ODJ: Is God Necessary?

March 12, 2017 

READ: Luke 24:13-34 

Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognised him. And at that moment he disappeared! (v.31).

A few years ago, writer Maureen Dowd was in Australia to promote her book Are Men Necessary? At one event, Dowd and a female interviewer were on stage when a member of the audience asked if a podium blocking her view could be moved. In an instant, two men heaved aside the heavy podium as the audience began to laugh. “Are men necessary?” the interviewer quipped, “I think the question has been answered.”

A variety of voices today proclaim the “irrationality” of belief and the “nonsense” of divine things. In their own words they ask, “Is God necessary?” As I ponder Maureen Dowd’s experience, I wonder if there isn’t an ironic twist to their question too.

“Is God necessary?” the critic asks, using the very breath God has given him (Acts 17:25). “There is no God,” says another, as she enjoys God-given sunshine and rain (14:17). “I’m living fine without God,” says a third, not realising his place of birth was divinely determined (17:26). “God is the cause of all wars,” says a fourth, forgetting all the hospitals, care homes and charities started in His name. “God is dead,” said Friedrich Nietzsche, while in fact God is on the stage helping us out.

Two disciples once walked along a dusty road talking about religious things (Luke 24:13-34). As they travelled, a third person joined them. They didn’t recognise His face, but His words made their hearts “burn within [them]” (v.32). Only later, as they urged Him to stay, did they discover it was God in the flesh (v.31).

As debates about God’s existence continue, isn’t it ironic that He is walking beside us as we talk? He’s there, hidden but present, revealing Himself more fully to those who invite Him to stay.

—Sheridan Voysey

365-day plan: Judges 15:1-20