Poems, Prayers, and Promises from a Country Parson

This is my sermon manuscript from Sunday March 25, 2012

    Today we come to the last sermon in our series about the Three Simple Questions.  I pray this series has helped you grow in your faith.  I know it has challenged me think how I can be more like Jesus.  I do think these Three Simple Questions have helped me know the Go of love, hope, and purpose.
    We’ve repeated them before, but I think they are worth repeating again.  Do you all remember the Three Simple Questions?  They are:
“Who is God?”
“Who am I?”
“Who are we together?”
    These are timeless and universal questions.  People across the world and across the ages have been pondering and seeking meaningful answers to these questions.  In his book, “Three Simple Questions,” Bishop Rueben Job has helped us find those meaningful answers people have long sought after.  Bishop Job has helped us find those answers in the Bible.
    Do you all remember the answers the Bible offers to these questions?
    “Who is God?”  The Bible tells us that God is the creator and sustainer of all that is seen and unseen.  If we want to see God, the Bible tells us all we need to do is to look at Jesus Christ.
    “Who am I?”  The Bible tells us that we are God’s children.  Jesus Christ offers us God’s gracious love. 
    “Who are we together?”  The Bible tells us that we are all connected in the human family.  The Bible also tells us that living well together is difficult.  We can only live well together by loving others and ourselves.  The only way we can love others and ourselves is by first loving God.  If we want to know what that love looks like, then all we need to do is to look at Jesus Christ.
    Last week we considered the role prayer plays in helping us connect to the God of the Three Simple Questions.  Prayer helps us know God, know ourselves, and know how we are to live with others.  I we want to live a life of love, hope, and purpose we need prayer-filled lives. 
    Today we come to the end of this series and I want to use this sermon to address what it means and looks like to “live the questions.”  So I ask, “What does it mean to live the questions?”
    Let me offer this story.
    This past week I spent a good bit of time walking around and pondering the thought, “Living the questions.”  While walking and pondering, I got to thinking about third grade math.  Do you all remember third grade?  When I was kid, third grade math was all about multiplication and division.  The first half of the year you spent all day remembering the times tables.  The second half of the year you spent all day learning about division.  Looking back on third grade it was a time of building up and taking down.
    I hate to tax your brain, but let’s do some math. 2 x 2 = 4, 2 x 3=6, 5 x 8 = 40, 10 x 10 = 100, 12 x 12 = 144.  I see some steam coming out of some of your ears. 
    I don’t know how you learned the multiplication table, but Mrs. Cowley, my third grade teacher, taught us by repetition.  We went over the multiplication table over and over again, kind of like how we’ve been repeating The Three Simple Questions and their answers over and over again. 
    At the beginning of the year our class struggled a bit, we had to do the math, then after a few weeks we began to remember, and then after a month or so Mrs. Cowley would ask random questions and we would answer almost before she finished the question.  Over time the multiplication table became natural.  You might say it became part of who we are.  As a grown up we use the time tables without thinking.
    In celebration of this spring weather you decide to have a cook out.  You go to the grocery and pick up a pack of hotdogs.  There are ten dogs in a pack.  You get two packs.  You go to the bread aisle to get some buns.  I’ve never understood why you get dogs in packs of ten but buns come in packs of eight.  Without sitting down with pen and paper, you pick up three bags of buns.  And if you got kids, you can use the four extra hot dog buns and subject them to the most embarrassing sandwich at the cafeteria table-a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a hot dog bun.
    Friends, this is what I think it means to live the questions.  We know the questions: “Who is God?” “Who am I?” and “Who are we together?”  We know the answers.  We are connecting through prayer and spiritual growth to the God of love, hope, and purpose who answers these questions.  And when we are faced with the questions we live the answers.
    A few weeks ago tornados swept through the mid west.  These huge storms destroyed towns and families.  News reporters ran to the scene to tell us the story.  They interviewed people whose earthly positions were picked up by the wind and thrown into a million pieces and places. Though, it was never directly asked, you heard people asking and answering the first question.
    “God sent the storms to teach us a lesson.”
    “God was mad at us.”
    “God is judging us.”
    “God is....you can finish the rest of the sentence.”
“Who is God?” wasn’t asked, but it was answered.
    You go to the mailbox.  There is a letter waiting for you.  It’s got your address, but not your name.  It is addressed to “Resident.”  Though, it was never directly asked, you have an answer to the second question.
    “You are a resident.”
    “You are a zip code, a street number, a street name.”
    “You are a citizen of a certain state.”
    “You are a citizen of a certain nation.”
“Who am I?” wasn’t asked, but it was answered.
    You go to town.  You see a man on the side of the street.  He looks like he hasn’t had a bath in several weeks.  He looks hungry.  The light turns green.  You move with the flow of traffic.  Though, it was never directly asked, you’ve answered the third question.
    “He’s just a drunk.”
    “If he only tried to find a job.”
    “He would only use my money to buy booze.”
    “I can’t do anything to help him.”
“Who are we together?” wasn’t asked, but it was answered. 
    Friends, this is what it looks like to live the questions. 
    In the closing paragraph of his book “Three Simple Questions,” Bishop Job has this to say about living the questions.  He writes:
We know we cannot do everything to change the world, but we can, by God’s grace, each do our part.  We can, each one of us, live what we are--a creature of the God who is Creator of all that is, a beloved child of God, a responsible member of God’s global family, and a follower of Jesus Christ as part of God’s faithful family.  Every day that we live as Jesus lived, we change the world. (74)

