I have a pillow that I sometimes refer to as my traveling pillow. About six years ago, my mom traveled with our church to Japan for a two-week trip to meet with & support missionaries there. She brought with her a small pillow for the long plane ride. It's one of those squishy pillows…you might know the kind. She covered it in this cute little pillowcase with Japanese painted umbrellas all over it. Since that trip I have adopted the pillow. Over the years it has traveled with me. Across the Pacific, from Chicago to Japan to Bangkok. Chiang Mai to Phnom Penh. Across the Atlantic to Ireland. Across the United States in a car with three friends after we finished our time at Wheaton. Then across the Pacific again to Hawaii. It has spent summers at Honey Rock and nights camping under the stars in the Ozarks.
Road trip after road trip the pillow has accompanied me. As I said goodbye to Ben in Chicago, traveled to D.C., to SALT orientation in Pennsylvania, and now once again over the Atlantic to the Middle East that pillow has been by my side. [Ok…I know this is super corny, but bear with me, there is a point to it all.]
Just last week the pillowcase ripped. Many years of me dragging it around finally showed through its seams. As I was attempting to sew the rip [thanks Mom for the little travel sewing kit!] the Holy Spirit brought to mind the verse in Matthew 19:24, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” In this passage a man comes to Jesus asking what he must do to gain eternal life. Jesus tells him he must keep the commandments: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, be honest in all you do, honor your parents, and love your neighbor. The man tells Jesus he has in fact done all of these things, and he is persistent on knowing what more he can do to secure his salvation. Jesus then rocks his world. He tells the man he must sell everything he owns. Everything. For this man the news was shattering, because he was a wealthy man. He probably had a nice house, owned a ton of sheep and goats. His comfortable life and the security he found in his stuff was something he was not willing to part with.
One of the things I love about Christ is the way he chose to talk with people. Jesus was God; he understood [and understands] everything in full. He could have talked “high and mighty”. But instead he chose to teach his followers and on-lookers in ways that they could understand. After the rich man went away sorrowful, Jesus turned to the disciples and used everyday things, camels & needles, to describe just how hard it is for someone who values the comforts of this world to live yearning for the next. He explains that if you’re always surrounding yourself with possessions to help you feel safe, comfortable and taken care of, it’s hard to come to the Lord to supply your needs. I love that within this passage, as the disciples are grappling with the idea of a camel trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle…something impossible to do…Jesus says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Just as the disciples are stuck in Christ’s allegory he announces truth! You’re right. It is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, but I can make it possible! Trust me. Follow me. Commit your lives to me, even if it means giving up this world and all it holds. And I will sustain you. I will show you how to give your things away and find even more fulfillment in life.
Before I left on this adventure I met with my pastor, Bruce Wilson, to pray. As we were meeting he gave me three points of advice. One piece of his advice was this: remember to stay reading God’s word. Not only will it sustain you, but as you are living in the land where events in Scripture took place, God’s word will begin to come alive to you in new ways.
The thoughts running through my mind as I sat in my host mother’s kitchen stitching up the pillowcase were thoughts so closely tied to my daily life. Needles and camels. It is in everyday landscapes, animals, and items that I’m starting to understand Jesus’ teachings in new ways. I’m starting to not only imagine the settings of different Bible stories, but I’m actually able to see what it might have been like to be the woman at the well or to have been in the garden of Gethsemane the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested. *
It does sound impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But it also sounded impossible for a woman to become pregnant without having sex. And it sounded impossible/not probable that God would humble himself and become man. And it sounded impossible that the Son of God and Son of Man would endure this world, and die on a tree to create a new order. To tear the curtain. To change the world through love, through grace, through redemption.
All things are possible with God.
Blessings to you, dear readers, as you continue waiting in anticipation for the celebration of God dwelling with us!
* Three weeks ago I went to Israel/Palestine for the week to visit friends and sites around Jerusalem. I will write a post about my time there hopefully soon…there is much to tell.
