Where Did You Come From...and How Did You Get Here

Not very long ago, I was asked if I would give a short talk to a men’s gathering; the first question to cross my mind was, “Why me?” and this was closely followed by, “About what?”  What topic could I possibly discuss – at a men's breakfast – with any degree of creditable knowledge?  Well, one of the things that interests me (and I'm sure I am not alone in this) is the uniqueness of each person’s life journey – their story. 

As we live out our life, each of us meet many people whose pathway converges with ours.  Sometimes our paths merely cross while at other times they connect for a while and we journey alongside each other for varying periods of time.  At some point, as we come to know our fellow travellers, I believe we often find ourselves wondering, “where did you come from and how did you get here?”  Many important life lessons are learned from the stories and experiences of others – stories we've either heard first hand or those we've heard that have been told and recorded throughout history.

With this thought in mind, let me highlight just a few such stories and then I would like to share (what I believe to be) a great opportunity that is open to us all.

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There once was a man who was blind from the day he was born. Everyone who knew him, knew that he had been blind his whole life.  In order to support himself and get by in life, he spent his days sitting and begging in the streets.  One day a Great Rabbi passed by, accompanied by a group of His followers.  Those followers had a number of questions and after answering those questions He proceeded to heal the blind man's lack of sight in a rather curious manner.

He spat on the ground and mixed saliva and dirt to form mud which He then smeared across the blind man’s eyes.  Then He told the blind man to wash himself in the pool of Siloam. The man went, washed, and returned – his eyes now alive with sight – and he saw the One who had given him this gift.

Naturally, this event sparked curiosity and many questions.  First the townspeople, and then the Pharisees, wanted to know just what had happened – what was this man's story – how had he arrived at this point where he now found himself.  He told his story – straightforwardly and simply without argument or debate and ended with this statement, “I was blind and now I see.”

When pressed further and the answers he had given them were repeatedly questioned, he simply said, “Listen, I’ve already answered all these questions, and you don’t like my answers. Do you really need me to say it all over again? Are you perhaps thinking about joining up with Him and becoming His followers?”

It wasn't until later that this formerly blind man learned that it was Jesus who had given him sight. 

Well, I’m sure you are familiar with this story – it's found in the 9^th chapter of John.  Plenty of people (not just folks mentioned in the Bible) have recounted times and events where an encounter with God has led to a sudden, unexpected and noticeable change.  Such experiences have been reflected in the countless personal testimonies given throughout history and continuing on into this present time. 

Not long ago I came across a more recent story that I found very interesting and you may as well.  In describing his experience, after the fact, a very well known personality wrote:

          "You must picture me alone in that room at Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England" (Surprised By Joy, ch. 14, p. 266).

That man – the “reluctant convert” was none other than C. S. Lewis who most will know for his prolific writings on Christianity and living the Christian life.  Lewis was possibly one of the greatest defenders of Christianity in the twentieth century.  However, prior to the conversion experience noted above, Lewis had spent many years as a determined atheist.  He had left his childhood Christian faith or as he calls it, “a blandly Christian childhood” to throw himself fully into a rationalist and idealist atheism that he professed and lived.

His long journey away from faith began when he was a boy after his mother became sick with cancer and subsequently died.  Lewis became disillusioned with God because his mother had not been healed, and he then set out on a path that led him to full-bodied rationalism and atheism.

His road back to faith is described as cluttered with obstacles which Lewis once thought impossible to overcome. His conversion to Christianity was not an overnight experience but rather took place after years of intellectual struggle and was only resolved after he became convinced that faith was reasonable.  During this time Lewis was supported by Christian friends such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Hugo Dyson, Owen Barfield, and others.  These friends faithfully and patiently walked with him and helped him resolve his many misgivings about Christianity.

The final story, in this brief talk, is a short snippet from my own journey:  

I was raised in an active Christian household complete with a whole set of rules and expectations.  In my early 20’s I walked away from the church and everything I felt it represented.  Rather than critically examining each point and belief, I rejected the whole package and for approximately the next 25-30 years I cut myself off from almost all church-based religious contact.  During that time I more or less drifted with wherever life took me.

