When have you hit a fork in the road?  A junction or crossroad, where you had to choose the path you would take? 

Decisions about relationships, finances, health, work, how we spend our time, who we spend our time with, ethical choices or faith.  Some forks in the road are small while others are large. Yes, these forks in the road illuminate another possibility. 

As baseball player, Yogi Berra said, 

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

> Do we go the way of status quo or new possibilities?

From Alice in Wonderland,

Alice came to a fork in the road. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' responded the Cheshire Cat. “I don't know,' Alice answered.'Then,' said the Cat, 'it doesn't matter.

> Do we have direction or no direction?  If you have no direction, well it doesn’t really matter.

L. Murray shares,

This fork in the road happens over a hundred times a day,  and it's the choices that you make that will determine the shape of your life.

> Managing all of the forks in the road is easier when your decisions are deeply rooted in your values. 

These quotes all get at something. (Yet, none of these life choices lead us to salvation. That is God’s gift to us. Not earned. Freely given.)

The Gospel this morning, deeply roots us in the narrative that guides the disciples navigating these crossroads of life.

Jesus spent much time re-imagining God’s reign with the disciples. What it looks like in the world. How to join. He told stories with some plot twists and situational nuances. Turning their world view upside down. 

Jesus had to break the hard news to them. The path would lead to the cross before it led to the sunrise on the horizon. The faithful rhythms of dying and rising were taking shape. 

In the Gospel today, Jesus gives the disciples words to live by when he is not around. Pointing them to where can God be found in the midst of the tumult.

Jesus walks among us as the hungry, thirsty, naked, stranger, prisoner, the bullied trans teen, the abused or neglected, the people not at the table, the people at the table without voice, the underemployed, the bipoc person paralyzed by micro-aggressions, the disregarded women, the fragile, brokenhearted, vulnerable, the homeless ….. 

When we are at a fork in the road we can find Jesus in these people.

We meet Godin these encounters. 

Bonhoeffer wrote,

Jesus comes in the form of the beggar or the dissolute child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbour.

As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbour.

(The Extraordinary Egg)

The classic children’s story, The Extraordinary Egg by Leo Lionni is a story about mistaken identity. It’s about three frogs. One frog named Jessica is adventurous, full of awe and wonder.  She leaves the other two frogs often to go and explore the world. One day, she finds one big beautiful white pebble on a mound of rocks. She takes the pebble home for the other two frogs to see. 

Marilyn, one of the other frogs, who knew everything about everything confidently says, “It’s an egg. A chicken egg!”  Jessica wonders, “A chicken egg? Well how do you know?” Marilyn smiles, there are somethings you just know.  

A few days later, the egg cracks and out crawls a long, green, scaly creature that walks on four legs.  The frogs shout with joy, “A chicken!” The chicken who turns out to be an excellent in the water goes swimming with them. Fast. Teaching them new ways to float and paddle. They play together for many days. 

One day a bird flies along and sees the ‘chicken’ off on an adventure with Jessica frog. There you are. Your mother has been looking all over for you. I know where your mother is! Follow me.

Jessica and the chicken follow the bird to find mom.  Mom is not a chicken but a great big sleeping alligator. She hears her child’s voice and loving beckons,  Come hear my sweet little alligator. 

Jessica frog bids farewell to her friend and goes home. She tells the other frogs about her adventures. Emphasizing the part about the name. The mother called the chicken, “Her little alligator”.  

The frogs laughed, and laughed and laughed some more at this.  

Then together they said.

It’s a chicken. Not an alligator.

It’s a chicken. Not an alligator.

The frogs thought they knew the identity of the alligator. 

They did not know the true identity of the creature. 

They thought it was a chicken but it was an alligator. 

Even when they were told it was an alligator, 

they laughed at how silly this was and continued to call it by an incorrect name.

This little alligator was put into the proverbial box. 

In the waters of baptism God calls us by name. A fulsome identity of who we are. 

Created in the image of God. 

Loved, cherished, claimed and named.

A child of God. 

God breaks us free from the boxes the world tries to put us in.  

Boxes that try to limit our full participation - confine us into neat categories that control. Placing people into boxes does not allow them to grow. 

Bishop Susan’s analogy about the potted plant and the bound roots. Sometimes the pot becomes too small and the roots need more space to grow.

Through the water and the word we are set free on this path of discipleship. 

Our identity shaped by the crucified and Risen Lord. 

An identity that informs our steps as we approach the forks in the road.

This is a momentous day for many reasons.

Yeah for Mason. Congratulation little child of God, Krista, Tom and family. 

Baptized today into the large and diverse worldwide Christian family of many denominations and languages and expressions. We pray for Mason’s life in Christ.  That the forks in the road may have the gentle nudging of God at each junction.  Calling and equipping for life in Christ.

Yes, it’s a momentous day. 

We also have a vote before us. After decades of discussion, we’re at another junction.  

It’s certainly not the first. It certainly won’t be the last. 

The work of God continues from generation to generation. A moment in time where we make another commitment on this journey of faith.  To walk by faith and not by sight, trusting in God's promises.  Congratulations, you are here. You are a part of this moment in time. 

For some of you this is an easy decision. 

For others, some aspects might be harder to get your head around.

I have heard among you an openness.

In congregational discussions, the common thread of agreement around property redevelopment is that we want to see a viable and vibrant St. Matthews. 

To discern the best option for God’s work to flourish, here in this space at 54 Benton.

 

With any change, even welcomed change, grief finds us.  

Sometimes anticipated, sometimes unanticipated.  

As we let go, we discover new life in what is. 

As we figure out this road together, God walks with us. 

The Holy Spirit nudges us along.

There is not a perfect solution to any challenge.  We journey together discerning the best fit in any given time and place. Holding gently our griefs and the hope of transformation in the present and for the future… 

The hope at any fork in the the road is that the actions will be purposeful and impactful. 

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we live into this transformational pattern. 

Dying and rising daily, to greet the morn. The sun shining upon us.

Remember that story about the little alligator? The identity box that his friends put around him. 

The church is also in a box. The box impacts:

The way the church is perceived in the world.

The box impacts what we imagine the church can be. 

In this current time and space, there is a need to chip away at this box. To break it down.

We don't want to confine this beautiful church. 

We are at a fork in the road. 

May God’s spirit set us and the church  free. 

One small or large step at a time.  

The peace of Christ which surpassed all understanding, 

keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen