Finding Fault With God
Sermon
Sermons on the First Readings
Series III, Cycle C
Object:
It is never a pleasant prospect to deal with someone who has a complaint with you. As a new pastor, and a very young one at that, one of the things I struggled with most was the experience of conflict with members. I remember as if it were yesterday a significant misunderstanding that developed between the congregation's "matriarch" and me very early in my time there. I prayed about the difficulty we were having, and I knew that I needed to go to her home and ask for the opportunity to talk things out. I will never forget the look on her face as she opened the door and saw me standing there (shuddering inside, I may add). She looked at me and said, "I didn't think you had it in you to come here and meet with me about this face-to-face." Then, after a long pause, and the slightest nod of her head, she added, "Come on in." In those moments, a new sense of respect grew that served both of us well throughout my ministry there.
Finding fault with someone is easy -- getting to the bottom of it can be much more difficult. Sometimes you know instinctively what the stumbling block in the relationship is, and other times, you wrack your brain wondering about it. I've sat with many heartbroken spouses and puzzled with them over what could have made their partner break their commitment with them so suddenly. "What fault did he find in me that made him leave?" I've cried with many parents who have tried to make sense of their son or daughter's complete and utter repudiation of them and their family life. "What did I not do for her?"
Sadly, there are many reasons why a person might find fault with a friend, a family member, a boss, or a coworker. Sometimes we don't listen well, or we refuse to see an alternative possibility or perspective on reality. Sometimes the person rejecting us feels that we have not been honest with them or respectful of them.
In our reading, the prophet Jeremiah gives voice to God's anguish over Israel's departure from the covenantal relationship.
Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?
-- Jeremiah 2:4-5 (emphasis mine)
Truth is, some people do feel God has been in the wrong where their lives are concerned. Some people have judged God and have found God to be been unfair, less than gracious, and even spiteful.
One of the most unusual and highly public examples of a person finding fault with God is that of then Nebraska State Senator, Ernie Chambers. To be fair, Chambers was generally thought of as a hothead. He had a long history of taking controversial stands on issues. In response to a lawsuit filed in federal court that he considered frivolous, Chambers set out to prove that anyone can sue anyone at anytime.
To prove his point, he got himself a lawyer and proceeded to sue God.
His lawsuit, filed in September 2007, accused God of making and continuing to make terrorist threats of grave harm to innumerable persons, including constituents of his jurisdiction. In addition, "God has caused fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like as well as calamitous catastrophes resulting in the widespread death, destruction, and terrorization of millions upon millions of the earth's inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged, and infirm without mercy or distinction."
Now, Chambers' efforts were little more than political grandstanding, but the senator is certainly not alone in his accusations. Perhaps one or two of you here have friends or family members who have judged God ... and found God lacking. Perhaps you yourself question some of God's ways.
Comedian George Carlin died in June 2008, and with his death came many formal retrospectives and millions of views of some of his recorded routines on YouTube. I was a young, inquisitive teen when Carlin broke onto the national comedy scene with "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television," and I still remember watching him guest-host the very first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975. One of the routines with which I was less familiar was his routine on the value of religion. In it, Carlin comes down quite hard on God and the Christian church:
Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! But he loves you! He loves you!
... But I want you to know something, this is sincere, I want you to know, when it comes to believing in God, I really tried. I really, really tried. I tried to believe that there is a God, who created each of us in his own image and likeness, loves us very much, and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize, something is f***ed up.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed. Results like these do not belong on the résumé of a Supreme Being.1
Some might be offended by any reference to George Carlin in a Christian assembly, since he was an avowed atheist. But it is safe to say that his perspective on God is held by many people today. They are people with whom you work and go to school and sit down alongside at family dinners. Chances are, they are not here among us in worship to speak to all the "whys" and "wherefores" that have led to their rejection of God. Chances are, their rejection of God has been fueled by negative experiences they had in Christian congregations or with Christian leaders. That fact should give every one of us pause to think.
It used to be, when I would hear someone finding fault with God, my hackles would be raised. My interest would be piqued. I would often have jumped right into a conversation with that someone, because I wanted to introduce them to the God of grace and love who has captured my heart in Jesus Christ. Frankly, it was all about me, hoping to be convincing enough to be part of God's winning another soul away from doubt or rejection.
Today, I find myself listening to their questions ... hearing their doubts ... and when I do speak, honestly acknowledging that there are portions of God's story that cause me to question as well.
One of those portions is the story of God's command to Abraham that he sacrifice his beloved son Isaac at Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-14). It is a skillfully told story, to be sure, but it is also one of the most disturbing things about God that I will ever read in scripture. I know the theological explanations about God's repudiation of child sacrifice. And this is but one of the portions of scripture where God's people are tested by God or with God's permission. However, the idea that God would even think of commanding Abraham to slay his son is quite hard to explain to someone who has been a victim of abuse.
