GOD IS NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE “WHY?” BUT IN THE “WHERE?”

In the midst of desolation and destruction, personal or widespread – I am in western NC where Hurricane Helene caused much devastation – God is not to be found in responses to our questions of “Why?”  It is poor theology to seek to provide the answer.  God is found when we ask God, "Where are you?"

Doctrines of the sovereignty of God frequently miss the biblical teaching behind the human images of God as King and Sovereign.  In the culture of the ancient Near East, a king was never responsible FOR everything that happened in his domain.  Rather, a king was responsible to respond TO what happened in his domain.  The ideal king would work for righteousness and justness within his domain.  That is what biblical authors would have had in mind when using kingship images for God.

Theological traditions that define “sovereignty” abstractly have missed the intention in the biblical texts.  They end up with a God who is responsible FOR everything that happens.  They fail to recognize the interplay between order and chaos that exists within all humans and within our natural world.*  Given that false assumption of abstract “sovereignty” wrongly puts Christians in the position of trying to answer “Why?”  The answers are always shallow and facile, even when they merely say, “It is for the greater good” or “It is part of God’s plan.”

Perhaps it would help to address a much-misunderstood text that people attempt to use to answer the why question, Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28 NET).  There, Paul is speaking of the call of all Israel – and for him, including all Gentiles in fulfillment of the promises to Abraham – who have actually responded by “loving God,” a statement of true seeking and relational dependence on God.  Such people now belong to the new era of life in the Spirit.  Paul can look teleologically on the scope of creation in bondage toward the eschatological (end-time) hope in the newness of all things, including the people of faith who are being conformed to the image of the Son (v. 29).  As such, Rom 8:28 never answers the “why?” of the moment.  It expresses confidence in God who is transforming lives and who will ultimately redeem all of creation.

            Moreover, when we ask the where question, we are not to ask our neighbors, “Where was God in this?”  That is really another form of the why question.  Rather, we are to ask God directly, “Where are you?”  That is when we begin to seek God.  Even when we are angry.  That is when we existentially, experientially begin to open ourselves to God.  That is when God begins to conform us to the image of the Son.  I firmly believe Jesus’ words:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matt. 7:7-8, NET)

Even in the midst of panic attacks, when I felt abandoned by God, God’s Presence was there.  I testify to that.  As part of this testimony, I share the following song as a prayer.

"In the Night Your Song is with Me"#
(Based on Psalm 42)

In the night your song is with me.
When the darkness engulfs my soul.
As the waves crash down upon me.
I will believe that I am not alone.

These are the things I will remember.
When it seems me you have forgotten.
When my soul knows not where you are.
I will believe that I am not alone.

When my heart is downcast in me.
And I want to meet with my God.
As my soul pants for the Water.
I will believe that I am not alone.

In the night your song is with me.
Faintly through roar of the waves.
I hear it dimly through the terror.
And I know that I am not alone.
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*Answers to theodicy (why there is human and physical “evil”) are complex.  Let it suffice to say that Genesis presents from the beginning a state of humanity and nature that exists within an interplay of order and chaos.  In this state, we are to learn to depend on our Creator.
#A friend recorded for this for me.  (My friend, Mike Rayson, a gifted musician, died recently.)  If interested, here is a link to the music on SoundCloud:  https://on.soundcloud.com/mpcRn1BNyePggiJz6

MINIMALISTIC THEOLOGY AND THE IMAGE OF GOD

 I said something a couple of days ago that would certainly get me shunned in some Christian circles.
Backdrop:
I had been thinking again about being made in the image of God.  (See “Created in the Image of God: Forgotten Aspects,” 2/1/2024.)  So, that was on my mind.  The main thought is that all people, male and female, are to be God’s representatives/regents, bringing order into chaos as God did in creation and continues to do.
Story:
I was working side-by-side with a wonderful, gnarly old guy with a braided gray beard named Tom at a rescue supply center.  (We have been hit hard by Helene in western NC.)  Tom works at the center regularly as a volunteer to help families who need food.  It quickly became clear that Tom had had too many bad experiences with religion in general and Christians in particular.  So, he had a “question” for me – more like throwing down the gauntlet.  Our conversation bobbed and weaved around the general issues of theodicy: Why would a good God make a world that has disasters as well as evil people, including Christians?  Why then believe there is a God?  I spoke about God being relational and the need to seek God, about God entering human suffering in Jesus, etc.  He was not ready for any of that.  At one point I mentioned that the commandments are summed up by, “Love God with your whole heart… and your neighbor as yourself.”  His reply was that he could not love a God he did not believe in, but he did love his neighbors.  I put my hand on his shoulder, looked him in the eyes, and said, “Whether or not you believe in God, when you love your neighbor, you are being God’s representative and that makes you my brother.”  He nodded.  There was peace.
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Lord, thank you for people like Tom who is serving as your representatives even when they do not know it.  Please forgive me and the Church for our failure to attract people like Tom to Jesus.  Please draw him and all estranged people, people made in your image, into your Presence.  Amen.