I asked the kids at VBS what they wondered. Here are some of the things that kids wonder.

I wonder why bees sting us
I wonder why I am so nice and awesome
I wonder why the ocean is blue. ( I think that it’s because the blue sky reflects to the ocean.
I wonder if I can be older than everyone. (Don’t wonder that kid. I am older than everyone and it’s not that great)
I wonder what presents I’ll get for my birthday
I wonder if someone could eat 30 ice creams in a day
I wonder why God made bad things
I wonder why babies come out of mom’s bellies. (There are some kids in the room right now, does anyone want to field that one?)
I wonder why frogs need to be moist
I wonder why do I burp
I wonder why God made TV because my mom never lets me watch it

I thought I’d go to the other end of the spectrum and so I called my mom. She just turned 92. Do you know who was president when my mom was born? Calvin Coolidge. Last week I asked my mom, “What do you wonder?” The only thing she could come up with was, “I wonder why my son doesn’t call more often.” Before you judge me too harshly, let me say that I gave her that line. When I asked her “what do you wonder?” she couldn’t think of anything. Maybe by the time you’re 92 you’re done wondering.

She may be done wondering, but my guess is you’re not. We all wonder. Some of them are little wonders. Here are some grown up wonders based on the television viewing public.
I wonder what it would be like to live in a tiny house
I wonder what it would be like to be a house hunter in a foreign country
I wonder what the Kardashians are up to
I wonder if this house will flip or flop
I wonder if it’s a good idea to own a tiger

There are other questions that are more important to us.

I wonder what college I will end up at
I wonder what my career should be
I wonder if there is something else I could do with more purpose
I wonder if my marriage will go the distance
I wonder if my kids are going to turn out alright. Some of you ask that question but when you’re asking it you’re really asking this question
I wonder if my kids will ever leave
I wonder if I will have enough money to retire
I wonder if my health will hold out.

Life is filled with wonder. That may be one of the reasons you find yourself here this morning. Your spiritual life may hold some wonder for you.
I wonder why God allows bad things to happen
I wonder if God really cares about the details of my life
I wonder what happens after I die
I wonder if the bible really is the word of God
I wonder if my belief system is the right one

I want to begin by talking about why we wonder. To get an answer to that I want to look at one of the most popular chapters in the whole bible. It’s 1 Corinthians 13. Lot’s of you know this passage. Many of you had some of these verses read at your wedding.

Those verses are so notable that in the movies the wedding crashers Owen Wilson bets Vince Vaughn $20 that the Bible verse to be read during the wedding will be 1st Corinthians. “Double or nothing, Colossians 3:12,” is Vince Vaughn’s response. replies. The maid of honor steps up to the microphone and reads, “’Love is patient, love is kind “

I want to read some verses that are in this passage but really have nothing to do with love. They are sort of weirdly placed near the end.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:8-12

I had Paul make this for me last week to illustrate what these verses are talking about. When we were kids we thought like kids. We wondered like kids. As we grow up some of those things we wondered. We don’t wonder why the sky is blue and why the grass is green and can God make a rock too big for him to throw. Our wonders change. Here’s why we have those wonders. Underline verse 12

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

That word mirror has two meaning in the bible. One is actually a mirror another is a glass like you see here. I think the word glass is a more accurate definition because back in those days mirrors were not made of glass. They were made of polished metal. Either way the image is not completely clear. It’s hazy. Right now, what we know about God is a little hazy. We don’t fully understand. There is a lot of room for wonder.

If you could understand everything about God than he would cease to exist. How’s that for profound. Let me take a moment to explain. If all of the wonders of God and the depth of his knowledge and the breadth of his wisdom could be understood by human minds, then he would not be the all powerful, all knowing God that we need him to be. The truly deep questions of the world are God sized, not man sized. They can only be understood by a being of supreme intellect. It’s like explaining algebra to your dog.

That is a bad characteristic for visitors but it’s also one of the reasons why I love her. When I walk in she his always excited to see me. No one in my house greets me like my dog. It would be great if my wife ran to me whenever I came in and showered me with kisses, but that isn’t a thing. Jasmine is an amazing greeter but again, very forgetful. If I walk out of the house for 30 seconds then come back in, I get the same loving greeting I would get if I’ve been on vacation and out of the house for two weeks. Honestly, I wish everyone loved me as much as my dog loves me. Then I would love you as much as I love my dog.

The same reason why my dog can’t be taught Quantum physics is the same reason why we will always be filled with wonder when it comes to our understand of God.
How can God forgive and forget? If you hurt me I’ll never forget it, but God somehow watches us do the despicable and still loves us.
How we understand that God loves us from the beginning of time when we don’t have a grasp of what eternity looks like?
How can we understand how some people will make it to heaven and others will not when we can’t look into the hearts of people?

This is why we will always wonder.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. I Corinthians 13:4-8

My support wanes when we get to number 16. Love never fails.

If you were to make a statement about love in our culture today, would you say that love never fails? I wouldn’t. Seems like love always fails.

I wonder why God says love never fails when I see it fail all around me

I did a wedding a few years back at L’Auberge in Del Mar. I priced it this last week and for just the wedding venue and reception, and some rooms in the hotel to get dressed in the cost for a wedding at L’Auberge is between $25-30,000. That doesn’t include flowers, a DJ, an officiant, photographer, videographer or a coordinator. It’s a little spendy. When we planned my daughters wedding we did not tour L’Auberge. About 18 months after I did that wedding I got a call from the bride. She had become a wedding coordinator and asked if I could come out and do a wedding for her. As we were talking after the wedding I casually asked, “So how’s your husband?” She said, “It didn’t work out and we got divorced.”

I don’t think there is anyone here who would say that love never fails. We see it fail in front of us all the time. When I was reading the answers from kids about what they wonder, one of them stood out to me. I wonder why my parents fight a lot.

How many of us in this room will be the farm boy and princess buttercup? If we all understand that true love never fails there are still some questions

I wonder if my love is true enough to make my marriage work?
I wonder if my love is true enough to love my kids through the teen years?
I wonder if my love is true enough to keep this friendship together after our disagreement?
I wonder if my love is true enough to love my parents after the childhood I had?

As long as we are on this side of the looking glass there will be questions about God. But 2000 years ago God made a move. He sent his son to this side of the glass. In that moment he showed us what true love is.

The most famous verse in the bible shows us Jesus love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

This one gives us our purpose.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16

Here’s our job. Just like Jesus laid down his life, you lay down your life. Put your children’s needs above your own. Love them when they irritate you. Love them when you’re exhausted. Love them even when they don’t love you.
Love your spouse. Put her needs above your own. Put his needs above your own. When you leave an argument don’t remember all the dumb things your husband said but thing to yourself, “How could I have been better?”
Love the people at work. Even when your boss is unreasonable and even when your co-workers are gossips. Put their needs first.