Telling Others Who God Is

Acts 8:27b-31 (NRSV)

Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

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Tell me all your thoughts on God?
'Cause I would really like to meet her
And ask her why we're who we are
Tell me all your thoughts on God
'Cause I am on my way to see her
So tell me am I very far -
Am I very far now?

Dishwalla, Counting Blue Cars, from Pet Your Friends, 1995

The question Jesus asks us is "Who do you say that I am?" The question others ask us is "Who do you say Jesus is? Who do you say God is?"

So, how do we answer this most wonderful and most puzzling of all questions?

The first, the very first place we start is with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of John declares the Holy Spirit will teach us everything, and remind us of all that is said to us. (14:26) When we are asked to share the faith of Christ, the Spirit empowers us to share. It is the words of the Spirit we are invited to share. As tempting as it is to overstep the teaching we have been given, it is for us to pay attention to the teachings of Christ as we are reminded by the Spirit.

Know that people usually don't want to hear the theology of Augustine, Luther, or Calvin. (Darn!) People want to know about the difference being a believer makes and continues to make in your life. People want to see where the rubber meets the road, as Dishwalla sings, "Tell me all your thoughts on God? 'Cause I would really like to meet her." People don't care much about theory of God, they want to know about God in the life we live.

A final thought to leave this deals with the band calling God "her." Chapter III of The Second Helvetic Confession teaches "We believe and teach that God is one in essence or nature, subsisting in himself, all sufficient in himself, invisible, incorporeal, immense, eternal, Creator of all things both visible and invisible, the greatest good, living, quickening and preserving all things, omnipotent and supremely wise, kind and merciful, just and true." (See, I told you that people don't want to hear from theologians!)

Being "incorporeal" as the confession states, God is without a body. Being without a body, God is neither male nor female. So when the band sings about God as a she, don't get upset.

If we chew the fat of language, we never get to the meat of who God is. That is what people want to know. Start where the people are, that's what Philip did with the Ethiopian. Talk about who God is, who Jesus is, who the Spirit is. Tell the people what you know, not what you don't. Talk about the difference the triune God makes in your life.

This is what people want to know.