How does one reconcile God's command that the Israelites kill every living creature they encounter as they enter into the promised land? (Joshua 6:21). Many people of deep faith find it a real challenge to accept this kind of destruction as God's will.
As a pastor, I have had many talks with parishioners, neighbors, and community members who somewhere along the way in life have found fault with God. Some of these people are exceedingly bright -- their reasoning abilities boggle my mind. And there is little or no room for a supreme being in their view of the world. Like Carlin, they expect that a truly all-powerful God would intervene to stop atrocities before they ever started. A divine being who truly valued life would reveal that commitment to life by standing in opposition to the forces that threaten it.
For others, the fault they find with God is deeply rooted in personal suffering and loss. Whether it has been the death of a precious child, or of a lifelong dream, or of their own innocence, they have come to the conclusion that if there is a God at all, that God does not care about them. These are the conversations that call for heartfelt, compassionate listening. These are the conversations that call for the deepest respect we can offer.
When people have judged God and found fault, God does not need you or me to make a case for his supremacy, his divinity, or his all-surpassing wisdom. God's authority will not stand or fall based on our skillful debating or witty repartee or heartwarming stories of God's provision. If we are to be God's instruments for reconciliation in a person's life, it will be because the love of Christ compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14). If we are to be God's instruments to renew or establish faith in a person's heart, it may well be because they have seen faith and hope and love at work in our lives, especially at times when we have endured painful times of loss or doubt. That is the proof, isn't it? Any of us can talk until we're blue in the face about our love, joy, peace, and all the other fruit of the Holy Spirit. But those who are wondering if any of this stuff we talk about could possibly be true are watching to see if our walk matches our talk.
Perhaps the greatest witness we can offer to those who wonder if there really is a God who could love them, who could withstand their doubts and rage, and still embrace them is by loving them and listening to their doubts and pain. If we view skeptics, agnostics, and atheists as worthless, then we become worthless as far as being witnesses for God is concerned. If, on the other hand, we see these in light of God's economy of grace -- as precious ones, created in the image of God, for whom Jesus willingly laid down his life, then we may be allowed to journey alongside them from despair to hope. We may be given the opportunity to love them as they are and where they are and watch as God does the transformational work in their lives in God's time.
You see, it is often in asking the hard questions that faith is restored or received. It is in facing conflict directly and working through it that true maturity is developed. It is in embracing the ambiguities and suffering we endure that deep and satisfying peace is given us.
So may this community of faith be a place where it is acceptable to ask hard questions. May this gathering of God's people learn to acknowledge and work through conflict, rather than avoid it or vilify it. And may you receive and point others to the peace that God gives in the midst of challenging times. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
____________________________
1. George Carlin, "Religion" recorded on the album, You Are All Diseased, under the label Laugh.com. Release date May 18, 1999.
Finding fault with someone is easy -- getting to the bottom of it can be much more difficult. Sometimes you know instinctively what the stumbling block in the relationship is, and other times, you wrack your brain wondering about it. I've sat with many heartbroken spouses and puzzled with them over what could have made their partner break their commitment with them so suddenly. "What fault did he find in me that made him leave?" I've cried with many parents who have tried to make sense of their son or daughter's complete and utter repudiation of them and their family life. "What did I not do for her?"
Sadly, there are many reasons why a person might find fault with a friend, a family member, a boss, or a coworker. Sometimes we don't listen well, or we refuse to see an alternative possibility or perspective on reality. Sometimes the person rejecting us feels that we have not been honest with them or respectful of them.
In our reading, the prophet Jeremiah gives voice to God's anguish over Israel's departure from the covenantal relationship.
Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?
-- Jeremiah 2:4-5 (emphasis mine)
Truth is, some people do feel God has been in the wrong where their lives are concerned. Some people have judged God and have found God to be been unfair, less than gracious, and even spiteful.
One of the most unusual and highly public examples of a person finding fault with God is that of then Nebraska State Senator, Ernie Chambers. To be fair, Chambers was generally thought of as a hothead. He had a long history of taking controversial stands on issues. In response to a lawsuit filed in federal court that he considered frivolous, Chambers set out to prove that anyone can sue anyone at anytime.
To prove his point, he got himself a lawyer and proceeded to sue God.
His lawsuit, filed in September 2007, accused God of making and continuing to make terrorist threats of grave harm to innumerable persons, including constituents of his jurisdiction. In addition, "God has caused fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like as well as calamitous catastrophes resulting in the widespread death, destruction, and terrorization of millions upon millions of the earth's inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged, and infirm without mercy or distinction."
Now, Chambers' efforts were little more than political grandstanding, but the senator is certainly not alone in his accusations. Perhaps one or two of you here have friends or family members who have judged God ... and found God lacking. Perhaps you yourself question some of God's ways.
