The True God
March 2006
From today's first reading - `All the leaders of Judah, the priests and the people too, added infidelity to infidelity, they ridiculed the messengers of God, they despised his words, they laughed at his prophets, until God's wrath with his people became so fierce that there was no further remedy. So against them he summoned the king of the Chaldaeans and he put their young men to the sword within the very building of their Temple, not sparing young man or girl, or the old and infirm; he put them all at his mercy. All the things belonging to the Temple of God, whether large or small, the treasures of the Temple of God, the treasures of the king and his officials, everything he took to Babylon. He burned down the temple of God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces to the ground and destroyed everything of value in it. And those who had escaped the sword he deported to Babylon, where they were enslaved by him and his descendants
From todays second reading; -'God, being rich in faithful love, through the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, brought us to life with Christ - it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit.'
Anyone reading today's readings would say that they are about two completely different Gods. One is cruel, vengeful and punishes disobedience with death or slavery. He can be generous, but grudgingly, and only for a life of obedient service. The other is loving, compassionate, forgives those who oppose and hate him even while they still hate and oppose Him. He gives freely to everyone, even to his enemies.
Today's readings are in fact about two totally different Gods.
The first (and most common) is a figment of the imagination of people who think that God must be like them, i.e.. gives in to anger, seeks vengeance, is strict and unforgiving, is mean, reluctantly rewards those who show total obedience to His wishes and quickly consigns the disobedient to eternal fire. The second is the True God - the God we find it so hard to believe in or accept. Only people who have learned to love can believe in a loving God. Only people who have learned to forgive can believe in a forgiving God. Only people who are compassionate can believe in a compassionate God. Only generous people who can give freely can believe in a generous God who lavishes his gifts even on those who dislike and ignore him.
When reading the Bible it is important to realise that quite often what we read reveals the attitude of the author to God, rather than what God is truly like.