(First of all, a note to the reader. This talk started out life as a thematic talk - what is my life all about. Therefore, please don’t be too surprised or disappointed that this sermon is therefore not an exposition of the Philippians chapter 1 Bible passage. I refer to it during the talk, and I believe it helps to set the scene, but this is not an expository sermon):
If you type into Google the answer to life, the universe and everything it will tell you the answer is 42, as announced by Douglas Adams in The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. Adams meant it as a joke; but to mark the 10th anniversary of his death Peter Gill released a book trying to prove that 42 is the answer! For example, Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert died aged 42; they had 42 grandchildren and their great-grandson, Edward VIII, abdicated at the age of 42. Lord Lucan’s last known location was outside 42 Norman Road, Newhaven, East Sussex. Titanic was travelling at a speed equivalent to 42km/hour when it collided with an iceberg; and of course Elvis Presley died aged 42; but the point is that there is a desire within the hearts of men, women and children to have an answer to these questions: Why are we here? What are we doing on earth? What is the purpose of my life? Why does Richard Dawkins have such an unqualified faith in the non-existence of God?
A few years ago the philosopher Julian Baggini wrote a book called what’s it all about? In the book he wrote this: ‘A taxi driver once had Bertrand Russell in the back of his cab. Since Russell was the most famous philosopher of his day, the cabby asked him "What’s it all about?" Russell, however, could not answer. No surprise there, you might think. For, isn’t the meaning of life the most profound and elusive mystery of them all - unknown to even the greatest minds? Surely anyone who tells you they have the answer is joking, mad or simply mistaken. I hope not, because I think I could answer the cabby’s question. It would need to be a reasonably long journey to give the full explanation, but I could give the outline in the time it takes to get from Charing Cross to King’s Cross. In fact, tell you what, I will give you the quick answer now. I can do this, not because I am especially wise. If only! I can do it because it has all been done already.’ Sadly, Baggini then goes on to say not very much of substance in my opinion.
So if great philosophers struggle with the question; and if scientists also are not able to explain what purpose lies behind life, can I do it? Well, let’s start with a short video which may remind us how awkward we can feel when asked, “Why are we here?”
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j4iMm4yz8I
In his book ‘Thank God it’s Monday’ Mark Greene reminds us that in the beginning God started work. For six days he worked and then he rested. God’s work of creation reflects who He is, because he made humanity in His image. He instilled creativity in us and gave us work to do. Literally, in the beginning, before sin affected men and women, humanity was designed for work; and that work was given as a blessing. So, in Genesis we read this: ‘God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground”’ (Genesis 1:28).
And just a short while later we read this: ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it’ (Genesis 2: 15).
The sin of Adam and Eve, and the continuing inclination of hearts to rebel against God led to a change in the character of work. Work would become harder, but the command to work and the essential value of work remained – and we mustn’t limit our idea of work to something we get paid for because Adam was not told to work for a salary; and the work he was given can be done by almost everyone – filling the earth and taking care of it. That was the purpose given to humanity when God made us; and in the Ten Commandments this is reiterated. We are to work at something for six days and to rest for one day. However, despite what the media may suggest, our significance and our identity is not found in the work we do. Our identity does not come from a Job Title, a role, or a moment of fame.
The 1640 Westminster Catechism states that ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever’. In other words humanity’s primary function, goal, and purpose, is to bring glory to our creator God and to enjoy him for all eternity. Hence I believe that our significance, and our identity, is located within a living relationship with our creator God.
St. Paul was once a murderer and a persecutor of Christians. Later in life after his conversion to Christ, he faced false accusations, mob violence, and an assassination plot. He was ship-wrecked on his way to Rome and was now imprisoned, uncertain whether he would be executed. So Paul wrote to the Philippian Church, ‘I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body this will mean fruitful labour for me (1:20-22).
For me to live is Christ. Living will mean fruitful labour, says St. Paul; but what about us? What fruitful labour is there for us if we are chained to a job we cannot bear, or chained to a situation or condition that is painful or debilitating, or confined by circumstances?
What is our purpose? Why are we here on earth?
I believe we are here, as Mark Greene puts it, ‘to co-labour with the King of the universe’! What a calling, what a purpose, what a raison-d’Être is ours! St. Paul was chained to his captors and yet he found purpose and meaning in every day. He could not go outside. He had no social life. He had almost no choices available to him. He was in chains, and some of us may feel like we are in chains due to circumstances, or health, or choices we have made. Paul was in chains and yet he shared the good news of Jesus Christ with his guards. He didn’t say, “I can’t do anything at the moment. I’ll wait until I’m released”; no, he got on with his God-appointed task.
Later in his letter to the Philippians Paul writes, ‘Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ’ (1:27). We’re called to be citizens of God’s kingdom, patriotic, glad to be part of his family; and we’re called - just like Israel was called - to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 49:6); and so Jesus said, “You are the light of the world …let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 14-16).
