What could Christianity and Columbus Day possibly have in common?  Well, old Chris Columbus was a Christian--Catholic, probably--but beyond those ties to the church and to the Catholic sovereign who authorized and sponsored his voyages of exploration, there does not appear to be a connection.  But there is a connection.  It is possibly this:  The voyages of exploration in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries took those with courage to places where no Europeans had ever been before.  There was a sense of the unknown about it.  I am sure that this was both exciting and intimidating to people.  Today space travel would be the nearest equivalent which comes to mind, although some underwater exploration might be considered as well.  Columbus was willing to launch out and go to places which had not been explored by Europeans before.  He discovered what we now know as the Americas.

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote about Christians exercising the same kind of courage to follow Jesus Christ, who is the pioneer of our faith.  Hebrews uses imagery from the Old Testament, especially from the wilderness wandering period, to emphasize the necessity of living by faith rather than by sight.  There are risks involved in living by faith.  Some of us are not good risk takers.  We think of believing in Jesus and following Jesus to be safe, conservative types of activities.  The truth is that if you really follow Jesus, you may get involved in the most dangerous, most exciting adventures of your life.  You see,  he calls people to follow HIm to the ends of the earth in any kind of situation.  The immediate impact of following the Lord may not be apparent, just as the immediate impact of Columbus' discovery was not apparent and would not be for many years.  Today, however, everyone knows what a crucial discovery it was and what dynamic results have taken place.

So, as we celebrate Columbus Day and the pioneering, exploring spirit of Christopher Columbus, let us also commit ourselves to following Jesus Christ, our great pioneer, who beckons us on to a "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."