What is the meaning of life?

We all spend our lives trying to work out which way to go, and as a man it’s even harder, because we men hate to ask for directions. We would rather spend two hours driving in circles than stop the car and ask someone how to get somewhere. My dad used to say “we are not lost – I just don’t know where we are!”

What does this have to do with anything? Well I want to tell you something, and that’s that some of us in this room are lost, and some of us don’t even know where we want to go, let alone how to get there. But I have good news for you, and that’s that not only can I tell you where you should want to go I can even tell you how to get there.

But before I tell you anything I thought Id tell you a bad joke.

A vicar was arriving at a small village church once and he had an important letter to post, he saw this young lad and asked where the nearest post office was. The boy told him the directions and so the vicar thanked him and said, "If you come to the Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to Heaven." "I don't think I'll be there," the boy said. "You don't even know your way to the post office."

So lets start at the beginning… where are we going? Or put in the way that is used a lot more – what is the meaning of life?

This question is a question asked by everyone at some point in their lives, and many people say there is no answer to this. Well I have to tell you that those people are wrong, and you don’t even have to look very far to find the answer.

God created us in his image, and he created us to look after the world he created and to be best friends with God. When the earth was created everything was perfect, he was an artist who had put every little detail in place so that the earth was the exact way he wanted, every tree, every stream, every animal. He could have kept all of this too himself, his own private universe, but he wanted to share it, he created men and women, and he created them in his image and then he said “Fill the earth and Govern it!”

From the moment man and women were created God gave life meaning. That meaning can be summed up by one simple word. Love.

We were given the task to love the earth he created and to look after every part of it.
We were given the task to love each other and to look after each other.
And we were given these tasks because God loved us and wanted to share with us the perfect world he created.

So what happened, why is the world not still the perfect place he created?
Why is there more hate in the world than love?
Why is it that there is so much hurt in the world, with people beating people up and in some cases killing people for fun?

The answer to these questions, and the many others I could ask is amazingly simple, we forgot, ignored, and lost contact with the very thing that gave our lives meaning.

We all know the story of what happened. God gave one small rule, and even told what would happen if that rule was broken “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

No tricks here, No room for misunderstandings – a nice clear “if you do this you will die!” if only the story ended here, but it doesn’t does it!

Before I move on let me remind you what we had.
We had a relationship with God where we could walk and talk to him about anything
We had Gods trust and had been given the responsibility of looking after his perfect creation
We had a life with meaning – with love at its centre.

So the devil got involved and whispered
“That piece of fruit you’ve been told not to eat looks really tasty doesn’t it!”
“That piece of fruit looks so much nicer than the others!”
“Gods messing with you, hes keeping the best to himself!”
“Go on eat the fruit – you know you want to!”
“If you eat the fruit you won’t die!”
“If you eat the fruit you will be like God and know good and evil!”

Let’s face it, when something is whispered it’s so much louder and much more convincing and tempting, and yes the fruit was eaten. God was disobeyed and the result was death.
We lost the relationship with our, still perfect creator
We lost Gods trust
His creation was no longer perfect and so looking after it would be much harder

(smash glass)

Life’s meaning was shattered and we were doomed.

This time we have to be glad the story doesn’t end here.

Even though we disobeyed God and lost the very reason he had created us, which meant we were living life with no meaning, he still loved us and wanted the close relationship back.

He gave us some simple and clear laws to show us how far we were from him and to show us what we had to do and promised that if they were followed some of that meaning, that loving relationship, would be back, but we all know what happens when us stupid humans are told not to do something, we do the opposite and keep messing up.

Why did we keep messing up? Because we were searching for the meaning of life and ignoring God when he tried to point out what the real meaning was.

This left God with one option, that of punishment.

Before I continue lets have a quick recap, in-case I’ve lost you.

The meaning of Life is Love
Love of each other
Love of the world
Love of God

We messed up and life lost meaning

God wanted to give our lives meaning again but we ignored him.

Nice and simple, and it does help us to understand the world that we live in.

Over 70% of children and young people say they don’t fill loved.

People search for love wherever they can get it, with many doing whatever they can to make sure they don’t lose it when they think they have it.

The top reason for people drinking alcohol, smoking, taking drugs, having sex for the first time is often “I was scared they wouldn’t like me or love me if I didn’t!”

We were created to love and be loved, but because we have forgotten this and have lost this we have a hole in our lives. Most people know it is there, we try to fill it with so many things.

