It was 6:30am.
I had just been coaxed out of bed by a little 4 year old voice entreating me to let him help me make the morning coffee. For some reason this little guy standing on a chair to reach the counter, carefully scooping beans out of the jar to put in the grinder, makes me happy each morning.
He loves to help.
Water is added, and we can start to smell it brew, and, as if spurred on by just the smell of caffeine, he turns to me and asks, "Daddy, why did Jesus die on a cross?"
...welcome to my morning.
It was almost 5:30pm, and about 45 people were preparing for our first Worship on Wednesday gathering for the year. 4 year old Hunter, just done with his pizza, comes up to me and asks, "Pastor Tim, who made God?"
...welcome to my evening.
The curious pursuit of answers and truth is not just reserved to four year olds, of course. I sat with a woman early on in my ministry, tubes falling out of her arms and legs, the latest round of treatment completed, and she looked at me and asked, "What if there's nothing other than this? Just this?"
The question was punctuated by tears and waving arms. I love to help...but nothing I could say would alleviate the ennui there, or plumb depth of that question.
Because sometimes we don't really want, or even need, answers...sometimes we just want people to do, act, sit with the question and live into the answer, not pay lip service to it all.
Lip service is exactly what is chomping at Jesus' bit in this Sunday's Gospel lesson. Take a look and see the exchange for yourself (you can click
here to read it).
Did you read it? The rest makes more sense if you do...
