February 6, 2005
Gordon E. Ellis
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION
Last Sunday we celebrated a VERY special event, the ORDINATION of Linda Fernandes-Bailey. And special events like this ALWAYS get ME thinking about LIFE, and what life MEANS, and WHAT we’re supposed to be DOING with our lives. They get ME thinking about what’s IMPORTANT in life, and what ISN’T. And THAT’S what I’d like to talk about today. I BEGIN with a TRUE story. A man named Rick Olson stood with his SON, Patrick, on a hillside overlooking PITTSBURGH. And Patrick pointed to BARGES floating up and down the 3 rivers, to a blue and gold bridge, and to a host of OTHER things. And he kept asking QUESTIONS: What kind of boat is THAT? HOW do they get the sand out of the railcars and onto the BARGES? WHICH of the rivers flows SOUTH to north? Is it THAT one? Well, RICK had lived Pittsburgh for 22 years and he’d NEVER paid ATTENTION to such things. So, for 2 HOURS, ALL Rick could say was: Hmmmm, I don’t know. Then Patrick asked Rick to point out the building where he’d worked every day for the past 5 years. Rick was a corporate LAWYER, specializing in RADIO station mergers. He was known as The Mechanic because of his ability to close a DEAL. Well, at LEAST Rick knew where his office was, and he POINTED to a downtown tower. Dad, what’s the building NEXT to it? asked Patrick. Well, Rick didn’t KNOW. He had walked PAST it EVERY day for 5 years, but he had NO clue. HOW could he NOT know?
Well, WHEN they returned home, Rick made his son dinner, played with him, read him a story and put him to bed. But WHEN he went downstairs and plopped down on the couch, he had an EPIPHANY. ONE thought kept GNAWING at him: I’ve been here 22 years and never noticed all the things that PATRICK noticed TODAY. I wonder what ELSE I’ve been MISSING? As Rick kept THINKING about it, he began to realize how UNHAPPY he was as a corporate lawyer. He’d been passed over for partner. He WASN’T making much MONEY. His whole LIFE was scheduled around his WORK. And suddenly, he felt OVERWHELMED. He remembered the time when his wife (now his ex-wife) was scheduled for GALLBLADDER surgery, and ON the way to the hospital, one of the partners CALLED and suggested that Rick make PHONE calls to clients while in the WAITING Room. He ALSO remembered the time PATRICK had to sit in his office ALL night long while Rick was meeting with CLIENTS. Yes, his LIFE seemed to be about MULTI-TASKING; and Rick WASN’T very GOOD at it.
Well, that night Rick wanted to QUIT his job! BUT, he didn’t make his decision to LEAVE until a few days LATER, when he received a serious LEG injury playing HOCKEY. When Rick woke up in the HOSPITAL and was told that his foot and leg were broken in at LEAST 11 places, he actually LAUGHED out LOUD and said: That DOES it! THIS is my chance to walk AWAY! His doctor replied, YOU won’t be walking ANYWHERE for awhile! Well, during his 10-month rehabilitation, Rick found the COURAGE to move ON with his life. For 20 years, whenever work got frustrating, he’d ALWAYS say: I’d RATHER be driving a TRUCK! SO, THAT’S what he decided to DO! And NOW, Rick drives an over-the-road TANKER truck, working 10 days on the road, THEN getting at least 4 days OFF to spend with Patrick, 4 days UNINTERRUPTED by his JOB. He says: I NEEDED to do something different, but I DIDN’T anticipate falling in LOVE with my new JOB.
Well, RICK is just ONE of the people PROFILED in a recent book by Po Bronson. It’s called, WHAT Should I DO With My Life? And Bronson says that title is really our ULTIMATE question. It’s the question that ALL of us WRESTLE with. But RATHER than write another “how-to” book, or a treatise on finding your life’s purpose, Bronson simply spent time with people, listening to their stories, watching their transformations, and seeing them face up to [their] own identity, and filter out all the CHATTER that tells us to BE someone we’re NOT. It’s NOT a philosophical book, but a LOOK at the hard-earned record of those who actually took ACTION, CHANGED their lives, and enjoyed OR suffered the consequences. And IN the book, Bronson gathers together stories of the TRANSFORMATION from pointlessness to PURPOSE, and from success to SIGNIFICANCE. It tells the stories of a mother TORN between an OLYMPIC career and her adolescent daughter; a Cuban immigrant who overcame strong disapproval from her parents and quit her LUCRATIVE career in order to enter social work; an OB/Gyn who walked away from her lifelong “destiny” of becoming a doctor; a high-powered IT saleswoman who gave up the certainty of a salary to become a massage therapist because she missed having a close CONNECTION with people; and MANY more. And the more you READ Bronson’s book, the MORE you begin to understand that there are millions and millions of people, who desperately seek an answer to that ULTIMATE question, and the answer almost NEVER comes EASY. USUALLY it involves some PAIN, some RISK, some ADVERSITY, and some STRUGGLE. BUT, as people FIND an answer to that ULTIMATE question, TRANSFORMATION begins to occur, and their LIVES are NEVER the SAME.
