

A Bunch Of Bugs?

**It is accomplished** (John 19:30). Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalms 31:2,6,12-13,15-17,25; Hebrews 4:14-16,5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42

Sermon Topic Crucifixion

Sermon Week Good Friday Cycle B

Scripture Summary Luke 24:32


In one of Gary Larson's "Far Side" cartoons, a group of insects are gathered together at a party. One of the bugs is saying to another,

"Think of it, Ed! The 'Insects' class contains almost 1,000 families and over 750,000 species. But I still can't shake the feeling that we're just a bunch of bugs."

One wonders if the cartoon hits a raw nerve for some people. The class called "Homo Sapiens" (us human beings) contains six billion members who belong to hundreds of cultures and ethnic groups. We laugh, we love, we work, we create, yet judging from the number of shattered lives and broken homes, too many among us seem to think of ourselves as insignificant creatures without purpose: just a bunch of bugs.1

This is not a particularly easy time to be alive. As we plod through our every-day existence, we find much to meet our physical needs and wants, but very little that speaks to us deep-down: spiritually. Often, with seemingly nowhere to turn, the eternal questions of life are ever more baffling: questions about God; questions about immortality. More and more we are given to understand the "How?" of life, but not the "Why?" of life. Our "High Tech" Age basically has taught us nothing of life's true meaning.

If we should get to the point where we know all there is to know about our own bio-chemical processes, if we are able to cure all diseases, if we are able to stop the aging process, manipulate future generations, control greedy and violent behavior, and end all wars, we still will have discovered nothing about what life is ultimately all about, and life will still be wrapped in darkness. In our quest for meaning we come up empty-handed. Ultimately, we are faced with Mystery.

"In days of old, when knights were bold ..." So the stories often begin. We all know the format. Good King Arthur had a far-out vision of a new order where right was might, and not vice versa: where government and law existed for the good of the people, also not vice versa. He built a [...]
