Posts Tagged ‘Exodus 13:17-22’

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Exodus 13:17-22; Matthew 2:1-12

For a few of us brothers, one of the highlights of our pilgrimage to the UK this past summer was a trek to The Eagle and Child Pub in Oxford.  It was not necessarily for the food and beer that we wanted to visit this pub, although the Slow-cooked Steak, Amber Ale & Mushroom Pie is quite delicious.   Rather, the reason for this sacred journey was that this was a regular meeting place for a literary group known as “The Inklings,” of which C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein were members.  Sitting in a cramped corner of this pub with Luke, Keith, Nicholas, and Lucas, I couldn’t help but to wonder if perhaps we were sitting at a table where Lewis and Tolkein might have sat, discussing literature, philosophy, religion, and theology.  One of my favorite poems from Tolkein’s epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings kept playing over and over in my head.  It begins:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.[i] 

Indeed, this became my own personal mantra for the pilgrimage:  “Not all those who wander are lost!”  Tonight’s sermon is the second part of our Epiphany preaching series on vocation entitled Gifts for the Journey.  This evening we will explore:  The Gift of Detours. Read More