It was good to have Pastor Jim Burgen back today, pumped from his summer retreat with a new series, “Made for More.” The text for the message was from Romans 1:18-20 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
We often have problems with God’s goodness because, “we want what we want when we want it.” We see God through human perspectives that are mostly taught to us by parents or life’s experiences. But God says, “If we really want to know Him, study nature.”
Jim used the analogy of training a wild mustang whose background one may not know. What fears does the horse have? What has been his experience with humans? Humans are not so different in that all our ideas are formed through training or experience. We see the world through those lenses.
But all of us can look at nature through the lens of a camera or the imagination of the scientists as they try to understand the organization of nature. I know that my background draws me to conclusions about God and His relevance to my life. Not everyone has my background so looking at nature may cause some resistance seeing a creator in it. Yet all of us, if we are to grow, must hold our opinions up to the light of new data to see if it has its own story to tell. The worst thing I can think of is talking about politics or religion if we are to make friends and influence people. Or, perhaps, reframing is necessary. If you talk about your faith and political opinions as if you know the whole truth about all topics and fail to let others have a voice or opinion, you will not have many friends. That is bad manners and arrogance.
Back to the horse. A good horse trainer may not be a horse whisperer, which tends to give it a mystical element. Instead, it is someone who respects the horse and knows that the horse needs to trust and respect them. That takes time, not magic, but there is a little bit of something else. Horses can pick up anxiety or fear in a person. They can also pick up calm authority. Next Sunday, there will be a wild mustang and a trainer on stage, and we can watch the process. Hope you will come or tune in online to Flatirons live on YouTube. My wife and I enjoy watching a Netflix series called Heartland. In almost every episode they show one of the characters named Amy, dealing with horses who have had bad experiences. Her patience and kindness never pushed the horse but slowly and gently showed the horse she is trustworthy and kind.
God pursues us in the same way. Some believers try to force faith, but God never does. He waits patiently for us to discover that He is faithful and true. Jim used the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15:11-12. This parable was taught by Jesus to show the great love the Father God has for all humanity. Like Amy or other horse trainers, God says, take another look at nature and see in it, a God who loves you and created something good for you. Yes, humans have often tried to thwart God’s plan through self-centered actions that hurt people. But God has given people the choice to follow His way or to go their own way. For the moment, forget Hell. Think about the consequences of your own selfish behavior in your present life. It might gain you wealth or power, but it will take your soul.
In the parable, one son concludes he has been so bad the Father will never receive him back as a son. The other brother concludes he is so good, he deserves all that the Father has. He has earned it. Both brothers have a wrong view of God. He gives freely and there is no way to earn the grace He offers. What He gives and withholds, is always so that we can have the best life ever. A life brimming over with joy and peace regardless of our physical circ*mstances.
Please come next Sunday to see the wild mustang and the trainer building trust in him. It will be amazing to watch and who knows, your perspective on God may change as well as you see nature in action. We meet at The Reel Mountain Theater at 11 a.m.
