The Two Letter Hinge
“Prosecutor, call your first witness…”
“Your honor, I’d like to call to the stand….God.”
The courtroom hushes in shock as a swirl of wind rustles through the courtroom, overturning chairs and upsetting the papers on the prosecutor’s desk. Even as the breeze dies down, there remains an unsettling magnetism or presence that can be felt throughout the room. Those in the gallery tuck their sweaters about them--more from disconcerted uneasiness than from chill. Slowly, a mist begins to materialize toward the front of the room. A thick, voluminous pillar of smoke seems to collect itself about the witness chair, appeasing the miniscule attorney before it.
Clearing his throat, the prosecutor begins, “Lord, if….”
* * *
What a fantastic spectacle such a trial would be! Indeed, CNN, NBC, and ABC would all send a dozen reporters to cover the event. Shops would close as spectators crowded the courtroom, peering in over shoulders from the hallways beyond, and spilling down the courthouse steps, hoping to catch a glimpse of the proceedings within.
“God on Trial” the headlines would read. Others might proclaim, “Answers At Last.” Certainly, you would have the world’s most well-known commentators on hand to discuss the phenomenon and the possible outcome. Hours of conjecture would fill the news hour as the court proceedings droned on.
The world would stop to listen to this challenge, this questioning of the God blamed for so many tragedies in our world, each attorney hoping to trap him in a carefully planned slew of queries.
As with most court proceedings, you wouldn’t hear much about his mending of the hearts broken by tragedy or of his selfless sacrifice on Calvary. You might not hear of the stripes he endured to save the world and you certainly wouldn’t catch a glimpse of him as a deliverer.
In our world’s mindset, you would hear about the death toll for some earthquake or tsunami. You might hear that over 60% of American marriages end in divorce or that the economy is failing across the world. Unfortunately, the news broadcasters wouldn’t admit that such storms are prophesied in scripture, thereby proving the truthfulness and validity of God’s Word. And you wouldn’t hear that over 95% of marriages that have failed lacked a consistent religious center.
In a world where “it simply cannot be my fault…it’s my mother, it’s my boss, it’s God, it’s the circumstance,” we can no longer see God as the miraculous healer, deliverer, savior, or comfort. He has become scapegoat and, therefore, our hearts can no longer trust in Him.
We have destroyed our Messiah. Understand, He is as strong as He ever was, but we have destroyed our ability to be touched by Him due to the poisoning of our minds. We have blamed Him for so much that we cannot trust Him, yet He remains the same. We have destroyed our Messiah in our lives!
As a teenager, there was a popular slogan that I recall vividly. T-shirts, bookbags, and posters read, “Question Authority.” It seemed the logical thing to do when it was proposed time and time again. How could you learn anything new, discover a new species, or invent a new gadget without questioning the old paths; unfortunately, such thinking spilled over into our faith as well.
We, as a society, have adopted a stance where we question God. We challenge His Word. We deny His ministers respect. And we set ourselves up as gods by proclaiming to know better than He how we should live in this modern age; how like Lucifer we have become.
“Your honor, I’d like to call to the stand….God.”
The courtroom hushes in shock as a swirl of wind rustles through the courtroom, overturning chairs and upsetting the papers on the prosecutor’s desk. Even as the breeze dies down, there remains an unsettling magnetism or presence that can be felt throughout the room. Those in the gallery tuck their sweaters about them--more from disconcerted uneasiness than from chill. Slowly, a mist begins to materialize toward the front of the room. A thick, voluminous pillar of smoke seems to collect itself about the witness chair, appeasing the miniscule attorney before it.
Clearing his throat, the prosecutor begins, “Lord, if….”
* * *
What a fantastic spectacle such a trial would be! Indeed, CNN, NBC, and ABC would all send a dozen reporters to cover the event. Shops would close as spectators crowded the courtroom, peering in over shoulders from the hallways beyond, and spilling down the courthouse steps, hoping to catch a glimpse of the proceedings within.
