Pen and Ink Reflections
  • Blog
  • about
  • other reflections
  • contact

no more Mr Fix It

2/18/2016

0 Comments

 
Where is God in the midst of tragedy and evil, and what difference does prayer make?  These are questions which cut to the heart of our personal and global sufferings and to the power, or lack of perceived power, of Faith to help.  What answers have we to offer as Christians?  What kind of God is it to whom we point?  What, as we hear today’s Gospel reading, does Jesus say?...
Let me begin by reflecting on a British television show which ran for almost 20 years.  It was called ‘Jim'll Fix It’ and was immensely successful, with good reason.  Hosted by the then hugely popular British celebrity called Jimmy Savile, the show encouraged viewers, usually children, to write in with their dreams and heart-felt wishes, such as to meet their heroes or to do something unusual or amazing.  The wish would first be read out, then the viewer introduced, and the Fix, usually pre-filmed, would be shown, after which the recipient would receive a large medal from Jimmy Savile, with the words ‘Jim Fixed It For Me.’  It was, as I say, a great attraction on prime time TV, often heart-warming, and sometimes, with, for example, a little child with cancer, deeply moving.  To see a child’s eyes light up as their wish became reality was truly wonderful.

Alas!  Today, in the UK, the name Jimmy Savile is a byword for paedophilia at the heart of the British media and entertainment establishment.  Held in such high esteem for his prodigious charity as well as entertainment work, feted with many honours and even knighted by the Queen and the Pope, Jimmy Savile turns out to have been a man with a severe personality disorder and a sickening and prolific sexual and child abuse habit.  When, after his death, the full details began to emerge in 2012, the British Police described the alleged abuse as ‘staggering’ and ‘on an unprecedented scale’.  The fall-out included the kind of expose we have also known in Australia, as a whole series of other offenders began to be identified, including Rolf Harris.  As in Australia, such investigations also began to uncover whole cultures of neglect or buck-passing within revered institutions like the BBC.  In Australia, much focus has been on our Churches, but we know the scourge of abuse has been much more widespread.  Painfully, we are still hearing fresh stories, of abuse, and cover-ups.  Determinedly we are seeking to do all we can to put into place both specific measures and a whole culture of care and awareness that seek to eliminate any such actions again.  So, let me say again, as our Archbishop asks our clergy to repeat regularly, that if you, or anyone you know, has any information to share about sexual abuse, please come forward, to myself (as Rector) or to one of our designated child safety officers.  You are assured of full confidentiality and any information you have will be passed on to the appropriate authorities and acted on.  Our Church is not now, and cannot ever be again, anything other than fully supportive of handling abuse claims.  For such abuse is one of the deepest stains on our church and national culture.  We cannot simply Fix It for anyone who has been abused, but we can seek to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again. 

Now I have mentioned Jim’ll Fix It and Jimmy Savile’s abuse, because I think both of them can be similar to ways that some people approach God.  On the one hand, it is possible to want a God who simply ‘fixes’ things for us.  In a way, that is a kind of understandable, but naïve, childish way of looking at God.  If only we pray, and act in the right way, then God will fix things for us or for those for whom we care.  Sometimes that can indeed seem to come true but we will also be left terribly disappointed, and even traumatised, if we continue to relate to God simply like that.  For, on the other hand, the experience of suffering in our world will ultimately betray the hopes we have in God if we continue to think of God in that way.  Indeed, when things turn out very badly, we may even begin to think of God as a monster, even a bit like Jimmy Savile, when terrible things happen to good people.  God may then not only seem to be of no use, but even malevolent: that is the experience of many people and a powerful reason for the rejection of Christian Faith today. 

The brilliant British-Australian artiste Tim Minchin once wrote a typically biting satirical song about what we might call the Fix It God.  Entitled ‘Thank You God’, it expresses the widely held atheist challenge, that if God does exist and hears some prayers for some Christians, then why doesn’t God fix the really big things like war, natural disasters and horrendous diseases in the extremely poor places in our world?   It is a good question if we cling to a 'God’ll Fix It' idea of God.  Ultimately, as another highly intelligent and articulate entertainer, Stephen Fry, has put it, the Fix It God becomes an ‘evil, capricious, monstrous maniac’.  Why, for example, he says, if God is all-powerful, does God allow cancer in children, and insects whose only purpose is to burrow into the eyes of their victims?   If such a divine creator does exist, why would we want to worship such a God? 

