The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything

 I love the old "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series of books.  The satire on humanity is hilarious.  At one point in the tale, a community builds a super computer, smarter and faster than any seen before, so that it can calculate and define the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.  For decades it works until it spits out the answer: "42". No one has any idea what it means.  

That feels a bit like my journey.  All of my life I have battled to find that one missing piece, a truth or practice or idea that will glue all of my struggle together and make sense of how to walk with God and know His peace.  Have I found that?  Sure. Maybe? What I'm finding is that it's not just a matter of knowing who God is - revealed perfectly in the man, Jesus Christ - but TRUSTING in who God says He is.  That's a little harder than just calculating the right answer. 

The Narrow Road

I've recently been captivated by these words of Jesus in Matthew 7:

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

When I've read those verses in the past, I tend to focus internally on the idea that there are few people who will get into the Kingdom, that if I want to enter I really have to stand out, do better, have exceedingly righteous righteousness.  But is that what Jesus is saying here?  What does the context say?  

In verses 7-11 Jesus talks about prayer and encourages His followers to seek God and ask things of Him.  Why? Because God is good, and He loves to give good things to His children.  Jesus calls us to know God and act on who He says He is.  After all, Jesus argues, as human fathers we give good gifts to our children.  Isn't God more generous, kind and compassionate than we are?  Yes He is, Jesus would say.  

Verse 12 is Jesus teaching of the "Golden Rule," to treat others the way we want to be treated, and it starts with a "therefore," showing that it's content follows directly from what Jesus just said about prayer.  So how are the two connected, the Golden Rule and Jesus' words about prayer? I believe like this: if we are seeking God in prayer, we are trusting that He is good, He cares, and He wants to meet our needs.  If we are treating people well, the way we want to be treated, rather than manipulating them or using them for our own benefit, we are trusting that God is good, He cares, and He will take responsibility for meeting our needs.  

When we trust that God is good, like He says He is, we are freed to love others well.  

Verses 13-14 speak of the narrow and wide gates and roads, leading to life and destruction respectively. 

In verses 15-20, Jesus warns of the false prophets who like to lead people astray.  He says you will know them "by their fruits." These false teachers, like the religious leaders of Jesus' day, give the appearance of righteousness and holy living, but the darkness of their hearts is betrayed by their actions.  They take advantage of widows (Mk. 12:40). They disregard justice and the love of God (Lk. 11:42). They burden the lay people with expectations but will not help (Lk. 11:46). They set themselves up as keepers of truth, but kept genuine seekers from finding it (Lk. 11:43, 52). They killed the prophets (Lk. 11:49-51) and put to death the Prince of Peace (Jn. 19:11). 

So what is the great sin of the false prophets? They don't trust in the goodness of God, and it leaves them building their own kingdoms on the backs of the weak and vulnerable.  You can see their hearts in the fruit - the way they treat people.  

Verses 21-23 are those ever-frightening statements about the fact that not everyone who calls Jesus "Lord" will enter the Kingdom.  The reality is, there are many people who do many good and religious things who never grasp the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.  They, like the false religious leaders, are building their own kingdoms, striving and working for meaning and significance, and stepping on others to get there, because they do not trust in the goodness of God on their behalf.  

Jesus says, "Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness," a quote from Psalm 6:8.  Psalm 6 is the cry of a troubled man in his weakness.  His enemies oppress and grieve him.  But in the end, the Lord hears his prayer and is gracious.  His enemies are defeated and ashamed because the Lord hears the voice of his weeping.  The Lord saves him because of the Lord's lovingkindness (6:4). The Psalmist trusts in the goodness and compassion of God.  

So what of the narrow and wide gates, the narrow and broad roads? What if Jesus isn't calling us to set ourselves apart from the bulk of humanity by doing better? What if he isn't calling us to be more religious? What if Jesus is calling me to be a person of faith - one who trusts that God is the God He says he is - "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness"? What if Jesus is calling me to be a person who rests, like a child in the arms of his loving mother, in the truth that God likes me, cares for me, and made me His child through the blood of His Son?  

What if Jesus' call to the narrow road is the same as His invitation: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt. 11:28)? 

When I become that restful kind of person, I am freed from the need to suck the life out of others through manipulation and abuse. I can live the Golden Rule.  

It's not just enough to know the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.  To just say, "God is good," is like having the answer, "42," but not knowing what that means.  God's goodness calls me to a daily yielding to the truth of God, a dying to myself and resting in His mercy and compassion.