He was born on the same day I was. We were born about two hours apart, I’m not sure who was older.
I always said I was.
We grew up in church together, sat together in Sunday School, played ping pong before church, and played against each other in basketball at the YMCA.
As the days passed and we celebrated more birthdays, we went on ski trips, lock-ins, white water rafting, rode the roller coasters at Carowinds and Six Flags,
We whistled at girls walking by and blushed together when they turned around.
He laughed when I got scared in that abandoned house that we and bunch of guys trespassed on.
But if the truth be known, I think he was a little scared too.
After a few more birthdays, he moved up the road to Greenville, and we no longer sat beside each other in Sunday School or rode the rides together at Carowinds, and our birthdays were celebrated separately.
But as when many people move away, you still keep in touch, by phone calls, letters, and especially by birthday cards – his was easy to remember.
I’ve had six birthdays since I sent him a card. I’ve had six birthdays since he sent me a card.
I’ve had six birthdays since his car hit a van. I’ve had six birthdays since that ambulance took him to Greenville Memorial Hospital. I’ve had six birthdays since holding his casket with five other boys, young boys, who knew him.
A young man so full of life, full of promise.
My friend Mike was one of the first people at the house that night and years later I asked him what happened when he went to the house of my friend on the night his car stopped.
Mike told me he walked into the house, and the grief and shock covered the faces of the family. Mike had been the youth director of my friend when he was living in Greenwood and a close friend of his family.
When the father saw Mike, he ran to him and fell on the ground and demanded "Why did God do this? What kind of a God would take away my son? Who is this God?"
Maybe the most asked question in the history of history.
Who and what is God?
Who is this God that Jesus calls us Love?
Are we to love a God that takes away that which is most precious to us without warning?
People of all ages, from all cultures have asked this question for centuries.
In the book, Children’s Letter’s to God, little Robert writes this to God,
Dear God, I am American, what are you?
Who and What is God?
Many of us can remember back to when it seemed God and Santa Claus were the same person; an old man with a long white beard,
sitting somewhere up high who keeps a list on our behavior and gives us presents when we are good.
Others of us may have envisioned or still envision God as a policeman, always ready to get us if we mess up.
Still others view God as a bottle of asprin, reaching for him when they hurt, like an insurance policy, ready to cash in when hard times come.
And we still ask Who and What is God?
Many people have dismissed God, saying that it is a psychological affirmation so that they don’t have to live in the reality of a chaotic universe with no order, no purpose.
Others say God is a myth that was devised to explain the creation of the world and the natural occurrences.
Who and what is God?
Whoever his is, he has many different names;
Aristotle called God, the ‘unmoved mover’
Another philosopher called God ‘eternal energy’
Others have referred to God as ‘life’s essence’, ‘the divine architect’, ‘life force’, ‘supreme intelligence’
And in our own century we have devised names like ‘the boss’, the ‘man upstairs’, or ‘someone up there’, or even pointing up is a popular name for God.
Who and What is God?
Even Moses asked the question ‘who are you?’ and God answered "I AM WHO I AM".
That means something.
"I" . I speak, I think, I feel, I believe, I love.
"I" implies a conscious person,
not just blind force,
not just energy,
not just an abstract idea,
not just a mass of matter.
But a being, a spirit, a SOUL.
"I" implies life, personality, a living reality.
"am" implies movement, senses, being.
It means that always and forever, God is!
And still we ask, who and what is God?
Is God knowledge? Is God power? Is God creation?
If he were just knowledge he would be not different from the Greek god Zeus who could see and know all that happened.
He would be full of all wisdom of the past, present, and future, but he wouldn’t be any different than Buddha who was supposedly all-wise upon his enlightenment.
There is no special virtue in knowing everything.
If our God was just a god of power and nothing more, he would be a dictator, a tyrant. He wouldn’t be any different than Hercules or Apollo, or the Islamic Allah.
If he were only a creator, like Baal, the god of fertility, and nothing more, we would have a very busy, creative God, always coming up with new things,
But our God is much more than that.
Who and What is God?
When my friend who shared my birthday was killed, and Mike was asked the question, ‘Why did God do this?’, I’m not sure if Mike gave an answer.
I don’t know why things happen the way they do. I don’t think there is anybody who knows why things happen the way they do, or why they happen to certain people.
I don’t think it is God’s will that bad things happen to his children, I don’t think it’s God’s will that his children perish, be it through disease or disaster, but for some reason, they do.
We have seen and unfortunately will see; war, famine, plague, murder, deceit, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, fire, even car accidents that take the lives of young men who have so much to live for – and we will see God’s children perish.
To try to answer the question why would only frustrate us even more.
But there is something that the family of my friend learned after that horrible day when their son died.
They came to realize something days and weeks after the funeral, after all the flowers had wilted and all the food had been eaten, they came to realize who God actually was.
Even after all the anger and the confusion that was directed toward God during that time, God never left.
In fact, it seemed as if God was there more, helping the healing, offering encouragement, offering hope, giving love.
It seemed as if he were smiling each morning, saying ‘this is a new day, and I am with you’.
‘I understand, and I am here, lean on me, and I will carry you’.
You see, that is what makes our God more than just all knowing, all powerful, and a great creator.
That is why our God is different from Zeus, Apollo, Hercules, Buddha, Baal, or any other god that people worship, our God is a God of love.
My friend’s family were able to move on, they kept striving forward, they remained very active in their United Methodist Church, they established a scholarship in their son’s name to help others better themselves.
They still and will always miss their son, but can face each day with confidence because God is with them.
God’s LOVE is with them.
Things will happen to us and people we know. We don’t know why, but they will. We will get angry, we will be confused, we will hurt, but God will never leave us, he will never turn his back on us.
He will give us all that we need, he will give us life again.
Who and What is God?
He is knowledge, but is more than that.
He is creation, but he is much more than that.
He is power, be he is more than that.
He is love, and that love defines everything he does.
Who and What is God?
Jesus calls him father.
Not a father who is always busy and never has time for his children. Not a father who can only see his child on every other weekend.
Not a father who only grunts or snots when spoken to.
Not a father who is abusive or distant.
But a father who lights up when he sees his children. A father who will drop everything to watch them play.
A father who will sacrifice everything for the well-being of his children.
A father who has seen the world, and knows how it works.
A father who keeps a gentle hand on the small of our back when first learning how to ride a bicycle.
A father who worries if we look both ways when crossing the street.
A father who waits up on us when we come in late.
A father who knows what’s best for us, but still gives us room to make mistakes.
A father who cheers the loudest for us, and cries the hardest with us.
A father who loves us.
But some will still ask Who and What is God?
People have laid on their backs in fields and prairies looking up at the night sky asking that question for thousands of years.
We have devised complex schemes with the stars and moon to explain God.
We have built incredible devices to look far up in the sky to try to find him,
And we’ve built incredible devices to look deep within us to try to find him.
We read books and go to weekend retreats, we listen to preachers and con-artists alike all in hopes of answering that question.
We look and we wait. We listen and we hope.
We’ve done all of this to answer the question who and what is God? Who is this deity that we are called to serve and to love with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength?
Who is this who created all, sustains all, and knows all?
Who is this who is worthy of worship and adoration?
Who is this who we offer up our prayers?
Who is this whose name we often say, many times irreverently?
Jesus calls him Father, Jesus calls him Father, and that is good enough for me.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.