December 3 Devotion

Psalm 79:10a -- Why should the nations ask us, "Where is your God?"

When the radical Muslim leadership in the Middle East look at modern America, I hear them asking the question,  "Where is your God?"  We are offended by that question. It is interesting that when the religious right in America looks at the moderate center, they ask the same question.  What is similar to both fundamentalist groups is the certainty that lies behind the question.  Since both groups "know" where their God is, everyone else must be wrong.  With that knowing comes the desire to enforce certainty.

I have never been a part of the "certainty" club. In my lifetime, I have been on the wrong side of the integration, homosexuality, abortion, the death penalty and same sex marriage.  I have been told that I am going to hell or that my salvation is in peril.  I have heard Christians condemn other Christians for not believing the same ideas or theology.  For me this is very sad.

Why should the nations ask us "Where is your God?"  Maybe is it because we don’t act like we know the answer? Those answers seem so simple and non-complex.  Yet in our day-to-day world, our religious life has become so dogmatic and full of requirements.

This past summer my first grandchild was born.  I held Mattie Clark and wondered what she would be like.  Questions flowed through my mind about how she would look, act, wondered about her temperament style, etc.  I wanted to know with certainty.  I have to live in faith because I know she will provide those answers.

In this season we celebrate the birth of a child named Jesus.  That birth creates interesting answers to the question  "Where is your God?"

Answers such as:

1. In a manager

2. Hanging on a tree

3. In a garden

4. With tax collectors/sinners

5. In heaven with God

6. In our hearts/souls

The reality is that all these answers are correct and all are incorrect at the same time.  The most correct answer is an answer of faith.  An answer that states, "God is born into the world.  Hallelujah!!!"

David Johnson

To leave a comment for the author, please go to http://JMAdvent.blogspot.com