The God Nobody Knows

By Sandy Harlan

Based on sermons delivered at St. Marks United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana, The God Nobody Knows traces the personal faith journey of its author:

Longing to know God

Searching the Scriptures

Striving to live a life faithful to the teachings of Jesus

Embracing the diversity and sacredness of all life

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512734676

Sandy Harlan

Sandy Harlan is a retired deacon in the United Methodist Church. Until her retirement in 2014, she served as the Associate Director of Clergy Services for the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, IN. Prior to serving in that position, she served a dual appointment: Associate Director of Ministerial Services for the South Indiana Conference and Director of Financial Ministries for St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. Harlan currently volunteers with the Crooked Creek Food Pantry on the northwest side of Indianapolis. She is a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Her hobbies include reading, movies, travel, writing, and spending time with family and friends Discovering retirement as a great time for just “being” has been a wonderful gift.

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Copyright © 2016 Sandy Harlan.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover photo used with permission from St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, South Bend, IN

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-3466-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3467-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016904231

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/24/2016

CONTENTS

The God Nobody Knows

I Had A Dream

My Call to Covenant

God in a Box

And the Word Became Flesh

Lord, If Only You Had Been There

In The Presence of the Holy

Radical Inclusiveness

Amazing, Isn’t It?

Who Do You Say That I Am?

They Saw What Jesus Saw

THE GOD NOBODY KNOWS

Acts 17:22-30

In 2005 I joined Indiana Bishop Michael J. Coyner and several hundred other United Methodists on a journey to the Middle East. Our purpose was to retrace the 4th missionary journey of the Apostle Paul.

Our first day was spent in Athens and Corinth. Later that same day, we boarded a cruise ship that took us to various sites throughout the Mediterranean. Each evening we sailed. Each day we toured. We docked at Malta, Sicily, Naples and Civitavecchia. We saw the ruins of ancient cities in the midst of, or surrounding, modern cities. We saw numerous temples and theaters, visited several churches and basilicas, and explored various ruins and archaeological sites. We visited places I’d only heard or read about—the ruins at Pompeii, the Parthenon, the Roman Coliseum and Forum, St. Peter’s Square, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican, just to name a few.

I have always had a deep love for archaeology and ancient civilizations; more recently a deep appreciation for medieval and renaissance art. All three were among the highlights of this trip. Yet for me, the one thing that stood out above all others was standing among the ruins at the Acropolis on Mars Hill

I grew up in St. Paul’s Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church in South Bend, Indiana. My spiritually formative years were in that congregation. And every Sunday morning we worshipped under the influence of a huge stained glass window—thirty feet tall and 18 feet wide. It contains 36 larger than life human figures and depicts the scene on Mars Hill where Paul declared to the Athenians, whom you therefore worship in ignorance, him declare I unto you. Awkward as that language was, those words remain imprinted on my memory to this very day. In The Message, Peterson says it in more contemporary language, I’m here to introduce you to the God nobody knows. Having grown up under the influence of that window, and that Scripture passage, standing on the very site where it took place was an incredible experience.

But, there’s more to its meaning than mere sentiment. I’ve spent most of my spiritual journey longing to know, and seeking to find, the God nobody knows. Sometimes I feel as if I am getting close. Other times I am not so sure. There are two primary sources I’ve looked to for guidance—the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the church. Unfortunately the two are not always in sync about either his teachings or who this wandering preacher was. Councils and creeds, early church fathers and modern theologians have all sought to figure out just who he was. Whoever else Jesus was, or is, there is no doubt he was Jewish, and a revolutionary. His teachings ran counter to the culture of his time. Both Rome and the Temple authorities considered him a threat to the status quo and collaborated to eliminate him. Although they killed his body, the spirit of the risen Christ and his teachings live among us even today. Those teachings still run counter to the prevailing culture, only this time, it is our culture. Like the people of Athens, we too have our false gods—among them greed and self-interest, tribalism and violence, nationalism and fear.

Greed manifests itself in our economy where enough is never enough. How much is enough? Do any of us have enough? Manufacturers and marketing agencies apparently don’t think so. Planned obsolescence is considered savvy marketing strategy. National and international corporations operate at the expense of the poor and the environment. CEO’s make enough money in salaries and bonuses to keep their companies afloat, yet let them go under just to protect their own excessive wealth. In a news report several years ago a major health insurance company said they couldn’t afford to pay what the anesthesiologists at a local hospital wanted to charge. Whether those rates were fair is debate for another time, but couldn’t afford it? Shortly thereafter, it was announced the CEO of that company was given a multi-million dollar bonus. What’s wrong with this picture? What’s wrong with Corporate America?

It was shortly after 9/11 we were all encouraged to buy, buy, buy, spend, spend, spend—whether we needed anything or not—just to keep the economy afloat. It was our patriotic duty. I wonder—if United Methodists followed John Wesley’s advice to "earn all you can, and save all you can, so you can give all you can", would the economy tank? Or would it thrive in a more holistic way?

Self-interest manifests itself in our myopic focus on ourselves. We live in the most me-oriented time in history. Our concern is for ourselves without regard for other persons or future generations as evidenced by the ever widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Our tax laws favor corporations over individuals, the rich over the poor and middle class. As long as I’ve got mine, we have ours, sorry about you and yours.

Another area where self-interest supersedes all others is our national policies regarding the environment. As a nation we’re not about to sacrifice our comfort, our wealth, our corporate profits—just on the theory of some environmental wacko—that our world—as we know it—won’t be here forever. We won’t do it for