People often imagine that God is ‘up there’, above us, and beyond our reach. He is untouched by our actions and unmoved by our concerns. This God looks down on the earth and decides how things should be. He speaks through commands, writes rules and gives his favour to the people he thinks merit it most. To some, he is a bit like the people who rule our countries and direct our corporations today. He is just another person with power, position and resource.
One of my first jobs was for a building society. I learned that our customers were to be valued and they were ‘always right’ even if they were sometimes mistaken. Many of these customers popped into the office on the high street, others wrote letters or phoned in. We saw them in person, wrote back to them signing our names at the bottom of the page, or spoke with them on the phone. We relied on our computer systems, but we were present in and personally connected to the community we served.
Since then, there has been a huge change in how we relate to the businesses, organisations and government agencies of today. I used to think that this transformation was simply a result of the improvements that advances in technology have allowed, but now I am not so sure. Technology, in and of itself, is neutral. It can just as easily be used for good outcomes as it can for bad. With a phone in everyone’s pocket, messaging apps and social media, communication should be much easier now, and yet it is becoming harder. All this suggests to me that what we have lived through in recent years is a change, not driven by the technology itself, but by people and corporations. A change that speaks about how we relate to each other and the value we see in other people.
I am concerned that what we have observed over the last few decades is a depersonalisation of our culture. Many of the companies and institutions that provide the things that are essential for life have crept from our public squares and high streets and retreated behind unsigned letters, distant call centres, and frustrating interactions with chatbots. Offices and services that were once present in our local market places, are no longer there.
Though the fracture has been gradual, a fissure is widening between ordinary people and those who have power, position, resource and the responsibility to allocate it, fairly. The narrative that is shared suggests that ‘limited public finances’ or ‘competition in the market’ are the cause of these changes, but this is not universal, some of these corporate entities are doing well and building their own empires of influence. Centralisation may save someone money, but it has a cost, especially in rural Yorkshire. The time and fuel it costs us to travel to hospital, the empty units on our high streets and the frustration of trying to contact someone when we need help.
It is easy to become frustrated and discouraged. To feel unseen, unheard and insignificant, and to believe there is nothing we can do. But before we allow a sense of hopelessness to set in, may I take you back to our thoughts of where God might be found in all of this. Is he really looking down from on high, and just us inaccessible as everyone else seems to be?
The Bible describes a period in ancient times when things were, seemingly, going very well for the people of Israel. Under David’s rule, a peace had been established in the land. Under King Solomon, the temple had been built. For those with power, position and resource times were good. The narrative they wrote told of a God who was on their side. A God who had made them successful. A God who would endorse the standards and priorities they chose for themselves. It was a story of empire, very similar to the empires that are being built in our world today. But ancient Israel’s ruling classes and big business did not notice nor care about the gulf that was growing between them and the rest of the population. Between them and the ones who had no power and mostly lived in poverty. They were also not aware of the chasm that was growing, between them and the God of the Bible.
When we look a little deeper at the Biblical account, something surprising becomes clear. We discover that the God of the Bible is not to be seen where we might expect to find him. He is not in the temple, supporting the claims of empire or endorsing the status quo. He is not distant or depersonalised, available only to those who society has deemed to be deserving. And he is not silent.
The God of the Bible refuses to participate in the empire of the elite just as much as he refuses to endorse today’s competitive individualism. This God, whose words are proclaimed by the prophets, sees the individual unseen by the system, he hears their cries, and he speaks on their behalf against the ones who are exploiting and excluding them. He is generous with his time and his attention. He doesn’t speak at them, telling them what to do, or what to believe, but speaks with them, hearing their voices and responding from his heart. He is not distant, but present in the neighbourhood of their lives.
And as we read on, it is this surprising God who we meet in Jesus. The ‘high up’ God who stooped down to earth, and moved into the neighbourhood, in the form of an ordinary man. This God becomes present in the communities he stays in. Meeting ordinary people, eating in their homes, healing their friends and family members. The gospel writers record the names of many of these ordinary people; Mary, Matthew, Zacchaeus, Susannah, Bartimaeus, and the simple roles they filled; farmers, fishermen, mothers, sons, builders and soldiers. Jesus had time for all of them. He had time to listen to their stories, to answer their questions, and to resolve their issues. He saw great value in each of them. He recognised that they all carried the image of God which made them significant and made them seen.
The good news today is that it is this God, present in people who, like me and many of you, have decided to choose his ways above the values and ideas of our contemporary culture, who is the God of this earth. He is the God who is above everything, but at the same time is willing to meet us in our lowest places. He is not distant. We do not need to go online to meet him, or to drive to another town for him to hear us. When we speak to him, when we pray, he is always available. He is good, he is abundantly generous, and in him we find an opportunity to rewrite the story of our own lives and interweave them with the story of his son Jesus and of life in all its fullness.
Be encouraged.
If you would like to know more about Dales Faith or to find answers to your questions about this God, please message or get in contact through our website DalesFaith.org. We would love to hear from you.