Chuck Colson relates this interesting story in his book How Then Should We Live? “In William Steig’s Yellow & Pink, a delightfully whimsical picture book for children, two wooden figures wake up to find themselves lying on an old newspaper in the hot sun. One figure is painted yellow, the other pink. Suddenly, Yellow sits up and asks, ‘Do you know what we’re doing here?’ ‘No,’ replies Pink. ‘ I don’t even remember getting here.’ So begins a debate between the two marionettes over the origin of their existence. Pink surveys their well-formed features and concludes, ‘Someone must have made us.’ Yellow disagrees. ‘I say we’re an accident,’ and he outlines a hypothetical scenario of how it might have happened. A branch might have broken off a tree and fallen on a sharp rock, splitting one end of the branch into two legs. Then the wind might have sent it tumbling down a hill until it was chipped and shaped. Perhaps a flash of lightning struck in such a way as to splinter the wood into arms and fingers. Eyes might have been formed by woodpeckers boring in the wood. ‘With enough time, a thousand, a million, maybe two and a half million years, lots of unusual things could happen,’ says Yellow. ‘Why not us?’ The two figures argue back and forth. In the end, the discussion is cut off by the appearance of a man coming out of a nearby house. He strolls over to the marionettes, picks them up, and checks their paint. ‘Nice and dry,’ he comments, and tucking them under his arm, he heads back toward the house. Peering out from under the man’s arm, Yellow whispers in Pink’s ear, ‘Who is this guy?’” Colson then says, “That is precisely the question each one of us must answer, and it’s no storybook fantasy. It is deadly serious. Beyond the public debates and rhetoric, beyond the placard waving and politicizing, at the heart of every worldview are the intensely personal questions: Who made me, and why am I here?”
These are ultimate questions, for if we are just here by accident then it is every person for his/herself. Every person decides what is good, what is right and wrong, for themselves. Instead of God being at the center of the created universe, we are the center. As the existentialists would have it, there is no God, and as a result there is no ultimate meaning, therefore we have to create our own meaning. We use utilitarian standards and figure out what is good for the greatest number of people, and especially what is good for us. Since there is no God, we become god in his place and make all our decisions accordingly.
The question of whether God created the world, or it all happened by some cosmic accident, is central to our understanding of life. Because if God did not create the world, and it all came about by chance, there is no meaning, no purpose and no direction to life. We have no more idea how we got here, or what we are doing here, than the yellow and pink marionettes. But if God indeed created the world, we understand clearly who we are, how we got here and what the purpose of our lives is. We understand what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to live. And what is more, we are accountable to this God. He tells us that he not only created the world in the beginning, but in the end there will be a judgment where every person who has ever lived will stand before him. We understand that we are moral beings, which means that have been given free will and the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and evil. God has told us what is good and so we are responsible to him for choosing the good. Furthermore, if God created the world he has the authority to call us to obedience.
This is what the world objects to. This is what causes rebellion and the strained and futile attempts to understand the world on purely naturalistic grounds, without any reference to God. The world might accept a God who stays out of the picture and does not make demands of them, but they will not tolerate a God who gives commandments, laws, rules and principles. They would accept a nice God who just tried to make them happy, but they will not acknowledge any authority being higher than their own. Better to pretend he does not exist, and have to deal with a life that is purposeless and devoid of meaning, than have a God to whom we are ultimately accountable and who will judge us in the end. So, many people find themselves like the marionettes being carried away by their Maker, refusing to believe that he had anything to do with their existence, and asking, “Who IS this guy?”.
As I read over our scripture this week, I thought it was a fitting question to ask about Jesus. “Who is this guy?”, or better yet, “Who does he think he is?” If we believe the Bible, we understand that he is not only the God who created us, but who has now has come to be like one of us — like a toy maker becoming a marionette so that he could communicate with us and tell us of our value. He came to show us his love and tell us the meaning of life. Who is he to say something like, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25)? I thought it was about me fulfilling myself — not denying myself. Who gave him the authority to give orders like that? No one. No one could. He alone is the authority of the universe. He created the world, it belongs to him, and he rules the world, whether we like to acknowledge it or not. But we want a nice God who will play golf with us in heaven, not one who speaks with authority and who will bring us into judgment.
The Bible tells about the crowd’s reaction after Jesus taught them. It says, “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law” (Matthew 7:28-29). The crowds were amazed that he spoke with such authority. He did not give them opinions, he gave them truth as though he possessed it, as though he was the author of it. Matthew tells this story: “Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’ At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, ‘This fellow is blaspheming!’ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, ‘Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . .’ Then he said to the paralytic, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.’ And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men” (Matthew 9:2-8). He had the authority to forgive sins, because ultimately he was the one who had been offended. He had the authority to heal a man because he was the one who created human life and knew how to put him together again.
