Sovereignty and Responsibility

Right-thinking Christians hold the line between two seemingly conflicting truths: the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of human beings.

God is in charge – sovereign over all. He does not stand helplessly by while human beings do as they like. This may appear to be the case sometimes, but God has His own agenda and will not be rushed into anything. All humans must eventually bow to His will.

Logically, this could reduce human beings to being mere pawns on God’s chessboard, available to be pushed around. Yet in the Bible they are the high point of God’s creation. He means them to have dignity and to take responsibility for their actions. The likes of Judas Iscariot may be destined to betray Jesus Christ, but they are certainly not programmed to do so.

“And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’ They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, ‘Is it I?’ He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born’” (Mark 14:17-21 ESV).

It is a blasphemous insult against God when one person robs another of his or her humanity. Some of the most appalling examples of this process occurred during the systematic extermination of Jews in the Nazi era.

Holocaust Memorial Day this year – 27 September, the 70^th anniversary of the ending of this appalling event – brought back memories of a radio broadcast from some months ago. This had opened my eyes to an unexpected side of the evil strategy of the Nazis against Jews. I used to think that the death trains were simply a means of transporting the victims from A to B. In fact the journey itself was an instrument in dehumanising these hapless people, long before their arrival at the concentration camps.

“The deportees were forced into rail cars, most of which were windowless, unheated cattle cars, and squeezed in so tightly that most were forced to stand. The doors were then sealed shut from the outside. Neither drinking water nor sanitary facilities were available. Each car held more than 120 people, and many froze or suffocated to death or succumbed to disease during the trip to the camps. The dead were not removed from the cars during the journey because the Nazi bureaucracy insisted that each body entering a car be accounted for at the destination” (http://remember.org/guide/Facts.root.final.html, accessed 28 January 2015).

Human beings who started out with dignity, identity and a sense of worth were forced to compete with each other, manoeuvring themselves so they could reach whatever air was available to gulp. By the time they reached the concentration camps, most survivors of the journey had been softened up to become passive recipients of whatever fate awaited them.

The Nazis had learned, irrationally, to hate, fear and despise certain groups of people. I know well the temptation to regard anyone who causes me great trouble as being less than human. But if I am to learn any lesson from the Holocaust, it is that I must never dehumanise anyone, because God certainly does not.

Isaac Watts captured this truth in a hymn based on Psalm 147 both the greatness and the care of God.

What is the creature’s skill or force?

The sprightly man, or warlike horse?

The piercing wit, the active limb?

All are too mean delights for Him.

But saints are lovely in His sight,

He views His children with delight;

He sees their hope, He knows their fear,

and looks, and loves His image there.

In some people the stamp of God’s image is very hard to see. But may I never behave as though it were totally gone.

Be Perfect

Russian poet and Christian intellectual Irina Ratushinskaya was something of a celebrity in the late 1980's. She was sentenced to seven years' detention in a labour camp for alleged activities against the Soviet state. Having secretly composed in prison a number of poems on nature, beauty and faith, she was dramatically released after just under four years. She went on to write a number of works, one on her prison experiences famously entitled Grey is the Colour of Hope. A day or two ago I read a meditation by her on Matthew 5:48 “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. Ratushinskaya reflects, “It is the most shocking demand on Man: absolute perfection. No less than that. Is this really addressed to us? To people for whom it is already quite an achievement just to realise their own sinfulness? “Some people think that the acknowledgement of sinfulness is a pretty spiritual achievement. But does it help? It is not just the diagnosis, but medical treatment that is needed for the recovery of a sick person. “We often hear people say 'I’m no saint', even with some kind of satisfaction, as if to say, 'I admit that I am no saint, so I have fulfilled my duty.' But that is only part of the duty. “Every demand made by Christ also contains a promise. He does not only command us to do things, He also offers us His help. If we would only believe it is possible! Perfection is an infinitely daring concept. It requires courage even to imagine it. Nevertheless the demand is addressed to you and to me. “How do our hearts respond to this demand … and to the promise of this miracle?” Thinking about the reference to diagnosis, I recall the sadness I feel sometimes when people are interviewed after a long run-in with the medical profession. They may well remark, “I have at last had my diagnosis”. In other words, after endless months of seeing different specialists, their mystery illness has finally been given a name! You feel that these poor people are condemned to a restricted existence with endless chips on the shoulder, grievance procedures and campaigns to have their voices heard. Needless to say, none of this takes them further forward in terms of a cure. There may only be one immediate advantage. Being able to put a name to the illness they've got may entitle them to certain state benefits that would otherwise be unavailable to them. That is surely small comfort. Spiritually, the seeker who genuinely comes to Christ has his or her eyes opened to a diagnosis of their condition. That diagnosis is a case of built-in sin. Now open to spiritual guidance, they are prepared to accept that judgment on their situation. I actually believe it is good for us to label ourselves in God's presence as “the sinner”, just as the tax-gatherer in one of Jesus' parables did. The Pharisee sounded off about how good he was – “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13 ESV). Sinners we are and sinners we remain while earthly life lasts, but there is a difference if we come to Christ: we become sinners saved by grace. Not just a bit saved, not merely saved “just enough”, but saved, ultimately, to the uttermost extent. Without that, we would not be fit to appear in heaven. And so Jesus instructs us, “Be perfect”. “Easier said than done,” you mutter through clenched teeth. But that is the logical conclusion, if being imperfect renders us unfit for heaven. So where is the promise of help that Irina Ratushinskaya holds out before us? Undoubtedly Jesus wasn't talking about a superhuman perfection. He was talking about what is realistic for us now. He wanted His followers not to merely conform outwardly to a set of rules, but to strive for a heartfelt imitation of God's way: forgiveness, patience, tenderness, earnestness and so on. In other words they are to be patterned after God the Father's perfect love. As for the promise of help, William Hendriksen has some worthwhile words on the subject: “This kind of finite love is, nevertheless, attainable. How do we know? Because of the very fact that he is our heavenly Father, who will, for that very reason, not withhold this gift from his children.”