Curiosity

They came to Philip… and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” John 12:21

Nicodemus said to [Jesus], “How can these things be?” John 3:9

Dear Friends in Christ,

Happy Easter! They say that ‘curiosity killed the cat,’ but I wonder if a better saying would be ‘curiosity gave the cat nine lives.’ What I mean is this: God created us as relational creatures—creatures that yearn to be in healthy and living relationship with others and especially to be in relationship with God. So naturally within us is a desire for God. We don’t always recognize this desire for what it is. We seek to fill it with more superficial and transient pleasures. But still something in us is, as Augustine put it, restless until we find our rest in God.

This God-given desire for fellowship with God often appears as curiosity. We ask tough questions about life, about our place in the universe, about loss and injustice and the source of true peace and joy. We follow that curiosity to various philosophical and religious claims, looking for what is reliable and true.

Have you felt that curiosity? How have you followed it? Where has it led you? The Pharisee Nicodemus came under cover of nightfall to ask Jesus his questions. Greeks came to Philip, seeking Jesus. The Ethiopian asked Philip what Isaiah meant about the Messiah. All were curious, and all of them followed that curiosity, and it brought them closer to Jesus.

Make the decision to follow your own curiosity deeper. Ask the hard questions that help you wrestle with God. When you hear others with their curiosity, encourage them—share with them what you have discovered that they also might learn and grow as you have. The love and grace of God will flourish in your life and in others as well.

(One opportunity to follow that curiosity is in the program called Alpha, that starts this weekend with lunch after the 10:30 service, with a video on the basics of the Christian faith, then an open discussion in small groups that explore our curiosity about God and the meaning of life. Click here for more info).

Yours in Christ,

-Tom