Asking God to explain himself

“Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” Genesis 18:25

The Old Testament is vital to our understanding of who Jesus is and what he said and did. Yet it’s not always easy to read. Sometimes the problem is our distance in time and culture from when it was written. A good commentary can help us to understand the context. But the greater difficulty for many of us comes with those passages that make us exclaim “That’s awful! Why would God say or do that? What sort of God is this?” Many atheists point to these passages as a reason for their atheism.

Some would argue that if it’s in the Bible, it’s God’s word, and that’s that. Whether we like it or not, we have to accept what we read. We should never presume to question God. Such questioning is the first step on the road to unbelief.

But the Old Testament itself is full of people who were startled and disturbed by God’s words and actions and questioned him about his motives. Abraham (Genesis 18:16-33), Moses (Exodus 5:22-23, Numbers 11:11), Joshua (Joshua 7:7), Gideon (Judges 6:13) David (Psalm 10:1), Isaiah (Isaiah 63:17) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 12:1) all at some time cried a horrified “Why, Lord?”. The writers of the books of Job, Jonah and Habakkuk each sought to answer the question of how God’s righteousness and faithfulness could be reconciled with his actions (or inactivity).

What distinguished them from most atheists is that they genuinely sought understanding, and sought it from God himself, rather than using their questions as an excuse for unbelief. Underlying their questions was a solid belief not just in God’s existence but in his goodness and righteousness, based on their own experience. And although they were direct, even blunt, in speaking with God, they acknowledged that they were presuming on his grace in doing so. In humility they remained aware that they were created beings asking for answers from their Creator.

image by eric 

Gratitude and thankfulness

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever! (Ps 107:1)

In a recent news clip about children’s art being displayed in a prestigious art gallery, one child was asked how she felt about seeing her picture hanging besides works by world-famous artists. Her unsmiling response was “It shows that I’ve worked hard and that if you really want to, you can achieve anything.”

In a world which emphasises achievement through hard work, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we must have earned what comes to us. We feel frustrated if our work is not rewarded and deprived if what we have is taken away.

Gratitude isn’t something hardwired into human beings. It requires a realisation that most of what we have is totally undeserved. We did nothing (good or bad) to deserve the talents we were born with, the family we belong to, the country we live in. We did nothing to deserve being born at all. Everything is a gift.

Psychologists have begun to emphasise the importance of gratitude to our mental well being. Taking time each day to notice the things we have to be grateful for helps to protect us against stress, improves our relationships with others and can be a potent antidote to depression.

Gratitude, looked at in this way, is primarily an inner experience. It may lead to outward expressions of thanks, but it focuses on the good that comes to us. It says “I am blessed”.

Thankfulness goes beyond that to recognising the goodness of the one from whom undeserved favour comes. It says “Thank you for blessing me.” This is more than just being polite. Whether it’s thanking our spouse for some small kindness or thanking God for the beauty of a sunrise, heartfelt thanks-giving requires humility. It takes the emphasis off ourselves as the receiver and places it on the giver.

Judge of all the earth

He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. (Psalm9:8 NIV)

In our judicial system, the role of judge is separated from that of lawmaker. A judge cannot change the law, initiate legal proceedings, or change the penalty imposed by the law. A judge has no role in carrying out the sentence against the guilty.

This separation of lawmakers and judges is meant to ensure that justice is applied fairly and impartially. If the same person who makes the law also acts as judge and carries out the sentence, the result is often despotism, injustice and arbitrary punishment. So what are we to make of a Judge who acts as lawmaker and executioner too?

Perhaps we need to move away from thinking about the law courts and find a different analogy for God as Judge. When we were children, our parents determined the family’s rules. When those rules were broken, it was they who decided who was responsible and what the penalty would be. Being human, our parents may sometimes have set rules and meted out punishments that seemed harsh or unfair. But children seldom question their parent's right to act as both lawmaker and judge. A good parent is not distant and impartial, but lovingly committed to their child’s growth in maturity and righteousness.

We must be careful not to take this analogy too far. God is truly Father only to those who are in Christ, adopted into his family. Parents are not God! But the analogy is helpful in that it reminds us that God as Judge is not a distant despot, nor even an impartial legalist, but the Creator who is deeply concerned for the eternal welfare of those whom he rules and judges. His laws are not arbitrary, but a reflection of his own goodness and holiness. His judgement is not impersonal and distant, but based on an intimate knowledge of the hearts and minds of those he judges.

Jesus makes mothers' day

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40.11 (NIV)

The prophet Isaiah had good news to announce to God’s people. God himself would come and be their shepherd. He would demonstrate his power and authority, but he would also have a special concern for those who were so often left behind by the rest of the flock. The young and their mothers would be close to his heart.

