God Is Not Watching From A Distance

As we were driving our granddaughter to catch her plane in Albuquerque recently, she tuned the radio to listen to some of her favorite songs. We all hummed a bit as one that even I knew echoed in the car. It's called "From A Distance" and sung by Bett Midler. The song won a Grammy for song of the year in 1991. As pop songs go, it's been around now for a long time. But as noted, it's still played over the airwaves. 

As I listened, I commented that the song was lousy theology. "But I like the song," came the reply. I said no more, but felt that I must somehow make my reasons clear for the judgment. 

From A Distance

The first verse reads like this:

From a distance the world looks blue and green and the snow capped mountains white.

From a distance the ocean meets the stream and the eagle takes to flight

From a distance there is harmony and it echoes through the land

It's the voce of hope, it's voice of deeds it's the voice of every man

And there are no guns, no bombs and no disease, no hungry mouths to feed.

From a distance we are instruments marching in the common land,

Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace, 

They're the thought of every man.

God is watching us, God is watching us, God is watching us .... from a distance. 

The song goes on to tell us that every man is singing the same song, longing for harmony and peace, but we are at a distance from one another. The implication seems to be that we need to get closer to one another and if we did that all the fighting, wars, hunger and disease would come to an end. 

Meanwhile 'God' is apparently observing us, not involved and not about to do anything to help us relieve the dilemma we've gotten ourselves into. This is the god of Deism, the god who made this world, but doesn't get involved in the sticky mess of what's going on in it. Creation is rather like a huge machine that this god set in motion and then went off on some kind of disinterested vacation. Oh, he watches all right, but it seems to be against his general principles to be caught up in any way with the events of his creation. He remains hidden. We can only assume that he is watching us . . . from a distance. 

This is certainly not the God I have come to know, the God who created the world and everything in it, but who also anguishes over the suffering, pain and death that He observes in it. All of that is not merely the result of our distancing ourselves from one another, though that is part of it. The real source of the world's problems is our failure to love our Creator with our whole being, heart and soul. Failing to love and honor Him leads to our failure to obey His commands to both love Him and to love one another. This is the real source of our distancing, both from Him and from those around us. 

That's the Biblical diagnosis, but it's not the Biblical solution. It's not enough simply to acknowledge our distance. It is, in fact, not even something we are ready to do. "Who me?" we ask. "It's the other guy's fault." Since our Creator knows us He also knows that about us. But He has not been willing to leave us to the consequences of our disobedience and rebellion. He has moved to do something about it. This mystery of godliness is what we Christians call the Gospel or the Good News. 

Foretold by the prophet Isaiah long before Christ was born, the Good News for every man is that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ precisely in order to assume responsibility for the failures and sins of us all. Isaiah put it this way in part in the wondrous 53rd chapter of his prophecy:  "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows . . . He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."  

This one who died for us, rose again and now promises to be ever present in our lives if we but accept Him. He is not a God at a distance, but the One whose very Spirit dwells in our hearts. He speaks to us in His revealed Word. He comforts us as we recall the water of our Baptism, reminding us that we died and rose again with Him. He invites us to His Table to share with us His very Body and Blood and assure us that one day we, God's children, will feast with Him at the banquet table in the Father's House. 

That's the God I know, the God I know personally. I shudder at the thought of having to live in a world where God is only "watching us . . . from a distance." That sounds more like Jesus' parable about the rich man in hell separated by a great chasm from the joys of heaven. I can only pray that you know that this is not where the true God wants any of us to end up.