DIVINE DISTANCE
February 15, 2009
(SHUFFLING A DECK OF CARDS)
There’s something about the mystery of magic tricks that almost compels
people to ask for an explanation after the trick is performed. You know
what I mean? Someone asks you to take a card from the deck, look at it and
replace it in the stack of cards; they shuffle and then with an amazed look on
your face, present you with your card. What happens next is almost
automatic, isn’t it? You say, “How did you do that?” You want an
explanation. You want the mystery resolved. You don’t like living with the
tension of things unexplained.
The same is true for issues of tragedy, serious illness, loss, and death. We
don’t understand how these things can possibly happen. How do planes fall
from the sky and 50 people die in Buffalo? How is it that a person in
seemingly perfect health can be diagnosed with a fatal disease? How is it
possible for a woman with three small children to be struck and killed by a
drunk driver when she was only driving six blocks to the grocery store?
And what about tornadoes, ice storms, lightning strikes, and floods that
impose their devastating power on innocent people? And to put salt in the
wound, our questions are stated with even a greater sense of confusion when
the person afflicted appears to be a young, good, God-fearing, caring
individual with so much to live for. These things are unsettling to us and we
want the mystery revealed.
The same is true in the religious realm where people are fascinated by things
like:
- the Shroud of Turin
- an MRI with the picture of a crucified Christ
- a George Forman drip pan which displays an image of the virgin
Mary’s face (it’s true; go on-line and you’ll find it)
- a cinnamon bun with the likeness of Mother Theresa in a Nashville
coffee house
- a photo of a bonfire which closely resembles the late Pope John
Paul II on the anniversary of the Pope’s death
- pictures of guarding angels floating in the clouds
To be sure, some of these sightings are a bit more capricious than others, but
they all raise the same curious questions. And we want them to make sense.
2
Remember when we were in college, taking Philosophy 101 and we studied
the arguments for the existence of God? There was the:
- Ontological argument which argued that God was that which
nothing greater could be conceived. And since nothing greater can
be conceived, this proves, a priori, that God exists.
- Teleological argument which says that since there appears to be
intelligent design in our world, that there must be an intelligent
designer. (watch on the sidewalk means someone made it)
We feel the need to PROVE God’s existence. We think if we can point to
extra-ordinary signs, like miracles or something out of the ordinary realm of
physics, we can then embrace this spiritual reality of God. WE THINK WE
NEED A SIGN as though the whole world were not enough of a sign. Some
people think that this is the purpose of religion – to somehow PROVE God’s
existence and thereby give us permission to embrace our faith
By the way, have you noticed that some prayer requests are fashioned this
way, too? We can’t stand the uncertainty and ambiguity of illness. And so,
we seek resolution in our prayers. “God, please heal this person.” “God,
take away the pain and make it all OK.” We don’t say, “Lord, give us
patience to face the hour that is set before us.” “Stand with us in this
moment.” Rather, we want our religion to resolve these personal places of
anxiety and conflict rather than to strengthen us to deal with whatever life
throws at us.
But what would you really have if you were to succeed in obtaining a sign?
In the biblical stories, not everything is always explained. In fact, that is not
even the goal. There is divine distance and we are to accept this. But we
fight against this position. For instance, when there is a healing of a leper,
we tend to want to focus on the nature of the miracle and miss the meaning
of the story.
While we often think of miracles as supernatural events or a suspension of
the laws of nature, the biblical mind expected miracles and interpreted them
as a manifestation of God’s control over the world, over life and evil. They
saw miracles as a sign or wonder of God’s presence among them.
3
But think for the moment about the purpose of a ROAD SIGN. It indicates
or points us in a particular direction. We pay little attention to the sign
itself; rather our interest is in its meaning. Let’s say you were traveling from
Milwaukee to Memphis "What do you do when you see the sign that
indicates ‘Memphis’? Do you get out of your car, touch the sign, feel the
letters, examine the colors and so on?" Probably not.
But translate this approach to the signs and miracles in the Gospels. Biblical
signs are important because of what they indicate, what they point to. In the
Gospels, the signs tell us something about Jesus as healer and about the
power of God at work in and through Jesus. Many followed Jesus in faith
and proclaimed the Good News as a result of these signs. The question then
that we should be asking of these healing stories, like the one of the leper, is
not “How did it happen?” but rather "What does it mean?”
The stories about Commander Na’aman in the II Book of Kings and the
outcast leper in the Gospel of Mark leave us scratching our heads with a
mystery. It all seems a little strange to us, doesn’t it? You see, we make
lists; we label people, assign roles, and solve problems. We refuse to live
with mystery and only seek to live within the lines of certainty. But don’t
we then diminish our existence to what can be managed, controlled, and
fixed? What happens to the wonder and surprise of life?
We live in a cult of experts who explain and solve. We have become a
society of specialists and have come to believe that just about everything has
an answer, if only we have the right tools and enough money. I remember a
time when my former father-in-law was dying of a rare form of cancer. He
told his doctor that money was no object; that nothing should be spared to
find the cure for his illness. The doctor was kind in his response but assured
him that another patient of his, named Sam Walton, was receiving the very
same treatment. Money can’t solve all our problems.
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and it was an opportunity for us to think
about our relationships. We’re mindful of those we love and those who love
us. But as you think about those people, let me ask you a question. What
kind of relationship would it be if everything were certain, all mystery
removed? Would you really want that? Would you really want to know
how that person would respond to every action of yours? Would you really
want to know their every thought, preference, or dislike? Wouldn’t that
quickly become very boring?
4
I wonder if it’s not the same with God. This may come as a shock to some
of you, but we human beings don’t have God all figured out. In fact, you
could say that we understand almost nothing of God except that which has
been revealed to us. There is a divine distance, a marvelous mystery to God
which keeps us interested and on our toes. It keeps us asking questions
about this God and leaves us wanting to know more.
And yet what is most surprising is that this distant God has come close to us
in Jesus Christ. We may experience the strangeness of God, the otherness,
the inexplicable nature of God, but when we look into the face of Jesus, we
see the eyes of God. We draw close to the God who draws close to us, and
come to know something of the loving nature of his personality.
If the biblical stories seem strangely odd and distant from your own
experience of reality from time to time, like with the healing stories of those
with leprosy, then maybe the best response is just to let it be. Let it confuse
you. Let it give life to the questions of “What is happening here?”, “Who is
this God?” and “How are we to relate to God?”
Like the road signs to Memphis, let’s let them point us in the right direction
and help us to draw closer to our final destination – not with one of absolute
certainty and assurance, but with a living, loving relationship with the God
who leads us, who teaches and calls us to a dynamic, faithful, trusting
relationship him.
Maybe the goal of life is not to have it all figured out, but rather to stay
humble, curious and questioning, and looking forward to the next surprise
that God has for us just around the corner.
II Kings 5: 1-14
Mark 1:40-45