When God Seems Absent
Yet the church, in its Spirit-guided wisdom, speaks of God's absence by designating a short liturgical season, Advent, to address the real and imagined peril of human experience -- those times when God `seems' absent; those stretches of time when God cannot be found, when God is apparently `not around.' And those moments of God's apparent absence do not neatly correspond to the four weeks before Christmas. Life distributes days and times throughout the year, any year, when God would seem far away: the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, the tragic news of illness, the dissolution of family; any time when `it all comes apart.' The Season of Advent challenges us to admit this perilous experience. The Season of Advent advises us not to hurry past our feelings of absence, in our rush to find God's presence. The Season of Advent is, honestly, an awkward time. Humanly speaking, we would prefer to disown the pain of loss, absence and abandonment. We would seek, instead, the good and happy times of life, when all is well and God is good. Advent urges us face that which is uncomfortable, to face the awkward times when God seems absent.
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Biblically, God's people know of such times and speak openly of them, as in Babylon, when God turned away from Israel. Repeatedly, this divine `turning away' was felt most deeply by God's own people. This awkwardness of God's absence came to a theological head in the words uttered from the cross, `My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?' Nonetheless, in that very moment of God's apparent and great distance, His nearness was felt in the quake of the earth and the tearing of the temple veil. Advent invites us to learn this truth: in the felt moments of God's greatest absence from us, He is not absent at all; He is only `hidden.' The Season of Christmas is the season of God's presence with us and for us. Not that God was ever gone from us. But the Season of Christmas reveals how close to us God has been all along! The Season of Christmas is the actual moment in history when God, having been near yet hidden, chooses to hide Himself no more. God is present to behold! Who would have recognized in the dying gasp of Jesus, the sheer, unabashed love of God? And who among us would recognize in the cooing, Jewish new-born from Bethlehem, the flesh and blood presence of the Almighty? Behold, a child is born! The Seasons of Advent and Christmas are here. Both seasons deserve their time. Both seasons deserve your time. Perceive the nearness of God. Prepare to receive His coming. Behold, a child is born! Jesus is His Name! Pastor Kopp
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Rodney S. Kopp, Pastor ©2004-05
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The
Season of Advent is the season of God's absence from us. Not that
God could ever really be absent from us. The Lord of heaven and
earth who, in His victory over death autographs the universe by
His sheer presence, is never actually absent.