Thought for Today
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth
Psalm 62:7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
Luke 24:18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" 19 He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
In my first systematic theology class, the professor was fond of reminding us that “God can do anything except not be God.” At the time, I found that saying extremely annoying. I found it smashing up against the rock of omnipotence. If God is omnipotent, God is all powerful and can do anything.
I’m now older if not wiser. I can see the paradox in her statement. I am no less convinced of God’s omnipotence. I’m equally convinced of God’s immutability and reliability. Maybe, age has made me aware that God is the God of paradoxes. There is truth in the idea that all foods which taste good are either bad for me or fattening . . . usually both. There is truth in recognizing that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.
As a creature, as one created by our Creator God, I am fully aware of the limitations of my creature status. How can a finite, temporal creature understand an eternal, omnipotent Creator? In fact, God is not merely, God exists outside of time itself. That is the reality and the meaning of Genesis 1:1. Implicit in that verse is the fact that God created time. How in the world can I begin to conceive of that? The psalmist captured my limitations and my wonder very well in Psalm 8, “3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? 5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet . . . “
If I continue my theme of thanksgiving from the last 2 days, how does any of this play out in tomorrow’s celebrations? Maybe tomorrow, during all the food and football, all the celebrations and festivities, we should take time to thank God for always being God. It is fine and proper to thank God for our safety, our security, our prosperity. But, underlying all of that, behind everything in Creation, there is the wonder that God always has been God; God always is God; God always will be God. Behind all of our technology, all of our modern advancements, even behind our latest obsession with AI is the fact that there is nothing artificial in any of it. Behind it all is God. God set everything in motion . . . everything . . . not with AI, not with astrophysics or any other science (all of which are dependent on God’s Creation) simply by saying “Let there be . . . ”
The theme song for the 2009 TV hit series “The Golden Girls” was “Thank You for Being a Friend.” It was a cover of the 1978 Andrew Gold release of the same title. I don’t suspect that it was written or recorded as a hymn, but look at the words of the first verses, “Thank you for being a friend/Traveled down the road and back again/
Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant/I'm not ashamed to say/I hope it always will stay this way/My hat is off, won't you stand up and take a bow?”
That is not exactly how I would phrase my thanks to God for being God; but, the words seem especially applicable to me now. God has traveled with me down the road of my life. God is not just mindful of me, God has blessed and graced me with a wonderful family, a wonderful family of faith, a truly awesome role in retirement. God is always right there beside me when I need to talk, or even need to vent over anything. God is truly my confidant and friend. Enough so to have sent God’s Son so that I may have eternal life.
Tomorrow is my time to say to God, “Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for being my Lord. Thank you for life itself and for all you have given me. Thank you for always being God.”
Stay safe, trust God,
Pastor Ray