HEARTLESS GOD
I Want to Believe, But... [REVAMPED] • Sermon • Submitted
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It's that time, “of the season for loving.” Oh, sorry had a little 60’s hippy come out. Welcome to the fourth and final message in our series, I Want to Believe, But…, where we have explored the many fallacies and misconceptions that our modern world believes that is God. And our final illusion that we are going to skewer is the Heartless God.
You know, the God that is required to prevent disaster, man-made or natural, major or minor events, or even personal tragedies, such as cancer or mass shootings. But, even with the plethora of these mentioned aspects of our world, people still believe in God, still rely on Him, and continue to worship his power. This is what really confounds the sceptics and nay-sayers in our times. God does not prevent a mass shooting, yet people forgive the shooter and continue to believe in God’s powerful presence. Unfortunately, this also coincides with a saying that I, a lowly pastor, refuse to utter. And that is the phrase, “Its Gods will.” And there are many permutations on this phrase, but it is the most disturbing phrase to ever come out of a belief, let alone, a pastor.
Many of you today have heard its many, many exclamations. A mass shooting occurs, and someone says its Gods will. A friend dies of cancer; its Gods will. Millions of people are murdered in concentration camps; its Gods will. But is it really? I emphatically refuse to believe that God wishes harm on his children. It goes against the very nature of God. It is the end-all-be-all phase that Christians, Jews and Muslims use as the one-size-fits-all explanation. The utterance has little meaning in our world because it is used so often, and as a one-off reason.
The unfortunate matter is, and I do mean unfortunate, is that we will NEVER know God’s will, or design, or decisions when it comes to our lives. Even pastors will never know the true meaning of all the events, whether God interferes or not. With the phrase, “It’s God's will,” shows how heartless the individual is to your cares, and therefore has become the catchphrase for a heartless God. And nothing could be further from the truth.
Today, we are inundated with examples of what a heartless God looks like. Take Westborough Baptist Church as our modern example. And now that I have called them out, be prepared for an unfrocking of yours truly, but I cannot remain silent about these people. WBC has shown us, on TV and in person for many, of what a heartless God looks like. The problem is, their protests and signage clash with the scriptures time and again. This is especially true when you look at the Old Testament, and read Psalm 103, verses 10 through 12.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.
God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. To put it mildly, God will not judge us here on Earth for our sins. Why?
BECAUSE HE KNOWS WE ARE SINNERS. WE HAVE SINNED IN OUR PAST, WE WILL SIN IN OUR PRESENT, AND WILL CONTINUE TO SIN IN THE FUTURE
BECAUSE HE KNOWS WE ARE SINNERS. WE HAVE SINNED IN OUR PAST, WE WILL SIN IN OUR PRESENT, AND WILL CONTINUE TO SIN IN THE FUTURE
This goes for yours truly, speaking to you from Phoenix, Arizona. This is the Old Testament. Hundreds of years before Jesus absolved our sins with his death on the cross. But, why would God not punish us here on Earth, you might ask, if WBC says He does?
The reason, and it is sometimes overlooked in the translation, boils down to one word that is missing . The passage should read, and the English Standard Version uses it, is “so great is his STEADFAST love…” Steadfast means not subject to change. Look it up. Basically, no matter what, God will love you, through your trials and triumphs. He will not be there when you sin but is present with you when you ask for forgiveness. While there are a few more thing you should do to show true forgiveness, the formula is simple. Later this year, we will tackle the path to true forgiveness, but back to the message at hand.
That’s all well and good, you would say, but why is God not preventing these tragic events that are now occurring with alarming regularity. It is here where we learn that God is not heartless but is hopeful. When the bad thing occurs, God will either be active or passive, but in his passiveness, He is testing your faith in Him for later. It sounds sadistic, but, in actuality, it preserves the relationship and helps to continually build faith in him, so WE are not complacent. For myself, my first wife committed adultery, and therefore, the divorce that followed was my trial. I failed. In the last few years, I have lost two friends. One to suicide; one to brain cancer. This time, I continued to have faith in God, not questioning his lack of action, or reason for his withdrawal from both persons. That does not mean I am not angry, sad, upset or frustrated. But, as first Peter, chapter 1, 6 through 7 clearly states:
I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
In my case, each death was a trial, especially the one by cancer. Here is why these two deaths are of great focus for this passage. First, both deaths and respective services occurred within two months of each other. Second, I performed the service for both families. That’s right, two funerals in two months, and both were of people that I called close friends, even family. While I did question God’s motives, I never once lacked faith in God. This is not just blind faith or conforming faith; it is faith based on a great line from Psalm 46.
God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.
Even though one good friend, and my best friend, died two months apart in the same year, I leaned on God to give me strength to fight through the pain and hurt of their passing. I leaned greatly as I conducted the funerals. He ensured I had my moments to weep, I gained strength and comfort, knowing God was with me; my heart was calm, emotions in check while conducting the services.
Now, praise, glory and honor are misnomers when talking about this subject. I am not looking for praise when I pray to God; I am not in the market for glory, and honor is given to those who are worthy. Only by praising, honoring and living in the glory of God’s love do we fully understand the fallacy of the heartless God.
As we close here, the recurring theme of this series is summed up in this:
We are in service to God; He does not serve us.
We are in service to God; He does not serve us.
There are only 10 rules in God’s kingdom, not 600+
There are only 10 rules in God’s kingdom, not 600+
He does not need to be in your face 24/7 to be present
He does not need to be in your face 24/7 to be present
Tragic events, both big and small, are not caused by God, but is used by God to test your faith
Tragic events, both big and small, are not caused by God, but is used by God to test your faith
As I close in prayer, for those who now understand that the misconceptions of God presented by society, and sometime religion, had clouded your desire to get connected, you are not too late. You still have time to get back to God, your roots, and feel the glory that God is ready to give you.
[Salvation Prayer]
Thank you for joining us here at The Greater Guild. I wish to give a shout out to two groups that have helped make The Greater Guild a possibility, and bring it to you, where ever you are.
First group is Love Thy Nerd. This is a great group of nerds for Jesus who have build a community where you can talk, discuss, and learn about being a Christian nerd. You can read articles about games, cosplay and otaku culture. Their three pillars engage nerds with thoughtful content, a relational outreach, and building an intentional community of engagement, discussion and sharing. I have met with the leadership several years ago face to face, and I know they are a great group of nerds. They have helped myself and The Greater Guild with questions we have had, and Love Thy Nerd reflects their leadership and love for nerds everywhere.
Second, I wish to thank Reclaim Church for their faith and support. Pastors John and Lindsay Petri are a very dedicated leadership with a huge heart for people and Jesus. Without their faith in God, the idea of The Greater Guild could not reach out to the nerds in our world, misunderstood by their church, or unchurched.
Thank you again for joining us at The Greater Guild. Just remember to click the follow button to get connected to our live stream. And click the notification symbol, so you can get into the stream, or know when we post content in the future.
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Next week, as you saw earlier, we will begin a new series, Change Your World in 52 Days. As always, have fun, be yourself, and be real. See you next week.