Planting Peace—Not Fear
by Colette Carr | 17 May 2024 |
Loren Seibold’s article about the eclipse a few weeks back set me thinking: why do so many of us keep waiting for God to do something sensational? Why do we look for God in extraordinary things?
God’s ways are not ours—and that’s very obvious as we read of God’s interactions with people in the Bible.
Nineveh
After predicting Nineveh’s destruction, Jonah is quite disappointed that God doesn’t strike all the Ninevites dead. He wanted to see fireballs falling from the sky.
Traditionally, Adventists have enjoyed making exciting predictions about the future that instill fear. Like Jonah, some of us talk as though we’d like to see fireballs—especially if we had predicted them! And since we know more than anyone else, others obviously have to join us.
We preach that “the love of God banishes all fear.” Why, then, are we so eager to describe a fearful future? Every natural catastrophe, every election, we take as an opportunity to say that something terrible is about to happen. Perhaps we make predictions in the hope that one will turn out to be accurate?
If we were honest, we’d admit we, more than God, want sinners to get what they deserve. We want to be able to say: “See? We told you so! God agrees with us!”
But, as with Jonah, while predicting destruction God responds with patience, understanding, and forgiveness.
Change of heart
When we predict frightening end-time events, we should realize that we are the ones who need a change of heart. We need to see God’s profound love for all human beings, whether we think they are wicked or not. Our hearts should break at the idea of anyone being lost.
If we truly want our hearts to be like God’s, we would ask God to help us love every single person sincerely and entirely, wherever they are in life’s journey. That’s what God does.
The father didn’t send his prodigal son to work in the fields with the servants, even though that’s what the young man asked for, and what his older brother wanted to see happen. Can’t you just imagine the sense of self-righteousness and superiority the older son would have felt then? Can we picture his subtle smirk as he walked by his miserable younger brother—he in his clean and rich clothing, his brother a mere hired hand?
It’s not a pretty picture. Yet the eagerness with which we talk about end-time destruction forces God into this ugly role.
Just remember: God will never do anything against God’s heart. The truth is that God is just as patient with us and our self-righteousness as with every other sinner.
God works in secret
One of the most beautiful Old Testament stories is about God’s interaction with Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11-13:
Then God said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
God is not found in the hurricane that shatters the rocks, nor the earthquake that destroys and brings chaos, nor the fire that wipes out everything in its wake. God is in a quiet whisper, a small voice, a gentle breath.
Many other metaphors describe God’s reign similarly. Jesus says that God’s kingdom is like a seed in the ground, the yeast in a ball of dough, salt in a dish—all things that become invisible while they are doing their job! God loves to work incognito through people who are not proclaiming God’s wrath and judgment, but working secretly and quietly for God while acting justly, walking humbly, and loving mercy.
God’s kingdom is also light—something that is not hidden—and it gives life and helps people, not blinding people with fear and anger.
And please remember that when it was time to enter our world directly, how did God choose to come? As a baby, hidden in a young girl’s body, among an insignificant and occupied people.
Once again, in quietness. In secret.
But let’s not be fooled. In secret and quietly doesn’t mean cowardly or inefficiently. There was certainly no cowardice in Jesus. Looking back at history, who can deny the impact of his life on the world? Christianity’s history took many ugly detours, but the truth of God’s love and patience always pulled through, and always will.
Please, change our hearts
Unlike the message conveyed in our angry eschatology, God does not want sinners to die. If so, we would all be long gone. God is slow to anger. We are not. The least we should do is recognize this and ask God, our divine parent, to change our hearts.
God will never be pushed to strike out in anger. By anyone. God is patiently waiting for our hearts to become as patient, as loving, and as transforming as God’s own.
That’s the only sort of fireballs God wants to send into the world: fireballs of kindness, patience, and love. And not just one. Billions of them. Kindness in whoever is truly welcoming, in Ezekiel’s words, a heart of flesh.
That’s what Jesus prayed for when he said “May Your Kingdom come.” God’s reign of love, in our lives, today and tomorrow—that’s the Kingdom of God.
I’m not saying that God doesn’t ever do anything sensational. I believe it is sensational when God repairs relationships and transforms hearts. These miracles won’t be on television or make the front page of the newspaper, but they are happening. All the time. Everywhere.
“I have a complaint”
Perhaps it’s time we Adventists set aside our expectations of God’s revenge, and replace them with positive events. Let’s talk about the beautiful vision and reality of the Kingdom of God here and now. We too often assume that God’s Kingdom is only in the future, when Jesus returns.
But that’s not true. The seed and yeast metaphors attest that God is at work in the world now. Along with Jesus, let’s pray for and preach this reign of God, the kingdom where all God’s children can become one.
The following comment (from Gareth Higgins & Brian D. McLaren’s The Seventh Story – Us, Them, & the End of Violence) made me smile.
As Rabbi Michael Lerner says, Martin Luther King is not known for a speech entitled “I have a complaint.” Of course, he spoke against the injustices of his time (chief among them what he called the evil triplets of racism, militarism, and materialism), but he also outlined a vision to overcome them (pp. 127-128).
The authors continue:
The threat of the world today is lied about every time you open your computer or switch on your phone. Terror lives in your pocket, on a device that does not differentiate between wisdom, information, propaganda, and deceit. The good news is that you can learn more than ever before, connect quicker, and heal yourself…. The challenge – and the invitation – is that you need to learn how to edit what you’re seeing. No one else will do that for you; indeed, it is in the interests of the military-industrial-entertainment-gossip complex that you stay unconscious, and click on as many links as possible (p. 130).
Abbé Pierre, a French priest who dedicated his life to the poor, the homeless, and the refugees once said:
What’s bad and what’s wrong exercises more attraction than the good. That’s understandable, but it poses a clear problem to society: by always hearing about what’s bad, we end up forgetting that everywhere, the forces of good are at work. Yet, these manifestations of the goodness of humanity need also to be broadcast: they would have a tremendous traction, because example is contagious.
That is to say, it is better to talk about God than the devil.
Planting flowers
At the beginning of the year, I saw a cartoon that stuck with me. It depicted a worried man asking his gardener friend if she was afraid of what this new year would bring as, according to him and many others, the world was going crazy. To which she answered: “I think it will bring me flowers.” Surprised, her friend replied: “Really? Why?” “Because I planted flowers.”
Simple equation. Logical.
Let’s follow her example. Let’s stop spreading anxiety, despair and craziness. Let’s plant hope, trust and faith rooted deeply in a good and loving God. If we do that, we will be peace makers, not fear spreaders.
These ideas will surely bloom like flowers in a starving and parched world.
Why?
Because God promises to water them.
Colette Carr writes from Anchorage, where she enjoys the many faces of Alaska. Among many other creative and educational activities, she translates articles from English to French for Adventist Today, and she has a special request: would you share this link with all French-speaking people you know? We would love to grow the group of our French readers. Merci!
