INTRODUCTION
Do you find that there are times when you just have to ask ... why? Why do they call it a
TV set when you only have one? Why does your nose run and your feet smell? Why do doctors call what they do "practice?" Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii? Why is it that when you transport something by car, it’s called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it’s called cargo? Why isn’t the word "phonetic" spelled the way it sounds? Why do tugboats push their barges? And, last but not least, why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM? Sometimes you just have to ask ... why? A first year college student went to take his final exam in meteorology. The exam consisted of one essay question which read, “Why is the sky blue?” In answer to this essay question the student wrote the following,
“Ah...A two point question. As to the first point “Why?”
This is a question that has plagued scholars,
philosophers and theologians throughout the ages.
Who am I, a mere first year college student,
that I should attempt to answer this eternal
mystery. I must humbly submit that I do not
possess the divine wisdom to answer this first
point.
But as to the second point, “Is the sky blue?”
The answer is “Yes”
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?
WHY? That is the question that everyone asks at some time in their life. Often we ask, why is this happening to me, or why am I here. Hard questions. To put it simply, what is the meaning of life?---(Long pause) Or as the author of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe” puts it, what’s the answer to “Life, the Universe and Everything?” Do You have an answer to that question? The way you answer this question will determine how you live your life or even if you actually LIVE IT. For your definition of the meaning of life determines how you will then live your life. If you think life is something you endure until you die then that is how you will live. You will endure your existence until it’s finally over. If, on the other hand, you think life is a search for light and hope then you will live, and find light and hope.
A man named Victor Frankl, a Jewish psychologist, discovered this great truth in the midst of a Jewish concentration camp during WW II. While seeking to survive the horror of this imprisonment Frankl began observing his fellow prisoners in the hope of discovering what coping mechanism would help him endure this horrendous existence. What Frankl discovered was this...
Those individuals who could not accept what was happening to them, who could not make their present suffering fit with their faith, who could not find it’s meaning in their world view... they despaired, lost hope, and eventually gave up and died. But those individuals that could find a meaning from their faith, were then able to find hope for a future beyond their present suffering, and so could accept what they were enduring as a part of their existence, and they survived.
So what is the meaning of life? If you don’t have an answer The world will be quick to supply you with one. A bumper sticker proclaims "The one who dies with the most toys wins!" or "Go for the Gusto." For many in the military it’s “Eat, Drink and be Merry, for tomorrow you may die.” But in light of evil events like Ethnic Cleansing, Columbine High School and the Baptist Church in Texas, these reasons for living seem hollow and vain. And we must ask ourselves, are we offering our children a faith that gives meaning to life, a faith that is worth dying for ... or simply a life that’s not worth living? In light of all the evil and the good that is in our world, how is one to discover the meaning to this life? A meaning that can help us face all that comes our way?
THE JEWISH ANSWER
Back in Jesus’ day there were two religious groups that both claimed to know how to find the meaning to life. As good Jews, as the people of God, they turned to the scripture to answer that question. The first answer was supplied by the Sadducees and the second by the Pharisees . The Sadducees took the conservative approach to the scripture. They said that if it isn’t in the Laws of Moses it doesn’t matter. The result was that they preserved the message that came down to them, but they were too rigid and couldn’t adapt to change. They didn’t even consider the words of prophets like Amos and Isaiah to be binding. Even so, that approach left them with 613 laws to remember and follow every day to do God’s will. If you asked one of them what the will of God was they would say, "Here are 613 laws memorize them."
The other group, the Pharisees, took a different approach. So that they would not become rigid like the Sadducees, they were constantly interpreting the law. To adapt to new situations they were constantly adding new interpretations to the laws of Moses. These new interpretations were meant to fill in the gaps left by those 613 laws handed down from Moses. The result was that their understanding of the will of God was even more complex than the Sadducees. If you had asked one of them what the will of God was they would have said "Here are the 613 laws of Moses, and here is a library of commentaries on those laws. Memorize them."
