A God Who Cares
John 14:1-14
by Jim Westmoreland
Last Thursday night, I participated in the local Religious Roundtable program at the community college that was sponsored by the Owensboro Human Relations Commission. The purpose was not to try to convert anyone, but to inform each other and the people of Owensboro about the different faith groups that exist in Daviess County. I spoke concerning the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as part of the Stone-Campbell movement, how Disciples came to Owensboro and started a group that organized as a church in 1860 that is now First Christian Church and how they, 100 years later started a church called Century as part of their century celebration.
There were 18-19 different faith groups represented. Several represented some of the different expressions of Christianity. But there were several non-christian groups represented, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism as well as Wicca that talk about the idea of god or deity in very different, non-theistic ways than the Christian, Jewish or Muslim traditions.
Christianity is still a minority religion, as far as the world is concerned. Sometimes, I take another step back to think about the frontiers of knowledge of our universe. It is both overwhelming and humbling. We have such a tendency to smugly think that we are the center of the universe, or all that really matters.
A few weeks ago I had lunch with a friend who is a scientist. I love to ask him what he has been up to, because he begins to enthusiastically share what is believed to be going on at the edges of the universe in one breath and then telling me about the behavior of particles smaller than the electrons, known as string theory, that exist in atoms. Sometimes, I feel like a "flat earth" theologian being offered a ride on the Mayflower to prove the earth was round, not flat. I keep discovering that the world is bigger than I ever knew, both on the outside and the inside edges of the universe, in its bigness and in its smallness.
I cannot help but feel overwhelmed by more than I can comprehend or even imagine. I feel like a mere speck in the universe, and yet I believe that there is a God who cares.
Theologians and philosophers struggle to describe the existence of God. Some do not believe in god at all. Some describe God as a force, an essence, or a principle. Some have said God is "pure being." Paul Tillich, in avoiding our traditional theistic ideas of God as a person, described God as the "ground of all being."
The apostle Paul visited Athens, the center of philosophy and intellectual vigor. As he walked through Athens, he saw altars to many gods, but he was struck by an altar "to an unknown god." As the intelligentsia gathered on Mars Hill to hear Paul speak of this new religion, Paul preached Jesus to them.
Their negative reaction is the same negative reaction that exists today. They strongly reacted to what is called the "scandal of particularity." God as pure thought, as mind or being was okay. God, high and lifted up, transcendent, removed from us, Holy Other was all right. But, a God who came into humanity as a human like us is a scandal. God of the universe is okay, but God in the person of Jesus is too much. How could an infinite God come in such a particular form as a person?
So now, Jesus speaks to us in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Later, he asks Phillip, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?"
For many, the idea that God came at a particular point in time that lasted 33 years to reveal Himself to all humanity is offensive and beyond their belief. The incarnation of Jesus is the scandal of particularity. How could it be? Why would God do such a thing?
The simplest answer is that God came in Jesus to reveal the love and character of God. Through Jesus' words and ministry, God reveals His heart for us. He shows His capacity and desire as Lord of the Universe to care for us, to know our name, and to teach us His ways. And he assures us about our lives and what happens beyond this immediate life on earth. He tells us that He has prepared a place for us.
The scandal continues! Not only does He come into the world as Jesus, He is making a place with Him in heaven for us. God cares for us and provides for us. The images may be anthropomorphic, meaning a projection of man's ideas onto God, but they are symbols and metaphors for that which we cannot know in this life or imagine or describe.
In the last part of this passage Jesus says that we will do greater works than Him as He goes to the Father and we live to serve and glorify Him. We have come to know that God cares for us through Jesus, the scandal of particularity. And, the great God of the universe calls us to care for others through our own scandal of particularity.
Doug Nichols, the International Director of Action International Ministries, made the love and care of God known in a tuberculosis sanitarium in India in 1967 - he was a missionary with Operation Mobilization and got TB. He was in the sanitarium for several months. He tried to give tracts and copies of the gospel of John away, but no one would take them. They didn't like him and assumed he was a rich American.
At one point for several nights he would wake up coughing at 2 a.m. He noticed a little, old, emaciated man trying to get out of bed. The man couldn't stand up, and began to whimper. He lay back into bed. In the morning the stench in the ward was terrible and everyone was angry at the old man for not containing himself. The nurse who cleaned up even smacked the old man for making such a mess.
The next night the very same thing happened. Doug woke up coughing with his own terrible sickness and weakness. He saw the old man try again to get out of bed. Again he couldn't stand, and began to cry softly. Doug got out of bed and went over to the old man.
The man cowered with fear. But Doug picked him up with both arms and carried him to the bathroom which was just a hole in the floor, and then brought him back. The man kissed him on the cheek as he put him down in bed.
At 4 a.m. another patient woke Doug with a steaming cup of tea and made motions that said he wanted a copy of the booklet - the gospel of John. Through that whole day people kept coming to him and asking for his booklets even though he could not speak their language.(1)
What changed? How was this barrier between Doug and others broken down? How do we tell others that God cares? We are called to be a part of the scandal of particularity by participating in the continuing incarnation of Jesus. We do this when we get up and help someone else. God revealed Himself in Jesus to reveal who He is. And, God made us who we are to show the world who He is, the infinite God of all things who cares for me and you. Amen.
Century Christian Church, April 24, 2005 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
1. John Piper, "Christian identity and Christian destiny," sermon preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church, April 17, 1994.