“God on Trial” the headlines would read. Others might proclaim, “Answers At Last.” Certainly, you would have the world’s most well-known commentators on hand to discuss the phenomenon and the possible outcome. Hours of conjecture would fill the news hour as the court proceedings droned on.
The world would stop to listen to this challenge, this questioning of the God blamed for so many tragedies in our world, each attorney hoping to trap him in a carefully planned slew of queries.
As with most court proceedings, you wouldn’t hear much about his mending of the hearts broken by tragedy or of his selfless sacrifice on Calvary. You might not hear of the stripes he endured to save the world and you certainly wouldn’t catch a glimpse of him as a deliverer.
In our world’s mindset, you would hear about the death toll for some earthquake or tsunami. You might hear that over 60% of American marriages end in divorce or that the economy is failing across the world. Unfortunately, the news broadcasters wouldn’t admit that such storms are prophesied in scripture, thereby proving the truthfulness and validity of God’s Word. And you wouldn’t hear that over 95% of marriages that have failed lacked a consistent religious center.
In a world where “it simply cannot be my fault…it’s my mother, it’s my boss, it’s God, it’s the circumstance,” we can no longer see God as the miraculous healer, deliverer, savior, or comfort. He has become scapegoat and, therefore, our hearts can no longer trust in Him.
We have destroyed our Messiah. Understand, He is as strong as He ever was, but we have destroyed our ability to be touched by Him due to the poisoning of our minds. We have blamed Him for so much that we cannot trust Him, yet He remains the same. We have destroyed our Messiah in our lives!
As a teenager, there was a popular slogan that I recall vividly. T-shirts, bookbags, and posters read, “Question Authority.” It seemed the logical thing to do when it was proposed time and time again. How could you learn anything new, discover a new species, or invent a new gadget without questioning the old paths; unfortunately, such thinking spilled over into our faith as well.
We, as a society, have adopted a stance where we question God. We challenge His Word. We deny His ministers respect. And we set ourselves up as gods by proclaiming to know better than He how we should live in this modern age; how like Lucifer we have become.
Indeed, such thinking is nothing new. Satan even offered such a stance to Adam and Eve, the first created humans, when he tempted them with the forbidden fruit. In Genesis 3:5, he proposed, “Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
The Almighty ‘If’
Many of us would never think to blatantly compare ourselves to God or admit to putting God on trial, but would we recognize the symptoms?
In scripture, we find a young woman who knew the earthly manifestation of God personally. Jesus was often in her home and was considered a close friend of her, her sister, and her brother. Martha would have never dreamed of putting God on the witness stand, and yet, in her time of desperation, she did.
Following the untimely death of her brother, Lazarus, Martha forgot hospitality and manners. Despite Jesus’ tears over the death of Lazarus, she could not bring herself to welcome him.
Instead, as he neared her home, her first words were, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”
While we would often validate her, saying she was grieved, the fact is that she lifted herself to the position where she questioned God. She thought she knew better than He did, remonstrating Him for not arriving sooner.
Notice, however, how her accusations limited Him. Because she blamed Him for her brother’s death, she failed to see Him as the resurrection and the life.
He was her miracle but she couldn’t see it because she viewed Him as the problem.
Thankfully, God in His mercy still raised Lazarus from the dead.
Isn’t it a wonderful thing that our God, in spite of our foolish visions of self-validation, is a merciful and loving Savior.
And even though Adam and Eve failed, God still redeemed humanity and reconciled us back to Himself.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “ Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
Just realize, that not only do our words and thoughts affect others’ but they can mean our salvation or our destruction.
We are closing the doors on our own miracles, our own healings, our own deliverance.
Who is God to you?
* Is He your rock of offense and stumbling stone… or is He your foundation and cornerstone?
* Is He your scapegoat…or is he the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world?
Praise God for His mercy and understanding. Let us adopt His heart….rather than that of His accuser.
“For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:21).
Although God will never truly be put on trial of man, we may someday. Will we be able to endure such criticism with such grace and forgiveness?
