Today’s Scripture Reading (July 23,
2014): Nehemiah 9
I am
currently reading “Killing Jesus” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. I am
actually enjoying the read. It is always interesting to get a chance to glimpse
a familiar story through the eyes of someone else. It is not that the details
change, but sometimes seeing the events in a different way can remind us of
that the events of history are never simple. History is a series of complex actions
that will possibly never really be understood. It is the reason why important
events often invite many writers to contemplate what has happened and give
their explanations of what has transpired. And as much as we may want to believe
that our view of history is objective, it never really is – and the truth is
never told by single author. It is teased out as many people examine and relive
the events that have become part of history.
One of our
arguments over the nature of God surrounds his omniscience and how much God
knows about future events. There are passages in the Bible that would seem to
lead us to believe that every event in history has already been recorded and
locked away – that history is actually a done deal. All we have left is our
responsibility to play our parts, to attend to the events and allow them to
unfold on the stage. Another way of saying it is that history has been written,
and God knows every event that will happen in our lives as if he is reading a
book. A book never changes from one reading to the next, the events are fixed,
and nothing can be done to change them. (It is interesting that this very idea
is placed onto the lips of Jesus in his conversation with Pontius Pilate in
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s “Jesus Christ, Superstar.” In “Superstar,”
Jesus is trying to convince Pilate that there is absolutely nothing that he can
do to change the events – specifically the crucifixion of Jesus – that are
about to happen. So Jesus tells Pilate in the opera that “everything is fixed
and you can’t change it.”)
But in some
ways this idea reveals a very simplistic concept of history. And then we run
across passages like this one in Nehemiah that would seem to argue something
very different. The Israelites cry out
to God and say – God, you saw our suffering in Egypt and you came – you heard
our cries as we were pinned between the armies of Egypt and the Red Sea and you
responded. This seems to be a much different comment than to argue that history
is already written and we are nothing more than players on the stage. And the
reality for Nehemiah and Israel in this moment of time is that they needed a
God that was willing to hear them and respond. They needed a passionate God
that was concerned about what was happening on the earth that he had created –
not one that was saying “Yeah, I knew that was going to happen.”
I have to
admit that I personally find that the concept that history has already been written
as being profoundly unsatisfying. And it does not seem to match with what I am experiencing
as I live. Life is filled with unknowns, it contains both the good and the bad.
And when the good happens, I naturally respond with positive emotions. I don’t
have to stop and think about it, in those moments I am just happy. When the
negative happens, it elicits out of me cries and negative emotions. I don’t
have to think about it, I am just sad.
And something
inside of me wants God to be the same. I want him to hear my laughter and know
of the joy that he has brought to me; I want him to hear my cries and
understand and come to my aid. I want to believe that everything is not fixed,
that life is more complex than just the unchanging words written on a page. And
that what I do has a very real effect on what is going to happen tomorrow – and
that God is willing to experience that future with me.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Nehemiah 10
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