States of BLISS & Yearning// A Changing God or a Changing People?

This question, at first glance may be obvious... Does God change or are we a changing people? Well, of course God doesn't change... change requires having a timeline of sorts and God is outside of time...God can see everything from the beginning of time to the end of time right there, in front of her.... Therefore, God can't change. Right?

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I would beg, as would John Bell, to disagree. Hosea 11.9: A change of heart moves me, tenderness kindles inside me. and Jonah 3.10: God relented and did not inflict on them the punishment [God] had threatened. This would begin to suggest, then, that the Bible is a record of God changing God's mind with regard to humans. "All the time, it seems, God's compassion, God's love is moving in ever-widening circles. At one time God loved one family and destroyed all other families. Then God loved one tribe and destroyed all other tribes. Then God loved one nation and destroyed all other nations" (57). This means that if we are made of God, and in God's image, we too have to change our mind in regard to people. Our love towards others should be made evident. This means we can see some of those "tricky bits of the Bible" in a new light. All those war scenes that are just so bloody and gory are suddenly looked upon as an opportunity to embrace concern for all humanity.

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Bell suggests that these two questions also come with a price. The price for God being a God of change is that then that also means that we too must be a people willing to extend compassion, sympathy and love to all people... individuals, groups and nations. It is just that simple. It's hard, but it is simple.

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The other question is if we are a people who change. I think before even going into the question we could answer this saying, yes, we are a people who change. But let's explore. This question is about "gradually discovering the truth about God" (59). The people of the Old Testament felt that they needed to kill anyone who was different from them. But then as the prophets come around, they come to understand that God isn't always on their side. This revelation helped them to understand a bigger and fuller picture of God. (this is the point when you should go read my sermon two posts below and then come back and read this blog all over again.) This is the same in the way we grow up. As we experience more and learn more, we come to understand more about life and people around us. "So we may see a gradual development of people's understanding of God, a gradual changing and enlarging of their picture of God until, in the fullness of time, God comes in Jesus, and the whole picture is on display" (59).

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It is a struggle, though. It's difficult. Whenever Jonah realized he would have to change his mind about his situation, he was uncomfortable. Changing the way we've understood God for years is just hard. We've grown to love God or hate God depending on our understanding. But God is bigger than we think and the price for worshipping such a God is that our ideas of God will always be changing.

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"The price for believing the first is that our human sympathies, like God's , have to go beyond individuals to crowds, out of the personal into the political. The price tag for the second is that our understanding of God has constantly to grow, to change, to be renewed" (61).

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Where do you stand? Do we have a choice? Or must we pay the price of both? Is God changing? Are we changing? What events or decisions in your life have caused your idea of God grow, change or be renewed?