Challenge your faith in 2015

Ephesians 1:3-14 --

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose usin him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[a] predestined us for adoption to sonship[b] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace,which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemptionthrough his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he[c]made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

11 In him we were also chosen,[d] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

           Griffin is now to the age where absolutely everything is a question.  And once you answer that question, there are only more questions.  The mind of a three year old never stops.  He is so concerned with where we are going and then he wants to know where we are going after that.  He judges time based off of naps and meals and centers his questions about time around those “important” times of the day.  He has already told his mother and I that we “aren’t fair” and that he “can do what he wants.”  Cheyanne made the comment yesterday that he argues like a six year old and in all honestly, his arguments make a little sense.  It can get frustrating trying to answer all these questions.  I want to answer them so that he can understand what I am trying to say.  When I do come up with a what I feel like is a good answer, he always comes back with “why?”  The questions about what are we doing next followed up by what are we doing after that never seem to stop.  I know he is just trying to figure out his day and in the midst of the questions I can see both myself and Cheyanne.  He needs to know what is going on much like his mother but he schedules that day around meals and naps much like his father.  In our scripture for this morning, I feel like Paul has been asked a lot of questions from the Ephesians and this is an attempt to answer to those questions.

I get the impression from our scripture that Paul is trying to be that perfect parent.  He is trying to explain all that Christ, God and Spirit are in a few sentences.  It seems like the Ephesians had a list of questions and Paul is writing this letter in response to those questions.  He is doing is his best to answer the questions, fears and insecurities of the Ephesians.  There is so much “theological meat” in this scripture and it seems to me like Paul is trying to answer a bunch of questions at once.  Some of those questions may have been: “Did God choose us?” “Oh, He did choose us... Ok, why?”  Or “what role does Jesus play in all of this?” “ok, that makes sense but why?” “ok, so Jesus died so that we would have forgiveness of sins and have wisdom and understanding, but why?”  Or “did God know all of this ahead of time?” “ok, he did... then why did He predestine us?” “oh, because it conforms to his will and so that we might put our hope in Christ.”  "Why?" Just like children, Christians have an infinite number of questions.  We are never fully satisfied with the answers we are offered if we are lucky enough to even get some answers.  When we really break down our faith and ask the hard questions we will find that we are left with more questions than answers.  We have great theologians, philosophers and preachers who try their best to answer the most difficult questions but they don’t always answer the questions we have.  We are always looking for the perfect answer.  Whether we are parents, teachers, coaches or Christians we are always looking for the perfect answer.  We are on a constant search for truth.

This morning, I challenge you to always be on the search for truth.  But do so knowing you will never find it.  Looking, searching, seeking answers is not about the answer you find... It’s about the search.  Faith is about the search.  Faith offers us hope not answers.  We will never know why things happen the way they do but don’t let that keep you from trying to figure it out.  The Bible itself is a journey.  A journey that is repeated from the Israelites to Jesus.  A journey through the Bible answers some questions but ultimately leads to more questions.  Faith offers us some answers but ultimately it leads us to more questions.  Keep searching, keep seeking, keep asking.  In 2015, I challenge you to be more real in your faith, more real than you have ever been.  Ask those difficult questions that you have been too afraid to ask.  Seek those difficult answers that you have been too scared to find.  

There is one question about my faith that I have often wondered about and that question comes from scriptures much like this one from Ephesians.  Verse 11 says, “In [Christ] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will...”  The notion of predestination, as fundamental Christianity sees it,  gives me a lot of difficulty because for me it means that God chose some and not others.  It means that some are foreordained to Heaven while others are not.  It means that God's grace was intended for some and not all.  Most importantly, it means that God’s love only extends to a few and that Christ’s death was only meant for them.  A notion I find difficult to believe because I do not believe that God, and his love and grace, are that small.  I am fascinated by outer space and the vastness it offers.  It is difficult for us to imagine just how small of a part our galaxy plays in the massive  size of the observable universe.  Science has shown us just how vast our universe is and as a Christian, I believe that God created everything and that includes the vastness of the universe.  How could a God who created this unbelievably huge universe have such a small understanding when it comes to love and grace?  The two differences are just too great for me to justify.  I do not believe that God only predestined a select number of people to heaven.  If that were the case, then everything that the communion table represents would be false.  Everything we know about grace could not exist under such a narrow understanding of predestination.  When Paul talks about choosing us and how we are predestined, I do not look at it with exclusivity.  I do believe that God chose us.  I do believe that God predestined us.  But I believe those things with the entirety of humankind in mind.  I believe that God’s love and grace, along with Christ’s sacrifice, are meant for everyone person but the way that God reveals that mystery to each of us is completely different which further shows the vastness and hugeness of God’s love but it also leaves us with more questions than answers.  

In 2015, I challenge you to challenge yourself.  Make this year one of conviction and seeking.  Search for answers that you won’t find but know that the search is not in vain because they journey will teach you more than the answer you are looking for.  Faith is a journey, and not an easy one at that, but know that you do not have to make that journey alone.  Carry God’s love and grace with you wherever you go but know that you also have a church family that supports you.  Keep asking questions and keep looking for answers.  Draw conclusions then challenge those conclusions and if you do this then 2015 will be a year of growth for your faith, this church and this community.  Amen.