We try drugs and alcohol in order to forget that something’s missing, or to give our lives meaning, but these things destroy our lives even more and the hole get bigger and we need more to fill it, and the hole gets bigger so we take more, and then eventually all we have is the drugs and alcohol – every part of our lives becomes about getting a hit or a drink. We wake up, take a drink or a smoke, get dressed, take a drink or a smoke, eat lunch, take a drink or a smoke etc. It is no longer about filling a hole and making life easier it is about not being able to live without it and is infact the reason we live.

Its not just drugs or alcohol, it could be sex, work, money, football. I’m sure there are hundreds of things that people use in order to add meaning to their lives, but I want to tell you it simply and bluntly – we don’t need these things because they will never satisfy us!

The only thing that will satisfy us and make our lives the way they are meant to be is love – love of God, each other and the world!

You may be feeling lonely at school, work or at home – with God you always have someone and he will never leave you.

Your family may sometimes hurt you and you may not feel loved by them – with God you are always part of his family, and he will always love you.

Your friends may only seem to like you when you do things you don’t thing you should do – God will always be there for you and will never ask you to do anything that will harm you!

You may be jumping from one addiction to another trying to block out how you feel by using drugs, alcohol, sex, work, whatever – God is the only thing which will truly make things better.

The meaning of life is love

And the place we should want to go is back to God.

Earlier I said I was going to give you directions to how to get there, but before I do here’s another bad joke.

Two nuns were travelling through Europe in their car. They got to Transylvania and were stopped at a traffic light. Suddenly Dracula jumps onto the hood of their car and scratches the windshield!
"Quick, quick!" shouts the first nun, "What shall I do?"
"Turn on the wipers, that will get rid of this abomination," shouts the second.
The nun switches them on, knocking Dracula about, but he clings on and hisses at them loudly!
"What shall I do now?" shouts the first nun.
"Switch on the windshield washer, I filled it with Holy Water when we stopped in the Vatican!" says the second.
Dracula steams as the water burns his skin, but somehow manages to hang on. He hisses at the nuns even louder now!
"Now what?" screams the first nun.
"Show him your cross!" replies the second.
So the first nun rolls down the window and shouts: "GET OFF MY HOOD YOU STUPID IDIOT!!!!"

God knew we deserve to be punished for the way we were living. He had given us simple and effective rules to guide us back to him, we ignored them, we had turned his perfect creation into a world falling apart at its seams. But God still loved us.

The bible says it simply like this “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”

God loves us so much, and wants us to live our God given lives so much that he gave up his own son’s life so that we can live!

Its hard for us to understand why God does this, because we live in a world where love is something we can easily throw away, parents choose to leave their children, husbands choose to leave their wives, love doesn’t matter other than when something is wanted.

With God, and the love that gives our lives meaning, it’s different. This is a love which will always be there.

God looked at the world he created, the people he made and loves it, even though he doesn’t like what we do. Because of this love he wants us to experience life the way he meant it.

We needed to be punished but he wanted to give us one last chance, because he loves us so much. His solution – to send Jesus to be punished for each one of us! He was sent and died for you!
Even if you were the only person that existed he still would have sent Jesus – because he loves you!

He wants to have a relationship with you!

He wants to give your life meaning!

He wants to replace the addiction you have with love!

He wants to hold you when you cry!

He wants to share your problems!

He wants carry you when you get tired!

He didn’t do this in order to create a religion, to get you to come to church on Sunday. He did this because he wants to give your life a meaning and he wants a relationship with you the way it was originally – where we walk and talk to him, and where we look after the world he created.

Gods done his part – he’s taken the punishment so we don’t have to BUT there’s one thing we need to do, we need to accept the sacrifice and offer him back our life in return.

If you go to hug someone and they just stand there it is not a hug.

If you go to kiss someone and they turn away the kiss doesn’t happen.

If you don’t accept the sacrifice made for you, say sorry for the things you have done wrong, ask for help to stop doing things wrong, and then (with Gods help) try to change the way you live then it’s a wasted sacrifice.

Today you have an amazing opportunity to change your life and to give your life a meaning.

You have an opportunity to fill the hole you have in your life with the very love that you were created for. Don’t pass up the opportunity, start living today.

The meaning of life is the opposite to death.

God wants a relationship with you today, accept it.

Let’s Pray

Lord thank you that you love us no matter what we do
Fill our lives with that love today so that our lives have meaning again
Speak to each of us and reveal you love to us personally.
Remove any addictions we have in our lives so that we can see you clearer
Take control of our lives whether the first, second or hundredth time

Amen