Introduction
Being
a father of three, I hear these words or a version of them constantly: “Daddy,
how come…”; “Daddy, why does…”, “Daddy,
do you…” The amount of questions seems
inexhaustible, and many times, I find myself thinking, “Would you just stop
asking questions?” Yes, I am completely
aware of the irony of the situation.
But, questions are important.
Very important.
I
truly believe that as human beings, we never stop learning. Even though our bodies stop growing and start
aging, our minds and intellects continue to develop and grow through our
interactions in the world. Something is
always out there that we just don’t know enough about and could stand some
brushing up on. Those of us with internet
access know that there exists a whole virtual world of knowledge and opinions
that far exceed the capacity of the human mind to assimilate. In my opinion, this is not a bad thing. It allows us to stay sharp as we engage
points of view and facts that do not necessarily conform with our
understandings and views. Such attempts
to reconcile, change, or reject keeps our synapses sharp. (For those of you who don’t know what a
synapse is, I have just made my point about the necessity of continued
learning.)
As a pastor, it is further my belief that our faith lives
are in constant flux. Contrary to the
belief of some, you never have your life of faith all figured out. You never can figure all of Christianity
out. Just when you think you’ve got it
down, another insight is revealed, another interpretation is offered, or God
speaks to you in a way that sheds light on something that you have struggled
with. Yes, our faith constantly ebbs and
grows.
Now, there are those who might like to argue with me
about that statement. Christianity is
nearly 2000 years old. In that 2000 years,
we have covered all there is to cover forward, backward, and forward
again. There is nothing new under the
sun. “Jesus loves me, this I know. What more do I need to know?” The
teachings in the Bible have not changed.
If my faith is based upon what is revealed in the Bible, how can things
continue to ebb and grow? These trains
of thought are very similar to some of the folks written about in the pages of Scripture:
especially those who questioned Jesus’ teachings and actions. They thought that they had faith in God all
figured out. They thought that they
understood the things they were supposed to do and say that would keep them in
God’s good graces. Why should they grow
any further?
But Jesus would have none of that. Jesus constantly stretched His audience,
called them to see God in another way, and called them to open their eyes to
different possibilities of how God can and does act. Oftentimes, some of His most poignant points
were rammed home by asking a question.
“Why are you afraid?” “Who do the
crowds say that I am?” “Who do you say
that I am?” “Why do you call me
good?” Jesus stretched his audience, and
he continues to stretch us today. The
questions that he asked during the time he walked the earth are questions that
still carry relevance to us today. I
invite you to join me in a journey of looking at those questions and growing in
your faith as we invite Jesus to challenge us with the questions He asked in
the book of Mark.
In Your Hearts
2:1-9, 1When Jesus
returned to Capernaum
after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2So many
gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of
the door; and he was speaking the word to them. 3Then some people
came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4And
when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the
roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which
the paralytic lay. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6Now some of the scribes
were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7“Why does this
fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God
alone?” 8At once Jesus
perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among
themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your
hearts? 9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are
forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’?”10But
so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins”—he said to the paralytic—11“I say to you, stand up, take your
mat and go to your home.” 12And he stood up, and immediately took
the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and
glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
A rather interesting scene takes place in the movie 10
Things I Hate About You. Two
characters who have a rather colorful past end up dating together, and on one
such date, they begin to question one another regarding all of the rumors that
others have told about them. The
conversation went something like this:
Patrick: No, none of that stuff is true.
Kat: State trooper?
P: Fallacy. Dead
guy in the parking lot?
K: Rumor. The
duck?
P: Here say. Bobby
Ridgeway’s b-lls?
K: Fact, but he deserved it. He tried to grope me in the lunch line.
P: Fair enough.
K: The accent?
P: It’s real. I
lived in Australia
until I was 10.
K: With the pygmies?
P: Close, with my mum.
(10 Things I Hate About You, 1999)
I watched with fascination at how nearly all the rumors
that swelled up about these two characters were false. Because each character was mysterious and
acted quite contrary to what others believed as normal, folks talked about them
behind their backs. In order to explain
the perceived abnormality, folks created stories questioning the characters’
sanity and painting them as psychopathic wierdos. Anyone who has ever had one’s name drug
through the rumor mill can relate very well to what happened to these two
characters. Fortunately, for them it was
a movie. In real life, things can end up
much worse.
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