What is God Like?
JOHN 4:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Exodus 12:1-14 (NRSV)
You don’t have to read this!!!
The First Passover Instituted
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 Thismonth shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Reflaction
I know – one verse John, long story Exodus!
Exodus is one of the readings from the lectionary for today – the verse from John I picked. I have been trying to forget the Exodus reading all week – at least I’ve been trying to forget the image of God depicted in the Exodus reading. I couldn’t. Usually I just read this story and know that it is a story that tells us about the very beginning of the people Israel, a story about a community identifying itself over and against a oppressive and spirit crushing power called Egypt and they needed an all powerful God (Yahweh) who could do anything and would do anything to save them. That’s what the story does it tells this community how they are to come together under an all powerful God from then onward. It is the beginning of their journey to freedom.
But this time as I read I could not shake the idea that this God is not, cannot be the God I believe in and preach about on Sunday. This is not a God that I would share with you. I cannot believe God can willfully kill people and animals – God’s own creation. If God is Love as John claims then God cannot act in a way which is contrary to love. A loving God would not be able to kill anyone or anything. “God is Love” is a statement about the very nature of God. God cannot do anything which is against God. So for example God cannot do evil because it would be against God’s own identity to do that.
I know many people have differing understandings of God and for many God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. For others God is Spirit, infinite, unchangeable, eternal in Being, wisdom, holiness, power, justice and goodness. You may have your own words that do not include any of the above but I hope your list includes the word love.
John tells us: God is Love and Jesus tells us a lot about God in the way he lived out his own life. If the disciples followed Jesus learning how to love, Jesus followed God learning how to love. Not an easy thing for any of them or for us for that matter but if there is any consistent message in the New Testament I think it is one of love. As so often said: it all boils down to Love God and love your neighbouras yourself. It was a radical message when Jesus was preaching it. Itwas a radical message when Paul and the disciples were preaching it. It is still a radical message today.
We may think that “nah we are so past that” we’ve got that message down pat, you don’t have to worry we know how to live out the Golden Rule. Yet these days there are demonstrations (i.e. lots of people taking the time and energy to gather) to protest against the wearing of masks during this COVID 19 pandemic! Wearing a mask is not an individual rights issue it is a love issue. Do we love our neighbour when we are willing to put them at risk? Do we love our families? Ourselves?
When we take seriously “God is Love” and apply it to our lives we begin to see things in a new way, see people in a new way. Even see stories in the Bible in a new way.
How we understand God working in the world is complex and a mystery but understanding “God as Love” working in the world brings God into our lives constantly. It brings love and compassion and empathy into how we go about our daily lives, how we make decisions and in how we perceive at the world. God’s love is limitless and surrounds each one of us. How can we not share that with everyone!
JOHN 4:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Exodus 12:1-14 (NRSV)
You don’t have to read this!!!
The First Passover Instituted
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 Thismonth shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Reflaction
I know – one verse John, long story Exodus!
Exodus is one of the readings from the lectionary for today – the verse from John I picked. I have been trying to forget the Exodus reading all week – at least I’ve been trying to forget the image of God depicted in the Exodus reading. I couldn’t. Usually I just read this story and know that it is a story that tells us about the very beginning of the people Israel, a story about a community identifying itself over and against a oppressive and spirit crushing power called Egypt and they needed an all powerful God (Yahweh) who could do anything and would do anything to save them. That’s what the story does it tells this community how they are to come together under an all powerful God from then onward. It is the beginning of their journey to freedom.
But this time as I read I could not shake the idea that this God is not, cannot be the God I believe in and preach about on Sunday. This is not a God that I would share with you. I cannot believe God can willfully kill people and animals – God’s own creation. If God is Love as John claims then God cannot act in a way which is contrary to love. A loving God would not be able to kill anyone or anything. “God is Love” is a statement about the very nature of God. God cannot do anything which is against God. So for example God cannot do evil because it would be against God’s own identity to do that.
I know many people have differing understandings of God and for many God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. For others God is Spirit, infinite, unchangeable, eternal in Being, wisdom, holiness, power, justice and goodness. You may have your own words that do not include any of the above but I hope your list includes the word love.
John tells us: God is Love and Jesus tells us a lot about God in the way he lived out his own life. If the disciples followed Jesus learning how to love, Jesus followed God learning how to love. Not an easy thing for any of them or for us for that matter but if there is any consistent message in the New Testament I think it is one of love. As so often said: it all boils down to Love God and love your neighbouras yourself. It was a radical message when Jesus was preaching it. Itwas a radical message when Paul and the disciples were preaching it. It is still a radical message today.
We may think that “nah we are so past that” we’ve got that message down pat, you don’t have to worry we know how to live out the Golden Rule. Yet these days there are demonstrations (i.e. lots of people taking the time and energy to gather) to protest against the wearing of masks during this COVID 19 pandemic! Wearing a mask is not an individual rights issue it is a love issue. Do we love our neighbour when we are willing to put them at risk? Do we love our families? Ourselves?
When we take seriously “God is Love” and apply it to our lives we begin to see things in a new way, see people in a new way. Even see stories in the Bible in a new way.
How we understand God working in the world is complex and a mystery but understanding “God as Love” working in the world brings God into our lives constantly. It brings love and compassion and empathy into how we go about our daily lives, how we make decisions and in how we perceive at the world. God’s love is limitless and surrounds each one of us. How can we not share that with everyone!
