Part 2

In his book "Can God Be Trusted?" John Stackhouse says that ultimately we must face the reality that “as individuals and communities we are in a negative condition: we are not peaceful. We are corrupt, weak, mean, unstable and destructive of shalom.” Evil touches each of us, and it is an actuality that must be confronted by constructing a framework around all the horrible ambiguities of this exhausted earth. Before a framework can be sketched out we must examine several ideas which have been promoted and largely followed in the past century.

A common misconception springing from the enlightenment is that the world is gradually improving. This can be witnessed in the politics of the last several decades. In 2001 both George W. Bush and Tony Blair made the statement that the goals of their respective governments were nothing less than “ridding the world of evil.” According to this view, a little more democracy, a little more global planning, a little more progress, and the problem will be resolved. Such immature naivety has only contributed to humanity’s growing ignorance of evil as a reality. Another fallacy has been brought on by the relentless onslaught of post modernity. This position states that evil itself is abstract, just as good is abstract. Hand in hand with the relativism is a callous indifference which detracts from the repulsion necessary when encountering both daily evils and mind-numbing calamities. These philosophical attempts at saying what needs to be said fall sadly short of truth.

Conventional responses to the problem of evil have proven insufficient, and it is clear we can’t simply continue to ignore evil until it erupts in angry devastation. God has given truth and set His image in each of us, it is humanity which has distorted and marred those gifts. Mankind, in his disobedience to the commands of God, is the prime mover of evil. This distinction is necessary because without responsibility there can be no accountability. We are accountable to God for our actions done on this earth, but He has not left us in this state of depravity. God has taken responsibility for the world and assures us that He will bring to fruition that which He created in His own timing. According to Brueggemann, God has made this resolve “not in anger, but in grief and sorrow” because “the grief of God moves beyond vengeance.”

The Psalms offer a model for prayers of protest while the gospels illustrate what action should resemble through the life and words of Jesus. According to Walter Brueggemann, to employ the psalms for a “domesticated spirituality” is a misuse of their original intent. He says, “When we turn to the Psalms it mans we enter into the midst of that voice of humanity and decide to take our stand with that voice. We are prepared to speak among them and with them and for them, to express our solidarity in this anguished, joyous human pilgrimage. We add a voice to the common elation, shared grief, and communal rage that besets us all.” Learning to object and protest the evil in which we live is an indispensable part of a Christian response. In the midst of a darkness which encompasses and threatens humanity, the immanent God of love makes Himself visible, but, in the words of Henri Nouwen, “Can we recognize His presence?” Cultivating a theology which allows for an involved, suffering God requires us to read the gospels more holistically and to pray more fervently in light of what we find.

This morning, we trust in Your deep faithfulness,
and attempt to rest in Your wondrous love.
These are things we know of You,
and we are thankful.
Show us also things we have not yet seen or heard,
we pray this for our own lives,
and for the sake of those around us.
In the name of the wounded, risen Christ.
Amen.