Does knowing the future matter?
We all think we want to know the future. We think if we knew the future we could avoid unpleasant experiences, prepare for things better, win lotteries, etc., etc., etc. But do we really want to know the future? Do we really want that much responsibility? For that matter, would knowing the future really help? Many of us know not brushing and flossing leads to a future which includes dental work and still don’t brush and floss enough.
The discussion really is moot, we don’t know the future, but that doesn’t stop us from wanting to and sometimes asking God to show it to us. Jesus’ disciples wanted to know and asked him about in our Acts reading today. The disciples didn’t get an answer. At least not the answer they wanted. They did get an answer, not about the future but about the present.
A refusal to live in the present is very common to people, Richard Rohr says something to the effect that people hate the present and want to live in either the past or the future. The difficulty is, of course, that neither the past nor the future really exist as far as what we are doing goes. The past cannot be changed and the future can’t be changed either, except by what we do in the present.
Jesus reassured his disciples that even though they didn’t know the future, they were going to have everything they needed to be who they were created to be in the present and equipped to do the work they were each uniquely qualified to do.
I go into a bit more detail than just that so give the sermon a listen and let me know what you think.
Blessings,