Jesus came, but not even his disciples recognised him as the Good Shepherd. When parents brought their young children to Jesus for him to bless, the disciples shooed them away. Couldn't these people see that Jesus had much more important things to do than to fuss over their children? He was a prophet, not a grandmother (see Luke 18:15-17).

We’re not told specifically that it was mothers who brought their children to Jesus, but it’s likely that it was they who carried the youngest infants to him. And Jesus welcomed them. He knew how difficult it was for mothers to keep up with the more ‘holy’ people around them when their infants needed feeding and their toddlers squirmed and wriggled in their arms and lack of sleep sometimes made them too tired even to pray. 

He saw that they came with faith in him, not in their own holiness. They knew that neither they nor their children had done anything that deserved his blessing, but they came anyway. Jesus rewarded their faith by blessing their children. 

Then he honoured them by telling the shocked disciples that they needed to become like these little children. The kingdom of God was open to those who had the same unquestioning trust in God’s love and care that these infants had in their mothers. 

After the storm

After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. (Genesis 8:6)

When we’re in the middle of a crisis, all we want is for it to come to an end. Each day we look for signs that it might soon be over. We long for life to return to normal.

Once the crisis is over, many things do return to normal. We may live in the same place, work at the same job, be surrounded by the same people as before. But even if nothing else has changed, we ourselves are likely to have changed as a result of what we have been through.

We may also find that our relationship with God is different to what it once was. Though we were aware of his presence with us during the crisis, and still draw comfort and strength from him, our established rituals, habits and patterns of thought have been disrupted by our experience. What once seemed important may no longer seem to matter. What once seemed simple and clear cut may now seem more complex.

Some people find this confusing, even alarming. They fear that they may be losing their faith. Yet in fact their faith and trust in God is deeper than it was before they went through a crisis. If you find yourself in this situation, give yourself time to readjust, and allow God to speak to you in and through your new circumstances. Rather than struggling to go back to where you once were, be obedient where you are now, and allow God to lead you to where he wants you to be.

No goodbyes

"I am with you always, to the very end of the age". (Matt 28.20b)

A few days before she was to start kindy, a little girl began insisting that her mother should let her walk there on her own on the very first day. This seemed rather strange, so her mother tried to find out why it was so important to the child. Eventually the little girl said “Well, if I go on my own I won’t have to say goodbye to you when you leave”. 

We all dislike saying goodbye and being separated from those we love. Yet it’s an inevitable part of life. Friends move away to work in another city, children leave home, sometimes war or persecution drives people apart. The ultimate separation is death, which removes even the possibility of being re-united or keeping in touch. There are no emails or Christmas letters from beyond the grave.

Some find any separation so painful that they become demanding and cling to those who love them. Others build walls around themselves and pretend that they don’t care. But we’re made to be in relationship with other people. We can’t avoid the pain of separation if we want to be human.

Only someone who will never die can promise that he will never leave us or forsake us. Only one who has eternal life could keep such a promise. That one is Jesus. He won’t tire of us and go off to find someone who is better at getting their Christian life together. He won’t abandon us because he has more important things to see to. Death cannot separate us from him. When separation from those we love seems overwhelming, he is there with us, a constant presence in our lives.

Whatever you do

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)

Those Christians who work in the helping professions may be tempted to look at those who do creative or constructive work and experience a certain envy. It must feel good to get to the end of the day or the end of your life and have a body of work that you can point to and say "This is what I made", whether it be paintings, books, bridges or furniture. The work of someone who deals with people and their problems can be very rewarding, but the results are more intangible and often ephemeral. And despite the worker's best efforts, often they don't see any result.

The Christian artist or artisan, on the other hand, may envy those in the helping profession because their work seems to be given a higher value than their own by other Christians. This is especially so if what they themselves produce isn't overtly Christian in its message. Many artists, musicians and writers complain that their fellow Christians look with suspicion on anything they produce that is 'secular', or dismiss it as trivial. Those who produce practical goods, whether that's houses, cup cakes or scientific research, may also feel that their work is undervalued compared to that of people who deal more directly with people. 

In the end though, the worth of any work is the value that God places upon it, and his measure of success is how well we collaborate with him. Any work can be done either for his glory or for our own. We have been put in the world as stewards, and our role is to use the gifts he has given us to tend and nurture it in co-operation with him. A broken world needs healers, but it also needs those who sustain it, and others who show us what it could be like. Whatever we do, if we know that the result depends on God both for success and for value, we can work without anxiety and when it's done, rest peacefully.