Note: This topic and some of the ideas come from Rick Warren’s "40 Days of Purpose" campaign.
[Clip: "Everybody Loves Raymond," excerpted from episode 119, "Talk To Your Daughter". Note: this episode is one of four included in a "For Your Consideration" DVD/VHS package that was prepared for the 2002 Emmy voters. You might find it on ebay.]
Deborah: Ally just doesn’t want to know how we get here; she wants to know why we’re here. Why God put us on earth. She’s waiting for Ray to answer her.
Frank: What’s wrong with you - it’s simple.
Raymond: Oh, okay - we’re going to learn the meaning of life from a guy who wants threw his show at a swan.
Frank: That’s called protecting your sandwich. Listen to me. Here’s what life is - you’re born, you go to school, you go to work, you die. That’s it, that’s all, canoli Marie.
Raymond: We’re not talking about what we do while we here, dad.
Robert: Yeah, the big question is why we’re here in the first place.
Marie: I think Ally is too young to be worrying about things like this.
Deborah: No, I’m proud of her. I love it that she’s such an independent thinker.
Raymond: If she’s so independent, why can’t she figure this out herself?
Deborah: Ray, just get up there and tell her that God put us on earth to help each other. It’s simple, it’s direct, it’s a good way for her to live her life.
Raymond: What are you talking about? That doesn’t answer anything? What - are you telling me that God says, "mmm, let’s see - what should I put there?"
Robert: That’s your God?
Raymond: Yeah.
Robert: No way. It’s got to be deeper and cool..."Hello, I’m God."
Marie: Keep going Raymond. I think you’re a wonderful God.
Raymond: Thank you. So what did God say? Hey, "I’m going to put some humans on earth, so they can help each other." Or, "I can just skip humans altogether and go hit a bucket of balls."
Marie: Oh, I know. It’s all in the Bible.
Robert: Ever think about space? What is it? Is it really endless? I mean if you had a spaceship, could you go flying and flying into space forever?
Frank: Why don’t you give it a shot?
Robert: No, I’m not kidding around here. How could space go on forever? And if it doesn’t, what’s at the end?
Marie: Stop it, Robert. You’ll give yourself a tummy ache.
Robert: What about the beginning of time? What was it before that? Before time - nothing? What is nothing? How could there be nothing? This doesn’t it bother anybody else?
Marie: Now everybody, listen to me. In the Bible, it says here "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Okay, okay, okay. It might take me a minute.
Deborah: A minute, more, Marie. Scholars have spent their entire life trying to answer this question. You’re not just going to flip through the Bible and find the meaning of life.
Marie: "Oh, ye of little faith" - that’s in here somewhere, too.
Robert: Did you know the fruit fly only lives one day?
Raymond: Ah, are you okay there?
Robert: One day. What’s his meaning of life? Maybe there’s no meaning of life for anyone of us. Am I any different than the fruit fly?
Frank: The "fruit" part’s the same.
Deborah: Robert, the fruit fly doesn’t question why he’s here - that’s what makes us different. I don’t know, maybe that’s kind of the meaning of life. Never knowing the answer, but always wondering about it.
Raymond: So God made us smart enough to know that there’s an answer, but not smart enough to figure it out?
Robert: Come on!!
[End]
In this episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond", America’s favorite dysfunctional family is trying to answer the question that is at the heart of today’s message: what on earth are we here for? Ray’s father Frank, you could label a materialist: "You’re born, you go to school, you go to work, you die. That’s it, that’s all." As far as he’s concerned, there is no purpose; there is no deeper meaning to life. We simply exist for a short time, and then we cease to exist. End of story. Your life and mine have no more significance than that of a fruit fly. Ray’s wife, Debra, you might call a moralist. She thinks we’re put on earth to help other people. Do good deeds. Make the world a better place. Ray and his brother Robert, on the other hand, are basically clueless. They can ask the question, and in fact Robert agonizes over the question, but they can’t answer it. Only Marie has any idea where to look for help, and she’s not all that certain.
Let me ask this: "How would you answer that question?" Or perhaps I should say, "How have you answered it?" Because even if you’ve never read Plato or Socrates; even if you don’t consider yourself to be a philosopher; you are still operating on the basis of some implicit assumptions about life’s meaning and purpose. The choices you make every day; the things you value and desire; the way you invest your time and energy – all of these reflect some underlying belief about who you are and why you are here.
