Letters to God

On a Monday morning several weeks ago I received a letter on my desk. The letter had been placed in the offering plate during worship on Sunday and the ushers were unsure what to do with it. So, they gave it to me. The letter read:

Dear God,

When I was a boy in Jamesville, NC my brother and I took money out of the plate when it was being passed. We only took enough for some candy. I think I was about 7 or 10, but we knew better. My mother did not raise us like that, and I’m sorry. All these years later and I still feel guilty about it, and I think that is why I have such bad luck. I’m sorry and I tried to stay on the straight and narrow, but it didn’t work out like that. Please forgive me for my sins and my stupidity.

Kenneth

This is all I have.

Along with the letter was a donation of four dollars.

What would drive a man to write a letter like this one? Guilt. Guilt is a monster that is difficult to keep caged. Once loosed from its cage, guilt can drive normal people to think irrationally and act badly. Instead of a healthy conscience that would make a person ask for forgiveness, guilt can make someone so ashamed that he or she is unable to bear the idea of being seen. People like Kenneth seldom turn to God and receive forgiveness because their guilt overwhelms them. Even in writing this letter, Kenneth is expressing guilt and not the grace and forgiveness of God that he truly wants.

I wish I could talk with Kenneth. I wish I could tell him about the God I know. Kenneth’s letter indicates a very faulty view of God. In my experience, most spiritual problems have their roots in a faulty view of God. Kenneth seems to believe that God is punishing him with a lifetime of bad luck for the sin he committed as a child. The kind of God Kenneth seems to believe in is the God of rage, a God who rages against the sins committed by a young boy so much that He punishes him for his entire life.

Unfortunately, Kenneth is not alone. Some years ago, I talked with a father whose son had died in a car accident. The father believed God was punishing him for his alcoholism by his son’s death. I tried to convince him otherwise. Honestly, his view was so deep-seated that I am not sure I was successful.

I wish I could convince Kenneth and others who live with guilt and shame that the God of the universe is not like they imagine Him to be. Because we humans have limited minds, our understanding of God is limited. When we try to reason our way to God, we are often left with a “god” that bears limited resemblance to God. Because there is nothing like God and nothing in our experience to compare Him to, we struggle to know Him. Our limited minds are one reason the Incarnation is necessary. God, knowing our limitations, has revealed Himself fully and finally in Jesus Christ. In short, because God became human in Christ Jesus, we can know what God is like by understanding what Jesus is like. As Martin Luther put it, “Flee the hidden God and run to Christ.”

In Jesus Christ, God is revealed as good, gracious, and forgiving. God does not punish those who have committed childhood sins with a lifetime of bad luck. Whatever punishment was necessary, God bore Himself in the person of Jesus. Jesus took my guilt, your guilt, and the guilt of the whole world on Himself so that we might experience the goodness of God.

I wish Kenneth knew that. I wish my friend knew that. I wish everyone knew that.