We’re here to work to look after the world, to know God and enjoy him forever, and to shine as lights in the world for him, so that others will also come to praise him too. Our meaning and our purpose is all found in him and because of him.
On Wednesday evenings a small group of us have been studying Nicky Gumbel’s Alpha follow-up course A Life worth Living. In Chapter two of his book by the same name Nicky tells the story of Suzanna Wesley.
Suzanna was the mother of the famous Wesley brothers John & Charles who wrote hymns, preached to thousands and significantly impacted the UK. Suzanna had a total of 19 children and as a result she and her husband were very poor. ‘Her husband left home twice, once because he was put in a debtors’ prison and the second time because he disagreed with his wife’s political views! She educated all the children who survived single-handedly, teaching them Greek (by the age of ten), and most importantly the Christian faith. She rarely crossed the boundaries of her home as she was too busy running the household, farming the land and schooling the children. However, every day, she put her apron over her head for one hour and prayed. The children knew not to disturb her during that time. Within the walls of her home, her biographer wrote, she carried out a ministry to her children that was to change first England and then the world’. Quite simply, she worked for Christ, loved God and let her light shine.
Sometimes God makes his plan for our lives clear. Walk this path. Take this job. Move to this area. Get involved with this ministry. Invite that couple for dinner. Visit that widow at home. For me, the call to ordained ministry was one such example.
Other times, and in my experience most of the time, God has told us in the Bible what he wants us to do and he leaves us freedom to pursue his priorities; to love God and neighbour, love our enemies, look after the earth, seek peace, pray for Kings, Queens and governments, welcome children, pray for the sick. God longs to harness the gifts he’s given for use in his service [but] the crucial factor is that he calls us all to fully surrender [to Him]; but sadly, too often, we opt for personal safety and security and not full surrender to God; and so Simon Guillebaud writes this: ‘A ship may be safe in the harbour, but to fulfil its purpose it has to take on the seas; and no new land was ever discovered without the ship’s commander agreeing to lose sight of the shore he’d embarked from.’
Anticipating future regret Mark Twain warns us, ‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones that you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover’ (from the book ‘For what it’s worth’).
At other times God takes and uses the hard, painful, messy situations in which we find ourselves; and uses them to bless others and to draw us closer to him.
In the Old Testament Daniel wanted to be in Jerusalem. Early on in life his world was shattered when the Babylonian army carted him and many others off to Babylon, modern day Iraq. He was forced to live amongst a foreign people with a different language, different gods, food and culture; and some of you may feel like you’re in a place, or a job or a situation in which you would never choose to be. Why am I here? Where is God? What is he doing? What are his purposes in this situation?
Viv Thomas, in his book ‘Second Choice: embracing life as it is’, puts it like this: Daniel was ‘never in control of his own destiny, he …had to be shaped constantly by the agenda of others’; but ‘it is possible to walk closely with God while our lives are looking like a disaster zone’; ‘Daniel and his friends …poured themselves into [the] experience, even though they did not want to be there’; and they were often aware of God at work; because today just as then, God is at work in our circumstances.
So, if we find ourselves living in a second-choice world, a world that we would not have chosen for ourselves, like Daniel, it can be precisely such a place in which we discover what matters and what does not. Sharing the journey with others, making friends and being a friend helps immensely, and if we live in a second-choice world for a long time God will offer us many opportunities to build our lives on solid foundations; and those foundations will be built through prayer and relationship with God.
When people see us go through second-choice worlds, situations we would never have chosen; if we go through them with God then our lives will reveal something of God’s grace. A life, lived well in tough circumstances, will point to God. It is just as much an opportunity for the gospel as being given a chance to take a high profile job.
The Bible tells us that every Christian is called to be salt and light. We’re sent to go into the world to make new disciples, to be ambassadors for Christ, to be his witnesses, to live for him. Ultimately that is what our life is all about. So, let’s not get to the end of our lives and find that we resonate with Greg Levoy’s poem. His poem is different to Mark Twain’s illustration where Twain was talking about the safety of a harbour from which a boat never leaves. Levoy speaks of the safety of a boat from which some never leave: ‘To sinful patterns of behaviour that never get confronted and changed, Abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed.
Until weeks become months; And months turn into years; And one day you’re looking back on a life of Deep intimate gut-wrenchingly honest conversations you never had. Great bold prayers you never prayed, Exhilarating risks you never took, Sacrificial gifts you never offered; Lives you never touched; And you’re sitting in a recliner with a shrivelled soul; And forgotten dreams, And you realize there was a world of desperate need, And a great God calling you to be part of something bigger than yourself; you see the person you could have become but did not; You never followed your calling. You never got out of the boat.
The answer is not 42. The answer is not a diary full of church meetings; but the answer is found in a relationship with the God who made us, the God who loves us, and the God who sent his Son Jesus Christ to rescue us. Our search for meaning and purpose is found in Christ alone; but we need to be prepared to work out our calling within a changing situation.
