DIOCESAN MEN’S CONFERENCE 2009
THE SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE – GOD’S PURPOSE IN CRISIS
The century old questions of ‘Why Suffering?’ and ‘Why Crisis?’ have been daunting human minds for a long time. Experts have tried to explain and find answers. Perhaps the answers given are not satisfactory or acceptable to many. The Church has also tried to provide answers. There are still many people out there seeking and looking for acceptable and comfortable solutions to every crisis. The common reaction immediately after a crisis has happened is to assume that it is the ‘Hand of God’. This has led lots of people either turning to God or rejecting Him. The notion of ‘God is Love’ has been around for centuries and this does not auger well with the question, ‘If God is Love how can He allow such a terrible thing to happen?’ This struggle will go on inevitably for a very long time.
OLD ACCOUNTS
We have seen many calamities recorded throughout the whole Old Testament. Some scholars even refer the God in the Old Testament as ‘The Violent One’ which in comparison to the God in the New Testament as ‘The Loving One’. There are theologians who claimed that the God of the Old Testament is a different God from the New Testament. The whole book of Joshua is mainly a record of the battles of the people of Israel and the people of the land. Joshua is seen as a hero by the Jews and later by the Christians. On contrary, in the eyes of the victims, Joshua is seen as a terrible and ruthless conqueror and intruder. Who is right then? Such tyrants can be extended to the Babylonians and later the Persians; in the Intertestamental era, the Greeks and the Romans; in the middle age, Arabs and the Crusaders; in the recent time, Adolf Hitler and all the terrorists.
The death of the Egyptian soldiers at the Red Sea, the Plague that killed 23,000 in a day, the death of 400 Baal prophets and 450 Asherah prophets in a day, the destruction of the Jerusalem and the death of thousands caused by the Babylonians are always interpreted with the approval of God in punishment of the disobedient. On a more interesting note when we consider Jesus’ death upon the hands of the Romans and the Jews, it is also considered as God’s approval in punishment of the righteous.
GOD’S PERSPECTIVE
At a closer examination, it seems that a common trend can be drawn from the perception which is individual-dependent. If one takes the position of assuming the Jewish people as God’s special chosen people then all the atrocities in the Bible are God’s punishment upon the Gentile. On the other hand, if one takes the position of taking the Bible teachings on love, justice and peace, then the atrocities in the Bible will have to take a second look. There is a third perception from yet another angle which few people use. It is viewing from God’s perspective. Since the Bible is written as messages from God to humankind, it is imperative to understand it God’s way.
We need to discern God’s message for us the reader. First of all, we are thousands years apart from the first recipients of the Bible. We must believe that God certainly does not want us to read the Bible just purely as a story book or history book or text book. It is His word to us “for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. (2 Tim 3:16) If this is so, why do God allow the records of these crises in the bible, and what is the purpose?
I can at least identify 5 purposes of God in Crises.
- God loves His creations. He has to put to a stop to all actions and behaviors of all who disrupt and destroy His creation inappropriately and against His Will. E.g. for the sin of the Amorites has not reached its full measure. (Gen 15:16)
- God’s special purpose is to prepare a new heaven and earth for His people to live in. In that He is allowing the destruction of the present earth by fire at the end of time. (2 Peter 3:10)
- Since the Fall of humankind, the world is experiencing gradual deterioration. God’s intervention is to prevent further destruction. E.g. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
- God’s way of creating awareness and awakening everyone to return to good responsibility and accountability to Him and to each other. E.g. The exile of the Jews.
- God’s desire for all people to be saved thus He delayed the coming of the end. E.g. The parable of the wheat and the weeds. (Matt 13: 24-30; 2 Peter 3:9)
TODAY’S LESSONS
God has not changed at all. He is still the same. He still loves His creations with human being as the prime of all His creations. He will do all things possible to realize His plans and purposes. Every crisis in our lives is a ‘knock’ on our head to wake up and look around us the great need and opportunity. It also reminds us of our privilege and the potential of what we can do and contribute. A lot of us are ‘CRISIS’ Christians. We come to God only during crisis. We have forgotten that the world is God’s. Sometimes we tend to behave and think that we own the world thus destroying and abusing the world as we like. God is actually telling us to return and work with Him together to again rule the earth as Adam did in the Garden of Eden.
We need to realize the so-called ‘CRISIS’ is a reminder that God still loves us. He is withholding greater destruction upon us by allowing for some crises; and to awaken us to greater accountability and responsibility. His desire is to delay the deterioration of the world so that many people can be saved and eventually live with Him in the new heaven and new earth.
Remember that our God does not travel fast on a motorbike or a car or an aeroplane. The third world theologian Kosuke Koyama has written a book called ‘Three Miles An Hour God’. In it he described that we have been missing the point because we have been operating in a fast mode with everything ‘instantaneous’. Our God actually walks at a normal pace of 3 miles within an hour where He can meet and talk with people and even care for them. Because we have been on a fast mode and we have lost the art and passion of care and concern for others except for ourselves and our benefits. God is still moving at a normal pace of 3 miles an hour and we, too, need to reconsider our pace of life in order to understanding His purpose for us and this world. Can we do this?
Bishop Moon Hing
Venue: St. Mary’s Cathedral
Date: 4th July 2009
