Incline Our Hearts

A God Who Knows Us, Loves Us, and Brings Us Home

Recently, when I was on vacation, Megan and I went to see the new Christopher Nolan movie “The Odyssey” (we really enjoyed it). One intriguing part of the film was the role of the gods. Although in Nolan’s version, unlike the book, the gods are not seen (except for Athena, who appears periodically to Odysseus as a kind of conscience), nevertheless their presence is felt in the natural world of the story. So, for example, Poseidon’s wrath is known through rough waters and storms. The overall sense of the gods is that they are distant, dangerous, and unforgiving.

What a contrast there is in the God of our Christian faith! Our God is not distant but came to us and is known to us in Jesus Christ. As Jesus says, “whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus is to us, as the hymn says, “our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.” Not at all capricious or quick to judge us, our God loves us, knows us each by name, forgives us, and shows us mercy as deep and wide as the sea.

Of course, there are no real gods but the one God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), but so many in our modern culture essentially live as if they believe in some version of the pagan gods of old. Superstitious and fearful, they worship the idols of money, possessions, politics, self-improvement, addiction, and technology. Part of our Christian calling is to share with others the Good News: that the real and only God offers us love, life, forgiveness, freedom, and a safe passage home.