Why indeed?  One of the things about atheist protests about suffering is that they are right, though not about God  That kind of God is not worth believing in.  As Christians we simply waste our time and appear stupid and immoral if we disagree.  Why don’t we agree on that point, and then move on to what really helps and what atheists miss?  Jesus did.  Take a look at today’s Gospel reading.  Jesus is talking about two terrible events which were in the local news.  The first was an act of horrendous political cruelty and human barbarism.  The second was what we call a natural disaster.  In both cases, a falsely pious response is to say that they were still part of God’s plan: and that those who were horribly murdered or tragically killed must have been being punished for their sins.  Jesus however is having none of that.  He’s with Tim Minchin and Stephen Fry on human suffering and natural evil in creation.  These things, Jesus is saying, are not to do with God.  God is not Mr Fix It.  When such bad things happen to people, it is not generally because they are better or worse than others.  They are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.   What matters is how we respond.  This is the central point of Jesus’ teaching in our Gospel today.  He thinks it stupid to try to explain horrendous suffering and still more so if we try to drag God into it.  What we must do however is to share in metanoia: repenting - turning around from despair - in, and to, the power of the love of God.

That is the best response to atheism, isn’t it?  Trying to defend a God who is not worth believing in, might seem pious and worthy but it is wrong and self-defeating.  The right and creative response to atheism is to look at Jesus himself and what he does.  Forget, says Jesus, philosophical justification of the unjustifiable.  Evil and suffering are cruel and wrong and they are not punishments of God.  Some evils and suffering may be things we bring upon ourselves but others are simply meaningless: unless and until, that is, we give them meaning, - until we turn around and share fully in the love and mystery of God. And that, really, is the heart of Christian Faith, isn’t it?  God is not interested in playing games of punishment or relief.  God is the eternal source of that love which creates all things and seeks their fullest good. And that love is ultimately unbeatable and worth trusting in, even in the worst of all suffering and evil, even in the cross of Jesus, the greatest symbol of the ultimate power and triumph of our God of Love.  A great English writer put it this way: the core of Christian Faith, she said, is not about giving a supernatural explanation of suffering, but a supernatural use of it.  Do you see what she, and Jesus, in our Gospel today, is saying?  Atheists may understandably rail against unjust suffering and evil, but what can be done about it?  

Jesus’ answer is the way of the cross, which is the way of true prayer, the way of sharing in eternal pain-bearing, evil-transforming love.  For when we pray, we are not, first and foremost, asking God to fix things, as seeking to share in that eternal love which will save, and heal even that which seems impossible to fix.  So let us pray, as Jesus taught us, in Jim Cotter’s wonderful paraphrase:

Eternal Spirit, Life-Giver, Pain-Bearer, Love-Maker, Source of all that is and shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The Hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your Justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your Commonwealth of Peace and Freedom sustain our hope and come on earth! With the bread that we need for today, feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and test, strengthen us. From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever. Amen.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Authors

    sermons and reflections from Penny Jones & Josephine Inkpin, an Anglican married clergy couple in Brisbane

