God in the Hands of Angry Sinners

Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” set a very poor direction for much of Christianity in the Colonies. His Puritan tradition presented God as an essentially angry deity whose desire was to condemn and torture. Grace or mercy existed simply in regard to how long God waited until calling down judgment upon sinners.

That is not good news. It never was. Such is not the message of Jesus whom the gospel writers claim as good news. They echo the words of the celestial messengers declaring Jesus’ birth as good news of great joy to all peoples. Rather than look to Jesus as the clearest example of God’s identity, character, and will, that tradition surrounding Edwards began with an altogether different understanding that could not account for what Jesus actually taught. The Puritan perspective began with angry sinners and projected that upon God.

Anger begins with fear, uncertainty, discomfort, and the inability to control one’s environment, others, or even oneself. Anger is the product of our inability to exert our will upon others, to have them behave according to our expectations, to force compliance, to allay our insecurities. Such is not God as Jesus presented. Rather, that is the manner of human beings. Our insecurities translate into fear that leads to anger. It is from that anger that we lash out at the world around us. It is our defense mechanism to take our angst and cast it outward. We project our insecurities upon others and attempt to control them.

Some have expressed this as, “Angry people want you to see how powerful they are.” The flip side of that is that angry people are expressing their lack of power, their inability to control, the break down of their expectations which display their inadequacies to exert power.

Characterizing God as angry is a declaration that God lacks control. It projects human insecurities upon God. It is not God who is angry. Rather, it is angry humanity that has twisted its understanding of God to conform to its own likeness.

I had occasion to experience several people expressing their anger in public meetings recently. Their anger was an attempt to exert control over others in the room who were not following through on their expectations. Their anger was their response to a perceived loss of the power they expected to have over others around them.

Jesus presented a very different portrait of God. He presented God as a loving Father whose only desire was to embrace those who had strayed from life’s better path. He presented God as loving the lost son to the point of brushing aside any plea for forgiveness to welcome him home, restoring him to his place of belonging. Jesus presented God as overly abounding in love, grace, mercy, and compassion, not as one who is led by anger, fear, intimidation, insecurity, or any lack of control. Jesus presented God as one who is not trying to control and manipulate others. Rather than controlling, God’s way is to love us onto the paths of justice, rightness, and community.

This is the God of the abundant life Jesus preached. We angry sinners have done much to twist God into the image of our insecurities. In presenting God in our own character, we have made God completely unrecognizable as the good news Jesus proclaimed.



— ©Copyright 2024, Christopher B. Harbin 



http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

False Accusations

Image
The religious community around Jesus had no kind words about sectors of society. They were certain Torah provided full justification for blanket condemnation of Samaritans, tax collectors, and a women caught in adultery and thrown at Jesus’ feet. Jesus embraced them with no condemnation. They were so sure Jesus was a threat. They were seeking any means of silencing him. They were not above false accusations or paying people to lie about Jesus’ supposed breaches of law. The accusations did not hold up to scrutiny. I’ve been to numerous drag shows at East Frank. I’ve been to drag story hour. I’ve developed relationships with many among the clientele at East Frank, with drag performers, with queer people around us, and others who support this community. I have also heard all sorts of accusations tossed out against them. None of the accusations stands up to scrutiny. I’ve seen videos merging clips from adult drag shows with scenes from East Frank. I’ve heard and s
Read more

Something More Important

Image
I was given a new title recently. It was not one I had ever expected to receive. I’ve had lots of titles over the years. I’ve been minister of music. I’ve been evangelism director. I’ve been Sunday school teacher. I’ve been summer missionary. I’ve been youth leader. I’ve been seminarian. I’ve been church planter. I’ve been pastor. I’ve been professor. I’ve been missionary. I’ve been guest lecturer. I’ve been interpreter. Over the years, I have been licensed to preach twice. I’ve been ordained. I’ve been commissioned six times. I’m currently in the process of having my ordination recognized by another denomination. While I have embraced those events setting me apart for Christian service, I can’t say any of those events quite measure up to the new title I was recently given. A couple of weeks ago, I was at a family-friendly drag show. It was not the first time. Since helping Union County, NC host its first Pride festival last year, I have been around a company of drag que
Read more

The Gospel Is Not Conservative

Image
Fundamentalism and conservativism are intrinsically averse to change. They are tied with conserving a status quo or moving back to a former era. They seek a safe place, a respite from change and transformation in the world around them. They are threatened by new ideas. They fear that the foundations on which they base their lives will be uprooted, causing their view of reality to fall apart. Growth depends on change. Life requires change. Survival depends on responding to changes in our environment. It requires new ideas. It requires new answers to old questions, as well as new questions with even newer answers. Jesus was by no means conservative. Jesus challenged the status quo. He fought against the groundwork of much of the religious thought around him, as well as the structures erected to empower its values. He called out those who benefited from social, religious, and political power. He demonstrated God's love, forgiveness and grace to those deemed una
Read more