WHY GOD? GOD LOVES US TOO MUCH TO LEAVE US IN THE PAST


Genesis 12:1-3
Mark 1:14-20

 Rob Bell, in his book, What We Say when We Talk about God, asks this intriguing question:
"Is God progressive, with a better, more inspiring vision for our future than we could ever imagine, or is God behind, back there, in the past, endlessly truing to get us to return to how it used to be?"

 How we answer this question may show a disconnect between what we say we believe and what has been proven in our lives and throughout the history of humanity and God.
I don't know about you, but I am definitely not the same person I was when I graduated from college.  MIT's study on young adult development shows that our brains don't reach maturity until at least our mid twenties.  ("Young Adult Development, http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/youngadult/brain.html#text).  At that point, we are capable of making more sound judgements, understand the consequences of our own actions, empathizing and understanding other people's points of view.

I've grown as a human being, emotionally and spiritually.  I'm continually learning, experiencing new things and adapting to new situations under the transforming influence of God's grace.  It's that love through the work of the Holy Spirit and my relationship with Jesus Christ that I credit for the person I am today and not my own perfection.

Praise God that God loves me enough not to leave me as I was in the past, controlled by my wounds, my ego an-centered attitudes and tendencys.   Can you stick a fork in me and say I'm done?  Far from it.  There's still plenty of room for improvement, and I don't have the slightest doubt that God plans on continuing to move me into God's future for me as God continues to finish the good work God began in me until God puts on the finishing touches when Christ returns.  (Philippians 1:6)

God began a good work in you and me so that God's work of redemption, reconciliation, peace and justice could be a part of the whole world, not just in our lives.  The human tendency of being me-centered breaks down relationships with others, with God, and with the natural world.  Whether it's war, exploitative practices or environmental issues, that "me and mine" attitude that disregards the humanity of others and the consequences of actions is at the root of them all.

And God loves us too much to leave us in a place that leads us to self-destruction.

Instead of looking at the Ten Commandments and the other commandments in the context of what they were meant to do:  improve the way people treated one another.  Moses later simplified them and revealing the spirit of the law.  "Love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5) and "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18).

Jesus' teaching, through the story of the Good Samaritan, expanded our understanding of who our neighbors are and gave us a new commandment, "...Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another."  (John 13:34)   Love one another, not just as we love ourselves, but with that same, unconditional, humble, forgiving, self-giving, other-centered way Christ loves us all.

The story of Abraham from the book of Genesis is another example.  Abraham belonged to a family which was part of a clan which was part of a tribe.  Tribes were very territorial, competing for grazing land, resources and survival.  With Abraham, God started something new:  a tribe whose purpose was to bless, to help all the other tribes of the world.  A tribe that would not be just about their own welfare and prosperity but would be agents of justice, peace and reconciliation among all the peoples of the world.

When Jesus called Simon and Andrew and James and John to be fishers of people, it was to progress to the next step.  From those first disciples, Christ called a new tribe together whose members would be all the people in the world, united in Christ, united with one another and united in God's mission to transform the world, a world that is still in so much need of healing and restoration.

So when someone asks you, "Why God?" share with them the proof in your own life that God loves us too much to leave us in the past.  Because of God's grace through Jesus Christ, we are not the people we used to be.  What does that look like for you.

"Why God?"  Because God loves us and the world to leave us the way we were.

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