17
2010
god acts
An article by 
First, a theological point – Second, an exercise in an applied theological reading of a Psalm.
The Christian God is a God who acts (see book by the same title, ‘A God Who Acts: Recognizing the Hand of God in Suffering and Failure‘, by Harry Blamires). God acts both creatively and redemptively. All. The. Time.
To use a double-negative, there is never a time when God is not acting as Creator and Redeemer. God the Creator is never not sustaining and continually creating (creatio continua) all things. He is eternally the Redeemer, who has acted (past tense from our view, but ‘never not acting’ from God’s view) in Christ to fully and finally extinguish evil and sin – and to conquer death by the new creation of the Resurrection.
It can seem like God is doing the opposite of acting (a sentiment echoed in multiple passages of Scripture), but the God of Scripture is a God who refuses to manipulate, force, coerce and/or micromanage Creation, and humans in particular (I take passages about ‘heart hardening’ seriously, but in the sense of God using the genuinely free actions of humans in his plan – kind of like jujitsu…). God creates his creation to keep creating, and humans as his creative, co-creators. And God redeems his redeemed people to keep redeeming, to be his agents of blessing, healing, salvation and shalom.
God is a Creator and Redeemer who creates and redeems through his created and redeemed people.
Now for the applied biblical theology bit…
Read Psalm 10, and see not only the painful pleading for God to act, but also hear the voice of God the Redeemer calling us to ‘grow up’ and be his wise redemptive agents: wisely and equitably judging the wicked , protecting the vulnerable, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, etc.
Psalm 10
1 Why, LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In their arrogance the wicked hunt down the weak,
catching them in the schemes they devise.
3 They boast about the cravings of their hearts;
they bless the greedy and revile the LORD.
4 In their pride the wicked do not seek him;
in all their thoughts there is no room for God.
5 Their ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by them;
they sneer at all their enemies.
6 They say to themselves, “Nothing will ever shake us.”
They swear, “No one will ever do us harm.”
7 Their mouths are full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under their tongues.
8 They lie in wait near the villages;
from ambush they murder the innocent.
Their eyes watch in secret for their victims;
9 like a lion in cover they lie in wait.
They lie in wait to catch the helpless;
they catch the helpless and drag them off in their nets.
10 [The innocent] are crushed, they collapse;
they fall victim to superior strength.
11 The wicked say to themselves, “God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.”
12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why do the wicked revile God?
Why do they say to themselves,
“He won’t call us to account”?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arms of the wicked and the evildoers;
call them to account for their wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
* * *
Dale Campbell is a volunteer advocate for TEAR Fund New Zealand. He is an Associate Pastor at Northcote Baptist Church in Auckland, New Zealand, is studying for a BappTheol at Carey Baptist College, and runs a blog that is well worth reading called Fruitful Faith.
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About the Author: Dale Campbell
Dale is an advocate for TEAR Fund NZ and also serves as an Associate Pastor at Northcote Baptist Church.
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Great post, Dale. It’s always tricky balancing the tension of the God who acts vs what we see around us.
Thanks Frank,
Yeah, sometimes (often? continually?) we want a God who will micro-manage and manipulate at least the situation in front of us to ‘fix it’.
I think it was Miroslav Volf who wrote something about God acting in our very frustration at what we see around us? Apart from a sense of ‘the way things should be’ (i.e. justice, shalom), we could not say that things are not ‘the way things should be’.
found it: ‘I protest, therefore I believe’
“…the very protest against God in the face of evil in fact presupposes the existence of God.”
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_3_122/ai_n10016806/
Good points. I have come to learn that in the frustration, heartache and anger I feel about many of the things I encounter in my job and see around the world that I am experiencing more of God and what it means to have a sense of ‘justice’.
Understanding this profoundly deepens the awareness that God has chosen humanity as his ‘agents’ in his world. The fate of the world, while it ultimately rests on his work for its final outcome, is in our hands as his representatives and ‘co-creators.’
The fact that I feel frustration, heartache and anger should compel me to act.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TEAR Fund NZ, Frank Ritchie. Frank Ritchie said: RT @TEARFundNZ: god acts http://bit.ly/9eBQ4Y [...]
true and well said. Heck, I’ll even throw in an ‘Amen’!
I’ll take that ‘Amen’ and raise you a ‘Hallelujah!’
ah cheesy Christian jokes… stop me now
“Will those who would like a cup of tea please put your hands down.”
I see that hand…
good article, and good link there. on a related note check out the ‘problem of pleasure’:
Atheists, etc claim “if a good, powerful God exists why is there so much suffering in the world?” and the theist replys “if the isn’t a good, powerful God then why is there so much pleasure, joy, beauty and love in the world?” If the world came to be in the process described by evolutionary biologists, then why do we feel the way we feel when we look at a sunrise for example? why do we even understand music as music and not just noise? (our auitory system is hardwired for music.)
I don’t think that either argument can be solved by the respective worldview but the arguments do seem to almost ‘cancel each other out’ in some way.
Hope this made sense, I’m home sick at the moment…
Thanks Kelvin,
Good thoughts. I think one of the things that helps me think clearly about it is to distinguish between God’s ‘having’ power and ‘using’ it. Some apparently want God to use his power in some kind of frankly manipulative, micromanaging way to ‘step in’ as it were and prevent everything from deepest pain to shallowest paper-cuts?
Also, it’s helpful for me to distinguish between the philosophical ‘problem of evil’ (or as you say, indeed, the ‘problem of good’), and on the other hand the pastoral problem of evil. I actually do think that God (in some sense) allowing evil can (rather easily and basically in my view?) be justified quite strongly philosophically – but it’s the pastoral aspect (our very real and human emotional response to the all-too-real presence of evil) that is most difficult.
This is where I find the person and work of Christ to be both philosophically and pastorally all sufficient for explaining and coping with evil – as well as summoning us to do something about it in his name!
Hope you get better,
-d-