This past summer, our daughter and son-in-law were visiting with us, and they started watching the reality TV series on the Discovery Channel, “Everest: Beyond the Limit.” It’s a series about mountain climbers from all around the world who pay a lot of money to try to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
This show has three seasons which aired from 2006 to 2009 and even though our daughter and son-in-law had already watched every single episode, they wanted to watch it again since we hadn’t seen it. At first, I thought it was going to be really boring. Wow, was I wrong!
Even after their visit with us, Penny and I kept watching it for the next several days. It was TV binge watching at its finest!
[Mount Everest]
Because of this series, I ended up learning a lot about Mount Everest and the incredible preparation that it takes to attempt to climb to the top of it. For example, Mt. Everest which is located on the border of China and Nepal is over 29,000 feet tall. To put that into perspective, that height is just below the cruising altitude of a jumbo jet. I know! 🤯
You need to carry an oxygen tank during the climb at that altitude, and you need to use it sparingly, so you don’t run out and you have to be careful about storms and getting frostbite. About 800 people attempt to climb Mount Everest each year and about 2/3 of that total make it to the top. There are about 4-5 people who die during the climb each year.
It takes a total of three months to hike to the top and then back. It takes 19 days just to climb to the base camp of Mount Everest and then another 40 days to climb to the peak. And for all of the provisions you will need to make the climb, it will cost you anywhere between $35,000 and $65,000 just for that one attempt to climb it!
The climbers in the TV series utilize an experienced coach to help them prepare for the climb and he gives them instructions through a transmitter of what to do and what not to do during the climb. As you get closer to the peak, the footing gets really tricky as you climb up a very steep path. You even have to use a ladder to climb up the last portion of the hike. During the last season of the series, there were several times that I would grip the couch as we watched the climbers hold on for dear life.
But what stood out for us the most about this series were the Sherpas who served as mountain guides for the climbers. Sherpas are native to Tibet and are known for their expertise in climbing Mount Everest and helping climbers to make it to the peak. They are willing to risk their lives to save climbers from danger and to provide invaluable guidance to them along the way. They are also very resourceful and extremely knowledgeable of the terrain and extreme weather conditions.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this Mount Everest series because in our Exodus scripture reading for today, we find Moses at a crossroads in his willingness to continue leading the people through the wilderness. He is hesitating at this point in the long journey, because he knows that he can’t continue on this hike through the wilderness alone. He needs a guide; a Sherpa. He knows that without the Lord, he is probably not going to make it much longer.
And after he pleads with the Lord for help, the Lord responded by saying, “I’ll go myself and help you.” The Lord even offered additional reassurance to Moses by giving him a glimpse of the presence of his glory.
Maybe you can relate to Moses who was in critical need of a guide to help him continue the journey. Depending on our own strength, abilities, experiences, and resources along our faith journey can only take us so far. But there are always going to be those times when we especially need to lean on someone who can help guide us and show us the way.
Several years ago, I was standing with my associate pastor in a hallway of one of the top floors of Dayton Children’s Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. We were there to visit a family in our church whose young child was there as a patient.
As we were waiting to go into the hospital room to make our pastoral visit, my associate pastor was standing over by the large window that was overlooking the city of Dayton, Ohio. And he was staring out that window. I said, “Mark, everything OK?”
He said, “This was the same window I was looking out about 18 years ago when our daughter was a month old.”
He went on to tell me that when she was a month old, she developed a really high fever and couldn’t keep any formula down, so they took her to Children’s Hospital. They took tests and discovered that when she was born, her organs were not in the right places. She was now experiencing a bad infection from all of this. They needed to do a risky surgery because she was just a month old.
And my friend said that when they took his baby into surgery, he went by that window where he was now standing to call his parents to give them an update. And as he was on the phone with his parents, that’s when he experienced a God moment.
As he was looking out that window on that cold February day, he noticed the beautiful Ukrainian Church there in the city of Dayton. And just then in that moment, the sun came out and hit the gold cross of that steeple in such a way that it was breathtaking. He felt God’s glorious presence in such a powerful way. He said, it was in that moment that he knew that Allie would be OK.
And then he said that during the surgery, his wife stayed in the room while he went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. And while his wife was in the room, a little girl who was a patient came into the room with a balloon on a stick. She handed it to her and said, “Your baby will be OK.”
Their baby made it through the surgery and recovered completely. When my friend and his wife went to look for that little girl who had brought them the balloon, they couldn’t find her. His wife to this day believes that that little girl was sent from God just for her and it was God’s way of providing reassurance for her.
It was this incredible challenge and renewed sense of God’s presence in their lives that led my friend and his wife to begin attending church again. They joined the United Methodist Church in their neighborhood, and it was through that church that my friend ended up responding to a calling to go into the pastoral ministry.
To add one more detail to the story, I had the honor of officiating at his daughter’s wedding several years later and our families stay in touch.
If it had not been for the Lord who opened up the skies to shine upon that Ukrainian church steeple and who sent that little girl with a balloon into the room, and who used the skills of that surgeon…they would probably not have been led to a deeper faith and trust in God.
No wonder that my friend was looking out that same window and reminiscing about that time 18 years ago when he had experienced the presence of God’s glory. Like Moses, he knew that he needed the Lord to be his guide during that very challenging time in his life.
We all need a Sherpa from time to time, someone who has the experience and spiritual wisdom to help us take that next step of faith. And sometimes all that Sherpas need to do is just be present there with you especially during difficult times.
Last spring, I needed to announce to the congregation during the worship service about the sudden death of a beloved church member. Erin was very active in our church and was in our bell choir. She was only 63.
It was the tradition in that church to place a white carnation on the altar in loving memory at the occasion of a member’s passing and as I was making the announcement about her death, I happened to look over at the altar and there next to the white carnation was a handbell. The bell choir director had very appropriately placed it there as a beautiful tribute to Erin.
When I saw that handbell next to the carnation, I had to take a moment because I felt some tears coming on. Holding back on those tears, I regained my concentration and continued with the rest of the announcements.
All was good until the closing hymn of that worship service because it was the hymn, “Here, I Am Lord” which Erin and the bell choir had practiced earlier that week, just two days before her sudden passing.
So, I’m up front by the pulpit singing this closing hymn and those darn tears show up again! And so, I tried to keep my composure because I still needed to offer the benediction. But, then there were more tears. I don’t know how I managed to do it, but I did regain enough composure to offer the benediction, and that’s when the tears just came flooding down.
As I have my back to the congregation to hide my tears, all of the sudden, I feel this hand on my shoulder and it’s a member now crying with me, and then one of our youth, and her mother were there crying, and then another church member had joined us. We had ourselves a really good cry party up there by the pulpit at the conclusion of that service. As we were sobbing, someone then offered a prayer for God’s presence to be with us in the midst of our grief and pain, and after we all said, “Amen,” I said to them, “Thanks everyone, I needed that.”
Thank God for the Sherpas in our lives who remind us that we’re not alone and that God’s presence is with us as we navigate through difficult and uncertain times.
And so, if you are facing a challenging time in your life, and like Moses, maybe wondering if you have it in you to not give up, or like my friend who was standing in that Children’s hospital in need of an answer to prayer, or just in need of a good cry, remember that God provides Sherpas along the way. They will help you find your footing and they will help lead you into the glorious presence of God.
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