Your functional philosophy might be that there is no greater meaning, that in the end, none of this really matters. That bleak assessment has been shared by many throughout history. For instance, in Macbeth, Shakespeare wrote,
"Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
The poet Robert Frost is quoted as saying: "In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on." That’s all. It goes on. Inspiring, isn’t it? Even King Solomon questioned whether life had any meaning. In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, he wrote this:
"’Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ’Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ . . . I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." – Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14
Some, on the other hand, claim that the meaning of life is entirely individual. Life has whatever meaning you assign to it; you alone determine what it means for you. And we see around us people who have chosen all kinds of things to pursue as their own personal highest good. Pleasure. Possessions. Power. Achievement. Notoriety. Safety. Comfort. Family. Art. Beauty. Religion. World peace. Serving humanity. Saving the earth. And on and on. There is no end of things that people have devoted themselves to, in an attempt to find meaning and purpose.
But all of them miss the mark. They may be good things, but they are not, fundamentally, why we are here. They miss the mark because they start in the wrong place. They all begin with people. Either they seek individual fulfillment and self-expression. Or they concern themselves with the "human condition," the welfare of people in general. But the proper place to begin is not with ourselves, but with God. Because His purposes, and His purposes for us, are ultimately what matters. We must begin, not by looking inward, or outward, but upward. We must begin, not by examining our own thoughts or speculations, or by considering human history, art, and literature. Instead, we must begin by listening to the voice of God recorded in the Scriptures. And here is what they tell us:
"But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. " – Psalm 33:11
"The LORD has made everything for his own purposes" – Proverbs 16:4a, NLT
We did not bring the universe into being. We did not make ourselves. We did not design ourselves. God designed us; He made us. He is the creator. And therefore, only He knows what he created us for. Only He knows what he had in mind when he brought you and I, and all of this, into existence.
"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." – Colossians 1:16
"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
– Revelation 4:11
Since God made us, then, our goal should be to understand, and become, what he has made us to be. Our objective should be to discover, and to live out, his purposes for us as His creatures. Only then will we find real fulfillment. And so those purposes are what we’re going to be studying over the next five weeks. Today we’re beginning by laying the groundwork, laying the foundation.
It may surprise you to know that God had in mind a plan and a purpose for you long before you ever arrived on this planet. In fact, even before the world was created, he knew what he wanted to accomplish in and through your life. Whether or not you were aware of it; whether or not you even cared; God had a plan for you from the very beginning.
"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. . . In him 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" – Ephesians 1:4, 11
"You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." – Psalm 139:15-16, NLT
In other words, you were not an accident! You were not a mistake. Whatever the circumstances of your birth may have been; whether or not your parents planned for you to be born; God was not taken by surprise. He’s been waiting for you, and looking forward to you, for a very long time. He has plans for you, and he intends to bring them to pass:
"The LORD will work out his plans for my life--for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever." – Psalm 137:8a, NLT
And not only were you in God’s mind and heart from eternity past, but he made you to last forever, into eternity future. And that means that God’s good purposes for your life do not end at death.
"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." – 1 John 2:17
All right, let’s review. God made us; he has a purpose for our lives, and our task is to discover and live out that purpose. But why? Why does it matter that we know all this? Why does it matter if we understand and follow God’s purposes? After all, most people give little thought to such matters. Most people don’t trouble themselves with questions about the meaning of life. And yet somehow, they manage to make a living, and raise a family, and cope with life in general. They’re not reading the Bible; they’re reading the Sunday paper. They’re not sitting in church and listening to sermons; they’re sitting at home watching the Sunday morning news shows. Why should we make the effort?
