Everybody is a theologian. All of us have beliefs about God and the world and the way things are that seep into our souls and shape the way we live and the people we become. Not doing theology is not an option. It's like water. We're gonna drink it. The key is being intentional about drinking good water. We oughta be sure to develop good theology.
We need good theology at the least likely of times. Don't just use your theology at church. Don't leave it in books or confine it to discussions with the pastor. Otherwise, you'll find yourself 500 miles away from home, alone, at night, in a storm, in a car, at the end of an entrance ramp onto a highway that has flash flooded. And the car will start filling with water. And then you'll drop your cell phone into the water that is around your feet and it will stop working. And then as you wait and wait and wait for a tow truck or a police car to show up, with the lightening flashing and the water rising, you'll reach for your good theology and DANG IT! You'll suddenly remember you left in a book.. At church. Right there in the pew where you always sit. Or don't.
Sunday's sermon was on rejoicing in our sufferings. Is having your car totaled by a flash flood suffering? Maybe somewhere between suffering and inconvenience, I suppose. I don't know. But I do know that I am very glad I spent all that time last week studying that passage to preach. I needed it in that moment. And I needed it when i found out the car was beyond repair. And I needed it when it suddenly hit me that I would have to find another way back to Columbus, being as my car, a very good car, made a very lousy boat and was "totaled"- as in "totally unable to get me back home". It was a mad scramble to contact the insurance company, find a rental car, get a new cell phone, get to all my meetings, find a flight out of St Louis, conduct the necessary interviews, remove my personal items form the totaled car, find temporary storage for the items which will not travel with me back home via air, return the rental car, arrange for a ride to the airport, etc, etc. AND get home intome to prepare, not only a sermon, but an important congregational meeting to be held Sunday evening. Phew.
I can rejoice, not despite my misfortune, but I can rejoice IN my misfortune. Because I know my God will deliver. He has proven it in the past and is proving it now. This situation, when I meet it with an understanding of my own justification by faith alone, creates in me an assurance of what I know, but do not yet see. With good theology, even the worst possible scenario is not the worst possible scenario. The worst possible scenario is that I will not measure up to God's standards and thus be rejected. Justification by faith alone tells me "of course you do not measure up to God's standards, but because of Jesus, God accepts you as righteous in his sight!" The worst possible scenario would be for God to withdraw his saving love from me. The theology of the gospel tells me that God will not withdraw his saving love from me, but that suffering, when met with faith in Christ, will create in me endurance, character and the confident expectation that Christ will provide what I need for this situation and that expectation will never let me down, because far from withdrawing his love, God has flash flooded my heart with his love through the work of his Spirit in me.
When I need a tow truck, God will send me a tow truck. When I need a car, God will give me a car. This applies in various scenarios. For instance: if I need hair, God will give me hair. If he doesn't I must not need it. The last several years show me that God seems to have determined me to need less hair on my head, but more hair in my ears. And even that is ok.
So let me boast... I totaled my car by driving into three feet of water on a dark and stormy night, 500 miles away from home. And in that frustrating mess of an evening, God provided for all my needs. I am now a little more time-tested and faithful than I was before. Now I have less cars, but more hope in Christ. And when it comes right down to it, whcih would you rather be without on a dark, lonely stormy night? Now while, There's no blue book listing for "hope" but I'm thinking it was a fair trade.
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