Sunday, July 28, 2024

ASKING FOR A FRIEND

KEY TEXTS: 2 Corinthians 13:5-6; 1 Corinthians 11:27-31; 2 Peter 1:3-11

I think we all have heard the phrase “Asking for a friend” at some point. It probably originated from public advice columns where people didn’t want the appearance of being the person that the question was about…

We generally understand it is…

Used when someone knows the questioning is stupid or embarrassing and doesn’t want to take the blame for asking such a question. Everyone knows they’re really asking for themselves, but they pretend their conscience is clear.

I would say that it is also used to ask questions for which we already know the answer is obvious (negatively or positively) but we don’t like that answer, so we ask it anyway (under the guise of asking for someone else) hoping to get a different answer or some sort of justification that will ease our guilt for not wanting to submit to what we know we should or should not be doing.

This morning, before we invite the Baptismal Candidates on stage and celebrate their decision to take this step of faith; I want all of us to consider these questions about ourselves, all of which the answers too should be obvious. And yet, too often, I find that they are questions we are afraid to ask about ourselves because it requires we examine ourselves closely. Questions that we are more comfortable asking and/or answering about others than we are for ourselves.