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    2 Peter
    ABM
    Aboriginal
    Abraham
    Abuse
    Active
    Acts Of The Apostles
    Adam And Eve
    Advent
    Advocacy
    African-American
    Aidan
    Alan Webster
    Albanian
    Alice In Wonderland
    Allegory
    All Saints
    Andrew
    Angel
    Anger
    Anglican
    Animals
    Anoiniting
    Anselm
    Anthony Bloom
    Antioch
    Apophatic
    Archbishop Of Canterbury
    Armenian
    Art
    Artist
    Ash Wednesday
    Asylum Seekers
    Atonement
    Augustine
    Australia
    Authenticity
    Baha'i
    Bakerwoman
    Baptism
    Barefoot
    Barnabas
    Bartimaeus
    Battle Of One Tree Hill
    Beach
    Beatitudes
    Becoming
    Bede
    Being
    Believing
    Belonging
    Beloved
    Berlin
    Betrayal
    Bible
    Birmingham
    Birth
    Bishop
    Black
    Blessed
    Blessing
    Blessing Of Animals
    Boat
    Bob Dylan
    Body
    Bonhoeffer
    Border
    Born Again
    Bread
    Bread Of Life
    Breath
    Brexit
    Bride
    Bridegroom
    Brigid
    Brisbane
    Brokenness
    Bruegemann
    Buddha
    Buddhist
    Buderim
    Bunyan
    Call
    Cambodia
    Campfire
    Cana
    Canaanite
    Candle
    Candlemas
    Cappadocian Fathers
    Careers
    Carefully
    Carnival
    Carol
    Catholic
    Celtic
    Centurion
    Change
    Cheesemakers
    Child Of God
    Children
    Christ
    Christian
    Christian Aid
    Christmas
    Christology
    Christ The King
    Church
    City
    Climate
    Climbing
    Cloak
    Cloud Of Unknowing
    Coin
    Colossians
    Commandment
    Common Good
    Communion
    Community
    Companion
    Compassion
    Condamine
    Conflict
    Connect
    Contemplate
    Contemplative
    Context
    Corinth
    Coronavirus
    Cosmology
    Cost
    Courage
    Covenant
    Covid 19
    Covid-19
    Crack
    Create
    Creation
    Creed
    Creek
    Crib
    Cross
    Crossing Over
    Crucifixion
    Csg
    C.S.Lewis
    Cuddesdon
    Culture
    Cunnamulla
    Cynthia Bourgeault
    Cyprian
    Dance
    Darkness
    Darlughdach
    Dave-andrews
    David
    David-mach
    David Steindl Rast
    David Steindl-Rast
    Deacon
    Dean Inge
    Death
    Demon
    Desert
    Desire
    Deuteronomy
    Devil
    Difference
    Disability
    Disciple
    Discipleship
    Donkey
    Dorcas
    Dorothy Soelle
    Doubt
    Duns Scotus
    Durham
    Earth
    Easter
    Easterfest
    Ecumenical
    Eden
    Education
    Egg
    Ego
    Egypt
    Elizabeth
    Empire
    End Times
    Environment
    Ephesians
    Epiphany
    Equality
    Eternal
    Ethics
    Ethiopian
    Eucharist
    Eugene Stockton
    Eunuch
    Evangelical
    Evangelism
    Evil
    Exile
    Exodus
    Exorcism
    Eyes
    Fair Trade
    Faith
    Fame
    Family
    Fast
    Father
    Fathers Day
    Fear
    Fellowship
    Feminist
    Fire
    Fish
    Fishers
    Flesh
    Flora And Fauna
    Follow
    Foolish
    Footwashing
    Forgiveness
    Francis
    Franciscans
    Frederick Barker
    Freedom
    French
    Friend
    Fruit
    Fruits
    Fulfilment
    Fundamentalism
    Fundamentalist
    Funeral
    Galilee
    Galileo
    Game
    Garden
    Gate
    Gateshead
    Gay
    Gaze
    Gazelle
    Gender
    Gender Variant
    Genealogy
    Generosity
    Genesis
    Gentile
    Gentleness
    George Fox
    Gerard Manley Hopkins
    Gift
    Gil Bailie
    Glennie
    Glory
    God
    Golden Rule
    Good Friday
    Goodness
    Gospel
    Grace
    Graeme Rutherford
    Graham Warren
    Gratefulness
    Great-commission
    Greenness
    Gregory-of-nyssa
    Growth
    Gungor
    Habel
    Haggai
    Happiness
    Harvest
    Headlam
    Healing
    Heart
    Hebrew
    Hebrews
    Hedgerows
    Helder Camara
    Hen
    Henri Nouwen
    Heresy
    Herod
    Hildegard
    History
    Holiness
    Holy Saturday
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Week
    Home
    Homophobia
    Hope
    Hosea
    Hospitality
    Humility
    Icon
    I Corinthians
    IDAHOT
    Imagine
    Immanence
    Incarnation
    Indigenous
    Indooroopilly
    Inspiration
    International Women's Day
    Interplay
    Intimacy
    Invitation
    Iona
    Isaiah
    Israel
    Jack-in-a-box
    Jacob
    James
    Jan Richardson
    Jar
    Jarowair And Giabal
    Jarrow
    Jeremiah
    Jerusalem
    Jester
    Jesus
    Jesus Christ
    Jewish
    Jews
    Jihad
    Joan Chittister
    Joel
    John
    John Coleman
    John Naish
    John O'Donohue
    John The Baptist
    Josef Zacek
    Joseph
    Josephine Butler
    Joy
    Judaism
    Judas
    Judgement
    Julian Of Norwich
    Justice
    Kaleidoscope
    Katherine Appleby
    Keble
    KIerkegaard
    Kindness
    King
    Kingdom
    Kosuke Koyama
    Labyrinth
    Lamentations
    Land
    L'Arche
    Laughter
    Law
    Lazarus
