where is God in all this? (a sermon on Mark 13:1-8)

Morgan Wooten was a basketball coach. He coached at DeMatha High School in the Washington, DC area. His teams won 1274 games while losing only 192 times. He was considered by everyone who knew him to be one of the great ones. Well, everyone except his grandson.

Wooten is one of only three high school coaches in the Basketball Hall of Fame. At his induction, he told this story about his grandson's first day of school: The teacher asked Nick, “What's your favorite sport?”  “Baseball,” he said. The teacher knew who Nick's grandfather was. She was surprised, “Not basketball?” Nick said, “Nope. I don't know anybody who knows anything about basketball.”

The teacher was even more surprised, “But Nick, a lot of people think your Grandfather Wooten knows a lot about basketball.” Nick snorted and laughed, “Oh no!  He doesn’t know anything about basketball. I go to all his games and he never gets to play.”

I wonder if sometimes we see God the way Nick saw his grandfather. We watch the game of life going on and have a hard time seeing the hand of God anywhere in it, we think, “God knows nothing about it,” or, “God cares nothing about it,” or, “God can't do anything about it,” because, after all, we never see God get in the game. And while God appears to sit on the sidelines, we and the people we love so often are struggling, suffering, and lost.

The signs Jesus mentions in the Gospel reading for today aren’t limited to scripture. In the past few weeks we’ve seen more than our fair share of destroyed buildings, untrustworthy leaders, wars and rumors of war. We have seen overwhelming destruction from the fires in California. We hear of violence as close as a synagogue in Pittsburgh and as far away as the other side of the world – just pick a place. We hear of the thousands of people around the world who are refugees seeking safety and shelter. The news cycles of death, destruction, and suffering seem to be never-ending.

There’s a bumper sticker I first saw stuck to the door of my pastor’s office when I was in high school. It was fairly plain, with only the letters W-I-G-I-A-T. WIGIAT (wig-ee-ot) is an acronym for the phrase, “Where is God in all this?”

Where is God in all this? I wonder when in your life this question has crossed your lips. Questions like this one are not signs of weak faith, or a lack of trust, or moral failing. Instead, asking “Where is God in all this?” is a perfectly reasonable response of hurting people in difficult, unfair, overwhelming situations. Perhaps we ask, “Where is God in all this?” in times of violence, war, and injustice that we ask where God is. Perhaps it is while we grieve the death of a family member. Or maybe we wonder about God’s presence in the face of illness, job layoffs, or broken relationships.

It’s a valid question. Where is God in all this? We know we live in a broken world, a world noticeably marked by sin. We also know that God is a living and active presence in our lives. Even so, in the midst of brokenness it can be hard to see God’s presence.

Our scripture passages for today give us some reassurance as we wonder, “Where is God in all this?” From the prophet Daniel we hear that evil will not have the last word. God will send Michael to protect and deliver God’s people. God still works this way, too - sending others to protect and deliver us, and sometimes even using us to protect and deliver others.

In the book of Hebrews we hear that we have full assurance of faith through what Christ has done on the cross. In showing us what love looks like, Jesus has drawn us in to the saving work of God and sanctified us, or made us holy. We are also reminded that the one who has made these promises to us is faithful.

In Mark we hear that these terrible signs and the pain and destruction that come with them are like birth pangs. The image of birth pangs reminds us that though suffering and pain are taking place now, we look forward with joy to the new life that is coming. We don’t know when or where or how the birth will take place; we only know that God has promised new life and that God is faithful.

So where is God in all this? Right here in our midst. We have a God who knows suffering in the death of God’s Son. We have a Christ who walked among us as a human, who knew the anguish of feeling abandoned and forsaken, and the pain of being beaten and crucified. We have a Holy Spirit who prays on our behalf with sighs too deep for words.

Sometimes, though, just knowing these things isn’t enough. We are a forgetful people.  We have trouble seeing God in the midst of so much pain and brokenness, and because we can’t see God, we think that God can’t do anything or won’t do anything. But God is doing something. God has done something. And God knows that we’re forgetful. God knows that we need reminders of God’s presence.

And so we have the gift of the sacraments. We have tangible sacraments precisely because there are times we need physical reassurance of God’s presence. When we wash our faces and hands, when we dip our fingers in the font as we come up for communion, we are reminded that in our baptism, God claimed us as God’s own child. We feel on our foreheads and hands the way in which our sins were washed away. We remember the power of water when combined with God’s Word, the everlasting promises of God. 

When we gather for communion at each worship service, we are reminded of how the community can be a sign of God’s presence. When we eat the bread and drink from the cup, we take Jesus into ourselves. We feel with our hands, taste with our tongues, and hear with our ears that this is Jesus, for us; that God is present with us and within us. 

So where is God in all this brokenness? Where is God at the times it feels like the world is ending? Splash in the waters and know that God is there. Eat and drink of Christ’s body and blood and know that God is there. Hear the word of God read and preached and sung and know that God is there. Looks around at the body of Christ that surrounds you and know that God is there. Notice those places of pain and suffering and anguish and know that God is there. God has promised to be present with us, and God is faithful. 

The world desperately needs to hear this Good News in the midst of the bad news of despair, poverty, war, and injustice. God is acting in the world in ways we cannot always see, and God also promises to be present with us through water, bread, wine, and God’s Word. Empowered by God’s presence, we are sent from this place to share that Good News with others, that God is present in this world, even when we cannot see it. Thanks be to God, Amen.