Comedian George Carlin died in June 2008, and with his death came many formal retrospectives and millions of views of some of his recorded routines on YouTube. I was a young, inquisitive teen when Carlin broke onto the national comedy scene with "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television," and I still remember watching him guest-host the very first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975. One of the routines with which I was less familiar was his routine on the value of religion. In it, Carlin comes down quite hard on God and the Christian church:
Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! But he loves you! He loves you!
... But I want you to know something, this is sincere, I want you to know, when it comes to believing in God, I really tried. I really, really tried. I tried to believe that there is a God, who created each of us in his own image and likeness, loves us very much, and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize, something is f***ed up.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed. Results like these do not belong on the résumé of a Supreme Being.1
Some might be offended by any reference to George Carlin in a Christian assembly, since he was an avowed atheist. But it is safe to say that his perspective on God is held by many people today. They are people with whom you work and go to school and sit down alongside at family dinners. Chances are, they are not here among us in worship to speak to all the "whys" and "wherefores" that have led to their rejection of God. Chances are, their rejection of God has been fueled by negative experiences they had in Christian congregations or with Christian leaders. That fact should give every one of us pause to think.
It used to be, when I would hear someone finding fault with God, my hackles would be raised. My interest would be piqued. I would often have jumped right into a conversation with that someone, because I wanted to introduce them to the God of grace and love who has captured my heart in Jesus Christ. Frankly, it was all about me, hoping to be convincing enough to be part of God's winning another soul away from doubt or rejection.
Today, I find myself listening to their questions ... hearing their doubts ... and when I do speak, honestly acknowledging that there are portions of God's story that cause me to question as well.
One of those portions is the story of God's command to Abraham that he sacrifice his beloved son Isaac at Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-14). It is a skillfully told story, to be sure, but it is also one of the most disturbing things about God that I will ever read in scripture. I know the theological explanations about God's repudiation of child sacrifice. And this is but one of the portions of scripture where God's people are tested by God or with God's permission. However, the idea that God would even think of commanding Abraham to slay his son is quite hard to explain to someone who has been a victim of abuse.
How does one reconcile God's command that the Israelites kill every living creature they encounter as they enter into the promised land? (Joshua 6:21). Many people of deep faith find it a real challenge to accept this kind of destruction as God's will.
As a pastor, I have had many talks with parishioners, neighbors, and community members who somewhere along the way in life have found fault with God. Some of these people are exceedingly bright -- their reasoning abilities boggle my mind. And there is little or no room for a supreme being in their view of the world. Like Carlin, they expect that a truly all-powerful God would intervene to stop atrocities before they ever started. A divine being who truly valued life would reveal that commitment to life by standing in opposition to the forces that threaten it.
For others, the fault they find with God is deeply rooted in personal suffering and loss. Whether it has been the death of a precious child, or of a lifelong dream, or of their own innocence, they have come to the conclusion that if there is a God at all, that God does not care about them. These are the conversations that call for heartfelt, compassionate listening. These are the conversations that call for the deepest respect we can offer.
When people have judged God and found fault, God does not need you or me to make a case for his supremacy, his divinity, or his all-surpassing wisdom. God's authority will not stand or fall based on our skillful debating or witty repartee or heartwarming stories of God's provision. If we are to be God's instruments for reconciliation in a person's life, it will be because the love of Christ compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14). If we are to be God's instruments to renew or establish faith in a person's heart, it may well be because they have seen faith and hope and love at work in our lives, especially at times when we have endured painful times of loss or doubt. That is the proof, isn't it? Any of us can talk until we're blue in the face about our love, joy, peace, and all the other fruit of the Holy Spirit. But those who are wondering if any of this stuff we talk about could possibly be true are watching to see if our walk matches our talk.
Perhaps the greatest witness we can offer to those who wonder if there really is a God who could love them, who could withstand their doubts and rage, and still embrace them is by loving them and listening to their doubts and pain. If we view skeptics, agnostics, and atheists as worthless, then we become worthless as far as being witnesses for God is concerned. If, on the other hand, we see these in light of God's economy of grace -- as precious ones, created in the image of God, for whom Jesus willingly laid down his life, then we may be allowed to journey alongside them from despair to hope. We may be given the opportunity to love them as they are and where they are and watch as God does the transformational work in their lives in God's time.
You see, it is often in asking the hard questions that faith is restored or received. It is in facing conflict directly and working through it that true maturity is developed. It is in embracing the ambiguities and suffering we endure that deep and satisfying peace is given us.
So may this community of faith be a place where it is acceptable to ask hard questions. May this gathering of God's people learn to acknowledge and work through conflict, rather than avoid it or vilify it. And may you receive and point others to the peace that God gives in the midst of challenging times. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
____________________________
1. George Carlin, "Religion" recorded on the album, You Are All Diseased, under the label Laugh.com. Release date May 18, 1999.