    Listen to that last line again, “Every day that we live as Jesus lived, we change the world.”  Living like Jesus?  Isn’t that a novel idea?  Haven’t we heard that before?  Wasn’t that something Paul said in scripture we heard this morning?

    Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. Live your life with love,     following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a     sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God. Ephesians 5:1-2.

    In this scripture, Paul was telling Christians long ago and Christians today, to live like Christ.  Look at the word he uses in verse 1.  He writes, “imitate God.”  I’m sure many of you all have heard the old adage, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  I suggest “imitation is also the sincerest form of worship.” 
    In this passage, Paul is speaking to people who were familiar with the ancient art of public speaking.  If you wanted to become a great public speaker you would find a great public speaker and ask to be their student.  As a student you would then learn to imitate the teacher.  If the teacher raised his hands when he spoke, you would learn to raise your hands when you spoke.  If the teacher tried to make a point with a soft spoken voice, then you would learn to make a point with a soft spoken voice.
    As Christians, we are called to imitate our teacher.  Our teacher is Jesus Christ.  Living the questions means to live like Jesus would. 
    What does that look like?
A few weeks ago tornados swept through the mid west.  These huge storms destroyed towns and families.  News reporters ran to the scene to tell us the story.  They interviewed people whose earthly positions were picked up by the wind and thrown into a million pieces and places.  You hear the following explanations:
    “God sent the storms to teach us a lesson.”
    “God was mad at us.”
    “God is judging us.”
    “God is....you can finish the rest of the sentence.”
    Because you are trying to live the questions, the explanations sound like this, “2 x 2 =5, 4 x 5 =15, 3 x 9 = 10.”  You know they mean well, but the answers are wrong.  God is loving creator and sustainer.  Let’s don’t rush to say God sent storms.  How about we live in a world were evil takes many forms and fashions and storms are example of a fallen creation.  Instead of blaming God, you look for ways to help these victims rebuild their lives.  You do something God would do, you work for restoration, re-creation, and redemption.

    You go to the mailbox.  There is a letter waiting for you.  It’s got your address, but not your name.  It is addressed to “Resident.”  You ask? “Am I just a resident, a zip code, a street number, a street name.”  No.  “I am something more, something greater, I am a beloved Child of God.”  You are living the questions.
    You go to town.  You see a man on the side of the street.  He looks like he hasn’t had a bath in several weeks.  He looks hungry. Before you started to spend more time in prayer, Bible study, devotion, worship, and serving others you would have sat in the car and said to yourself, “He’s just a drunk,” “He would only use my money to buy booze,” or “I can’t do anything to help him.”  Because you are living the questions, when the light turns green you go to the next gas station or fast food place and get the man something to drink or eat.  Friends that is what it means to live the questions. 
    Living the Questions means we imitate Christ.  We cannot imitate what we do not know.  So we can’t imitate Christ if we don’t know Christ.  We can’t live the questions if we don’t know the answers to the questions.  We can’t answer the questions if we don’t know the God of the questions.  We can’t know the God of the questions without know Jesus Christ. 
    Friends over the next two weeks we will celebrate Palm Sunday and Easter.  We will journey through the Passion of Holy Week.  We will focus our attention on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We will remember what The God of love, hope, and purpose has done for us so we might be able to fully love and live.  I pray that you see these days as a divine invitation to draw closer to God.  I hope you see these days and actually every day, as a divine invitation to know love and grow in love.  For in drawing near to the God of love we truly find hope in this world and discover our purpose for living. 
    Now I understand living the questions might sound difficult.  Living like Christ is a high standard.  Jesus is perhaps the most difficult person to imitate.  Why?  Not because  what he asks us to do in so difficult, but because it is inherently and radically difficult from the way we are used to living.  But Christ is gracious.  If we draw near to God, God will draw near to us and help as we grow and over time and as we grow in grace-living the questions and being like Christ will be as natural as “2 x 2 = 4, 5 x 3 = 15, 4 x 6 = 24.” Amen.