In a few short weeks and even more so over the next several years my resolve to stand behind one of my, haven’t been there, beliefs will be tested.  What I am talking about is all of the modern day distractions kids have on long road trips that my brother and I never had and I tend to believe no kid needs.  I remember many summers making the eight hour trip to NJ in the back of our Chevy Caprice Classic Station Wagon. Granted those were the days when children didn’t have to be restrained in the back seat and we were free to fold down the back seat so that the my brother and I could lay down and go to sleep if we wanted but we didn’t have all of the stuff today’s kids have.  On later trips we were lucky to have a walkman and headphones but no game boys, no DSs, no DVD players.  In a few weeks we will be making the trip to NJ which will be about double the drive I remember.  My hope and my goal is for Andrew to make this trip without all of that stuff there to distract him. 

           I tend to agree with Jim Louderback and the sentiments he expressed in his 2002 USA Weekend article entitled “Buckle up and tune out,” He says “Getting there used to be part of the fun…Today, the car itself has turned into a mini electronic cocoon sheltering passengers from not just rain, snow, noise and bumps but from the real world, too. Like dental work, getting there is simply something to be endured, not experienced and enjoyed.”  I know it is easy to agree with him now because I haven’t reached that point of frustration so many parents in the trenches have.  I have heard parents on the other side of this debate sight that being able to have meaningful conversation in the front seat is a major plus.  I am sure the times dad had to clean crayon that had been melted by the sun’s intense heat in the back seat of that station wagon he probably wished there was something else to keep me occupied, but what great memories we would never have had if it weren’t for times like those. 

             While I am on the subject of traveling with my family I have to share one other story.  This time I wasn’t a little kid I was nearly finished with High School and we weren’t in NJ we were in Florence Italy.  We were walking down the street in a retail district and one of the vendors hocking his wares shouted out to us “Ah here come the Griswolds.”  Erina Moriarty, in her article “How to avoid ugly American syndrome” (time-travellers.org), gives a few helpful hints on how to blend in a little better when traveling in Europe.  She says: “Americans are loud. Talk less loudly.  Most Europeans do NOT drink decaf coffee. So don’t ask for it. Ugly white tennis shoes. … American tourists are soooo easy to spot because they wear brand spanking new blinding white sneakers. Funny hats. Baseball is an American sport. Baseball caps are distinctive American head wear. Nothing screams “I’m an Ugly American Tourist” like a baseball cap.  T-shirts, sweatshirts and blue jeans. … Europeans, generally, don’t dress as casually as Americans. Think “business casual” at all times.”  I am pretty sure we violated every one of these rules and more on that trip and it is no wonder we stuck out. 

             Recently I read that this phenomena has become so bad that in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square in addition to posting signs naming prohibitions, they have started employing a squad of women as stewards of the square to make sure tourists are not taking unwarranted liberties.  

           I share this information about travel with you because I think it relates well to what Paul is trying to tell us in the passage of scripture we read a few minutes ago.  I think that one of the things Paul is telling us in this passage is that for Christians life should not only be about the destination, but it is about the journey also.  In other words life is not only about where we wind up but it is also about how we get there.  I believe that Paul is advising us to pay a little more attention to the journey.  He is warning us against all of the distractions we seek after, those things that take our focus away from God.  We ought not be so concerned with the flesh, those things that are blatant distractions drawing our attention away from God, but we ought to be concerned with things of the spirit those things that focus our attention more keenly on God.  Give the DVD player a rest and look out the window at the landscape as we journey toward God.  Secondly I think Paul is telling us that as with any journey there are guidelines we need to follow, little hints on decorum to help us blend in with the others who have been redeemed by God.  Paul suggests that sometimes we may need a little help in this area that we may need a little nudge in the right direction of looking like the people God intends for us to be. 

             Paul urges his readers to recognize their new status in Christ and to live accordingly. Yet, Paul also recognizes the weakness of the Flesh and places hope solely in the power of the Spirit to enact this transformation in the lives of believers. While God has already inaugurated the New Age through the event of the cross, the New Age has not yet been fully realized. Sin is still a threat that resides in the Flesh and makes war with any who would seek freedom from its power. Yet those who are “in Christ” have a powerful marker of the New Age: the Spirit. Paul reminds the Romans that they already have the power of the Spirit that grants them freedom from Sin’s captivity, but he also emphasizes that this freedom has not yet come to fruition. They live in this tension and wait for the redemption of their bodies. In the meantime, Paul urges them to live as markers of this New Age by the power of the life-giving Spirit. Those who are in Christ, therefore, are living examples of the Spirit’s power. While the Flesh has succumbed to the power of Sin, those who are in Christ have the power of the Spirit battling the domination of Sin. This is a powerful Spirit. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you”. The same Spirit who resurrected Jesus dwells in those who are “in Christ” and will also rescue them from Sin and Death. Only those who have the powerful Spirit of God can look forward to life and peace. 

           Many years ago during a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated whether any one doctrine was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room. “That’s easy.”  He said “It’s grace.”  The notion of God’s love as a part of God from the beginning of creation, offered to us, free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eightfold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant and the Muslim code of law — each offers a way to earn God’s approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional. God’s love for us in indeed unconditional as Paul would attest but there is still the issue of our relationship with God, that for which God has redeemed us and Paul refers to this as  a walk. The walk, the journey, the road trip — if you will — can be of two varieties: a walk in the Spirit or a walk in the flesh. Paul calls us to leave distraction behind and to look up and to look out through the window of the Holy Spirit to the spiritual landscape that is flashing by, a land which is ours to experience and enjoy.

A mind set on the Spirit, practiced in the ways of prayerful communication, one that seeks God and seeks to learn about God, begins to see the depth of love, the depth of beauty, the depth of joy, the power of hope, the power of courage and the power of commitment — no matter where it happens to be on its road trip through life. Some times we need the Spirit to nudge us back in the right direction.  To remind us that certain codes of conduct are not what God intends for us.  On the journey of faith we would do well to let go of the distractions, to focus on our relationship with God and to follow the Spirit’s guidance.  It’s up to each of us to choose how we will travel through life constantly seeking distractions or doing our best to focus on God,  the way of the Spirit or the way of the world.  With the Spirit’s guidance may each of us choose the way that is life.  Amen.