Pondering Pastor

The Associated Press is reporting that Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers sued God last week. He filed the lawsuit to make a point about frivolous lawsuits.

Chambers says in his lawsuit that God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents, inspired fear and caused “widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants.” The Omaha senator also says God has caused “fearsome floods … horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes.” He’s seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty.

Too bad this is not a novel idea.

A court in Romania has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a man there against “”the defendant God, who lives in the heavens and is represented in Romania by the Orthodox Church.” The suit was for “fraud, betrayal of trust, corruption and influence peddling.” Apparently, God didn’t answer his prayers. (July 2007)

The Man Who Sued God is a 2001 Australian movie starring Billy Connolly. The storyline is that a man’s boat was destroyed by lightning and his insurance claim was denied because the lightning was ruled “an act of God”.

There are plenty of other examples of lawsuits against God … even within scripture. Many claim that portions of the book of Job contain “legal” language that is essentially a lawsuit against God.

The challenge to faith is that we claim that God acts within the world, and yet, we don’t have clarity about God’s level or degree of action. Are our lives scripted? Lutheran theology teaches that we are not “puppets on a string” and that we do have “free will”. What about acts of nature? Lutheran theology also teaches that all of creation is corrupted by sin (Romans 8:22). Theology is full of paradox and contradictions. That either makes it illogical or true. I maintain that the acceptance of paradox points to truth.

Pondering Pastor