"Q&A"

“Q&A”

Robert M. Thompson, Pastor

Corinth Reformed Church
150 Sixteenth Avenue NW
Hickory, North Carolina 28601

828.328.6196   corinthtoday.org

 (© 2011 by Robert M. Thompson.  Unless otherwise indicated, Scriptures quoted are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright 2011 by New York International Bible Society.)

Whom have I in heaven but you?

Are you ready for this?  Can you believe it’s been almost a year since we started this journey?  Have you had a great year in Confirmation?

Have you heard that I’ve always said to each Confirmation class, “You’re my favorite?”  Do you think you’re my favorite class?  Why wouldn’t you be?  Aren’t you the class with the most and the best questions?  Isn’t that better than just sitting there and taking notes on all the answers?

But aren’t you all uniquely special?  Could Pastor Paul and I just pick one word for each of you that stands out from this past year? 

Do I sound like a Jeopardy contestant, stating everything in the form of question?  Do you like questions?  Don’t you think you learn a lot from questions?  If you already know everything, you don’t need to ask questions, right?  Haven’t you come up with even more questions than the ones you asked me? 

Aren’t you glad Pastor Paul is “A,” answers, so that you don’t just have to hear questions from “Q,” Pastor Bob, for the whole confirmation sermon?  

Now what question shall I ask Pastor Paul?  Why don’t I start with the question in Psalm 73?  Does it surprise you that someone writing in the Bible should be so honest?  Do you think God is OK with people who say they believe in him voicing their anger, their hurt, their frustration, and their doubts?

Isn’t this guy asking the same kinds of questions you’ve been asking?  Where is God when bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people?  What’s going on when we try to do what’s right and still deal with pain and trouble?  Isn’t God supposed to be loving, all-powerful, and just?  If he loves us, why isn’t life fair?  Could we just summarize all the questions from this year’s Confirmation class and this psalm with a question for Pastor Paul –

How would this psalm help someone doubting God because life isn’t fair?

When you read the Psalms, they run the spectrum of every emotion, from psalms of praise to those that struggle with real issues.

There are people in this room right now who are struggling with the fact that people who are trying to do the right think keep getting crushed.  You didn’t think that was in the Bible, did you?

We often think that the writers of scripture were “above it all” and almost like angels…kind of floating through life inspired by the Holy Spirit…and they couldn’t possibly relate to the same things that we struggle with…could they?

Psalm 73 is about someone who is honest with God.  God is big enough for our questions.

The place where this text turns is in verse 17, when he enters into the sanctuary.  He entered into God’s presence.  The Bible gives us names for God to think about who he is.  One of my favorites is “Father.”

Think about someone who’s been picked on by everyone at school or on his sports team.  Little kids go running to Moms and Dads when they are scared. 

Just like that, Asaph is saying, “I went and climbed into my Daddy’s lap.” 

The big questions are, “Is God really God?”  “Is God really good?”

On your Confirmation Day, you haven’t gotten it all figured out.  You don’t need to.  You just need to know who your Daddy is.

Rhetorical questions

Isn’t there a difference between good questions and bad questions?  Is the point of this psalm maybe that Asaph learned he was asking the wrong questions?  Why does everything good happen to him?  Why not me?  Why should I even try to be good?

Even if it was a good idea for him to be honest about his struggles, didn’t he need to move beyond them?

And didn’t he move beyond them?  What about that question he asked toward the end of psalm? 

“Whom have I in heaven but you?”

Do you know what a rhetorical question is?  No?  What do they teach in the sixth grade these days? 

Isn’t a rhetorical question one that has an obvious answer?  But it’s still a question, right?

“Whom have I in heaven but you?”  What’s the obvious answer?  No one, right?

Are there other kinds of rhetorical questions that might actually build our faith?

Is God good?

Can God do anything he wants to do?

Is there anything we can teach God?

Can God be trusted?

Isn’t God enough?  If we have God, do we really need anything or anyone else to make life worth living?  Isn’t the Creator of everything, the One who gave his Son for us, worthy of our whole lives?

After all, what is your only comfort in life and in death?  Isn’t it that you belong, body and soul, in life and in death, not to yourself but to your faithful Savior Jesus Christ?