It’s suggested that American author Mark Twain once said, “Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool.” This is a strong critique on religion, including the Christian faith. It says that Christianity is something that’s been invented and made up. Worse, it’s a con. A trick believed by the foolish. This type of thinking is often summed up with the phrase: “God is a crutch.” In this view, God is seen as a comforting idea invented by sad people who can’t cope with the harshness of life.
Others suggest that science and reason have buried God. They say, “God is dead.” This view asserts: “I don’t need God. God isn’t necessary for me to live my life.” A growing majority of people in Australia, and the Western world, have decided they don’t want to bother with God. They don’t think they need him. They feel they can live life just fine without God.
All this can lead us to ask the good question: “Why bother with God? Do we really need God?” Let’s see if we can find a way through this puzzle.
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Why bother with God? Firstly, because God bothers with you. And God not only bothers with you, but he created you and thinks you are his special and important creation. Psalm 8 is ascribed to King David. In this psalm, David is considering the heavens. Have you ever laid awake at night asking the big questions: “Why am I here? What’s the meaning of my life? Why is there something rather than nothing?” Without God there’s no satisfactory answer to these questions. You’re left with a gaping hole. King David asked similar questions: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? What are humans that you, LORD, remember and visit them?” David, inspired by God, sketches some answers. He begins by saying, “You [Lord] have made them” (meaning humans). All creation, all humans, including you, have been made by God. You are God’s creation. (See also Genesis 1:27–31). Not only has God created you, but you are his special creation, his ‘special possession’ (1 Peter 2:9).
Let me illustrate. I have young children. They love to create special pictures and drawings for me. But there are so many! At times, to clean up the house, I throw some of them away in the trash. But my children are shocked! “You can’t throw this away, it’s my special creation!” So I have to rescue the drawing from the bin. This is how God feels about you! You are God’s special creation. Yet sometimes we don’t feel special. We mess up. We say or do hurtful things. We let others down. We might feel that we belong in the trash. But God our Father has sent Jesus his Son to rescue you from the trash bin. During this time after Easter we are reminded of the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. Through his death and resurrection, God rescues you and reminds you that he bothers with you, you are his special creation, worth saving. So why bother with God? Because he created you and rescues you.
Why bother with God? Secondly, because God makes sense of your life. Do we really need God? Yes, because God gives meaning to your life. God gives meaning to your beginning, middle, and end.
(a) God makes sense of your beginning. Famous physicist Stephen Hawking said in his final book, ‘I think the universe was spontaneously created out of nothing’ (Stephen Hawking, 2018, ‘Brief Answers to Big Questions,’ Bantam). This is a common view of materialists (those who hold that what we can see, touch, and measure is all there is). King David disagrees. He says, “You [Lord] have made them.” Elsewhere David writes even more clearly, “You [Lord] created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13). When you bother with God you discover that you are not some random entity that spontaneously popped out of nothingness. God is the source of your beginning; he created you; and what’s more, he’s created you with a purpose.
(b) God makes sense of your middle. After King David says “You have made them” he continues, “You made them rulers over the works of your hands.” (Psalm 8:6). This psalm of praise depicts God as a cosmic ruler and king. He has created his kingdom: the heavens, the moon, the stars, and us humans. Then we hear that we are given a special role in his kingdom: you are made God’s royal official, ‘rulers’ over the works of God’s hands. We have an English word for this: a “chamberlain.” A “chamberlain” is a royal official ‘in charge of looking after the house of a king, queen, or other important person.’ You are charged with looking after God’s house: the earth and all creation, including other humans.
We hear the same thing with different words in 1 Peter: “you are a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). “Holy” means “set apart.” I have a set of metal wickets that sit just inside the shed door. These wickets are set apart for a special role: they keep the door open when it’s windy. You might say they’re “holy.” Like a holy instrument, you are set apart for a special role in God’s kingdom. This role may not appear grand or spectacular, like holding open a door, but most likely will appear quite ordinary. You are being God’s holy instrument when you are acting as a mother or father caring for God’s children. Or when you grow food for others. When you take care of your neighbours. I wonder in what ways this coming week, God will use you as his holy people, set apart for special use?! So why bother with God? Because he gives meaning to the middle of your life, as you work as his royal official and holy instrument.
(c) God makes sense of your end. Author Tim Keller writes about meaning. He says that the term “to mean” has two overlapping senses. The first sense has to do with purpose and intent. Something has meaning if there is intention behind it e.g. “did you mean to hurt her like that?” The second sense has to do with significance. Something has meaning if it signifies, if it acts as a sign pointing to something beyond itself e.g. “this medal means bravery beyond the call of duty.” Think of the example of some rocks on the ground. We might ask, “do these rocks on the ground mean anything?” If the rocks were washed onto the ground after a rainstorm, we answer that they do not mean anything. But if they were put there on purpose to point the way to the next town, we answer that they do mean something. (Timothy Keller, 2016, ‘Making sense of God,’ Viking).
Your whole life — beginning, middle, and end — has meaning. It has purpose and intent, because you are God’s royal official and holy instrument. As a Christian, your life also has significance. Your Christian life signifies something: you point to Jesus. As Jesus says in Matthew 5: “You are the light of the world. … Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14–16). Your life points to your Father in heaven.
In my time I’ve been to a number of secular funerals. They feel very empty to me. They’re all about pointing to the supposed good deeds that the deceased person has accomplished. But the reality is, our own deeds are often lost and forgotten within just a few generations. Our own lives and deeds vanish like mist. However, when our lives point to something outside of ourselves, when our lives point to God, then we find true meaning. Jesus calls you to be a light in the darkness, so that you may point others to his wonderful light. So why bother with God? Because he gives meaning at the end of your life, as you point others to him and act as a light in the darkness.
I think the following saying from Benjamin Jowett, the famous head of Oxford College, sums it up, “It’s not what I think of God, but what God thinks of me that matters.” And God thinks you are chosen, special, and holy. He created you, he rescued you through Jesus, and has a role for you in his kingdom. So why bother with God? Because he bothers with you! May you let his light shine before others. Amen.
