“When Trusting God Is Difficult”

Meditation Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – March 24, 2019

Centenary United Methodist Church

    Psalm 63:1-8; Mark 13:1-8

    During our lives there may have been numerous moments when we wondered where God was when our lives and the lives of others were turned upside down by unexpected events. This morning we are going to explore why these feelings occur.

    This apparent absence of God was a dominant theme among Jewish scholars and theologians during the Holocaust when Nazi Germany murdered millions of Jews.  The experience of living has not always been the Utopia that all of us desire, or was it and we missed God's visibility?

    Even though the news of our day seems to feed us a steady diet of negativity, Jesus referred to all changes as being like the first pains of child-birth. (Mark 13:8c) What did he mean by these words?

    Today, all of us are in the midst of a spectacular, transformative revolution.    The evolution of humanity is not yet at a place where each of us can appreciate where we are.  This in-between time of accelerating change and the slow pace of yesterday's changes is what makes it difficult sometimes for us to trust that God is still with us.

     Making the same response about our world that Jesus made is where we need to be.  However, making such a judgment is more like defining the beauty of a fabulous painting by seeing only the initial brush strokes made by the artist.   Seen in this light, the accelerating changes could be interpreted as being the early pains of child-birth.

     The changes that Jesus was predicting in our lesson appear to be characterized by troubles and persecutions. He was teaching his listeners that such changes were part of growing up in every generation.  Nations are still having earthquakes, floods, and violent confrontations with their neighbors.  We also have our share of saviors in our midst that offer promises, visions, and hope.  Most of these prophets are politicians running for office.

    Most people do not know or understand that they are in the midst of a process of evolution. However, when we step back and look at where we have come from, today's world is remarkably different from that of our ancestors.

    Can we imagine hunting animals every day, as well as gardening and canning our crops in order to feed our families? Can we imagine our lives without the miracles of modern medicine?  Can we imagine how limited our knowledge would be if we could not board a plane and fly to South America, India, Japan, or China?  During Jesus' day, people had very limited hands-on knowledge of cultures beyond a five hundred miles radius of where they were living.

    Thoughts that there may be some kind of a divine order unfolding occurred very late in human history.  We have little perspective on this unfolding process because we tend to judge everything from our experiences which is exactly what our ancestors were doing.

    In fact, the Jews wrote their entire history based on the belief that God was behind everything that happened to them.  This included their eventual invasion of the promised land and disrupting the cultures that were living there.  The image of God was that of a male deity who had angry mood-swings and was the author of many rules.  Swift punishment came to those who dared to commit even minor infractions. (Numbers 15:35)

    During Jesus' ministry, the times were primitive and so were the notions of people who were constantly speculating about the meaning of life. Even centuries after the life and teachings of Jesus, the Church continued to preach eternal punishment for those who kept sinning by not giving to God the things that are God's.  (Matthew 22:21) The religious authorities were only following what they had been taught.  Echoes from this kind of thinking are still with us today.  

    The world is filled with people that continue to march to the drumbeat of their animal instincts.  They steal intellectual property from those who created it.  They attack innocent people by taking their identities and engaging in character assassination through the use of a new phenomenon called the Internet. Jesus was absolutely correct when he said, these things are like the first pains of child-birth. Why?  They are all necessary pains caused by the immaturity of our species.

     There is nothing we can do about our lives but to peacefully accept where we are in the unfolding of human history. Even the ancients who wrote about Utopia, Nirvana, or The Kingdom of God, used those terms as metaphors to describe a state-of-mind and not a parcel of spiritual real estate.  What the great teachers were teaching their listeners was that transformation must take place within people and not in the external world. 

     In 1959, the Chinese Communists swept into Tibet and destroyed countless Buddhist temples.  They slaughtered five to six thousand priests that inhabited each of those temples.  They bombed the palace of the Dalai Lama forcing him to flee from their onslaught of terror.  To this day, not one word of recrimination has ever been spoken by a Buddhist regarding those savage attacks. One Buddhist priest wrote a response about why no one has every cried out against the Chinese:

Angry men can be sent against us and they may kill thousands of us.  We know this is not the way to peace and community so their efforts will ultimately fail.  Our experiences were expressions of a divine process that may take eons to come to a civil conclusion. Those who hate the ideas and beliefs that we hold will remain as they are until they understand life differently.  Our understanding cannot be destroyed by anyone’s weapons or by anyone’s attempt to control us by fear.  Our understanding is within us where the attitudes and behavior of others cannot reach.

     Interestingly enough, this is exactly what Jesus understood about his life and why he said from a cross, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."  His faith was stretched but his trust in God never wavered.

