Where else can we go?

by Pastor Reid Matthias

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Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God (John 6:68b,69).

Read John 6:60–71

I’m a Fremantle Dockers fan.

When I first moved to Australia, my in-laws, diehard AFL fanatics, required a proper introduction to (arguably) the best sport in the world. Now, as a contrarian, in terms of sport, I did not want to choose one of the teams they barracked for. Thus eliminating roughly one-third of the teams, I did what any good American might do: I ran my finger down the list and pointed.

My father-in-law laughed. ‘Why did you choose that one?’

‘I like Fremantle’s colours and logo.’ (I pronounced ‘Fremantle’ as ‘Frehmantle’. That was my level of ignorance.)

‘Do you even know where Fremantle is?’

I stuck out my jaw obstinately and proclaimed, ‘It doesn’t matter. It is my team’.

Now, learning a new sport and understanding a new side can be difficult. There are all sorts of rules and regulations, different words to scream at the television like, ‘BALL!’ or ‘DELIBERATE!’, but at that point in learning the game, I was most concerned about whether the Dockers were a winning side.

Unfortunately, they were not.

Despite their un-winning ways, I continued to follow them even as the intricacies of the game were revealed to me. Some call themselves fans, but when the team slips to mediocrity and beyond, they abandon the team and select a new one. But not me. I’m with them to the end.

So when Simon Peter says, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?’, I hear the echo of a sports fan. Through thick and thin, I’ll be with you.

Jesus has just revealed a traumatic truth to the disciples. I’m guessing that at least one, if not all, were inwardly wondering if they could weather the storm of eating Jesus’ body and drinking his blood for the sake of salvation. Yet, they had seen the miraculous things he could do. They had watched him transform lives. This hard teaching was the next obstacle on the way to an even harder one – the cross.

On my Lenten journey, as I ponder the coming cross, Jesus’ death and resurrection, I hear his poignant question. ‘You do not want to leave, too, do you?’

If I’m honest, there are many times I want to leave Jesus. To be faithful in an anti-faith world, to wrestle with exposing my belief or hiding it under a bushel, is extraordinarily difficult. But where else can I go? When I came to know Jesus as my Saviour and that he is the Holy One of God, there is no other truth for me. I can only hold onto the wagon and let Jesus take me where I need to go.

How would you answer Jesus’ question? What makes it hard?

Holy Spirit, as you guide me along life’s journey, remind me that faith in Jesus comes through you. Thank you. Amen.

Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who is part of the Grow Ministries team. Together, they have raised three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta. Dedicated to the written word, Reid has recently published his fourth novel, Blank Spaces, maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com and regularly contributes to The Lutheran magazine. 

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