A Thought For The Week Of February 12, 2018

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" (Psalm 139:7) Over the last few days, since the horrible school shooting in Florida, I have seen a number of people posting variations on the idea that the shooting happened because God is no longer allowed in schools. I'm not going to take time here to talk about the politics of gun control or even about the specifics about what happened in Parkland. There are other, more appropriate forums for that. I do, however, want to think a bit about the theology behind such statements. What do they say about God? Or, more accurately, what do they say about what the people who post them believe about God? Can God really be removed from schools (or, for that matter, from any place else)? Is God not everywhere? Can we simply tell God that he's not welcome and force God to go away? What a strange understanding of God that is. It seems to suggest that we are more powerful than God; that God is weak and totally dependent on us to be able to do anything. Is this God who depends on us the God that any of us have committed our lives to? The strangest part of it is that those who say such things are usually among those who are the most vocal about their faith and the most in-your-face with those who believe differently than they do. They will profess the power and strength of their God, and then inexplicably say that God is so weak that we can easily remove God whenever we choose. Well, we certainly have the ability to believe or not to believe in God. You might say that's a God-given right. But even if a person chooses not to believe that person hasn't "removed" God from their life. God can be ignored or denied, but not removed. God is always present, always active, and always reaching out. That doesn't mean that everything will always be good, but it does mean that even when things aren't good, God will be there. The psalmist asked "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" The question was rhetorical. As you read Psalm 139 you discover that the psalmist gives the answer to his question: there is nowhere we can go to flee from God's presence. There is no place or situation where God is not present. God is always with us. In the Parkland school situation, God was present. People gave their lives protecting children - and is that not the classic example of the agape love Jesus spoke of in John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." Even in Parkdale, God was present and God's love was revealed in those acts of self-sacrifice. If we can remove God as easily as some people say, then God isn't much of a God. We simply need to look (no matter what is happening) and we will see the presence of God - a God who is everywhere, and a God who will not leave or be driven away. My God is far too strong to be removed by us from schools or anywhere else.