"Jesus And His Silly Questions”

My thanks to Darrell Stetler II for doing most of the work on this message.

“Jesus and His Silly Questions”

August 16, 2009

Have you ever been asked a silly question? I suppose we all have – mostly by our kids or grandkids. Monica used to be great at asking silly questions. When she was about 4 or 5 years old she said, “Daddy, is God as smart as you?” She about floored me with that one. Needless to say, she grew out of that concept of me very quickly. I answered very seriously, “Yes, Sweetie, God is way smarter than me.” That’s pretty hard to believe to an adoring adolescent.

Another silly question she asked me, as I was lifting something heavy was, “Dad, is anyone as strong as you?” I answered very seriously, “Yes, Dear, somewhere there is someone who is even stronger than me.” Isn’t it nice that someone thinks you are the world’s strongest man?

Here’s some more silly questions people have asked:

Once you’ve heard a sound, where does the sound go?

What color is a chameleon?

Why is it called the Afterlife when it’s really Afterdeath?

Why is it called Afterdark when it’s really Afterlight?

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Why do 24/7 stores have locks fitted to the doors?

Why are soapsuds always white?

Why do Superheroes wear tights?

If Buzz Lightyear doesn’t know he’s a toy why does he stop talking when humans are around?

If humans evolved from apes, why do we still have apes?

If humans left the earth, would Time cease to exist?

Why do Psychics keep sending me spam, don’t they know I’m not interested?

There’s a lot of silly questions out there – fun questions. We get them all the time. But have you ever notice the silly questions Jesus asked? I want to talk about three of them this morning.

Listen to the first silly question Jesus asked. It’s recorded in Luke 18.

“Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."

Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.”

Luke 18:35-43

1. “What do you want me to do for you?” What a silly question to ask a blind man! Anyone could pretty much guess what a blind person would want. Why would Jesus ask a dumb question like that? I think He had good reason. One reason was because he wanted something before he would perform a miracle for them. He wanted him to get specific about what he wanted.

Did you hear about the lady who called the fire department to report a fire?

The fireman was sitting by the phone when it rang. He picked it up and said, “Fire department!” The woman on the other end said, “SEND A FIRE TRUCK QUICK!” and hung up.

He waited, not sure what to do, and the phone rang again. He picked it up, said “Fire department.” The woman said, “SEND A FIRE TRUCK NOW!!” Then she hung up.

He waited, and this time he was ready. The phone rang, and he picked it up and said, “Where’s the fire?” The woman said, “It’s in the kitchen!” and hung up!

Sometimes we don’t want to get specific about what we want from the Lord. I think often we limit the miracles we can receive because we are not willing to tell Jesus exactly what our problem is!

Notice that when Jesus asked this man what he wanted, the man didn’t say, “Well, Lord. . . I just really need your help. I have an unspoken request. You know my heart, and uh. . . I just need your guidance with my situation.”

I’m not against unspoken requests. Sometimes, it’s the most appropriate way to ask for prayer in public. But the danger is that we don’t ask God specifically enough sometimes in the place of prayer!

DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM? Something you’ve wrestled with for a long time, and never been able to conquer? Do you have a situation that you can’t handle? Will NOTHING short of a miracle be the cure and take care of the situation? Then you need to do two things: