Devotional 4-10-11

YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE

JOHN 11: 1-45

I thought of the admonition “You can run but you cannot hide” when I read John 11:7. Joe Louis is attributed the author of the saying when he stated, “He can run, but he can't hide" about his fight with Billy Conn, the light-heavyweight champion and a highly-regarded contender. Jesus and the disciples had just left Judea and made their way across the Jordan after a close call with being stoned. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was severely ill or dead he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea.” The disciples were incredulous. They could not believe what they were hearing. The scripture lesson gives Jesus a lot of metaphorical words and examples as his response to the disciples when he heard their response to his desire to go back to Judea. These are the words I wished the writers had put into the dialogue. Jesus replied to the disciples, “You can run but you cannot hide”.

In terms of our spiritual walk with the Lord truer words have never been expressed. We do run and we do hide, but not well. It is difficult to hide from God. We fool ourselves into believing that God is like our family and neighbors or worst yet the media. It is all about “spin”. If we say something enough times and frequently, it will be believed. God knows us. God know our limitations as well as our gifts and graces. God knows our sin as well as our blessing.

During this Lenten season we need to travel the road to Judea where the possibility of being stoned resides. This road to Judea is the road to salvation. At the end of the road lies the death of all the ideas, images, and beliefs that keep us from growing spiritually. It is fearful to travel this road. Scott Peck called this the road less traveled. It is a road that at times is not only scary and difficult but painful. That is why we do not want to travel on this journey. We have grown comfortable in our spiritual pain. We believe that if we buy some new toy the pain will recede. We believe we will feel better but that never works. The spiritual pain continues to lurk and wait to inflict itself upon us.

As you move through this Lenten season, I invite you to travel this road to Judea and repent. Repent the self centered nature that keeps you from being honest with yourself. Repent the petty feeling of jealousy, envy, hostility, and negativity that you have for others. Repent the ill will that you hold toward those who created the hurts, slights, and misdeeds done to you in the past. Repent the emptiness that pushes you to fill the hole with drugs, alcohol, possessions, and noise. Repent because “You can run but you cannot hide”.

Rev. David C. Johnson