Discovering the journey within each of our journeys

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A well-planned trip in 1992 back to Trenton, New Jersey, to attend his 20-year high school reunion included not-a-few, not-so-welcome side trips for the Rev. Steve Bales and his wife, Denise.

Bales detailed some of the unexpected detours and distractions, including a middle of the night fire in the hotel where he and Denise were staying.

"On our way down the stairs, we met the fire department," Bales revealed, "after seeing smoke rolling out of a room on our floor." It was a storeroom fire which was quickly extinguished, and within an hour, they were back in their room.

Taking a couple of free hours the next day to explore Atlantic City, Bales shared that he and Denise were taken in by a scam artist, driven to a different location in a van with no door handles, where they were encouraged to view a presentation on whatever product the flim-flam artists were peddling that day. (The offer of three free gifts proved to be too much temptation for the couple.) When they arrived at their destination and refused to continue with the charade, they were left with no free gifts and no ride back.

A torrential downpour; a reservation snafu; mechanical problems with an airliner; and a hurried trip to the wrong bathroom (resulting in great guffaws of laughter from everyone except Steve), were all part of a five-day vacation that went slightly more than slightly awry.

"No one in their right mind would have planned a trip this way," Bales said. Turning to the text he explained that the plan of the Lord was well-laid, but also fraught with journeys within journeys, within a journey.

"He enters Jerusalem," Bales said, speaking of the procession on what is now referred to as Palm Sunday, determined to fulfill his mission, his destination - the cross.

He celebrates Passover with his disciples, shows them how true love serves, then goes to the garden where he is betrayed and arrested.

"By 9 the next morning, he has endured six trials," Bales said. "Three Jewish trials and three Roman trials. Mocked, beaten, pierced and nailed to a tree, he completes a journey within a journey."

Beginning with his birth, Satan implemented various trials and temptations to thwart God's plan, Bales continued. "But God used those very trials and temptations to accomplish his plan ... his purpose."

A plan made necessary by yet another journey within a journey that began in another garden, when man exercised his free will and severed created man's relationship with Creator God, Bales said. Since that moment in time, God set out to redeem his lost and sinful creation, and at just the right time, in just the right place, he came.

"He came, he ministered, he went to the cross," Bales said, "He rose and is seated at the right hand of God."

Everyone embarks on a journey as soon as they enter life, according to Bales. And throughout the journey, at various times, in various ways, God continues to reach out to every individual.

"Everyone gets to choose," he said. "At any time during our journey we decide to follow Christ, we exchange our hopelessness for hope.

"When we have Christ; when we have grace; when we acknowledge that our way isn't working and that God has a better way, the journey changes," Bales said.

"He is with us in great joy; he is with us in our darkest trials; he is with us in our triumphs and victories; and he is with us in our deepest despair.

"The change can be a radical transformation or a smooth transitions," Bales said as he brought his remarks to an end. "Either way, God shines his light into our darkness. He is with us. He lifts us up. He carries us through to the day this journey ends and we hear him say, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter ye into my rest."

Michelle Bennett did a beautiful job singing "Completely" written by Ana Laura and part of the soundtrack from "Facing the Giants.

The Rev. Mary Hendricks, pastor at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, served as worship leader and explained that on Friday, March 29, at 12:05 p.m., the Liturgy of Good Friday will begin at Memorial United Methodist Church. Departing from past tradition, however, the annual Procession of the Cross will follow the service.

"The cross will be assembled here," she said, "and we will make our way from here to Norris Park, stopping at stations along the way and in the park, then returning to the church."

The Good Friday service and Procession of the Cross concludes the annual Community Lenten Service, sponsored by the Red Willow County Ministerial Association.