Current Thoughts

Something to Celebrate this Christmas?

What do Christmas and a soldier’s funeral in Virden have to do with one another? Despite my anxiety because I run the risk of being misunderstood because I cannot express myself clearly, I still feel compelled to make the attempt.

I think the first Bible verse I memorized was John 3:16 – For God so loved the world (“cosmos”) that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Yes, I know the language is archaic, but that is the way I memorized it.) Later I would learn verse 17, which is an important continuation: For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

From this (and many other biblical references) God’s intent is salvation, not destruction. That divine intent is rooted in God’s love for everything in the universe. God’s love “invaded” creation at a stable in Bethlehem 2000 years ago and was incarnated in Christ. That is the basis for the Christmas season, and is worthy of celebration and wonder for Christ humbled himself.... (Philippians 2:6-11)

However, the Manger, on its own, leaves us with an incomplete understanding of the magnitude and consequences of God’s love. Golgotha always looms behind that Bethlehem hillside. The extent of God’s love was dramatized when the appealing newborn in the Manger became the appalling corpse on the Cross. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Let’s be honest. If we were God our response to such a brutal rejection of our loving initiative would have been swift. “Shock and awe” would not be an adequate description. Humanity would have been obliterated.

But – thanks be to God – God’s love is more persistent than the human version. Triune love trumped our rejection and reached into that stone-cold Tomb. The one who had been delivered over to death for our sins was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:25) Thus the hope that had been promised in Bethlehem was made plain by the Empty Tomb.

The full sequence – Bethlehem, Golgotha, Empty Tomb – paints a dynamic picture of divine love that persists to bring reality to the hope of eternal life. No wonder we can sing “Joy to the World.”

So, I am in the midst of this celebration that God had loved me, even when I was ungodly and unlovable, when I read an irritating story in the newspaper. Rev. Fred Phelps (and followers) planned to “crash” a memorial service for Staff St. Gary Harper (of Virden) who had been killed in Iraq. Phelps put out a flier that said “God Almighty killed Staff Sgt. Harper.” Clearly, Phelps blames just about every American tragedy (both personal and communal) on God’s unambiguous judgment against the United States as a “sodomite nation cursed by God.” In other settings Phelps has said “God hates fags.” I don’t know Sgt. Harper or his family, and don’t know if Phelps was implying that he was gay or simply murdered by God because he was associated with the United States.

As a Christian, I am persuaded that there is much about the United States of America that warrants divine judgment. (Everyone should probably be glad that I am not god.) I am also resolved that sexual practices outside heterosexual marriage are immoral. But I still have problems with messages about divine hate directed toward individuals because those messages are not consistent with the picture of God I see revealed in Scripture.

Checking my NIV Topical Bible, I find nearly 200 entries under “God – love of.” There is no similar entry for “God – hate of.” Looking under simply “hate/hatred,” I found 19 entries. All were about human hatred either toward one another or toward God. Galatians 5:19-21 identifies “hatred” as one of the acts of the sinful nature … (and) … that those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Not to be deterred, I checked my Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (which uses the original Greek). I found more help there. There is a short entry that begins “The OT concept of God includes the fact that God can and does hate.” There are two general categories of things that God hates: 1) idolatry or false worship, and 2) evil and evil acts.

Then I went to my concordance. It seems that God’s hatred is focused on human behaviors. For example, Proverbs 6:16. There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. I am hard-pressed to find explicit references to God’s unmitigated hatred of any individual.

Make no mistake. I am not advocating a naïve universalism. God’s judgment is certain and it is real. Each of us makes choices in life with eternal consequences. Confession and repentance are essential. But the mystery of divine love is most glaring in the face of judgment. I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:31) The incredible paradox is that even in judgment, God loves us. I can’t do that. It is the mystery at the heart of God. For God “hate the sin, love the sinner” is not some meaningless platitude that dismisses either sin or sinner.

The Christ who was born at Christmas, and spoke from the Cross “Father forgive them,” would not crash a memorial service to announce “I hated Sgt. Harper, and so I killed him.” If God is like that, then I can’t be sure that God doesn’t hate me. And I have nothing to celebrate this Christmas.

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