because the needy groan,
I will now rise up,” says the LORD."
Can my God "rise up?" Can yours? Or is my God simply a concept, a hope, a distant giver of blessing and perhaps life after death, but not a God who can rise up and defend the poor or correct wrongs? Given some of the things sometimes attributed to God, such as Pat Robertson saying God sent an earthquake to Haiti as punishment for a deal with the devil, many Christians are understandably reluctant to see God actively at work in the world. But what, then, can our God do?
If many modern Christians have little sense that God could or would act on the world stage, I'm not certain if that is the fault of the Church or of God. Certainly the Church has contributed mightily to notions of a God interested in little more than our status when we die. Certainly the Church has neglected Jesus' teachings on the Kingdom and our call to form people to show that Kingdom to the world. But God can be awfully hard to spot at work in the world. It is not surprising that very few people, even avowed Christians, are expecting God to act on behalf of the poor and needy and punish those who have neglected them. I'm pretty sure the poor and needy would come in for a lot better treatment if people really thought God was paying attention on that count.
Of course this isn't simply a modern issue. Perhaps we do find it easier to see God absent because we can understand the science behind earthquakes or hurricanes, but the fact is that people in biblical times were not so different from us in thinking God had taken a vacation. The Old Testament is full of accounts where the rich and powerful lived with no worries about God stepping in and stopping their exploitation of the poor. Sure, some of the prophets warned them that God's patience was running out, but no one had seen God do anything to back up such warnings in a long time.
To be honest, I don't know why God acts - or more often doesn't act - in the manner often seen in the Bible and in our day. If I were God, things would be different, but obviously I'm not. And surely God knows what God is doing.
So what does faith look like in times when we have trouble seeing God at work in the world? Is it simply a personal, interior thing? I know folks who assume so. Is it simply a matter or getting my beliefs in order so that I'm "saved," meaning that my name is on the heavenly guest list? I know quite a few folks who think so. Or is faith the assurance that God will act in God's time, and so living in expectation of that time? As Jesus when he promises that God will grant justice to those who cry out, "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Do we believe that God can rise up, that God can stir Godself and correct and restore a broken world? And if we do not, what exactly do we believe in?
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