Pastor’s Pen | June 2023

On Pentecost Sunday, we named before God the nations of the world, pleading for mercy and healing for those places and peoples torn by ancient animosities or terrorized by new fears. We prayed for those devastated by drought or disease; those crushed by poverty, oppression, or war; and those drunk with power, wealth, or greed. It was a powerful experience that drew out the Spirit’s activity in surprising and unexpected ways on this festival Sunday. Our praying drew out the lament and complaint in one of our members: “When is God going to show up?” Our friend in Christ honestly asked this question in the middle of worship.  

 So, we paused the order of worship to briefly explore this question together. It wasn’t a planned conversation, but what I witnessed was a community willing to engage one of the most challenging questions that has rippled throughout human history:  
 
“God, when are you going to show up?”  

This, beloved ones, is a faithful question. We observe it across the Biblical story:  

-The Israelites wandering in the wilderness wonder if God sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt and into death. (Exodus 16) 

-The Psalmist cries out to God for deliverance and wonders if God has abandoned him (Psalm 88) 

-Job desires to put God on trial and hold God accountable for the loss and destruction of his life. (Job) 

-Jesus, from the cross cries out to God: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27) 

As people of faith, we affirm the experience of loss and longing in our lives and in the life of the world. If we don’t, then faith becomes this pie-in-the-sky idealism devoid of what’s real about living a human life in a broken world. Praying for God to show up is a faithful response to a world filled with sorrow and suffering. Praying for God to show up emphasizes the paradox of faith: Faith is holding onto God with one hand and shaking our fists at God with the other. Faith is about not letting God off the hook for one minute and staying in a relationship with God.  
 
Faith is paradoxical. It simultaneously holds us and calls us to live in the unresolved with hope. Faith is a conviction that against a great wealth of data, God is tenacious and persistent in ending the deathliness of the world. God intends goodness, joy, and peace in this world. At the end of our conversation in worship, Harry Vaughan reminded us of the words of the prophet Samuel: “Here I am, Lord.” 

Indeed, here we are, Lord. Send us. With our paradoxical faith, send us so that your goodness, joy, and peace flourish in this broken world.  

Keep the faith, beloved ones, trusting that it is faith which keeps you. 

Peace, 

Pastor Beth Gallen