God's Will Hunting

From the sermon suggestion box.

One of the fun aspects of our sermon suggestion box is being forced to consider some aspect of the faith that I hadn't really contemplated in depth. And I enjoy the challenge of paring down what I discover in my research and any consequent thoughts I had into a quarter of an hour's meditation which covers the essentials and has some practical application. Today's question is deceptively straightforward: “How do we truly know we are doing God's will and not our own?” The problem is that the subject of God's will is a huge area to cover. Many long and complicated theological and philosophical works have been written on the topic. But this is a sermon, not a lecture series, so let's see if we can't narrow our focus.

The question itself helps. First it sets up a contrast. We are not talking about God's will in general but God's will as distinct from our own will. Secondly, we are not talking about God's will in every aspect of life but rather the part over which we have some control: “doing God's will.” Finally the question is asking for a degree of certainty, signified by use of the word “truly.” In other words, the question is “How can we know with certainty that what we are doing is what God wants us to do and not just what we want to do?” An excellent question and one which I wish more Christians asked themselves. This is not to say that answering the question will always be easy. The difficulty comes with the part about certainty.

Let's deal with what we do know for sure. God's general will is made clear for us is scripture. Talking about the day of judgment, 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that “the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient with you, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” The Greek word translated “willing” means “to plan.” It is not God's plan that anyone should come to destruction; his plan is that all should have , literally, “a change of mind.” God wants us to change our minds and hearts and turn from evil to him. This will or plan of God is expressed throughout the Bible. God is more intent on forgiving and restoring sinners than in destroying them. He makes ample opportunity for people to change their self-destructive ways before the consequences of their sins overtake them. Every second you live is a second chance.

One of the clearest examples of this is the book of Jonah. Nineveh was the capitol of the Assyrian empire which oppressed many peoples including Israel. God sends Jonah, whose name means “dove,” to preach repentance to them. Jonah famously does everything he can to avoid doing God's will for him. He eventually does obey God but he is disappointed when the city repents. He knew that God's will was to give them a chance to turn their lives around. In this story, God is more loving than his prophet, who hates the people he preaches to.

If God loves everyone then it is obvious that it is not his will that we harm anyone. That means he does not sanction torture, drug dealing, trafficking in sex slaves, death squads, nor loan sharking, even if those who do it profess to be Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus or atheists. Anybody whose primary job is based on causing unnecessary injury or harm to others should not believe that he or she is acting in God's will.

This is not to say that God doesn't recruit people from the ranks of those who exploit others. He does so that they may repent and use their experiences to help others, the way recovering alcoholics in AA help others. God often transforms what is evil in order to make something better. This doesn't mean he condones evil. God is like a chess grandmaster who is able to take our choices or those of others that affect us and incorporate them into his plan to redeem the world. I don't think that Jesus dying was God's Plan A for the world. But when the creatures he created in his image and pronounced good began to misuse and abuse and neglect all the good gifts he made, God knew what he had to do. And he made sure that the ultimate harm would fall upon himself.

But if harm is forbidden, can a person be a police officer or a soldier and be in God's will? When soldiers came to John the Baptist and asked how they should behave, Luke says he told them not to extort money from anyone by threats of violence or false accusations and to be content with their pay. In other words, don't abuse your power or use it for personal gain. Unfortunately, there was no independent police force then dedicated to protecting everyone's rights. Soldiers were the only police and their primary job was to keep the peace for the sake of the smooth running of the empire. While serving the powerful, soldiers nevertheless did maintain order and that is better than anarchy. (Ask anyone in a country involved in a civil war or where there is no law but the will of local warlords or competing drug cartels.) As long as a soldier or law enforcement officer is maintaining the peace and not abusing his power with violence and threats, he can do it with a clear conscience.

But what should a soldier or officer do if a superior orders him or her to do something immoral? As a Christian they must follow what Peter said to the Sanhedrin when they ordered the apostles to stop preaching about Jesus: “We must obey God rather than men.” And according to the U.S. Military code, soldiers may disobey illegal orders. Similarly, according to the official policies of our Sheriff's office, officers should not engage in illegal behavior, even if ordered to. Our police forces are supposed to have the welfare of everyone in mind, not just the powerful. In any job or position, the moral person must do what is right even if his superiors tell him to lie or cheat or cover up or extort or torture or kill unjustly. He must also do what's right even if his peers oppose him. Morality is not decided by the majority.

But what about a situation in which a soldier or police officer is confronting someone committing violence? Can a Christian resort to violence to stop violence? At first sight, the matter seems clear. Jesus said to turn the other cheek. (Matthew 5:39) He also told Peter that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. (Matthew 26:52) Looking at these two verses, it seems that Christians must be total pacifists.

