Warren Sentinel "Weekly Pulpit" (07/02/08)
And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38 ESV)
“What if God isn't easy to love?” This was one of the hardest questions I was asked this week by one of the kids in our Confirmation and Baptism Class as we considered the Ten Commandments and Jesus' summary of them in Matthew 22.
Even kids can see that not all is right with the world. In fact, very little seems to be. We hear about wars, floods, earthquakes, famines, and murder when we watch the news or even glimpse newspaper headlines. We see gasoline and food prices rising and housing and stock prices falling. We hear of more and more people losing their jobs and homes. We see and experience broken relationships and marriages. We lose friends to accidents, disease, and depression. If God is so loving and if God wants to be so loved, why does God allow all this terrible stuff to happen?
Theologians use the term “theodicy” or the phrase “the problem of Evil” to describe the issue that these questions address. If God is all loving and all powerful and all knowing and ever present–if God is really in control– why does God permit such horrific suffering and injustice? Even a fifth grader is smart enough to ask such questions! And such questions usually only increase as we grow older. Are we just meant to suffer in this life only to cling to the hope that somehow everything will be made right in Heaven?
A recent article in the June 9th edition of the New Yorker, Holiday in Hellmouth, provides a less than hopeful response and concludes only with questions. In contrast,The Shack, written by William P. Young, offers one of the most hopeful responses I have ever read outside of the Gospel itself. The Shack is currently number 5 on Amazon's best seller list and with 680 reviews has received 4.5 stars from readers like you and me. It also has received some very negative reviews (with some calling it outright heresy).
It certainly isn't a perfect book, and as any book written by a human author, may contain more than a few flaws. But Young communicates so much truth and hope through this allegorical story of loving God in the midst of overwhelming pain and suffering, that I think it is a “must read.” Like me, you may find it to be incredibly healing and hopeful. Before you do, you may want to take a look at some recent YouTube videos about it (pilgrimprog, brianjdixon, mhcseattle, and official700club), or google “The Shack” to read even more reviews. But I urge you to read The Shack and to discuss it and maybe even share it with others. I think you will find that it will do much to strengthen your understanding of, love for, and trust in God.
No comments:
Post a Comment