LENT 2020: Day 19

• Lent 2020: Day 19 Wednesday, March 18, 2020:
  Psalm 81; Jeremiah 2:4-13; John 7:14-31, 37-39

     Thus said the LORD:
          What wrong did your fathers find in me
              that they grew distant from me?

I learned the term, “practical atheism,” from the theologian and ethicist Stanley Hauerwas. 

Essentially, it means that, for all practical purposes in one’s life, the existence of God is of no importance. In other words, if we found out tomorrow that there is no God, your life would not really have to change.

Practically speaking, then, you are an atheist.

When I read the Psalmist speak of growing distant from God, it makes me think of practical atheism.

We are practical atheists because our wealth and our privilege means that we don’t need God. And so, like Israel during good times, we grow distant from God.

But, referencing the exodus story of leading Israel out of Egypt and to the Promised Land, God reminds the people of how they needed help in the past.

We don’t need God...until we do.

In reality, though, we always need God. It’s just that we fail to acknowledge our need.

      Therefore, I bring charges against you,
          said the LORD.

God has brought charges against us. 

And we are guilty.

May we, as our Lenten journey continues, recall our past and the ways we have relied on God, and use that to help us see the ways we continue to rely on God today and each day.