Can you see that? There are seven stars, dim, I know, but if you look very closely you might be able to see what I see in the mornings. A question mark! It is the strangest thing. Do you remember as a kid laying in the grass and watching the clouds, seeing the shapes they’d make? A funny face, an animal, you know. Well I do that with the stars. I don’t lay in the grass at 5:00 a.m. in the morning, but, as I’ve said in the past, I do take note of the stars.
For the past couple of months, those seven stars (I’m sure there are more I just can’t see), have lined up into a question mark. I first saw them lined up over top of the barn. Hmmm? As Shenandoah and I continue to walk west on the road, those stars are now a question mark over the front field. Stars are funny like that. I’m a person who thinks everything means something, and so I started thinking about that question mark, and how it seems to be everywhere. What does that mean?
Life is all about questions, isn’t it? Asking questions is how we gather information. How we get the full story. How we learn. How we know. Asking questions is the only class I’m way above average in. The first six words journalism majors are taught are Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Let’s check this out for a minute:
Who? It’s so odd. This morning while looking at the question mark, I heard a barred owl calling in the woods. Their call sounds like “who calls for you” to the rhythm of “coo coo ca-choo.” But, I usually only hear the “who” part. Who? Who? I’m looking at that question mark and I hear Who? Who? Hmmm. Jesus has asked us the same question, you know:
Then he asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my father in heaven has revealed this to you.” Matthew 16:15-16
How do we answer the who? Who do we say He is? Do we say Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God?
What? What was Jesus’ mission? What was Jesus’ purpose?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at him intently. Then he said, “This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!”
Luke 4:18-21
Have we answered the what? Have we heard the Good News? We are the poor, you know. The poor in spirit. We are the captives, the downtrodden and the oppressed, you know. Captivated, downtrodden and oppressed to and by our sin. But wait! The Good News in the synagogue is the same Good news we’ve heard today — the time of the Lord’s favor has come!
Where? Where is God? Where does He live? Where do I find Him? Is He really there?
I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. Ephesians 3:17
Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. 2 Corinthians 13:5
Do you know the answer to the where? Is God living in you? Do you see how easy He makes it for us? He will live in us, if we only ask. Experiencing the life of the His Spirit within us as a guide, teacher, intervenor, will change our life. If our lives aren’t changed, Paul says we have failed the test.
When? When did God come? When does God appear?
And that’s the way it was before Christ came. We were slaves to the spiritual powers of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us, who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. Galatians 4:3-7
Do you see the when? In the fullness of time. In the nick of time. In His time. We forget that God has a plan and His timing is always perfect. In our impatience, fear, anxiety, we want God at our beck and call. We demand. God always answers. God shows up. His plan has no many moving parts, that sometimes something must happen before something else happens. Trust His timing. After all, He is God.
Why? Why did Jesus come? Why does He pursue me? Why me, Lord? Why trust Jesus?
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. John 3:16-17
So many why’s. The answer to all of them is Love. He has loved us with an everlasting love. A love with such outrageous dimension. A love we can’t fathom, can’t comprehend. No greater love exists beyond Him.
How? How did God show His love for us? How did God redeem us? How were we saved?
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. Romans 5:8
How…death on a cross….love, written in red.
So, now that you have the whole story, the full story. Now that it has been fully investigated and all the questions have answers, you have decisions to make. How will you answer the questions?