Today’s Scripture Reading (November
5, 2014): Acts 9
We get asked
the question almost every day – Who are you? And to be honest, there is seldom
a simple answer. Today the question was asked as I sat in a chair getting my
hair cut. The amazing lady who was cutting my hair already knew some of the
answers to the question. I was the guy who waited fourteen weeks since my last
haircut (I didn’t even know that it had been that long.) She amazed me when she
asked me if I had put my summer car away yet, apparently I had mentioned it
fourteen weeks ago when she last cut my hair. She even knew what it was,
because her next question was “what color is your Mustang?” She knew that I was
a grandfather of three, and that the youngest of my grandchildren were twins. I
have to admit that I was more than a little amazed, to my knowledge I have only
met her twice – today and fourteen weeks ago. Then she asked me if I owned my
own company. When I replied that I was a pastor, it was her turn to be a little
taken back. Apparently in her world pastors didn’t wear colorful Star Wars
shirts like the one that I had on. But even with all of the information that we
exchanged over the all-important question of “who am I,” I am not sure that we
ever got down to the core answer. I am Garry, a slightly obsessive male of the human
species who is in love with the world around him – although admittedly the
world doesn’t often seem to want to return that love. I am an often confused
traveler trying to find his way home. I am broken. But I am also the child of
the King, and I am convinced that God loves me even when no one else seems to.
And maybe even this only scratches the surface of who I am.
Saul had
been zealous for his God. He had acted exactly as he believed that his God
demanded. And up until this point he had been confident that his actions
matched up with who his God was. But in a moment all of that seemed to change.
Maybe for the first time in years Saul was willing to ask the grand question –
who are you. Lord? And not only was Saul willing to ask the question, but he
was willing to hear the answer.
The question
itself is only a starting place – but it is a question that I believe needs to
be asked continually because it is so easy for us to find our way onto tangents
that carry us away from who God is. As I look around at my world, the most
prevalent problem that I see is that many of us have simply stopped asking the
question. Within the Christian community, I watch many organizations and belief
systems chase after their God in the same way that Saul chased after his. And
just like Saul, there seems to be little acknowledgment that they might be
wrong – in fact, they are sure that they are not. So they follow their path and
pursue their goals, never even considering whether or not they are serving the
one true God.
And it isn’t
just within the Christian Community that the struggle to know God is being
abandoned. The opponents of Christianity seem to missing the identity of God as
well, but maybe that should be expected – after all, if we as Christians have
stopped asking the question, why should they? Every time I sit down to read
something written by Richard Dawkins my overwhelming reaction is that I am glad
you don’t believe in that God, because I don’t believe in him either.
Maybe the
right course of action is to just step back from all of our protestations and
arguments and allow God to answer this basic question of Saul – who are you?
And to remain quiet enough for God to speak the answer.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 10
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