Sermonette: March 21, 2022

Why? So often this is a question asked by children of their parents. They see something they are not familiar with so it stands to reason that they would ask why. Even everyday occurrences, things that are so common to us we don't even notice them, can be a wonderment to little ones. Sometimes they don't know why there are rules or why they are forbidden to do some things. “Come inside, it's starting to rain,” says mom. Do we have to? Why? “Because you will get wet.” So? We get wet when we take a bath. Why can't we get wet in the rain? “Your clothes will get wet.” So? They get wet when you wash them in the washer, why can't they get wet when from the rain? If you have raised children, you most likely remember these types of conversations and see where this is going. There logic is perfect, it's just a lack of perception on their part. Finally, after going round and round a few times you end the conversation with “because I said so, that's why.”

As they get older the issues become more complex but the “why” question is still there. Not to brag but my son is pretty smart. However, I recall one situation in high school that fits in with this story. We were living in Colorado at the time. His school was fairly large with about 450-460 students in his graduating class. He took quite a few college prep classes and in one he would bring home tests and he would have scored 97's and 98's and around there. I was quite surprised to see a C on his report card. He said he didn't know why. I wanted to know why so I made an appointment with the teacher. She agreed that yes, he does very well on his tests, but she told me that completed and handed-in homework accounted for 30% of the final grade and the students knew this. She informed me that she hated to give him a C because he was such a good student but she hadn't received one homework assignment from him after the first week thus she really had no choice but to give him the C. When I asked my son why he wasn't turning in home work he said it didn't make any sense to do it. If he could ace the tests without doing homework, why do it?

In Isaiah 55:2 he writes “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” Why indeed! As in all things, God has given us a choice. We can choose to follow Christ's teaching or not. We can choose to read and study God's word, we can come to worship services, we can love our neighbors, we can choose to do all these things, or not. We can spend our time and our money on things that we know we shouldn't. We have that freedom. But, if we choose to not follow through will all these things, if we choose to not bring God into our hearts, we will end up paying the consequences. You might ask why do we have to follow His word? Why can't we spend our time and money on earthly wants and desires? God truly loves us. He had His Son die on the cross for us. He absolutely wants to welcome us to His home, but he has rules we must follow in order to make it there. We can't get there on our own. That's why. Blessings to you all.