Where Is God In This?
By the Rev. Dr. Ted Klein -- Sunday, November 16, 1997

Letter From Your Editor, November 1997

Bible Reading

"Woe to me, my mother, that you gave me birth--a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me."

The Lord said, "Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress. Can a man break iron--iron from the north--or bronze? Your wealth and your treasures I will give as a plunder, without charge, because of all your sins throughout your country. I will make you go with your enemies to a land you do not know, for my anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you."

"You understand, O Lord. Remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering--do not banish me; think of how I suffer insult for your sake. When I found your words, I devoured them; your words became my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Hosts. I did not sit in the circle of revelers, nor celebrate with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unending, my wound grievous and incurable? You are to me like a brook that is not to be trusted, whose waters fail."

Therefore this is what the Lord says: "If you repent, I will restore you so that you will stand before me; if you bring forth what is precious from what is worthless, you will be my mouthpiece. Let them turn to you, but you must not turn to them. And I will make you a fortified wall of bronze to this people. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver and rescue you," says the Lord. "I will free you from the hands of the wicked, and rescue you from the grasp of the cruel." (Jeremiah 15:10-21)

Reading from Swedenborg

To say that God permits something does not mean that he wills it, but that he cannot prevent it in light of the goal, which is salvation. Whatever is done for the sake of that goal is in harmony with the laws of divine providence. (Divine Providence #234)

Sermon

You are to me like a brook that is not to be trusted, whose waters fail. (Jeremiah 15:18)

I am with you to deliver and rescue you. (Jeremiah 15:20)

In some situations we may wonder, "Where is God in this?" We may question how God could be present in what is happening to others or to ourselves. In learning of the sufferings of others, or in our own sufferings, we may feel that God has abandoned us. Like Jeremiah, we may question what God is doing--and question God's constancy.

We may wonder, "Where is God in this?" in a situation of great magnitude, as when we learn of people facing famine and starvation, hear of terrible abuse suffered by a child, or know of a young and healthy person struck down by a grave illness or injury.

We may also wonder about this in the smaller struggles of our daily lives. For example, we may feel we have cared for and supported another person, and then find that the other person is unfairly blaming us for something that is not our fault. We may see someone making conscientious efforts, but being devalued because others perceive the person as "different" and "not one of us." Both great and small losses, and more ordinary hurts of others and ourselves, can lead us to question where God is and what God is doing in various situations.

In the summer of 1997, at the Fryeburg New Church Assembly, I took part in some discussions of providence and "bad things that happen." I remember well a discussion about different ways of responding to a natural disaster such as a tornado or hurricane. One response to destruction inflicted on others is to be moved by concern for those victimized and be willing to assist them in any way possible. A contrasting reaction is to concentrate on how fortunate one is to have been spared, and to lack an interest in others. There are also contrasting responses among people who suffer great losses in a natural disaster. People may dwell on and become stuck in their sufferings, lashing out at others. On the other hand, people may feel pain and anger, but be able to move on to learn and to respond compassionately to others in their losses.

Swedenborg's account of God's providence pictures a constancy of God's love and wisdom in action. At times God may feel to us "like a brook that is not to be trusted, whose waters fail." But God remains always present and engaged in seeking what is good for each of us. Though human nurturers may sometimes forget or abandon, God is a nurturer who never forgets or abandons (Isaiah 49:15).

We may think of bad things that have happened to others or to ourselves, and wonder why God did not prevent them from happening. God loves fully, and this means continually working with our freedom. Our freedom means that we can live in community with others, but can also turn away from God and others to a life of evil that seeks to control and possess. In working with our freedom while facing evil, God must not only act as God wishes, but sometimes tolerate or permit evil as part of seeking to lead each of us away from evil and toward good (Divine Providence #234). God cannot protect us from all temporary harm, but God does preserve our freedom and our opportunity to enter a life of good community--or heaven.

Each of us, according to Swedenborg, can enter a life of heaven, or a good community, through a life of charity and through processes of being reborn or regenerated. These processes cannot take place all at once, but only gradually--if we cooperate with God in resisting evil and coming into good (D.P. #279.4). For evils with us to be removed, they must appear and be faced (D.P. #278). As evils appear and are faced, they can be healed by spiritual means just as diseases are healed by natural means (D.P. #281.2).

Whatever happens to us, we can seek to cooperate with God, be of service to others, resist evils in our life, and contribute to good. Whatever happens to us we can trust that God is present, seeking to guide us in moving away from evil and toward good.

Some things that happen we at least partly bring on ourselves; but this is not true of all that happens to us. A person may be abused as a child or be victimized as an adult by a violent crime without in any way contributing to what has happened. In one situation where we feel that another person does not understand us, we may feel we have contributed greatly to the misunderstanding. In another situation where we do not feel understood, we may feel we have done all we can do.

Though it is true that an adult who was abused as a child did not bring the abuse on himself or herself, this person as an adult can make choices. Anger at the abuse is healthy and natural, but a person can respond in very different ways to the anger. The person may dwell on the anger, and unleash it in attacking others. On the other hand, the person may work with the anger, using it to help in compassionately responding to sufferings of others and being part of healing for others and for self.

When things happen to us that bring us to question where God is, we can trust that God is present, and seek to learn. We can resist any evils that appear as we seek to cooperate with God, be of service to others, and grow. We can draw on our own pain to aid us in attending and responding to what others are experiencing in their lives.

If something has been inflicted on us that is wrong and harmful--as when we suffer abuse, violence, or discrimination--we can confront the wrongs as we seek to learn. When wrongs are inflicted on others, we can seek to contribute to facing and curbing the inflicted wrongs. Examples are working for abuse protection, engaging in efforts to address poverty, and taking on efforts to protect people from violence and decrease its occurrence.

With smaller hurts and pains in our lives, we can be continually open to learning. In one situation, we may learn a way of sharing with another person that challenges the other to stop doing something that hurts us. In another situation, we may become sensitive to something we are doing which has been hurting another person.

We can compare God to a person who is supportive and responds with love; who does not diminish us when we ask, "Where were you?" God understands when we question "Where were you?" or "Where are you?" and stays with us in efforts to help us learn and grow. God is not pictured as turning from Jeremiah when Jeremiah questions, but as saying "I am with you to deliver you." Whatever happens, God is with us and seeks to deliver us. Amen.

Ted Klein is Assistant Pastor at the Church of the New Jerusalem in Boston, Massachusetts. (Updated 12/2002)

Prayer

O Lord our God, we cry out to you in our experience of evil and injustice. Where are you, Lord? Respond to us from your infinite compassion, O Lord. Make us deeply aware that you are always with us to deliver us in all our sufferings, both as individuals and as communities of people. Help us through pain to grow as human beings. Amen.