God is a Runner

This morning while running through my neighborhood I passed a home with the front door open and the sounds of a man and woman arguing coming from within. Honestly it made me want to pick up the pace. Who wants to be around a heated domestic dispute, right?


As I ran on past that house the thought came to mind. God is a runner. Only, God runs toward the world’s greatest pain rather than away from it.

It always comes up when our lives are touched by tragedy. Columbine, September 11, Tsunami, Earthquake, Cancer, now Aurora . . . in addition to sadness, anger and fear, in every instance there is that nagging question, “Where was God?” Some conclude that it’s proof that God is make believe at best or doesn’t give a rip at worst. Others say, “Who can understand what God does! We just have to accept it by faith.”

None of those responses takes into account the major storyline of the New Testament, God became flesh and dwelt among us. (For my pastor friends who think running is a worthless activity that shortens your life, I just have to point this out.) God is a runner!

In Jesus, God runs toward the world’s greatest pain, not away from it.

If the crucifixion of Jesus tells us anything, it tells us that God is running toward the world’s greatest pain and not away from it.

Think about that for a minute. God is running toward the world’s greatest pain, toward your greatest pain.

The exact place where you think God has said to you, “That’s it, you’re on your own.” That’s what God is running toward. Your arguments with your spouse, your divorce, your sexual sin, your love of violence, your victimization, your hatred for others, your dishonest businesses practices, your addictive behavior that you try to keep secret, your feelings of inadequacy and your pride of self-sufficiency.

Why in the world would God want to run toward that stuff? This is the mystery of the good news of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul put the answer this way in his letter to the Corinthian church. “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself . . .” 2Corinthians 5:19

Apparently this is what God wants most – reconciliation. He wants it enough to run toward the world’s greatest pain - the places where division seems impossibly more powerful than anything else in the world.

What could possibly defeat the proud and painful divisions that we experience in this world? Christians are foolish enough to say Jesus.

Interestingly, Jesus way of reconciling the world to himself isn’t by pontificating platitudes. He doesn’t do it with shaming lists of “thou should” and “thou shalt nots.” He doesn’t reconcile the world to himself through violence and vengeance. Nor does he do by distancing himself from the pain of our lives until we figure out how to get our act together and come to him. Jesus way of reconciling the world to himself is by running toward the pain. Becoming flesh. Bearing the weight of our evil in himself on the cross.

Of course, as I continued running past the arguing couple in that house the thought occurred to me, “How will the world know that God runs toward the world’s greatest pain if His Body here on earth keeps running from it?” (ouch! Forgive us Lord when we, your body here on earth, run away from the world’s pain).

Paul continues his letter to the Corinthians by saying God has “entrusted the message of reconciliation to us.” Translation: "You are called to be a runner too." As Christ’s body on earth, the Church is called to run toward the world’s greatest pain.

What do we do when we get there? I don’t know. . . How about break bread? Confess our sin. Offer forgiveness. Ask forgiveness. Suffer with those who suffer. Share what we've been given. Place our trust in the Original Runner who trusted God in the face of death and rose from the dead victoriously. Embody Christ and His hope in the midst of the world’s greatest pain.

Run with Christ toward the world’s greatest pain. That is right where God already is.