First, because there’s more to reality than what we see around us. This life is not all there is. At best, we may have seventy, eighty, or a hundred years on this earth. Our life here is temporary. But after that comes eternity. As Ecclesiastes reminds us:
"It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time." – Ecclesiastes 7:2, NLT
The Psalmist expresses a similar thought, when he prays:
"LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away." – Psalm 39:4, NLT
But again, why does that matter? "Don’t be so morbid!" I can imagine someone saying. Why not just ignore the fact of our mortality; why not do what everybody else does, and try to forget that life is fleeting? And isn’t that what most people do? Fill their lives so full of activities and distractions and noise, that they don’t have time to think about what it all means? Here’s why. Because the way we spend the relatively few years God has given us on this earth will greatly affect how we spend eternity. Those who are faithful in this life to seek, and carry out, God’s purposes will be rewarded. And that reward will be worth far more than whatever it may cost us to follow God here and now.
"So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." – 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
"Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free." – Ephesians 6:7-8, NLT
Our actions have consequences, not only for the present, but for the life to come. Therefore, we ought to be the kind of people who live every day in light of eternity.
Another way to look at this is to see our lives as a stewardship, as something which has been entrusted to us temporarily, but which does not really belong to us. Someday, God is going to call us to account for how faithful we have been in discharging our responsibilities. And so it behooves us to understand as best we can what he expects of us, what his plans and purposes for our lives are. Do you remember the parable of the talents?
"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a trip. He called together his servants and gave them money to invest for him while he was gone. He gave five bags of gold to one, two bags of gold to another, and one bag of gold to the last--dividing it in proportion to their abilities--and then left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of gold began immediately to invest the money and soon doubled it. The servant with two bags of gold also went right to work and doubled the money. But the servant who received the one bag of gold dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money for safekeeping.
"After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of gold said, `Sir, you gave me five bags of gold to invest, and I have doubled the amount.’ The master was full of praise. `Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
"Next came the servant who had received the two bags of gold, with the report, `Sir, you gave me two bags of gold to invest, and I have doubled the amount.’3The master said, `Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
"Then the servant with the one bag of gold came and said, `Sir, I know you are a hard man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth and here it is.’
"But the master replied, `You wicked and lazy servant! You think I’m a hard man, do you, harvesting crops I didn’t plant and gathering crops I didn’t cultivate? Well, you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of gold. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"
– Matthew 25:14-30, NLT
My purpose here is not to examine this story in great depth. I just want you to glean the main point: that our lives are not ours to do with as we wish, they are not ours to spend as we think best. On the contrary, our lives belong to God. Our talents, our abilities, our possessions, our resources, our time – everything we have belongs to Him. He has entrusted them to us to invest for his purposes. And some day there will be a reckoning. Again, as Paul reminds us:
"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. . . Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." – 1 Corinthians 4:2, 5
Second, we should seek to know and follow God’s purposes because the alternative is to waste our time; either living a purposeless, meaningless life, or spending our days running after the wrong things; or perhaps being driven along by emotions or circumstances. Yes, we can do that. We can float along aimlessly. We can try to do what we think is best, without any reference to God’s purposes. We can simply react to what we experience as best we know how. But the Bible calls all of those approaches "foolish," because the only actions which have any lasting value are those which are in harmony with God’s purposes. In Ephesians 5:17, we read:
"Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do." – Ephesians 5:17, NLT
And in the Message paraphrase of Ephesians 5:11-17, we read this:
"Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. . . So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants." –Ephesians 5:11-17, Message
Are you doing that? Are you guiding your life by the compass of God’s Word? Are you setting your course by the North Star of God’s unchanging purposes? That’s the way of wisdom. Living according to God’s purposes gives our lives clarity, and focus, and direction. Everything else is just a foolish waste of time.
Over the next forty days, we’re going to be examining the five main purposes for which God brought you and I into existence. I hope you’ll be here for each one of those messages. But there’s a single, overriding purpose that encompasses all of these, and here it is: To bring glory to God. To honor him and reflect his power and goodness through our lives. Not in seeking self-fulfillment, but in seeking to fulfill God’s purposes in our lives. Because we are the most authentically ourselves, we are the most alive, when we are faithfully serving, and obeying, and worshiping our Creator. I hope the next few weeks will prepare you and motivate you to do just that. Let’s conclude with these verses:
"If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life." – Matthew 16:25, NLT
"All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them." – Isaiah 43:7
"God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you. Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen." – 1 Peter 4:10
Will you join with me in committing yourself, over the next forty days, to seek God by faithfully studying his purposes for your life? And will you seek God by striving, with the power he supplies, to live out those purposes in your life?
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
