God’s unfathomable, unwavering presence

Beloved in Christ in the Rocky Mountain Synod,

This past Sunday Kim and I drove through the Poudre Canyon up to Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp. It was the first chance we’d had to see the impact of the High Park fire, which burned more than 87,000 acres. It was humbling to see mile after mile of burned forest. 

What struck me most was seeing a charred hillside of complete devastation bumping right up against rich green forest that appeared to have been untouched by the flames. It made me think of the many places in our world and in our lives where disaster, suffering and pain bump up against that which appears to be “normal” and healthy and full of life. I thought about the recent shootings in Aurora, where some lives were devastated while other lives were spared. I thought of the ELCA missionaries with whom I’d spent the last week, many of whom serve in contexts where the struggle to earn one’s daily bread bumps up against wealth beyond measure. How do we make sense of these contrasting realities, especially when they stand so closely to one another?

I think it is human tendency to look at such situations and to make an internal judgment that says, “This is good, and this is bad,” which easily becomes “Here God is clearly present – but over here God seems to be absent.” It’s easier for us to imagine a God who is sometimes missing in action than to make sense of a God who can be fully present in situations filled with devastating consequences.

It has been my repeated experience, and it is my deep conviction, that despite all evidence to the contrary, there is no circumstance in life in which God is not fully and lovingly present. I know that doesn’t make logical sense. I know that people who claim “no faith” might well scoff at such a statement. I know that for some, it’s actually pretty offensive. 

Yet I can only speak from my heart when I say that I believe that the Holy One – the One in whom we live and move and have our being – fully meets us in both the devastation as well as the richness of life – and that the two are connected in ways I can never imagine. It often takes a while for my eyes to perceive God’s presence in the heartache, yet when I am patient I gradually come to see that I’ve never actually been alone, that my pain has become a source of compassion, of new insight, of new life. It’s actually at the core of what we proclaim as Lutheran Christians: the cross of Jesus Christ points us to God’s unfathomable, unwavering presence in the very darkest moments of existence during which our suffering is shared and transformed into a vessel for new light. 

In a world that delights in “either-or” and “good-bad” distinctions – especially in the spiritual and religious realms – we as members of the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod are exceptionally well placed to give voice to this revolutionary and disconcerting “both-and” word about God. The God of love whose face we see in Jesus Christ meets us both in our devastation and in our delight, both in our successes and in our failures, both in our moments of satisfaction and in our moments of deepest doubt. The fact that such a God meets and accompanies us in all things reframes our whole understanding of ourselves, of others, and of the world in which we live. In community called “church” we are invited to share and process our experiences of this “both-and” mystery and to explore what it means for our lives that one of God’s primary ways of being present is through the likes of us.

Today – August 1 – I am entering Suite 160 at 455 Sherman Street in Denver to begin my new call. As with most transitions, there are plenty of “both-and” feelings going on – both fearful trembling and excited anticipation. A friend who recently went through a similar life transition said it this way in her Facebook post:  Lesson relearned: The same tissue can hold tears of both excitement and sadness. 

Today of all days I rejoice in my experience of a “both-and” God.  Whatever the future may hold for me as a bishop, wherever our journey may take us as a synod and a church, I know we can utterly rely on the loving presence of the Holy One revealed in Christ. Not only as a promise for our lives, but as good news for the world.

Yours in Faith,

Jim Gonia, Bishop