FAQ: Why do you believe in God?

First, a confession.
Much of what you are about to read has recently appeared in the Jubilee United Church newsletter: Jubilation!
Second, another confession.
Most of that newsletter material was written over a year ago for an Emerging Spirit blog.  That blog was never published, on line or in the wonderful and engaging collection : Faith in a Time of Change  http://www.ucrdstore.ca/faith-in-a-time-of-change-selections-from-emergingspirit-ca.html  (It's okay, you can get up now, I promise no more low flying shameless self promotion).
The fact remains, I get asked this question all of the time and it behooves me to answer.  I will confess that my answer changes from time to time: Sometimes I will talk about the sound of babies laughing or kittens purring as reason enough for me to believe in God.... but the implications of such a statement are that one cannot enjoy the giggling of an infant without some kind of Theology; and that by relying on such trite statements, I have none!  Neither is true.  So, allow me to say something a little more definitive than a Sarah McLachlan song, but something far more simple than the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar (look him up, he's everything that I am not:  Deep, thoughtful, Roman Catholic and dead).  Here are my reasons for today (beyond wanting to secure my pension as a paid accountable United Church of Canada minister)

1. I have seen individuals touched by something beyond my comprehension; something that has inspired them to such power and extreme love that I have felt a sense of the “Holy” about them.  This intuition and experience points me to something more than my usual experience…. I want more of that… and I believe that intuition and experience points to God.
2. I see in Jesus Christ, a life so full of meaning that I believe it informs me about the nature of God…. The story makes sense in the light of God, but without God I simply cannot fathom the how and why Jesus’ life. 
3. My experience is that there is rarely a simple choice between Right and Wrong.  It is often a choice between good, pretty good, better, not so good and not good at all. My engaging in prayer, community and scripture, always challenges me to re-examine my actions and attitudes, trying for good, better… or a new “good”.  My faith is self examining and self critical, so I often change my mind.  Without God, I might be tempted to stop changing… become static and set in my opinions and ways.
4. I believe that most people want to do the right thing; they want to do “good”. God helps me to find new ways of doing “good”… but more than that, God encourages me to do “good” even when my rational minds tells me that there’s no point.  In the face of great poverty, why would I give a couple of bucks to homeless man?  In the face of rampant racism, why would I bother to treat others with respect?  Why bother with a simple act of kindness when I’m never going to turn the tide of inhumanity?  Because I know that all of these things matter to God… I believe that beyond my power and my ability these things will get better because they are part of God’s agenda.  Even if I will never see an end to racism, poverty and cruelty, I will still fight against them, because God gives me hope beyond my power and beyond my life.  I like being on God’s side, not because it means I’m right, but because it gives my struggle meaning, beyond victory in my time.  For me, believing in God assures me that right will prevail; kindness will out.

I’m not suggesting that you have to believe in God to be interested in doing the right thing; to be motivated to improve the world or to be challenged… all I’m saying is that believing in God helps me with all of those things and the more that I get involved in these same pursuits, the more my intuition and experience points to something (someone) beyond my experience… a something (someone) that I experience in love… a someone (something) that I call God.  The same someone (something) that Abraham called God; the same someone (something) that Jesus called “Abba”.

Now, as long as I’m waxing theologic, allow me to share with you why I believe in the resurrection… I’m on a roll; it’s Easter… let’s go for broke!

I believe because Peter believed

I believe because Mary believed

I believe because it would have been easier for both Peter and Mary to NOT believe, unless it was true.

I believe because so many people experienced the resurrected Jesus that they changed their lives forever without material profit or gain.

I believe because so many people experienced the resurrected Jesus that they spent the rest of their lives sharing their experience with others; inviting them into their own experience of Jesus and God.

I believe because so many people experienced the resurrected Jesus that they changed not only their lives, but the world.

I believe because the resurrection reveals a love that cannot be destroyed by the worst that the world can do… humiliation, injustice, ignorance and death, don’t win when I recognize the resurrected Jesus.

I believe because the resurrection of Jesus reveals for me, my ultimate fate: Eternal life.  Jesus does not remain dead because we do not remain dead; we live on in the presence of God, even as Jesus indicates God living on in the presence of humanity.

But that’s just me…  (and Paul, Ignatius, Clement, Polycarp, Marcion, Tertullian, Melito, Origen, Augustine, Aquinas, Echkart, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Luther, Menno Simons, Wesley, Rauschenbusch, von Balthasar, Bonhoeffer, Bultmann, Cobb, Gutierrez, Niebuhr, Tillich, Moltmann, Wright, Willimon… alright, now I’m just name dropping)

I am very happy to speak of the community that in memory, action and love could not let Jesus remain dead, but brought him back to life in their life… revealing, too, the presence of God that cannot be stopped by injustice or death.... but for me, I'm going with the physical resurrection of Jesus and the God that I see revealed in that event.  

Oh, and the giggling of babies, the smile of a stranger, bubbles in champagne, the taste of bacon and all the other things that make life so darn good.

If you care... it is my intention to post about once a week and answer question that I get asked or that I think people should be asking me...  (wait'll we get to Baptism and Exorcism!)