But in the first case, Jesus is talking about reacting to violence directed at oneself. But if we are not to harm others, we also cannot stand by and let them be harmed. Jesus doesn't say we should not react to someone committing violence on another person. I think he would have us intervene, at first using words. Police are taught to to to diffuse situations with words. And that usually works, since, unlike in TV and movies, the majority of cops never draw their weapons during their careers. Only if they fail to diffuse the situation with words are they supposed to move to the next step. And from what Jesus did to the moneychangers (whom he saw as thieves, imposing outrageous exchange rates on pilgrims) we see that he did not rule out using force in every situation. (Although please note that he only overturned their tables—Matthew 21:12-13—and he used a whip to drive out the sheep and oxen—John 2:15—which got their owners out as they chased after the animals.) So if it is the last resort, and the only, and I mean only, way to stop a violent person from harming others is with the use of force, then it is the lesser of two evils.

But surely in the second case, Peter is doing just that, protecting Jesus from arrest and harm. Why did Jesus stop him? Probably because Jesus knew he must go to the cross. Jesus was therefore turning the other cheek and telling Peter to respect that. And Jesus protecting the disciples. In John's account, Jesus says to the soldiers, “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” (John 18:8) Jesus knew his fate. And he knew the future of the gospel rested on the disciples. He saved them from violence by interposing himself.

Jesus was the person towards whom the force was directed and he could tell his followers not to intervene. And by restoring the severed ear of the high priest's servant, Jesus undoes the permanent effect of Peter's sword wielding. (Luke 22:51) Right there, in his healing one of those who came to have him killed, in choosing to be the only one who suffers in this event, we see the whole gospel, the good news that God revealed his self-sacrificial, reconciling love in Jesus, his son.

And that is one way to realize that you are following God's will and not your own: is sacrifice involved? People do not naturally seek paths in life that require giving things up. The reason that we have chronic shortages of people entering the helping professions—nursing, teaching, social work, the ministry—is because they are hard, not glamorous and don't pay as well as other kinds of work. That's why so many want to become music idols, or movie stars, or supermodels, or internet influencers. It's not that you can't be a Christian and be one of those things. But in a world where 773 million people are illiterate, where 50 million people are enslaved, where 560,000 people die violently each year, where more children die each day from lack of clean water and sanitation than from war-related violence, where a child dies every 10 seconds from starvation and poor nutrition, you have to ask if it's really God's will that you become rich and famous. You may be able to use your talents in a less glamorous, less profitable but more morally justifiable way.

The best way to do God's will is to do those things which reveal his loving will to the world. Like teaching children, tending the sick, feeding the poor, making sure that laws are just, enforcing those laws, repairing what's broken, restoring what's lost, maintaining what's good, confronting abuse, raising a family, helping a stranger, extending the boundaries of medicine, exploring the principles of the universe and creating beauty. Those are all ways of doing God's will. If you are making the world better, if you are not merely abstaining from harming others but helping them, building them up, treating them as Jesus' brothers and sisters, proclaiming the gospel in your works as well as your words, you are doing God's will. It may not be dramatic. It needn't be. Jesus said just giving someone a drink of cold water in his name was worthy of reward. (Matthew 10:42) Often the most vital people are the most overlooked. Who would be missed first at your job, the boss or the workers? Leadership is essential but without people to lead, it's useless. Jesus understood that true leadership meant taking care of your followers. That's why he saved them. That's why he died for you. You are one of his messengers.

But even if you aren't harming others or allowing them to be harmed, even if you are treating the poor, hungry, thirsty, vulnerable, sick, imprisoned or immigrant as you would him, even if it costs you in time, talent and treasure, even if you are giving up your privileges to help others, can you be absolutely certain that you are doing God's will? Not always. Obviously a person a person living like that is doing God's will for everyone. But if you mean are you doing exactly what his will is for you personally, then you need to ask yourself additional questions: Do I want to change what I am doing because I am bored or tired? Maybe you need to take a rest. Are you observing a weekly Sabbath? God made taking a day of rest a commandment. Or perhaps you should ask yourself if there is something else that's morally right to which you are being called? Or perhaps there is something that others are telling you that you should try because they see that it suits your God-given talents and interests?

And don't forget that God may want us to do different things at different times. What we are doing now may be his will for the present as well as preparation for something different he will have us do in the future. We do not know. That's why we have to trust him. That's why it's important to read his word and put what we read into practice and pray and interact with others who are following Jesus. Even so, you may only know it was God's will when you look back on your life as Joseph did. (Genesis 50:20) When you are far enough up the mountain to look around and see things from a distance, then you will be able to marvel at the way God made all things work together for good for you and for the lives you touched and for those who touched you.