     We do not know where we are on the evolutional curve of our species.  However, when we look back on our lives, it appears as though a script was being followed that caused many activities to fall into place to bring us to this day.  

     Think of it.  In every industry, inventiveness and creativity are being encouraged and rewarded.  In years past, ideas that caused change were being maligned and systematically destroyed because such thoughts were threatening to the established truth.  Today, in nearly every quarter of progressive societies, such changes and innovations are accelerating.  The race is on to see who will create the next BIG thing. 

     Think about the business plan of Amazon who was among the first companies to seize on a major shift taking place in western societies.   Major department stores are closing because vast populations would rather order products on-line than to drive and find parking spaces near department stores.  They would rather stream movies into their homes than go to theaters and pay a fortune to watch a movie.  We are having to deal with frightening and confusing surprises that are appearing in our midst through robotics, artificial intelligence, and Bitcoin.  

     If we think or believe that these changes do not affect the spirit by which we live, we need to refocus our energies.  They sure do affect all of us. No one can be immune to the affects of such accelerating changes.  Almost every vocation is at risk.

     Can we imagine when expert legal advice will be available from an inexpensive device that will enable the average citizen to access all laws and former precedents and accurate recommendations to follow in a court of law? The same device will be available to people seeking medical alternatives from the collection of every up-to-date study being conducted by the world-wide medical and pharmaceutical communities. The same device will come with how we educate our young people at home.  Today, people can receive advanced academic degrees while never attending a day of classes at a university.

     Since the days of Jesus' ministry, we have been celebrating that the Kingdom of God is within us.  Where do we think these expressions of creativity are coming from that produce the rapid changes occurring all around us? 

     Our lesson today is teaching us that all changes coming in our present and future were labeled by Jesus as the first pains of child-birth. We can only imagine what is coming up for us during the time that we have left on this side of the curtain.  The pains we experience now are part of the process of giving birth to our future.

     The Church needs to keep up with the pace of change by celebrating the hope coming from these growing pains.  Only 3 percent of the world's population are producing food that is feeding the world's expanding populations.  More and more nations are seeking liberation for people still living under the tyranny of their governments.

     No matter what happens in the future, the world will need compassionate, loving, kind, and generous people. People no longer feel the need to be controlled by religious authorities.  With old restraints lifted, we now live in a society where free expression is encouraged. 

     Do all of these growing pains mean that we are at risk of losing the values that once guided us?  Not at all.  That will only happen if we begin perceiving the awaiting future as destructive rather than being necessary.  Jesus was teaching people how to live in whatever world we find ourselves. Nothing else works to create a more magnificent future than our motivations being inspired by compassion.

     No one can take our values and beliefs away from us. Like the Buddhist monk who wrote, "Our understanding is within us where the attitudes and behavior of others cannot reach."  Just because we cannot sense God's presence does not mean that God is no longer in our midst. We must always remember the role of our faith.   "To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for and to remain certain of the things we cannot see."  (Hebrews 11:1) This passage from Hebrews is a keeper.

      

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

Thank you, God, that during these Lenten days, we are directed to examine our thoughts. During moments of regret, help us to remember when we gave our love away.  When we dwell on our shortcomings, remind us of the difference that we have made in the lives of other people. When we feel sorry for ourselves, guide us to find a place where we can make a difference in someone’s life. How wonderful are your ways. Yet, too often we take detours by thinking how miserable the world is. We forget our role of being a light in darkness. Help us to leave the outcome of our efforts up to you like Jesus did. Amen.

     

THE PASTORAL PRAYER

Thank you, God, for these moments during Lent when we continue our reflection on the direction and quality of our lives.  We are so aware of the many aspects within us that still remain unrefined.  We can always think of words that are filled with more patience and understanding than the ones we express.  We can always think of better responses to life’s inconveniences and irritations than the ones that we use.  We need Lent to last an entire year.  Help us to recognize the emotional drivers in our lives that cause us to reflect a less than loving spirit.

As we travel from one experience to the next, inspire us to remember our Lenten discoveries that will allow us to enhance the quality of all our relationships.  Lead us to discover the joy of being happy all the time because we have learned how better to manage how we feel.  We have learned that doubts and failures are often necessary steps toward a stronger faith. Inspire us to remember that the mountains we create are nothing more than opportunities for us to polish our skills at climbing. 

    The world is a complicated maze but we are blessed with the compass provided by Jesus’ teachings.  Inspire the spirit living within us to remain sensitive and compassionate in spite of the cost to ourselves. We pray these thoughts through the loving spirit of Jesus, the Christ, who taught us to say when we pray . . .