When the automobile replaced the horse drawn wagon, the buggy whip became a curiosity. A hundred years ago, anyone who hitched a horse to a cart knew what one was. Now, most people couldn’t even describe one! A growing number of Americans believe they have no more need for God since the faith once explained the mysteries of the world for us has been replaced by science to tell us how the universe works. This is not a new idea. Friedrich Nietzsche, in 1882, wrote about the death of God in Europe, that the belief in the Christian God that had shaped the culture of that continent was dying. The violent spasms that shook the world in the 20th century and the bleak secularism that grips Europe now can be traced to the death of vital faith in a living God. I fear that America is treading the same path, replacing God with Self.
Science may explain the ‘how’ of the world, but our discovery processes cannot explain the ‘why.’ I understand the mechanism of conception that brought me to life, but that tells me nothing about why I am here, or why I even ask the question – ‘Why?’ Is it enough to simply say that we exist? Shakespeare’s Macbeth said, “Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Is this the truth about us? If God is dead, then that is truth. Our lives can achieve a sort of frail nobility only by tasting the delights of our senses and preparing the world for the next generation.
An honest inquiry into this world will not lead us to superstition, but it will humble us enough to consider that Someone bigger than us exists. The wonder of the cell, billions of them form our bodies, are stupendous! The beauty of the Universe, vast and as yet unexplained by the most brilliant minds among us, is stunning. To me, it requires greater faith to believe that such amazing things emerged by chance from chaos that it does to accept that there is a Designer of it all. To acknowledge that there is an Intelligence making the universe exist as we know it does not automatically make a person a Christian, of course. But, if one accepts that there is a God, then it would follow that we should want to know Who God is.
And for me, the story unfolded in the Bible reveals Him, Lord of the Universe who further revealed Himself as my Savior in the coming of Jesus Christ. Far from diminishing our lives, this story gives meaning and purpose to us. Like all good things, the Story can be misused to oppress and misunderstood in ways that darken understanding. But, where the Spirit is allowed to make the Story live, humanity is richer.
\God is not dead. He lives. And I, for one, love Him and I am thankful that He has chosen to make Himself known to me.
Here’s a word from the Word. My prayer for my world…
"I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, …
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength— that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.
And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God."
(Ephesians 1:17-18, 3:14-19, The Message)
____________
“Then sings my soul,
My Father God, to Thee.
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art!” Amen.
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