Both the Sadducees and the Pharisees believed the meaning to life flowed from the “will of
God” and God’s Will could be discovered by dedicated study of God’s Word. A scribe or priest had time to do all that studying. But what about a fisherman or a homemaker or a farmer? How were they supposed to do God’s will and take care of their families? They didn’t have the time or the resources to learn all those laws. The common people were still in need of an answer.
JESUS’S REPLY
I know Jesus saw this concern among the people. He grew up in a carpenter’s home, after all. And so, Jesus’ way of addressing this human need was on a collison course with the Sadducees and Pharisees. At the beginning of our lesson for today Jesus has already silenced the Sadducees, the conservatives. We can imagine that the Pharisees, the iberals, felt threatened. And so before he could do the same to them they sought to catch him off balance. They got a someone who knew the laws of Moses better than anyone else and they asked this cleaver guy to devise a question to trip Jesus up. This guy was a lawyer , he knew how to manipulate words, and he came up with a real doosy of a question. It was, "Of all the laws which is the greatest?" You see everybody had their favorite law and if Jesus didn’t pick it they would be offended. They could also get him for excluding all the others and say he was against all the laws save the one he picked. Jesus answered and said,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul
and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. The
second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments rests all the law and the Prophets."
This was radical stuff. It revolutionized the whole "Will of God” enterprise. You know how miniaturization has revolutionized the electronics industry. What used to take a room full of vacuum tubes can now be put on a computer chip. The ability to perform complex mathematical calculations now fits in the palm of your hand or in your shirt pocket. That is what Jesus did to the will of God. He took volumes and volumes of law and commentary and put it in a few simple words. He put the will of the Almighty God of the universe in a nut shell that you can carry around and look at any time. This teaching could put the Pharisees and Sadducees out of business. Any farmer or homemaker could learn Jesus’ answer and thereby know how to do the will of God. They wouldn’t need to go to the Sadducees and Pharisees anymore to get them to explain what God’s will was. It was ingenious. It didn’t exclude any of the other laws that God had given to the people. Instead it summed them up. This double commandment was the law and the Prophets in a nutshell. "The Law" referred to the books of Moses and "The prophets" to the rest of the Old Testament. The whole kit and kabootle was now in a reader’s digest condensed form.
CONCLUSION
What is the meaning of life? What is your reason for living? Is it to love God and love your neighbor? Or is it merely to avoid trouble and pain? Why did you get out of bed and come to church this morning? Is it out of a sense of duty - to get someone or something off your back? Or is it express your love - to worship and enjoy the presence of God? The meaning of life is quite simple: “love God and your neighbor.” You can try to serve another purpose if you want. But your meaning of life will not give your life any meaning. The only way to find meaning is to make God’s definition of the meaning to existence your own. Legend has it that a there was once a wealthy merchant who traveled through the Mediterranean world looking for the distinguished Pharisee, Paul. He encountered Timothy, who arranged a visit. Paul was, at the time, a prisoner in Rome. Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find a rather old man, physically frail, but whose serenity and magnetism challenged the visitor. They talked for hours. Finally the merchant left with Paul’s blessing. Outside the prison, the concerned man inquired,
"What is the secret of this man’s power? I have never seen anything like it before."
Did you not guess?" replied Timothy. "Paul is in love." The merchant looked
bewildered. "In Love?" "Yes," Timothy answered, "Paul is in love with Jesus
Christ." The merchant looked even more bewildered. "Is that all?" Smiling,
Timothy replied, "Sir, that is everything."
Love truly is everything. It was at the heart of all Jesus did. He healed the sick, because he loved. He raised the dead, because he loved. He preached the gospel of peace, because he loved. He died and rose again, because he loved. And he challenges us to follow him. Speaking to the church of Ephesus in Revelations Chapter 2, Jesus said:
“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.... You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”
You have to decide that you will live to glorify God and love your neighbor. It is a conscious commitment that all you do will be in service to God and others. Why do you get up in the morning? To love God and my neighbor. Why do you go to work or go about your daily tasks? To love God and my neighbor. If loving God and your neighbor is your reason for living, then your life will have meaning. God’s love will define your actions. And his light and hope will fill you life.