The Bungee Cord 2-20-23

Hello,

“There is no god.”

So say many people as they look at the tragedies that have fallen upon the people of Turkey and Syria. Thus far, the death toll is 46,000 people and the expectation is for many more to be added. And for those who survived, children are left without parents and parents are left without children, hospitals are overflowing, homes have been demolished and people have been left to face the cold without shelter. When terror of this magnitude strikes, people look around them and cry out in anger and despair, “There is no god!”

Many who answer this exploding cry of outrage and anguish by offering a defense for God for such crushing misery say things that, in truth, only add fuel to the flames of their claim. To say that God had nothing to do with their pain, it’s just the way the world is makes God out to be some toy poodle trying to ward off a bear. That makes God someone who is cute and cuddly, and who needs a god like that. To say that God is punishing those who were the recipient of these quakes makes God to be like a coach who looks beyond the ill deeds of her favorites and takes out her wrath on the unlucky unfavored, and who needs a god like that. To say that God is trying to teach us something, trivializes the pain that the “learners” are feeling, and makes God to be the kind of teacher that uses a sledgehammer to kill a stinkbug, and who needs a god like that. To say that everything happens for a greater divine purpose makes God out to be some heavenly chess player who counts winning to be more important than losing some pieces, and if you’re one of those casualties of some game, you certainly don’t need a god like that.

When I look around and see the terror that ravages countries, cities, families, and individuals, I, too, find myself ready to join a chorus of scarred singers, “There is no god!”

But in my glance, I see something else, too. I see a Golgotha cross which sought to inflict lethal suffering to an innocent man who had gathered all the evil of the universe in his being, who was nailed there, and who took all that evil to the bottomless pit of death in a short three hour battle. And I see a nearby empty grave that wasn’t even strong enough to hold that same man in the grips of death for a measly three days. I see a Roman soldier who stood by that cross and as a witness to the power of the one from whom no evil could escape, “‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’ And I see a woman who in grief wondered where the body had been taken from the empty grave, and having her tears of sorrow transformed to tears of joy with one word, “Mary.”

And when I see these things breaking through the cracks of terror and suffering, I see a God who intimately involves God’s self in the pain of the world. Pain that we create. Pain that crashes down upon us out of nowhere. Pain that takes life and breath away. And unlike those who would answer that God has nothing to do with tragedies, God steps into those tragedies and says, “I am here, and no earthquake can take you away from me.” (Romans And unlike those who say that God is punishing, God screams from the cross, “I forgive you all!” (Matthew 27) And to those who say that God is trying to teach us something with suffering, he speaks from the mouth of Jesus, “‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11). And to those who seek to find a greater divine purpose in the evil that befalls God’s creation, Jesus, the Son of God says, ” I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.* 30The Father and I are one.’ (John 10)

Is there a God?

With these things captivating my vision, I find myself drawn to add my voice to that of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8, “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,

‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;

we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“I am convinced.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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