STORY: “Beyond The Golden Hills”

Once there was a band of pilgrims who had traveled from a far country. Their long and perilous journey took them over steep mountains, through harsh scrub lands set with brambles, and into a bleak and barren desert. But they endured all these things because they searched for the wondrous land beyond the golden hills.

This land was said to be the most beautiful of any land, anywhere in the world. It was said to be a land of great wonders, where the air itself caressed the ear with the song of celestial choirs, where the waters were always sweet and clear, where all who came lived in harmony, peace, and thankfulness.

The route to this land was dotted with the abandoned tents of pilgrims who had turned back. More ominous, though, were the stone markers of those who had died on the journey.

But this group of pilgrims was determined to find the land beyond the golden hills. They had already endured the cold and bitter climb through the high mountain pass. They had struggled through the wilderness where the path was lost in the dense brambles that tore at their skin.

At last they came to the vast arid plain that was the last obstacle before the golden hills. The group had hoped they could cross the desert in a few days, but they had already spent weeks on the crossing. The hills had looked deceptively close, and even after weeks, they still seemed just beyond the reach of their hands.

Finally, after several more weeks of travel in the endless desert, they had exhausted their food and their water. Their leader, whose exhausted face made him appear far older than his years, gathered them at evening.

“I will go out with some scouts in the morning to see if we can reach the hills in another day. If we cannot, then all hope of reaching the golden land beyond the hills is lost,” he said.

They slept restlessly that night, huddled together to gain a little precious warmth, for the nights were very cold in the desert.

In the morning, the leader walked with the scouts to the next rise. As they came to the top of the rise, a magnificent sight met their eyes. Before them was a splendid oasis, with bright silk tents rippling in the breeze. A pool of clear water shone in the middle of the grove of trees.

At first they did not trust their eyes, for travelers had often told them tales of mirages that came with exhaustion and hunger. But as the leader and the scouts approached, it grew larger and more real with each step.

While they were still a long way off, a man came running toward them. Even at a distance they could see he was ancient and lined. But his welcome was as warm and delightful as a child’s.

“Welcome, strangers!” Welcome! Are there more of you? Come to my station and rest. Come!” And he pulled them toward his tents.

The leader spoke. “I must go and get the others for we are indeed tired and hungry.” The leader ran quickly back. In minutes the whole group of exhausted, hungry travelers stood in the midst of the oasis.

They looked around them in wonder, for truly this was a wonderful sight. There were baths of copper with fires underneath, ready to heat the water from the spring. There were soft towels and fine garments to wear after their baths. There was sweet water to drink and many kinds of food to eat.

The band of travelers bathed and ate that night, and slept in silken tents. But their leader stayed and talked by the fire with the old man who tended the oasis.

“How is it that you are here?” How did you come to keep this place for travelers?” asked the leader.

The old man spoke.

“Many, many years ago, I was a pilgrim as you are. Like you, I crossed the mountains and the scrub and the desert. But this oasis was merely a place to stop for water, and our group was full of despair at the journey.

“I was a young man then, younger than you are now. But I went to the leader of our people and asked if we could rest here for a while until we found new heart to go on.

“He did not want to rest long, for he was driven to reach the far hills. He left the oasis in the morning, with only a few of our company.

“Most of us stayed here for several days to regain our strength and will. But even as we prepared to continue on our way, more travelers came to the oasis. When they saw how rested we were, they, too, decided to stay and regain their strength. Sending the rest of my group on, I stayed on to welcome the newcomers.

“Then as they, in turn, prepared to leave, their leader told me that his group had almost lost heart until they had found this resting place. Because I was here to welcome them, his people were filled with new life and hope.

“He left a tent for me and seeds from the fruit which he had brought with him on the journey.”

As the old man finished his long speech, the leader of the new group sat thoughtfully. “But haven’t you wanted to leave and go on to the land beyond the golden hills?” he asked finally.

“Every day. But every day there is someone who needs a welcome and a place to rest. I once wanted more than anything to reach the land beyond the hills. But it came to mean more to me that the travelers were refreshed and strengthened for their journey.”

The old man smiled and continued. “I know that someday someone will come who will take on the task of welcoming the travelers. Then I will be free to go to the land beyond the hills.”