At the end of his ministry, the Bible says, “Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave you this authority?’” (Matthew 21:23). This is what offended the leaders of Jesus day, because he was assuming a greater authority than theirs. This is still what offends people today. We don’t want anyone having authority over us — even God. But whether it offends or not, this is the truth that binds the universe together. After his resurrection, Jesus told his disciples: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).
Daniel, the Old Testament prophet, had a vision of the coming of Christ on the last day. He wrote, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).
So this is why Jesus has the authority to ask us to obey him and follow him — even if it means a cross. The really interesting thing is that our scripture today immediately follows Peter’s great confession. When Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was, Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus praised him for his understanding. But then the Bible says, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Matthew 16:21-23). From the mountain top of faith and commendation, Peter received a severe rebuke because he thought he knew better than Jesus what was right and good. He thought he knew better than Jesus how the future should work out — without a cross. He thought he knew better than Jesus how God operated — without suffering.
Peter could understand the exaltation of Christ, but not his humiliation. Neither did he understand what this would mean for his own life. For then Jesus said to all his disciples: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” He could say this because he would set the example. We seek God’s blessing and assume that if we belong to him then everything will go well for us in this world. But Jesus was saying that our primary goal should be to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). If we seek first this world, with its comforts, pleasures and good things, as our primary goal then we may miss the kingdom, because seeking the kingdom often goes against this world. And when we go against the grain of the culture, it may mean that people may misunderstand us. We may even face persecution. If we are not willing to do that, then we are not ready to follow Christ. He will lead us to where he has gone before. If you need the love and acceptance of people, then the kingdom will be lost to you. If your primary objective is to be happy, then the kingdom will slip through your fingers.
Jesus warns his disciples: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26). If our main concern is that life go well for us, then we are concerned about the wrong things. If our main concern is that people think well of us, then we are not concerned about pleasing God. Following Christ may mean living a difficult life where we are misunderstood. It may mean rejection, or worse. It may mean the cross. But our concern is to gain our soul. Our concern is to live for Christ and be a part of his kingdom. We are not here by chance or accident. God has a plan for us which includes heaven. That is a totally different life than most of the people in this world are living.
Then Jesus said, “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” (Matthew 16:27). This is what we are living for — to see the Son of Man come in his Father’s glory with his angels to reward us. We do not seek the rewards of this world or its accolades. We seek the approval of God. We want to be faithful to him no matter how hard it may be in this life.
Joni Eareckson is a woman who has experienced a lot of suffering. Paralyzed from the shoulders down after a tragic diving accident as a teenager, Joni often wanted to die instead of working to live and overcome her disabilities. She still lives in pain every day. But God has given her a world-wide ministry that she could never have dreamed of before her accident. And she has proven faithful through it all. This week she wrote a wonderful devotional. She titles it, “Closer to the Other Side”. She tells about something that happened to her recently — something that for most of us would be rather mundane, but to her it spoke of something far deeper. She writes, “For me in this wheelchair, shampooing my hair requires parking in front of my bathroom sink, leaning forward, and letting my friend Dana ‘go at it’ as she stands to one side and lathers my hair. ‘Joni, would you like me to wash your face while you’re under the faucet?’ she asked. ‘Sure,’ I gurgled. She took her soapy hands and began lathering my cheeks, using the flat of her fingers to gently wash around my eyes. I gasped. ‘Am I hurting you?’ Dana asked. ‘Oh, no, not at all!’ I said. ‘Please… please keep going!’ How could I explain? For that brief moment, it felt as though her hands were mine! She was rubbing my face exactly the way I used to do with my own hands, decades ago. Those few brief moments were about as close as I’ve ever felt to being healed! When we finished, Dana patted my face and hair dry with a towel. She also had to wipe away my tears. But they weren’t tears of sadness or regret. They were tears of joy about the future. I told her, ‘This was a reminder that soon I will be able to wash my own face with new, glorified hands!’” Then Joni said, “There is less distance between me and the future than me and the past, before I was injured. I have come to the place where a memory can push me joyfully into the future rather than pull me somberly back into a sad past. Because we are believers, the future has a happy, magnetic pull on our hearts. Take just few minutes today (maybe while you’re on a walk in the sunlight) to think about the new, marvelous, perfect, immortal body that awaits you — really, just a few years away on the Other Side.
She ends with the scripture that says, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus has taken hold of me.” (Philippians 3:13). And then she prays: “Lord how good you are! The promises you have given us for that radiant tomorrow help us walk through the darkest of days on this side of heaven.” She is following Christ in her wheelchair, carrying her cross, and has her eyes set on the kingdom heaven. She is living for him now that she might live with him there.
Rodney J. Buchanan
August 21, 2011
Amity United Methodist Church
rodbuchanan2000@yahoo.com
