Thought for Today

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,  

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"  

Luke 10:27 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."  

John 13:34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  

In the novel I am currently reading, one character, in trying to justify abandoning his family, says, “I needed space, I needed to find out why I was put on this earth.” That is best described as a lame excuse for a despicable action. But, the sad truth is that since Genesis 1:1, that has been the eternal question. “WHY?”

Why did God begin the beginning? Why did God create humanity? Why? Why? Why? My own engineer’s brain has asked. I have vainly struggled to form a coherent, cogent theory, preferably something I could formulate into an equation. Of course, I have failed. In our humanity, in our limited human state, it is hard to admit that some things are not merely ‘above our paygrade,’ they are quantum levels above our paygrade.

Even our language limits our ability to express our thoughts on the subject. We have no verbs or verb tenses to help us think about what was before the beginning of Creation. To even ask “What was God thinking” when dealing with the “Why question” sounds inane. Our finite, temporal minds cannot fully conceive of the eternal One who simply is. I love to imagine the reaction of the Israelite slaves to whom Moses might have said, “I AM sent me.” I picture them standing there, slack-jawed with their mouths agape. That is the same image I always have when I read in scripture about ‘fearing’ God; God’s creatures slack-jawed, mouths agape as they contemplate the Creator God, Author of all that is.

But, those of us who are honest have ourselves asked the question confronted by that character in the novel I am reading. We too have felt that need, “to find our why I was put on earth.” I have written before of the question asked of the enlisted man in the initial episode of Band of Brothers, “Why are you here, private?” For the Greatest Generation, the answer might at that moment have been obvious. For their children, the Baby Boomers, the answer was less evident. All of us old enough to remember the 1960s remember those who ‘dropped out’ trying to ‘find themselves.’ Some turned to drugs, some to mystic Asian religions or practices.

As a Christian, I believe the ultimate answer, to the extent we are capable of understanding God’s purpose, lies in those verses above from Luke and John. I wrote yesterday, on Valentines Day, “How wonderful that in many regions of the world there is one day set aside for a celebration of romance and love. How sad that in many regions of the world there is only one day set aside for a celebration of romance and love.” I also wrote, “there are several different words in the koine Greek of scripture that are translated into English as ‘love.’”

The Greek word translated as ‘love’ in the verses above is ‘ἀγαπάω.’ Many of us have heard sermons about agape love. If you do an MSWord search on that word, you will find 2 distinctly different definitions. “a·gape [əˈɡāp], of the mouth) wide open, especially with surprise or wonder” and, “a·ga·pe [äˈɡäˌpā, ˈäɡəˌpā], Christian love, especially as distinct from erotic love or emotional affection.” My Greek lexicon tells me that agape love is love “based on evaluation and choice, a matter of will and action.”

I believe we are here to learn to love. I believe God created humanity with the capability to love and also with the free will to choose . . . or to reject agape love. The choice is up to us, each and every time. In Star Wars terms, “Love or do not love, there is no try.”

Honestly, there are people, ideas and occurrences that challenge our love. This is an election year for Americans. Listen to the political discourse. I challenge you to find much agape love. Sadly, politicians have found that negative advertising is more effective. Is there much love evident in the daily news with which we are bombarded? NO! But, as Christians we are here to learn to love each other. To learn to love those with whom we agree and with whom we disagree. It’s okay to disagree. Just remember to love.

Stay safe, learn love, trust God,

Pastor Ray