The leader of the group bade the old man good night and went into his tent. Behind his own tent, the old man banked the fire for the night, and sat looking toward the west, where the sun had set beyond the golden hills.

The group rested for many days at the refuge the old man had made in the desert. At last, refreshed and renewed, they gathered their belongings. Their leader stood in their midst and spoke.

“I am not going on with you. I have come to see that my task is to welcome the travelers. I have led you through the worst of the way, and the path is clear before you now.

“I ask that you take the old man who has kept this sanctuary with you on your way. And when you reach the golden land, tell them I will come as soon as someone comes to keep the oasis in my place.”

The old man clasped the leader in his arms.

“You have given me a gift beyond measure. I will surely wait for your arrival when we reach the land beyond the hills.”

The group said their tearful farewells to their former leader. He watched them journey away from him until they were no more than tiny specks on the horizon.

As he turned back to the tents of the oasis, he saw a few people standing on the far rise. He hurried to greet them and to bring them to the oasis, where the water was cool and sweet and the silken tents rustled in the breeze. (1)

Helping people with their spiritual journey to become disciples of Christ, that’s what this story is about. All this month we have been talking about the fundamental principle that we must start with our Christian faith, our spiritual foundations, surrendering our lives to Christ, in order to live as Christ in the world. So today, we want to talk about how to do that.

Our mission as Faith United Methodist Church is “to make disciples for Jesus Christ to empower us to proclaim God’s grace.” And you need to know that your pastor and staff are getting hard-nosed (if that is the proper terminology) about this purpose. God has called Christ’s church to make disciples of all church members. We are not just inviting and encouraging people to become disciples, but we are expecting and demanding that all members commit themselves to continued spiritual growth and ministry for Christ Jesus. In fact we have revamped the adult confirmation process to demand this strong identity as we help people on their spiritual journey.

We have been adopting a particular strategy to help people become disciples of Christ and to help them to lead others “beyond the Golden Hills.” We call this strategy “mentoring.” In the business world it’s called “coaching.” Mentoring is gathering students to share with a leader the way in which to live through study, worship, fellowship, sharing, and service. Think of Jesus and his 12 disciples and you have the idea.

For over 15 years I have been assigned by various District Superintendents to mentor people considering ministry, entering the ordained ministry, and fulfilling the requirements for ordination. Currently, I mentor 2 persons exploring ordained ministry; the third person I was mentoring was just ordained this past Annual Conference. The District Superintendent has also asked me to develop a process for mentoring newly ordained pastors so they can create discipleship churches. Those classes will begin in January. Several of us in the Annual Conference working on leadership strategies for local churches are urging the mentoring process as the only viable and biblical way for creating disciples. So you can see that we at Faith Church in conjunction with other leaders and churches are using biblical methods to disciple people.

In today’s scripture Jesus was ascending into heaven after having spent 40 days mentoring his disciples. During his earthly life and for the 40 days after resurrection, Jesus had spent time teaching and discussing the nature of call, life in God, ministry to others, and the demands of holy living. As he prepared to leave, he sent his followers to go out into the world, that is “Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” to be Christ’s witnesses, that is, to proclaim God’s grace to one and all. That’s the purpose of mentoring, to prepare persons to grow spiritually and to send them out to share Christ with others.

The staff and I have been talking for almost a year now about the mentoring process for Faith Church. Our agreement is that our staff will and some have begun to mentor persons with mature spiritual faith to live and work as Christ’s disciples, so that they might be sent out to mentor others to do the same. When I asked the staff what my mentoring role should be, their response was that I should mentor staff, which I have been doing. You have seen and heard about some of the mentoring process with our Youth Director, Patty Taverno, holding leadership classes for our 9th and 10th grade youth in this church and from other churches. She is preparing to begin her 3rd new class of students soon. In addition she and I are mentoring the first two classes in advanced work with leading worship, preaching, and bible study. We will expand our mentoring strategy to 5th and 6th graders later this year, and our staff is currently putting together other mentor groups.

Jesus was serious in calling disciples and mentoring or teaching them to go out and proclaim the gospel. And we are too. If you have not yet been contacted about being a part of the mentoring group, please sign up so that we can put you in the next classes.

(1) Anne L. Squire-Buresh. Beyond the Golden Hills and Other Stories (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1991), pp. 53-57.