How It All Began

January 7, 2009

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Last week, while looking through my old set of childhood encyclopedias, our 7-year old Grace looked up and said, “Umm…I don’t get it.”

That’s always a signal to me that there are some furious wheels turning in her curious second-grade mind, and that I best brace myself for a doozy of a question for which there are likely to be no easy answers.  She was looking through a volume on the world and the universe, at a particular article called “How It All Began.”  

When she read about the Big Bang and the origin of the universe, she said,  “I thought God created the world.  What’s this about?”

“Good question,” I said.  I then explained that science and religion were not mutually incompatible, and how the book of Genesis answers “Who” and “Why” questions about the beginning of the world, which science cannot touch.  Science attempts to answer the complex process questions that were of little interest to Ancient Near Eastern cultures long ago.  My long, drawn-out explanations were as hefty and and as comprehensive as anyone else with a B.S. in Biology and an M.Div from a seminary could muster.  But as far as addressing the questions of a highly inquisitive second-grader?  I was doomed from the moment I opened my mouth.  

At the end she looked at me with glazed eyes and said – even more softly this time, “I don’t get it.”

Last July, children’s book publisher Dorling Kindersley surveyed 1,500 parents and children ages eight to twelve for what they felt were the toughest questions that today’s children ask.  Not surprisingly, most of the top twenty focus on God, life after death, and the creation of the world.

Curious about the list?  Here are the top twenty questions that parents said were “unanswerable.”

     1. Does God exist?
    2. Has God got a beard?
    3. Is there life after death?
    4. If God made us who made God?
    5. What does God look like?
    6. Why is the world here?
    7. Who created God?
    8. Why are people bad to each other?
    9. Why are we here? Am I real or is this just a dream?
    10. If God is everywhere why do we have to go to church to see him?
    11. Why can't we ring God up?
    12. Why does Easter change its dates each year?
    13. Why is God all around us?
    14. Why is there a world?
    15. Why is there so much war in the world?
    16. Why do we have wars?
    17. Why do I believe in one God while my Hindu friend believes in lots and is my God the same as my Jewish friends?
    18. Do you know why Jesus wept?
    19. Who made the universe?
    20. Does God have a mother?

If we’re honest, there are many questions on this list that we struggle with regularly.  This Sunday, we are starting a brand new series called “Life’s Three Big Questions,” in which each of the sermons will address one of these three questions:  

    Who is God?
    Who am I?
    Who are we together?

This Sunday, with lectionary scriptures centering on the creation story in Genesis 1, we’ll get right to this matter about a God who is still in the business of creating life out of death and order out of chaos.  The sermon is titled “Who is God?  The One Who Is Still Creating,” and will conclude with Holy Communion and an opportunity to join with Christians around the world in remembering our baptism and reaffirming our baptismal vows.  This would be an excellent series to invite an unchurched friend or loved one who is asking tough questions about tough things.

Together, let’s look to God for answers!

Grace and Peace,

Magrey   

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA  51012
Ph:  712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org


Genesis 1:1-5
1  In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
2  the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
3  Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.
4  And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
5  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.



SCRIPTURE BOOKMARKS
Follow along in this new series with a bookmark of scripture readings that you can read every day.  They correspond with the upcoming sermon and will prepare your heart and mind for worship.  If you were not in church to pick one up last Sunday, they are available in the church office.

LEADERSHIP EVENT
All people elected to serve on a committee for 2009 are invited  to a special leadership gathering at the church on Saturday, January 24, from 9am – 12pm.  It will be a time of organizing ourselves for the upcoming year and aligning our work around the new 2020 Vision Plan.  Sarah Stevens, our Field Outreach Minister for the district, will also be sharing with us some insights about the nature of church leadership.  Please let the office know of your attendance by Wednesday, January 21.