Instead of answering many of life's questions, I'm afraid that Mr. Camping's end of the world scenario raises one very large question: What do you do when God disappoints? We are all too aware that disappointments frequently happen in any relationship. We chalk it up to forgetfulness, apathy, sin or just a bad day. But what do you do when the offensive one is the Almighty? Church dogma teaches that God doesn't make mistakes, never forgets, has our best interest at heart and is perfect. But there are times, particularly when things just don't go right and there is no one else to blame but God. Can we blame God? Does God ever disappoint?
Theologians have been wrestling with this issue for centuries. There is even a special word for it: Theodicy, or to borrow Rabbi Kushner's great title, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. I'm sure we have all come up with theories about why God allows war, why the Tsunami devastated Japan or why there is cancer. We have been taught to accept that there is a mystery in life, and that God's ways are above us, we can't understand them, or perhaps in time, or after the world ends, we will see the whole picture and understand. But when the illness is in my family, when the death happens in my house, when a car accident takes the life of my child, then I know that there is something wrong. God has disappointed me. The tragic thing about the Christian faith is that to share this incredibly important feeling can be interpreted as a sign of weakness or a flaw.
It may seem obvious to most that the failure for God to bring the end of the world this Saturday will not be a fault of God, but of one man's poor theology. And when one man's misguided theology fails to deliver the goods, what will these people who have sold their homes, left their jobs, forsaken mortgages and families do? I fear for them. These are the ones we must pray for.
Oh God of truth, the Gospel of Matthew reminds us not to believe any who says, "There is the Messiah...." Yet, many are deluded and shamed by their folly. We pray that they would be embraced by hope and love. Like every other son or daughter of Adam, we all face trials, failures, deceit or shame. Help those who find disappointment to discover that even though things do not make sense, even when there is doubt, love and goodness still prevail. Let your Spirit of wisdom move around the world reclaiming those who have put their faith in a false hope so they might return and discover that the Kingdom of God is already here in the precious gift we have received in Jesus the Christ and our Lord. Amen.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Praying for the end of the world
With all the media hype circling around the end of the world this weekend, I can't think of any scripture that says Jesus' return and the end of the world are causes for rejoicing. Certainly there is rejoicing for those who suffered in martyrdom, death or oppression and find relief in the coming Kingdom of God, but Jesus doesn't give us any real reason to look forward to the end of time. Sure, everyone gets to go to heaven, but I get that anyway after I die. No, Jesus doesn't tell his brothers and sisters to pray for the end, he tells them to pray that they might be saved through the horrible time that is coming.
That's what confuses me about believers who seem to want the world to end. They are spinning the Bible in a different way than Jesus, Paul or the Gospel writers ever imagined. The Bible speaks of the apocalypse in terms of blood, violence, despair: all the things that make up a good Showtime television season. It's almost like these end-time believers want the end of time because they get to watch all those scoffers suffer from the clouds.
Hmmmm, instead of watching a violent, bloody, gory show from the comfort of my couch, I could be a believer and watch it from a cloudy throne. Now there's a reality show for you.
I think the prayer of the day should be for those who will be disappointed on Sunday. I wonder if they will go to church the morning after the Messiah doesn't come. After all, the Apostle Paul said that Jesus would return. in his life time. Apparently, believers kept going back to church even though, Jesus didn't come the way they expected. Maybe Paul's church wasn't disappointed because they knew there was something more important than the end of time.
Let us Pray
O God, you say you will come as a thief in the night. We do not know when you will approach or how you will enter our lives. We always expect you, yet your Spirit appears in the most simple and mundane things. Help us to not get excited by a newsflash or rumours flashing across the internet. Help us open the doors that allow your Spirit to come into the lives of people who truly need you. Make us aware of those who are in despair or know grief and sadness too intimately. Use our hands and our words to enter into this world again and again and again every day. Amen.
That's what confuses me about believers who seem to want the world to end. They are spinning the Bible in a different way than Jesus, Paul or the Gospel writers ever imagined. The Bible speaks of the apocalypse in terms of blood, violence, despair: all the things that make up a good Showtime television season. It's almost like these end-time believers want the end of time because they get to watch all those scoffers suffer from the clouds.
Hmmmm, instead of watching a violent, bloody, gory show from the comfort of my couch, I could be a believer and watch it from a cloudy throne. Now there's a reality show for you.
I think the prayer of the day should be for those who will be disappointed on Sunday. I wonder if they will go to church the morning after the Messiah doesn't come. After all, the Apostle Paul said that Jesus would return. in his life time. Apparently, believers kept going back to church even though, Jesus didn't come the way they expected. Maybe Paul's church wasn't disappointed because they knew there was something more important than the end of time.
Let us Pray
O God, you say you will come as a thief in the night. We do not know when you will approach or how you will enter our lives. We always expect you, yet your Spirit appears in the most simple and mundane things. Help us to not get excited by a newsflash or rumours flashing across the internet. Help us open the doors that allow your Spirit to come into the lives of people who truly need you. Make us aware of those who are in despair or know grief and sadness too intimately. Use our hands and our words to enter into this world again and again and again every day. Amen.
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