Why, Why , Why?

In my talks recently, I have been considering what God is like.  I have intentionally been balancing his love and justice.  Justice is love!  My girls tell me that their mother’s strong, clear convictions have always made them feel safe.  They know where they stand, even when they have been on the end of her justice. Advent –  “the coming” – leads up to Christmas with the promise of God’s son coming as saviour. That is love!  But Advent also prefigures the second coming of Jesus as rightful judge. That’s justice!  In Advent we see love and justice hand in hand.This Advent we are going to consider some of the reasons Jesus came.  What is God like and what has he sent Jesus to do? ‘Why?’ Is a very western question but not a very biblical one.  God’s word shows little interest in why this or that happened.  God is much more interested in ‘what’ – in light of this or that, what is your response?  Especially, what is your response to God? Psalm 13 starts, “How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?” David, the author, has three whys?Why can’t I find God in these troubles? Why is God putting me through this anguish and sadness?  And why are my enemies winning all the time? God answers none of them. Contending with God is a battle of the mind and if we make it about ‘why?’ it is a recipe for disaster.  “This is so unfair, who does God think he is, I don’t deserve this, how dare you presume to know what it’s like being me, I deserve an answer?” David looks to God to open his eyes [v3].  When he does this he draws on what he knows God is like – self sacrificially loving and endlessly just.  So David’s response – his ‘what?’ – in the situation is [v5]; “I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation”. As we look at some of the reasons Jesus came to earth, it is my prayer that your confidence in God’s love and justice will grow more and more.  Like me you may discover that the only person to whom he seems truly unfair, withholding love and treating unjustly, is his very own son.  Now ‘why’ might that be? BlessingsMalcolm