Our sense organs 45

The well-known verse John 3:16, was once called
the pole star of the Bible by the evangelist C. H.
Spurgeon. It affirms the love of God for all people:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him,
shall not perish but have eternal life.” We could
also put it like this: Nobody lives his life on this
earth without being loved by God. God is kind
towards us, because He loves us. Through this
goodness He calls us to believe: “do you show
contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance
and patience, not realising that God’s kindness
leads you towards repentance?” (Rom 2:4; Greek:
metanoia = conversion, about-face, changing
one’s mind).
In his famous home-coming drama Draußen vor
der Tür (“Outside the door”) the German poet,
Wolfgang Borchert, (1921 – 1947) described the
neediness and loneliness of the survivors of the
Second World War. One notable scene involves a
dialogue between God and Beckmann, a soldier
returning home from Russia, wearing gas mask
goggles.
Every believer:
God: People call me the loving God.
Beckmann: Funny, that. They must be very
strange people to call you that. They must be the
contented, the satisfied, the happy ones, and
those who are afraid of You. Those who walk in
sunlight, are in love, are sated or content ...
God: My child, my poor –
Beckmann: ... Where were You actually, dear loving
God, when the bombs roared? Or were you loving
when eleven of my reconnaissance patrol went
missing? Eleven men too few, dear God, and You
weren’t even there, dear God. These eleven men
must have cried aloud in the lonely forest, but You
were simply not there, dear and loving God. Were
You loving in Stalingrad, dear God, were You loving
there? How were you loving there? Yes, how?
When did You ever really love, God, when? When
did You ever care about us, God?
God: Nobody believes in me any more. Not you,
not anybody. I am the God in whom nobody
believes any more. And nobody is concerned with
me anymore. You don’t care about me, either.
Beckmann: ... Oh, but You’re old, God, You’re not
modern, not with it, You can’t really cope any
more with our fears or our long lists of casualties.
We don’t really know You any more, You are
a fairy-tale God of love – today we need a new
one. You know, one for our fears and needs. A
completely new one. Yes, we have sought You all
right, God, looked for You in every ruin, in every
shell-crater, in every night of darkness. We have
called You. God!!! We have screamed out for You,
wept, cursed! Where were You then, dear and
loving God?
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God: My children have turned away from me;
I did not turn from them. You turned away from
me; you, from me. I am the God in whom nobody
believes any more. All of you have turned away.