Sermonette for August 13, 2018

God and guardrails

A couple of months ago, my 15-year old-daughter and I were discussing the functionality of guardrails. Around here, we don’t see them all that often, and when we do see them, they’re well off the roads, like on interstate dividers. Rarely in North Dakota do drivers get a close look at guardrails, like others states do in the mountains. Rather, as she asked how they were supposed to work, my mind actually drew on what I remembered from watching NASCAR with my family growing up.

NASCAR races are filled with guardrails and cement barriers that function the same. Simply put, guardrails keep cars where they’re supposed to be. NASCAR racecars are very specifically designed- they can’t handle dirt, or bumps or even turning right at full speed without some adjustments. Guardrails keep the racecars where they’re supposed to be.

Now, with this in mind, there are two ways to perceive guardrails. They can be seen as a good thing. Guardrails keep racecars exactly where they will perform at their absolute best. Guardrails keep racecars away from dangerous surfaces, slow streets and stop signs. Only on a racetrack can racecars do 200 mph. Places where the cars could reach those speeds outside the track are extremely rare, usually dangerous and almost always illegal. Guardrails establish a boundary keeping cars right in the sweet spot of their potential. Seen this way, guardrails are awesome and benevolent.

However, if one day a driver became convinced that he could do higher speeds on city streets, then guardrails would become harsh and unforgiving. I remember many crashes where a racecar would either slam into the wall, leading to complete destruction, or slide against the wall, quickly chewing the car to pieces. Up close, NASCAR cars appear solid, but at 200 mph, the barriers tear through the cars like a combination wood chipper/sledgehammer. If a driver is determined to leave the racetrack, then the guardrails will tear the car to pieces before he makes it through.

So it is with God. The Internet is quick to call God unforgiving, malicious, harsh, or even bloodthirsty. Closer inspection of the stories in question, however, reveals there’s always someone who is determinedly working against God. God did smite Egypt because pharaoh resisted him. God massacred the people in the Promised Land because they resisted God and chose idols. God annihilated the northern 10 tribes because they too chose idols over God. That’s the context of God’s ferocious side: someone unwilling to work within God’s parameters. When we see God as harsh, likely it’s because we’re trying to break away from his plan, or we’re not seeing something correctly (i.e. death seems harsh, only because we see life narrowly as only what happens between birth and death, not in an eternal sense as God does).

However, if we take a step in faith. If we choose to trust that God knows best for our lives, I promise that, like a guardrail, God will no longer come across as harsh. Instead, his care and protection come into focus. If today, God seems harsh and mean to you, my question would be ‘in what way are you resisting him?’ My second response would be to recommend you give up. God won’t let you win, and thank goodness he doesn’t.