Well, in our Scripture Lesson today from Matthew, we ALSO see a TRANSFORMATION. And it HAPPENS because those 3 disciples, Peter, James and John, find the answer to THEIR ultimate question. Before their very eyes, Jesus is TRANSFIGURED! Now, the Greek word for transfigured is the word, metamorphothe (pronounced met-uh-more-foe-theh), which is the word FROM which we get OUR word, metamorphosis. And when I think of metamorphosis, I think of a CATERPILLAR being transformed into a BUTTERFLY. And that IMAGE is SOMETHING like what they witness HERE as JESUS is transfigured BEFORE their eyes! BUT, Jesus is not the ONLY One who is TRANSFORMED in this story. The LIVES of those 3 disciples will NEVER be the SAME again. How COULD they be the same, after EXPERIENCING the presence of GOD is such a POWERFUL way? However, I believe that the KEY to their transformation is NOT so much in seeing Jesus TRANSFIGURED, but rather in hearing the VOICE of GOD, the COMMAND of God: LISTEN to Him! Can you IMAGINE hearing that divine VOICE? Can you IMAGINE what it FELT like? And SO, they LISTEN to Him! And in LISTENING to Jesus, and HEEDING His words, THEIR lives are transformed! THEY will NEVER be the SAME again.
Well friends, the SAME is true for US! God says to US what God said to Peter, James and John: LISTEN to Him! Yes, we TOO need to be LISTENING to Jesus, for HE is the One who HAS the answer that we’re ALL looking for, the answer to our ULTIMATE question. And HOW does Jesus SPEAK to us today? Well MOSTLY, it’s IN and through the GOSPELS. We need to look at and study the GOSPELS! WE need to look at and study His teachings, and PUT them alongside the way He LIVED. We need to GRAPPLE with HOW His teachings sometimes don’t JIVE with His ACTIONS. His ACTIONS are MUCH more FORGIVING and FLEXIBLE than His WORDS tend to be. AND, we need to PRAYERFULLY struggle with how WE can live OUR lives HIS way, how WE can live by HIS values in 21st Century America. And friends, THIS is a very DIFFICULT process. BUT, it’s LIFE-CHANGING for those who go THROUGH it!
You know: I have been AT this task a VERY long time. And ONE day, it just HIT me! WHEN we take the gospels, and we BOIL them DOWN to their ESSENCE, to their LOWEST common denominator, the message of JESUS is BASICALLY the SAME message that we HEAR from the prophet MICAH in our OTHER Scripture Lesson today. And SO, IF we want to have PURPOSE and meaning, IF WE want to live a PURPOSE-DRIVEN life, then Jesus tells us HOW, and MICAH sums it up. You see: the people of Israel in MICAH’S day were just like US. They were relying on their BUSYNESS, their RITUAL, and their STATUS as God’s CHOSEN to make their lives MEANINGFUL and PURPOSEFUL, just like WE do here in America. Their OFFERINGS to God were the FRUITS of their frantic LABOR, much like those of us, who believe that IF we can just DO enough, and IF we can just GIVE enough, and IF we can just WORK enough, then GOD and our BOSS, our FAMILY and our FRIENDS, will ALL be PLEASED with us. But Micah tells THEM, and tells US, that IF we want a PURPOSE-DRIVEN life, it’s NOT about spending more time with our kids. And it’s NOT about finding fulfillment in driving a truck across America’s fruited plains! While THOSE things might be a PIECE of it for SOME of us, what REALLY matters in life are our RELATIONSHIPS. What REALLY matters in life is HOW we relate to GOD and to one another. What REALLY matters in life, says Micah, is that we DO justice, what we LOVE kindness, and that we walk HUMBLY with our God (Micah 6:8). And at the END of the day, we’re NOT so much JUDGED on what we accomplish in our CAREER, or even our RELIGION. We are JUDGED on how MUCH we have LOVED. HAVE we REALLY loved GOD, and LOVED God’s children? And have we LOVED them ENOUGH to act JUSTLY in EVERY circumstance, to be KIND to one and all, and to HUMBLY follow GOD’S lead, living our lives by GOD’S values? Yes, THAT’S the question that EACH of us will have to ACCOUNT for. It’s ALL about our RELATIONSHIPS with GOD, and with God’s children EVERYWHERE!
Friends, OUR lives MATTER, NOT because of what we CAN or cannot DO, but simply because God LOVES us and WANTS to be in RELATIONSHIP with us and have us be in RELATIONSHIP with EACH OTHER. And MICAH’S words REMIND us that life is basically SIMPLE. It’s about being together in LOVE. It’s about being in RELATIONSHIP with GOD and with one another. It’s about DOING justice, LOVING kindness, and WALKING HUMBLY with our God (Micah 6:8). And THAT’S the ANSWER to our ULTIMATE question! Would YOU like to have a PURPOSE-DRIVEN life? Well, THAT’S where it’s found. It’s as SIMPLE as THAT! READ the GOSPELS! THAT’S what Jesus is TELLING us. And it’s OUR job to LISTEN to Him! In the gospel, when they ask Jesus WHICH commandment is the GREATEST, WHAT does He SAY? He says: You shall LOVE the Lord Your GOD with ALL your heart, with ALL your MIND, and with ALL your STRENGTH. And the SECOND is LIKE it: you shall LOVE your NEIGHBOR as yourself. Friends, when we LIVE our lives by these TWO simple, though not EASY, commandments, OUR lives have MEANING and PURPOSE beyond measure. THEY are, INDEED, the ANSWER to our ULTIMATE question! And ONCE we know that ANSWER, and LIVE by it, then everything ELSE falls into PLACE, from our CAREER decisions to our family VALUES, from our USE of MONEY to our VOTES in the voting booth. Yes, ONCE we have that ANSWER, and LIVE by it, the REST, though NEVER easy, is USUALLY quite CLEAR. Amen.
(Bronson, Po. What Should I Do With My Life? New York: Random House, 2002. )
(Sweet, Leonard. My Life. Homiletics, January 2005)