Early in that journey, when I questioned even the very existence of God, I thought in terms of, “Did God create us or did we create God?”  This question did not go away during that whole phase of my journey.  Indeed, I felt compelled to look at that very question and come up with an answer.  For some of that time I tried to avoid the question by adopting a very “here and now” approach to life.  I tried to hold onto the view which said, “only the present matters - it doesn’t really matter how it all began or how we got here.”  Of course that view leads to the conclusion that all is meaningless as it doesn’t answer the question of why we are here or is there even any purpose to our being here. 

During that whole phase, all around me I would continuously see the beauty and wonder of creation.  It was (and is) a silent but powerful testimony to the existence and involvement of the Creator.  Eventually I was hit with the absolute realization that all this did not just happen by accident or random chance.  The heavens do indeed declare the glory of God while the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 

In addition to becoming convinced of the creator  and that we are all part of his created universe, I also was compelled, more and more, to believe there is an undeniably spiritual side of man.  There is a void in man – and it is so much more than the need to find meaning in our lives.  I believe only our creator can fill that void.  Learning more about our Creator while exploring the spiritual need within us became the focus of my journey.  As I studied, I found myself beginning to conceive of a God that was rather different and far greater than the god I’d learned of during my youth.  Further, I began to see that I didn’t have a problem with God but rather I had a problem with how I had come to think of god based on my youthful experience. 

In wanting to come back to God, I immediately was confronted with the problem of what church or denomination.  I decided I didn’t want to go back to the denomination I had left years earlier...but what of the others?  It didn’t take me long to realize that my youthful experience could have been replicated (almost exactly) in any one of a number of other denominations!  With different doctrines and teachings, each group would present God somewhat differently according to defining characteristics of that particular faith with respect to what He likes and approves of, how He would act and what He wants from us. I did not want a denomination or creed to come between God and me but at the same time I wanted to worship him in fellowship with other Christian believers.

The God I am coming to know is much greater than all the denominational differences I’ve thus far been exposed to and He is far, far greater than my capacity to understand – though I sometimes may get brief glimpses of thought and fleeting insights.  It occurs to me that one simply can’t take that which is Omnipotent, All Powerful, All Knowing and Almighty and put it in a box or a neat little package.  Our own understanding might fit into that package but not the Subject of that understanding.

As a part of that journey and integral to it, I began reading my Bible and soon after, began praying.  This was a solitary act for several years but after the illness and death of my late wife several years ago, I began to really desire Christian fellowship and so I began regular church attendance.  Though I had been baptised as a youngster, I eventually felt the desire to be re-baptised and therefore did so a few years later.  To quickly sum up my journey with respect to God, the stages would go:

1. There is a God with lots of rules,

2. He couldn’t exist,

3. He doesn’t exist,

4. How could He NOT exist,

5. Of course He exists,

6. Finally (and this is where I am now). It's personal - He loves me!

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So, the question is, “how did you get here?”  Each of you has a story to tell and it’s a story you know better than anyone else.  Our story is our testimony and our witness.  Sometimes I believe we miss the opportunity to share our Christian values and beliefs, with those around us, because we get all caught up in thinking we don’t know enough theology.  I do not in any way wish to diminish the role or importance of ministers and evangelists but we are not all called to those roles.  We are called however (as it says in 1^st Peter 3:15) to be prepared “to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” 

If we live our lives in accordance with our convictions and our “renewed minds,” I believe we will, in fact, be letting our light shine.  I also believe that (in allowing our light to shine) we can expect to be asked questions about what we believe and how we got here.  We can all share our story when afforded the opportunities to do so.  It is a simple and effective testimony. 

One final thought…In describing how I got here, it is important to recognize that “here” is not the final destination.  I have not yet arrived and do not want to suggest anything other than I am continuing to grow and journey with God.  “Here” is only a point on the path in a life-long journey. 

We should all know where we are going.  Where are you now?  How did you get here? And where is your path taking you?  God bless you on your journey.