Newsletter:
Vol. 5. Iss. 1
8 October2003
Sin-Sick Soul
Rev. Jenny Schroeder
Deuteronomy 7:1-2
Joshua 10:40-42
Many of you expressed concern for my safety during my sabbatical
to Israel. I assured you that I didn’t care what happened so long as I had
a good story to tell when I returned. After the 10-day fact finding mission
with The Society for Biblical Studies I went to my friend Kathy’s near Beer
Sheva for the rest of the month.
The next to the last night in Israel I could not sleep. Finally, I started
thinking about what I had seen and heard on the study tour of my sabbatical.
I was spiritually sick from what I had seen and heard. I acknowledged that
I did not like the things I had heard said in God’s name.
Christians who believe their set of beliefs are the only way
to God: all other ways lead to hell. They alone are the chosen. Christians
who encourage Israelis to harm Arabs so that the rapture will come sooner.
The stories of injustice I heard were heart rendering. Women in green who
believe the land was vacant of people before the settlers came in the 1920’s
and that they alone deserve the land. Who believe they will only be safe if
all Arabs are kicked out of the state of Israel. Settlers who believe that
God has given the land of Israel to them and to them alone. That God will
be happy when all the Arabs are expelled from the land. It was named that
in the Bible, as in our scriptures for this morning, God demands genocide.
I had been feeling discomfort over these ideas about God, but it had been
easier to be sick and sleep away two weeks rather than to look directly at
these ideas about God. Finally, I struggled with “Who is God?” I finally struggled
with these thoughts, these ideas about God.
I asked, Is this who God is? Do I want to worship such a God? Do I want to
WORK as a pastor for such a God? Do I want to have anything to do with God?
And God gave me a poem. It expresses my understanding of who God is and what
God is all about. The title is:
My Dad’s Bigger than Your Dad:
The Ultimate
My dad’s bigger than your dad.
My dad can lick your dad.
My dad’s smarter than your dad.
My dad’s richer than your dad.
My dad’s more powerful than your dad.
Do you remember those boasts from childhood? We were so proud.
We were so sure. We felt secure in our Dad’s superiority. We felt safe. Didn’t
we?
Well, we’ve grown up. Most of us. We know that our dads are human. That they
have their limitations. As do we.
But still we want that security, that feeling of being safe. How can I be
secure if my dad isn’t stronger than your dad?
Ah, yes. There is the Ultimate. The Ultimate in safety and security. It is
God. So now, it’s not “My dad is bigger than your dad,” But rather, it is
“My God is bigger than your God.”
My God can lick your God. My God’s smarter than your God. My God’s more powerful
than your God. My God’s going to kill all your God’s followers. My God is
going to make me rich and you poor.
Is that the Ultimate God? Is that the God who gives me security? Safety? Is
that the God I want to worship, to serve, to work for? Was this the God of
Jesus? Was this the God that Jesus called “Father?” What did Jesus say? Jesus
said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, To proclaim
the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4
Jesus said, “He who would become greatest, must become least. Who is my God?
Who is the ultimate God, for me? It is the God of the prophets who proclaims:
“Let justice roll down like waters, And righteousness like an everflowing
stream.” Amos 5:24
It is the God of the prophets who proclaims: “He has told you, O mortal, what
is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
It is the God of the prophets who proclaims: “I shall judge between the nations,
And shall arbitrate for many peoples; They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, Neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah 2:4
It is the God of Jesus, who proclaims: “I was hungry and you fed me. … When
you did it to the least of these, you did it onto me.” Matthew 25:34-40
My God is a loving God.
My God is a kind God.
My God is a compassionate God.
My God is a just God.
My God is the Ultimate.
This is the God whom I worship and desire to serve. Not only had I been physically
sick the last two weeks. I was also spiritually sick from what I had seen
and heard. My soul was sin-sick. But now I could reclaim my understanding
of God. I could proclaim the God I worship, I serve, I work for.
Arabic, “Allah ham du la le.” God be praised! Amen.
The Rev. Jenny Schroeder, from Mt. Hope, WI, traveled with
S.B.S. to Greece in February and on the August fact finding mission.
