One of the things I do remember from my geography lessons at school was that a map was not much use without orientation (showing where north is) and scale (showing us how far things are from each other.)

My friend still laughs at my lack of spatial awareness, which means I have to physically turn a map around so that I am walking in the direction the map says. I can’t just look at it and do the orientating in my head. It messes me up to be walking in the opposite direction to the way the map appears to me. Left and right become confused and I get lost!

Orientation is extremely important in life. We need fixed points (hence the usefulness of a compass) to work out the direction to go. Orienteering – using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in unfamiliar terrain – is a very useful skill to possess.

Sometimes, life seems to leave us disorientated and confused. What should we do? Where should we go? We need a moral compass as well as a literal one at times!

Just as God has provided fixed points by which we can navigate, so too He has given us fixed points, anchors, in the moral maze of life. His word and His Spirit are our guides through life, directing us and leading us back to Him, our ultimate destination.

I have been working on a map of Phoenix Park recently with my friend, who is a cartographer. I say ‘working with’, but she has done all the real work and I have simply walked around the park taking photos and verifying locations for her.

I found the initial map we used utterly confusing, as the paths on it seemed to bear no relation to the paths I was walking. It has taken a lot of maps (including Ordnance Survey maps, aerial photos from Google Maps and maps from Phoenix Park staff) to get it right and I have learned a little about the art of cartography in the process.

Where I was daunted and helpless (both in terms of expertise and software), Ruth was pragmatic and even quite excited. My map could be personalised to show the activities being held at the Summer Fun event. Did I want this symbol or that one? Did I want this picture of a marquee or that one? I had never realised before there was so much choice available to me!

When we hand out these maps at the event, I doubt people will give more than a cursory glance at them to find out what’s happening where. They will, at best, find them useful and maybe even pretty! They will not understand just how much work, how many trips to Phoenix Park, how many photographs I took, how many phone calls and emails it took to produce these maps (and if they did, they probably won’t care!)

Most of us fail to see behind-the-scenes stuff or even notice it exists. We’re only interested in the final product, the destination. But I believe the journey, the process, has much to each us. Life is, after all, a process, a journey, not a destination.

We are God’s workmanship (Eph 2:10). He is constantly refining us, changing us, transforming us. When He appears, we will be like Him (1 John 3:2) and it is this hope which keeps us going and shapes all we do in the meantime on our journey of life.

We had two birthdays to celebrate last night:

Ezekiel 37:1-14 is a familiar passage, but one which speaks again and again into hopeless situations. Israel was in exile and in despair, but through Ezekiel, we see God speaking to His people and to the nations, showing them where they have gone wrong and showing them the way back, showing them His desire for faithfulness and obedience and promising restoration. We can be reassured that even when we are faithless, God is faithful. (2 Tim 2:13)

Ezekiel’s vision of a valley of dry bones speaks of death and decay; there is no coming back from this situation, naturally speaking. Into that bleak situation, God asks Ezekiel a question. ‘He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”’ (Ezek 37:3) Ezekiel’s answer is honest and rests on God’s sovereignty. Naturally speaking, the bones could not live and Ezekiel is not glib about the possibilities. He is, however, obedient to God’s commands and speaks out God’s words – something which must have seemed frankly crazy.

God uses words to speak life into what is not alive. God spoke in the beginning and created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1-3) Jesus sustains everything, all life, by His powerful word. (Heb 1:3) The Son of God is known as the ‘Word.’ (John 1:1) Paul reminds us that we serve ‘the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.’ (Rom 4:17) We may not understand why words are so powerful or why God uses words, but the fact remains that words are the means God often uses to do things. As Paul says, ‘It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”’ (2 Cor 4:13, quoting Ps 116:10)  He goes on to tell the Romans, ‘“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”  that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.’ (Rom 10:8-10) Speaking words is often the way God works, and He gives us also the opportunity to work as He did by telling us to speak words, His words, into situations.

Ezekiel’s speaking came in two stages: first, to the bones, then to the breath. The message of life from death was one which gave hope to the people in exile, and this message was communicated by God’s servant, speaking God’s words. God consistently gives us the words and the confidence to speak; ‘whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’ (Mark 11:24) Faith is the fuel that will open our mouths and cause us to speak out what God has said to us; faith is what will keep us believing when we do not necessarily see anything happening. Faith and speaking go together; we need to learn to speak out what God has said to us so that we can see it come into being.

Stephen spoke this morning from Acts 17:24-28, Paul’s sermon to the people at Athens. There, he addressed the people as ‘very religious’ and introduced them to the unknown God. Often, people perceive Christians as ‘religious‘, but there is much more to a life of faith than being religious.

A life of faith is not confined to services in a church building (as has been made very apparent during the pandemic.) Our God is not confined to a building or to any one space. ‘Church’ is not God’s home address; it’s the name given to His family! He does not need religious rituals or services, because He is the Lord who gives everyone life and breath. God is with us wherever we are (in English, the words ‘where’ and ‘there’ all contain the word ‘here’, and God’s presence with us is what makes us different.)

Rather than getting caught up in the trap of religiosity (which tends to put an emphasis on external rituals and outward behaviour), we need to be caught up in God’s presence. God’s presence is what makes the difference in our lives and will make a difference to those we meet.

In our Bible study tonight, we looked at the book of Jonah, an unusual prophetic book which is referenced by Jesus to the extent that Jonah’s experience in the great fish (NOT a whale!) is likened to His death and resurrection (see Matt 12:38-41). We all know about Jonah’s rebellion against God (choosing to go to Tarshish instead of Nineveh, and ending up being thrown overboard when a storm arose which threatened the lives of all on board the ship), but the fact that he slept through the storm reminds us of Jesus (Mark 4:35-41) and is a reminder also that however much he may have disobeyed God, he was a man of great faith. In Jonah 2, we see how he comes to the end of himself and calls out to God in repentance, and how God gave him a second chance. (Jonah 3:1)

Second chances… the mercy of God to both Jonah and the Ninevites… the fact that there is nowhere we can run to where God cannot find us are all themes found in this book. Some have doubted the veracity of the book (how could a man remain alive after three days and three nights in a fish?!), but we have to admit that God is able to work in ways that are beyond our understanding. Perhaps what is even more incredible is the response of the Ninevites (who actually listened to God’s message through Jonah and repented, quite unlike the typical Israelite response to prophetic messages) and Jonah’s subsequent anger and frustration at God. He would rather Nineveh have perished than experience God’s mercy and forgiveness, a timely reminder to us all that grace and compassion are undeserved and must never become something we feel are exclusively ours.

Jonah reminds us of God’s forgiveness, love, mercy, faithfulness and tenacity. It’s pointless trying to run from Him; it’s pointless trying to live self-centred lives. Only as we obey God and do His will (however odd that may seem to us) can we find fulfilment.