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Scripture for Sunday, September 17: Matthew 10:26-31
Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 27-28: "All things come to us not by chance, but by his fatherly hand."
Last week in this series, we recognized God's rule in and over his creation. This week, we continue with the first affirmation of the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in God the Father Almighty," considering God's rule over history.
I suspect that not too many of us have the word "Providence" hanging on our walls. But all of us have an operating theology of providence. Did God cause you to lose your job, or did he allow it? Did he direct the path of the errant baseball that knocked out your Little Leaguer's tooth?
On a broader scale, is God orchestrating the strategies of world governments behind the scenes; or are oppressive or dictatorial leaders evidence of sin's fallout in a world made good and glorious for God?
One goal of the series this week is to explore the tensions we encounter when we live as truly free people in a world that is also truly in God's control. Join us Sunday to hear how the Scriptures and Reformed theology wrestle with these questions.
Reflection: The Problem of Providence
Read Psalm 55:12-23
The speaker of Psalm 55 has been blindsided, bowled-over by the treachery of a dear friend.
"If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it," he says, "but it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend."
The companion the psalmist trusted has proved unreliable. The friend in whom his heart found rest has turned traitor.
Our deep questions about the providence and goodness of God arise out of the deep valleys of our souls. When it seems to us that God we are on friendly terms with God, when he is near and smiling on us, it is easy to believe the goodness of his "fatherly hand." But what are we to do when we experience the shadow side of God's providence?
C.S. Lewis describes the problem this way:
“When you are happy, so happy you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be — or so it feels— welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence.” (A Grief Observed).
When the cancer diagnoses comes; when the house doesn't sell; when the hours are long and the job is hard and the pay is low; when mental illness robs our loved one of her personality, it can feel as if the God in whom we trust has proved unreliable. We may even wonder.... Has God turned traitor?
The Psalmist doesn't stuff his complaint when his friend betrays him. He brings it to a God who he knows will hear him.
"As for me, I call to God and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and he hears my voice....Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken." (Ps. 55:16-17, 22).
Are we inclined to stuff our complaints when we wonder about God's goodness and his providence? After all, when we cry to God about someone or something, that's quite a different thing than when we complain to God about himself.
When we question God's providence, we're bringing the complaint directly to the friend who seems to have closed and locked the door. What to do?
We keep talking to God. Later in A Grief Observed Lewis acknowledges the mysterious company of God through the place of pain:
“When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of 'No answer.' It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, 'Peace, child; you don't understand.”
The strength of a Reformed view of providence--that "rain and drought, fruitful and lean years...health and sickness, prosperity and poverty....come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand" is a way of affirming that absolutely nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39).
The immediate aftermath of a diagnosis or an accident is not the time to talk about theology of God's providence. Those are the places for hugs and tangible expressions of help--which, between followers of Jesus, bear the presence of God into places of pain. But having the theological scaffolding of God's providence in place gives us strength for the times when we wonder just what God's fatherly hand is up to.
Questions for Reflection or Discussion:
1. From the Sermon: How have you understood God's providence? What difference does it make whether you believe God sends everything in life our way, or that he allows everything in life to come our way? What viewpoint seems more truthful to how you understand the Bible, and to your own life?
2. Can you tell about a time when an understanding of God's providence brought you comfort?
3. The Psalmist says he brings his complaint to God evening, morning, and noon (the Hebrew day was understood to start in the evening) (Ps. 55:17). How do you present your requests to God when you don't understand what he is up to? Do you find it easy or difficult to bring your complaints or concerns to God? Are there times when you haven't been on speaking terms with God? Who or what has helped you in such times?
4. Paul's speech to the Athenians in Acts 17:16-33 (especially v. 24-28) identifies ways that God's providential care has been shown in human history. What does Paul suggest is God's goal in being involved in the ongoing care of his world?
5. Who in your life has "lived stories" (testimonies) of God's providence? What are the stories of God's faithful care, and how does remembering them help nurture your own faith? Examples might include unexpected finances that came in at just the right time; a palpable sense of God's presence in a time of trouble; clear orchestration of details that were beyond human power to execute, etc.
