Psychologists call them sneaky thoughts, and we have them all the time. They sound something like the following: Your elderly grandmother tells you that she has decided to take a cruise out of Florida to Costa Rica and then she is going to take a three mile hike through the rainforest, and before you know it you think these words to yourself, “Yeah right, if the flight down to Florida doesn’t rattle your bones apart first.”
Or, your wayward, brat of an adult daughter tells you that she is thinking of having another baby and the thought goes through your head, “Sure, because Satan certainly needs more demons running around.”
The thoughts just pop in there. They are sneaky thoughts. You would never even think of saying something like, “you can loose more weight if you think that a bag of sticks is sexy,” to your best friend. But your brain just pops the little evil comments up there. They are personal comments for you to savor alone. “That’s a great dress, for a prostitute.”
Everyone has them. No one really thinks too much about them except when they accidentally come out,
“Pastor, look at that stomach. It looks like you’re three months along.”
However, we do think of them as a big deal if they are spoken about God. God knows the heart after-all. God knows every word of the mind, and the fear is that these sneaky thoughts about God will come back to haunt us.
“Christ you think your so perfect, try being me for a while.”
“What if I don’t want to worship you, what you going to do? Give me a nice house and a nice car like my neighbors. Please don’t punish me.”
“A God of justice…pffff.”
Of course, God has big shoulders and can take it; but letting them slip into the mind still seems a little disturbing.
Isaiah lets a big one not only slip into his mind, but slip out of his mouth while talking to God. God promises that he is going to forgive and rebuild Israel. God was going to punish no longer. “Comfort, O comfort my people,” God gently promises. “Preach this good news Isaiah,” God says. And out of nowhere Isaiah lets it slip, “God, are you an idiot?”
OK, you can look in your Bibles and you will not find the words, “God, are you an idiot,” printed there. But Isaiah does basically say, “What’s the point. People are like grass that just turns brown and ugly. Then you restore them and then they just turn brown and ugly again. What is the point of preaching any good news to them? What is the point of telling them things will be better when they are just going to mess it up again.” “Oh, you just broke a crystal Christmas ornament by feeding it to the dog? Here have another.” “That’s just dumb.”
This is the same sneaky thought that I have when I hear Jesus tell us that we need to forgive seventy times seven times (in other words, we always have to forgive). “What’s the point if they are just going to do it again?” I think to myself.
If we came to church based on the greatness of the people, I agree with Isaiah, “What’s the point of even coming and opening our mouths.” If we proclaimed from the pulpit how great a person becomes if they choose to be a Christian, I would step away right now. I would step away because I know that it is a lie. I would agree with the millions of people out there right now who choose to stay at home with their families rather than wasting time at church, listening to a bunch of hypocrites.
But, the church says nothing about how great people are. People do just wither up and die after getting a second and third and hundredth chance. They are like grass that will certainly just go brown.
We come to church to hear the Word that will not die. It is a Word that lasts forever. It is a Word that does not fade. It is God’s Word that says, “sure you guys are a mess, but you are still my people, and I am your God.”
We come to hear the words of a God who practices what is preached. God does forgive seventy times seven times. Christ does die for the sake of people who do not deserve it. The Lord promises to “feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.”
God is committed to mess-ups like us. “What’s the point? That’s idiotic isn’t it?” Maybe. But it is the way of our Lord. And we are an Advent people who do not forget it. We wait for God’s goodness to come. And it will. That is something to share.
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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