When it Seems like Jesus is Sleeping
Sometimes it feels like Jesus is sleeping through our trials - Canon Maclean succintly writes on this topic and how God is not silent in the way we think he is.
We do not hear much from Job in our Sunday Lectionary, which is a shame, as it is a wonderfully thought-provoking book. It explores in great detail the relationship between God and ourselves, but comes up with as many (if not more) questions than answers. One of the big questions in the Book of Job, which is also reflected in the question asked by the apostles to Jesus in the storm on the lake, is: “Does God care?”
In the world of suffering and pain that Job finds himself in, the classic answer was that he must have sinned, and sinned greatly, to be in the position he has ended up in. But that is not the case. Although Job has sinned in the past, he has been forgiven by God for all his sins. As he points out, the sinners so often seem to get away with it. Job gets to the point of asking whether God is willing to hear his cries of pain, and whether God is going to do anything about it. God’s silence is deafening.
We could quickly and easily counter that by saying that God cares for us so much that He created us, formed us in his image, sent His Son to be one of us, to die on the cross to redeem us and cancel our sins, and to rise from the dead, opening the way to eternal life. That, surely, is how much God cares. But the question remains. As in the case of Job, so too in the case of any parent who has lost a child, or a person who has lost everything in a flood, or who has had a life of chronic pain or mental illness. The question “why are you doing this to me?” is very real. The answer is not so simple.
Job finds, through his suffering, that it is a way into a deeper relationship with God. At the beginning his theology was much like that of his friends. But when faced with a logical crisis, when his way of thinking was clearly not producing the answer he was expecting, he could no longer fit God into the tidy box he had made for him. God was showing Job, through his pain, some truths he had never grasped before (up to that point he hadn’t needed to). He had to expand his mind to see what God was doing with him. And through the suffering he was able to see a new horizon. God knows what He is doing; He has a purpose for your pain that you can’t see yet. You have to trust that God has it all in hand, and you will see that clearly in eternity.
It is also important, briefly, to mention that Satan has a part to play. If Satan causes suffering in us, his purpose is to tear us away from God. And when we are in the midst of a crisis, if we are not strong enough, he will succeed. In the case of Job, Satan would use Job’s pain and God’s silence to drive a wedge between them, casting doubt in Job’s mind that God was there for him, that God cared about him.
When St. Mark wrote his Gospel, there was a lot of persecution in the Early Church. Emperor Nero was ruling in Rome, and there was a lot of unrest in Palestine, which would result in the Jewish War, and finally the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. The questions of “Does God care about us?” would have been real and frequent.
And today we have the same questions. Here we are in the midst of a global pandemic, millions of people have died of Covid; more have been bereaved, even more have been sicker that they could have feared, and the rest of us have had to struggle with the financial, societal, and mental health impact of the lockdowns. Even with the amazingly quick and skilful research on the vaccines, we are not out of the woods yet. It has certainly affected us all, and there are times when we too might have felt that Jesus is asleep in the bow of the boat while we are scrambling about trying to stay afloat. What is God doing about this? Does he care? When is Jesus going to wake up and calm the waves, and get us back to normal again?
It is easy to say, when all is well, and the sun is shining, that God is there for us, watching over us, making sure that we are OK, and spilling His overabundant love on us, but often, especially when the skies are darker, the waves are coming over the sides and the boat is getting inundated, God seems more distant (and deaf). On these occasions the answers are always more elusive.
Do we have to change our perspective, just as Job did, just as St. Paul did, so that we can see more of God’s plans on His terms rather than our own? We all have suffering of different sorts in our lives. Are we just going to throw in the towel and go in a huff when things do not go our way? Or do we explore the possibility that God is leading us into the pain and the darkness. And why would he do a thing like that? Because He wants to strengthen us before Satan tries the same trick, but the difference is that God walks alongside us, carries us even, when we are in that bleak place; Satan just leaves us alone and mocks us. In those times (and we do not know when the next one will be, or how deep or long it will be) we know we are not alone in there, even though it feels like it. Our faith teaches us that, as St. Paul says, “suffering brings patience, patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope. And hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts.” (Rom 5:4-5).
Canon Maclean
Later today I will be sending you a rare treat - the beggining of our new section - St Cumin’s Return which will contain the Rosary in Scots, text for you to follow and a video package of the rosary being said alongside images from Scotland’s Churches. As time goes on we will do this in Gaelic and in addtion will produce prayer cards and other devotional items in Scots and Gaelic. This latest project fits very much in line with one aspect of this publications purpose - revealing our history that can help strengthen us today. It is not just about information but also formation of heart. I can’t wait to send it to you!
Saint Moluag
Our patron’s feast day is coming up on the 25th of June. Below is a video about the man who crossed the Irish Sea and evangelised across Scotland at the same time as St Columba.