focus on Disney’s The Lion King.
The story begins in the ordinary world. Simba is the heir to the throne in the Pride Lands, and as he sings, he “just can’t wait to be king.” It’s simple and uncomplicated. But then there’s a call to adventure, usually one that is not something the hero wants. Simba’s uncle, Scar, kills King Mufasa, blames Simba, and tells him he has to leave. Next comes the refusal of the call. Simba is the rightful king and isn’t responsible for his father’s death, but in his grief over his actions, he wanders away from the Pride Lands. Exhausted, Simba despairs for his life, only to find himself rescued by two animals who have rejected the normal order of life — Timon and Pumbaa. This is the next step in the journey, meeting with the mentor. There are many more steps to go in the hero’s quest, but this is sufficient for my purposes today.
We may not think of ourselves as heroic, but we are the heroes in our own stories. Often life calls us into new adventures that are disruptive of our way of life, and we either refuse to go on them or we believe that it is best to go it alone on the adventure — no one understands what I have to do, no one can know what is going on in my life. You get the picture.
We think our journeys are something that are done alone.
But they’re not.
There are always mentors and companions who shape us and help us get where we need to be. Think of the mentors and companions just in the stories I mentioned earlier. Harry Potter has Hagrid as well as Ron and Hermione. Luke Skywalker has Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Neo has Morpheus. Peter Parker has his Uncle Ben. Frodo has Gandalf and Samwise Gamges. And Simba has Timon, Pumbaa, and his memories of Mufasa to guide him.
For every Daniel-san, there is a Mr. Miyagi.
You should not journey through this life alone. There are always mentors and companions for your journey. It’s not just a way of good storytelling. It’s a way of full living. Your spiritual journey needs others to come with you.
The Bible is filled with journeys. Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden and move into a new, harsher world. Abraham leaves his homeland to find the new land God promised to him and his descendants. Joseph journeys to Egypt, with his family joining him there years later. The exodus is a journey — a forty year one at that. None of these journeys are easy, but they all play a part in how God is taking every step of our stories and using those steps — the joyful and the hard — to bring about the redemption of the whole world.
My focus today is on Mary’s journey to visit Elizabeth. This over sixty mile trip made its way over rocks and hills from Nazareth to the outskirts of Jerusalem. It’s a trip that Mary will take a few months later with Joseph thanks to the Roman census. This a journey story that highlights the need for a companion or mentor along the way.
We heard some of the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah last week. In her old age, God has gifted her with a promised son. Elizabeth was entering her third trimester, when her young cousin, Mary, received a visit from Gabriel, God’s messenger. Mary gets the astonishing news that she’s going to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, that she’ll have a son named Jesus, and that he’s the promised Messiah. I don’t know what any of us would do with this news, but God chose Mary because she was open and faith-filled and willing.
Gabriel also shares the news with Mary that her older cousin, Elizabeth, is also pregnant with a promised child. Gabriel ends with these words, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
What does Mary do? She goes “with haste” to see Elizabeth. Have you ever walked from here to Kalamazoo? Well, that’s the distance of Mary’s hike, and it’s one that likely only took her two or three days. Together, the women share their astounding, good news. It’s a scene filled with excitement and with the hand of God.
John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary comes. This word for leap, skirtan, is like the skipping of sheep and young animals. So filled is John with the Holy Spirit, that’s he’s dancing in the womb at the arrival of the woman who will be mother to the Messiah. Why would Mary go through all this trouble? Because she is seeking out a mentor on her journey who will understand what she is going through.
Have you had mentors in your life? I hope so. Many of us have had them professionally. Some have had them shape our faith. Some times mentors have shown up for just a season or two. Other times mentors are along with us for decades. I’ve had many mentors in my life. Some I have sought out, and others have simply shown up at the right time. One of those is a man named Ken Heffner.
We know the years immediately after high school are so crucial for shaping how someone views their world, whether they’re at college or earning a regular paycheck for the first time in their life. Those years are also pretty turbulent. I went from the direction of my parents into needing to make decisions for myself. My first year at Calvin went fine academically, but I really wrestled with who I was outside of the classroom.
I met Ken late in my freshman year. He oversaw the Student Activities Office, which brought artists and films to campus as a way of engaging the students more deeply in the arts, particularly in how the arts intersected with faith. I was looking for a leadership position in my dorm, honestly because I wanted to come back to campus early to be with friends. One of those positions was something called a “Cultural Discerner,” which meant that I would help engage students in my dorm with the concerts and happenings on campus from a faith perspective.
In those days Calvin brought in some truly amazing acts. We had Dave Matthews on a solo tour. Ziggy Marley came, as did Hootie and the Blowfish and Emmylou Harris. Often there were bands that flew just a little under the radar — Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Sunny Day Real Estate, Crash Test Dummies, and Over the Rhine to name a few. It was quite the time to be a student at Calvin.
I signed up for this role to help in my dorm, but I had no idea that I was signing up to have a relationship with someone who would shape the course of my life. Ken’s job wasn’t a job; it was a calling. He was always digging deeper into what it meant to engage with the arts as a Christian and to see how the Spirit was often working in the angles and subtexts of the ways we humans create art. Over the next three years, I worked with Ken as his assistant, often soaking up his wisdom and thoughts on what he was doing and why.
When Jess and I were getting married, we asked Ken to emcee our reception, which he did. That first year of marriage, we lived a few blocks from the Heffners, and they invited us and another couple to share life with them, learning about faith and marriage from a couple who had been at it far longer than us.
Life had us move away from Grand Rapids in 2001, but we had stayed in touch through Christmas letters, his family’s always including extensive notes on the music they were listening to and the ways they were seeing God at work in the arts and the world around them.
We’ve been back in western Michigan since 2017. During that time Ken retired from his work at Calvin, and I had the honor of attending his final concert and speaking at the afterparty. Most interestingly, his family purchased a home in West Olive, so he’s been in our pews here on occasion, including last week. It is a pretty surreal experience that I’ve been preaching to someone so influential in my life!
I am who I am today because Ken has been a part of my journey, and I am so grateful that he has been. So, I want to close today by asking us to take a look at our own journeys. I think it’s helpful to ask ourselves three questions when we do this.
Where are you now?
Where are you headed?
Who can be your companion?
Mary received the news that she would be Jesus’ mother. She also found out that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant. So, Mary made haste to add Elizabeth as a companion on her journey. I was a college student finding my way in the world. God put Ken in my life (and keeps putting him in my life!) and in that relationship I have found wise counsel, challenge, hope, and direction.
Our lives are filled with journeys. We are the heroes of our own stories. We are companions in others’ stories too. As people created in the image of God, we need each other to shape our journeys. So, I hope you are looking for mentors to help you along the way. I also hope that you are that mentor for others. The Christian life was never meant to be lived alone. This Advent and Christmas, I’ll hope you consider well how others are shaping your story and how you are important to the story of others.
