The Bungee Cord

Hello,

If God is all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), all-present (omnipresent) and all-loving (is there an “omni” word for this?) why do children die from bike accidents? Why do nations fling bombs at each other? Why do floods wipe neighborhoods away? Why do diseases snuff life out? Why is there suffering? Why is there evil?

Some ask these questions and answer that there must be no God.

I, however, find myself drawn to a different answer, an answer given by Martin Luther over 500 years ago. Martin Luther said that the perplexity that comes from these questions comes from the “Omni’s”….omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omniloving (if that is a word). As humans, who are not “onmi” anything, and therefore it is impossible for us to conceive of what an “omni” might entail. Even though we might have learned to control the power in an atom, we are still limited in our power. Even though we might grow more and more in knowledge to the point that we have created AI, there is much that is beyond our mental grasp. Even though we might be able to be in two places at one time thanks to cell phones and other technologies, we still can’t throw our arms around a dear friend and wipe the tears off a grieving mother on the other side of the globe. And even though we might be able to love those who have been gracious and merciful to us, we still aim rockets and guns at those who seek to destroy us.

So, when we seek to understand God through all the “omni’s”, we find ourselves running on a never-ending hamster wheel. That is why Martin Luther called these “omni’s” “God’s masks”. They are like masks that hide us from knowing God, understanding God, and even believing in God. They leave us with unanswerable why’s. They leave us in unshatter-able darkness. They leave us with unreasonable faith. Masks.

However, said Martin Luther, God has taken off all of those masks when he sent his Son, Jesus, to dwell among us. In Jesus, God took off his masks and said, “Look at me.” In Jesus, God incarnate, God gives us a glimpse of who God is, a glimpse that we can relate to, comprehend, and understand. We discover that God is one who cries at the tomb of one of his best friends, Lazarus. We discover that God is one that cares about the hungry as Jesus fed 5000 people on a plain. We discover that God is one who grieves the death of those who consider God their enemy, the Roman soldier whose daughter had died. We discover that God is one who puts children on his lap and embraces them. On and on I could go, but the long and the short of it is, if you want to know what God is really like, don’t look to the “omni’s”. Look to Jesus.

And maybe if you find yourself getting caught up in one of the biggest questions, “Why would the one who has created all that is, seen and unseen, care at all about you who are less than a speck of dust in the scheme of everything and the struggles that you have?”….look at Jesus….look at Jesus who was nailed to the cross out of divine care for you, who spent three days dead in a grave to wrestle every evil in a battle to the death for you, and rose the triumphant victor and opened the gates of eternal life for you…..look to Jesus, and you’ll find the answer.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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