Unknown God

PHOTO: Mary van Balen But now ask the beasts to teach you,/ the birds of the air to tell you;/Or speak to the earth to instruct you,/ and the fish of the sea to inform you./Which of these does not know/that the hand of God has done this? Job 12. 7-9 from Morning Prayer

Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines I even discovered an altar inscribed “To an Unknown God.” What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in the sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is God served by human hands because God needs anything. Rather it is God who gives everyone life and breath and everything…though indeed God is not far from any of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’ Acts 17.22-25, 27b-28

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” Jn 16. 12-13a

The Athenians knew that something, some divinity existed that they could not know. As the author of Job states, even the earth and what fills it proclaims a God who gives life to all things.

Paul told the Athenians he knew who they were worshiping when they prayed at the shrine to the unknown God: It is the God revealed by Jesus, it is Jesus Christ who died and rose again. Some Athenians were put off by the thought of life after death, but others desired to hear more.

Paul had a message to proclaim. Jesus revealed the face of God to humankind. But, a difference exists between knowing God and understanding God. Sometimes we are tempted to think that we know more than we do about the Holy One.We may think we know how God views those who are not like us. They might anyone whose sexual orientation is different from ours, or immigrants, or those who live on the other side of town. They might be Appalachians or the very poor or even the very rich. In this political season, they might be Democrats or Republicans.

There is a danger to thinking one “knows” God in this way. Such a belief leads to digging in our heels and refusing to value the “others” among us, not hearing their voices, or not being open to receive their wisdom.

Jesus told his disciples that he had much more to tell them, but they couldn’t bear it yet. Only the coming of the Spirit would make them open to new revelation. Jesus is speaking to us, too, warning us not to become complacent, sure we “know” what God wants or exactly what being a follower of Jesus Christ means in our day. Faith and understanding evolve.

We must learn to trust the Spirit, speaking in the hearts of the diverse people of this planet. We must allow ourselves times of quiet to hear that voice within our own hearts, and to ponder what she is saying in the hearts of others.

Trust. We must trust God is with us today as always. The world changes and grows, but our faith and our willingness to hear the Spirit and follow her truth, even if it leads us in new directions, must remain firm.