The Goodness of God

What matters the most in life? What helps us overcome our existential fears? When all our physical needs are met, and we can finally appear out to deeper concerns, where do we turn? These are humans most profound and enduring questions, and we've come up with a whole hosts - including lean into decadence and excess. Paul uses his call to Christian unity to the Philippians to posit another answer. Our citizenship resides in Heaven rather than being ruled by more imminent concerns.

After 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus gets tempted by Satan. In the exchange, Satan quotes scripture at Jesus, and Jesus counters with quotes from scripture. Jesus's temptations may look way different from ours. Satan can only tempt with doing the wrong good thing. We may have baser temptations, but we are not left alone to deal with them. God pours out strength if we will take the time and create the space for us to receive it and intentionally prepare to resist temptation.

Peter and James and John get a powerful window into the true nature of this semi-homeless, traveling rabbi, son of a carpenter. Turns out, he's God, and at the Transfiguration, he gets wardrobe and company worthy of that. It's a cosmic tip of the hand to the deeper reality of our reality. Things may seem perpetually mundane, but God is in the world. So, our actual actuality has much deeper dimensions and deeper hope.

Our world feels utterly ripped apart, and it can appear impossible for the chasm to mend. When massive harm happens, forgiveness and healing seems unreachably far away. Joseph's brother did an extreme degree of harm to Joseph. The tried to kill him, chose to sell him into slavery instead, and robbed him of home, comfort, and love. For years, his life was a desperate struggle for survival. Yet, when he ended up in a position of great power and had the opportunity to rightly punish his family, he chose to forgive and love. So, we know that with God, that level of healing is at least possible.

We can all too easily over spiritualize this whole religion. We can imagine a God that cares for souls, and thus, we should be in the caring for souls business. We trust in Heaven and serve no earthly good. God does care for souls, but God cares holistically - for the immaterial and the profoundly material. The Sermon of the Mount points to the soul. The Sermon of the Plain grounds us in reality. God has a special place in God's heart for the poor and downtrodden, and woe to us if we don't do the same.

Jesus leads Peter and friends to catch a massive amount of fish. This, my friends, is a metaphor for life in God's Kingdom. It's easy in our modern moment to feel massively disconnected and cut off, and it's even easier to believe that we cannot bridge the divides that rend us asunder. Yet, God can forge an abundance of connection. It's hard to believe that's possible, but that is exactly the kind of miracle that sits at the core of who God is.