    Leadership
    Leap
    Learning
    Legion
    Lent
    Leonard Cohen
    Leper
    Lesbian
    Levertov
    Levite
    LGBTI
    LGBTIQ
    Liberation
    Life
    Light
    Liminality
    Lincolnshire
    Lion
    Literalist
    Living Dance
    Living Stones
    London
    Longing
    Lord
    Lord's Prayer
    Love
    Love Of God
    Love Your Enemies
    Luke
    Luther
    Macrina
    Mad
    Magi
    Magnificat
    Mahatma Gandhi
    Manchester
    Maori
    Maranoa
    Marcella Althaus-Reid
    Margaret Silf
    Marianne Williamson
    Mark
    Mark Copland
    Marriage
    Martha
    Martin Luther
    Martin Luther King
    Martyr
    Mary
    Mary Magdalene
    Mary Of Bethany
    Mary Poppins
    Mary Sumner
    Matthew
    Maundy Thursday
    MCC
    Meaning
    Meditation
    Meister Eckhart
    Mercy
    Messiah
    Michael Leunig
    Midwife
    Migrant
    Milton
    Ministry
    Minster
    Miracle
    Mission
    Moltmann
    Monastery
    Monk
    Morality
    Moses
    Mother
    Mothering
    Mother-in-law
    Mothers Union
    Mountain
    Multicultural
    Multifaith
    Music
    Muslim
    Mustard Seed
    Myrrh
    Myrrh Bearers
    Mystery
    Mystic
    Myth
    NAIDOC
    Nakedpastor
    Name
    Natalie Adams
    Nativity
    Neighbour
    Nelson-mandela
    Net
    New-age
    New Creation
    New Life
    New Zealand
    Nicodemus
    Noel Preston
    Nonjudgement
    Nonviolence
    Nungalinya
    Obedience
    Ocean
    Oil
    Ordination
    Orthodox
    Oscar Romero
    Overcoming Violence
    Oxford
    Pacific
    Pain
    Palestine
    Palm Sunday
    Parable
    Parent
    Parish
    Participation
    Party
    Pastor
    Patience
    Patrick
    Patrick Oliver
    Paul
    Peace
    Peacemaker
    Penitence
    Pentatonix
    Pentecost
    People Of God
    Perfume
    Persecution
    Perseverance
    Persistence
    Peter
    Peter Millar
    Pharaoh
    Pharisee
    Pharisees
    Philip
    Philippians
    Pilate
    Pilgrim
    Pilgrimage
    Plague
    Plato
    Poetry
    Politics
    Poor
    Pope
    Pope Francis
    Possibility
    Poverty
    Power
    Praise
    Prayer
    Preacher
    Presence
    President
    Pride
    Priest
    Prince Of Peace
    Proclamation
    Prophecy
    Prophet
    Prophet Mohammed
    Protecttion
    Protestant
    Providence
    Psalm
    Puppet
    Purification
    Purity
    Quaker
    Queer
    Rabbi
    Race
    Rachael Mann
    Racism
    Rage
    Raiinbow
    Rainbow
    Ramadan
    Reason
    Recapitulation
    Reconciliation
    Reformation
    Refugee
    Rejoice
    Relationship
    Religion
    Religious Experience
    Remembrance
    Repentance
    Resilience
    Rest
    Resurrection
    Revelation
    Richard Rohr
    Rich Young Man
    Righteousness
    Risk
    River
    Rock
    Roman
    Romans
    Rose
    Rowan Williams
    R.S Thomas
    R.S.Thomas
    Sabbath
    Sacrament
    Safety
    Saints
    Salt
    Salvation
    Samaritan
    Sanctus
    Sarah
    Sarah Bachelard
    Schism
    Schleiermacher
    School Of Hard Knocks
    Science
    Scotland
    Scott Stevens
    Scripture
    Sea
    Season Of Creation
    Second Coming
    Security
    See
    Seed
    Sermon The Mount
    Service
    Seth Godin
    Sex
    Shalom
    Shame
    Sheep
    Sheep And Goats
    Shepherd
    Silence
    Sin
    Sinner
    Slavery
    Soil
    Solidarity
    Son Of Man
    Soul
    Sower
    Spirit
    Spiritual
    Stan Grant
    Stewardship
    St Francis College
    Stillness
    St Luke's
    St Mary's In Exile
    Storm
    Story
    Success
    Suffering
    Suffering Servant
    Sunflower
    Sydney
    Synagogue
    Syro-Phoenician
    Tabitha
    Table Fellowship
    Taize
    Talents
    Tall Poppy
    Tears
    Teenager
    Temple
    Temptation
    Tennyson
    Test
    Thanksgiving
    The Glennie School
    Theodicy
    Theology
    Theosis
    The Way
    Thomas
    Thomas Berry
    Thomas Merton
    Threshold
    Thunderbirds
    Tillich
    Time
    Tomb
    Toowoomba
    Torres
    Torres Strait
    Tractarian
    Tradition
    Transcendence
    Transfiguration
    Transformation
    Transgender
    Transition
    Treasure
    Tree
    Trinity
    Trump
    Trust
    Truth
    T.S.Eliot
    Tufty
    Tutu
    Tweed
    Tyne
    Unity
    Universe
    Usury
    Veridiitas
    Victory
    Violence
    Virgin Mary
    Virgins
    Voice
    Waiters Union
    Waiting
    Wales
    Walking
    War
    Warrego
    Warsaw
    Watch
    Water
    Wear
    Wedding
    Weeds
    Welcome
    Wellspring
    Widow
    Wilderness
    Willliam Blake
    Wind
    Wine
    Winston Halapua
    Wisdom
    Woe
    Wolf
    Woman
    Womb
    Women
    Wontulp-Bi-Buya
    Word Of God
    World Council Of Churches
    World Youth Day
    Wounds
    Woy Woy
    Wrestling
    Yahweh
    Yoke
    Zacchaeus

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly