ONLY A HOLY GOD
A psychologist studying trauma recently said to me that no human relationship is totally safe. Really? So sad.
My mind went to wondering if our God-relationship can be totally safe. I have known some people who as a result of childhood experience of a distant or cruel parent, have great difficulty considering God their Father. Jesus is OK, they say. But that “father” word stands in the way of their relationship.
Calling God Father is especially precious to me because of the incredible spiritual intimacy I have come to experience over the years. Fortunately, I had the gift of a human father I could trust, who I could be confident wanted only the best for me. But not everyone has that experience. Widespread disclosures of child abuse evidence that.
The Good Father
Early in my pastoral ministry I found some survivors of childhood neglect and abuse were helped by thinking of God as the Good Father. This suggestion follows the model of Jesus calling himself the Good Shepherd. His hearers understood the value of this, even though they knew there were bad shepherds who neglected their flock, mistreated or abandoned them.
I’ve noticed a recent return to songs mentioning God’s holiness. What does it mean to say God is holy? The church I was part of in my childhood had a banner over the archway at the front that said, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”. I puzzled over that many a Sunday. Holiness didn’t seem to me beautiful. I wasn’t sure I had much of it, and drawing attention to God’s holiness just seemed to distance me.
Certainly, God is not of the same substance as us, nor would we want a God just like us. However we define deity, God must be other, separate, requiring respect. What is God is both father and holy? When we hear through Jesus that we are invited into a relationship with this divine Other, can we dare to trust this relationship?
The Holy Guarantee
What I have come to realise is that God being holy is our guarantee that the heavenly Father is safe. The holiness itself is the guarantee. So invited into intimacy with this Other will not harm us, will not cause us evil. A holy God can do no wrong, cannot be careless with us. God is challenging perhaps, always expecting the best of us, but this Good Father will not hurt nor exploit us.
An Australian song says: Who else invites me to call Him Father? Only a Holy God.
And Brian Holliday of Dayspring recently reminded us of the reassuring words penned by Teresa of Avila:
God is always there, if you feel wounded.
God kneels
over this earth like
a divine medic,
and God’s love thaws
the holy in
us.
Jennifer Turner
