Chaos and God -or- Life is Out of Order

One simple word can describe my life right now: “chaos.”  (Simple?)  On July 15th, I was ordained for Word and Sacrament ministry in the ELCA.  In the weeks before that major event, I ended my tenure at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Rockford; I packed up all of my earthly belongings in preparation to move; and I suffered the worry and sorrow of having a family member face major health issues.  The ordination day itself was chaotic, as a thousand little details and about 500 people came together.  Two days after my ordination, I moved to Toluca, IL.  The same day I moved into the new parsonage, I began my first call at St. John’s Lutheran Church.  Since becoming the pastor at St. John’s I have conducted a wedding, made about two dozen hospital/home visits, participated in VBS with about 130 youth and adults, and have done a plethora of other little things in and behind the scenes.  Oh, and meanwhile, I have tried to put a whole house together, and have written over 50 thank you cards (about half of what I want to send out!).

Whew!  All in the space of four week’s time.  If that isn’t chaos, I don’t know what is!

But as I reflect, God has been present--visible, markable and tangible--in the midst of all of it.

Chaos is described in many ways: disarray, confusion, tumult, commotion, disruption, mess, hoopla, change....  And it is in these things, especially recently, that I have had the most profound experiences of God.  And as I read the Bible, I find that God always comes in chaos, or rather, when God comes, chaos always occurs.

God visited Job in the whirlwind.  God scuffled with Jacob in a tumultuous wrestling match.  God destroyed the order of Pharaoh, the system of slavery, when he brought the Israelites into the untamed desert--into the anarchy of freedom.  God caused upheaval in the Promised Land as the Israelites displaced the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizites, etc.  God resisted the pleas of the people to place a king over Israel to bring order.  God rejected the idea of having a temple built, because God loved the commotion of showing up where and when God pleased.  God sent his beloved people into Exile, and went with them as far as they were scattered.  

The Bible tells us that when God comes, so does chaos.

Think even of creation.  God entered the stage of history to bring order, or so it would seem.  But the “order” of creation was a chaotic break from the chaos of the void that existed before all things.  And even the creation God made was infused with chaos: think of the rich diversity of life that is in constant movement, constant change!

Even paradise, Eden, was untamed.  Adam and Eve were allowed some order: they named the animals.  But they were left without the knowledge of good and evil.  God made it so that they would experience the changes and chances of life spontaneously, without foreknowledge, without the ability to categorize and predict.  And so it was the Serpent that came to ruin the chaos that God wanted to protect in the life of Adam and Eve.  The snake pushed the system of the knowledge of good and evil on them.  All of a sudden, Adam and Eve saw and understood the chaos that surrounded them--and they began to worry and fret and fear.  They began to protect themselves, to guard themselves from the uncertainty of nature, the uncertainty of the future.  In trying to protect themselves, they gradually lost their trust in God.  God’s only recourse was to throw them out of the Garden--because all of a sudden, they could handle more disarray (more chaos) and in a way, they needed more chaos to remain the creatures that God had made them.

We all live outside of Eden, where chaos is more vigorous.

But just as our first parents encountered God wandering around the garden, coming unannounced, we here and now, still happen upon God in our wanderings and in the things that interrupt our lives.  Chaotic times help us to see that God is still there, beside us, that God is still looking for us.  Chaotic times remind us of what--who--is our true mainstay.

Right now, in my chaotic life, God is present to give me peace, and to help me sort things out.  God helps us through the changes to which he calls and draws us.

And when the time comes, that I have settled into organization and routine...well, God will come again.  For he will not suffer me to stagnate, but will brood over me so that I will become living, moving waters.

This is why Jesus came.  To show us that we don’t need to be afraid of change and chaos.  To show us that we were not created to be bound by systems and order, but were made to be free-flowing rivers of grace and love that move across the face of the Earth.  Jesus was God’s single most chaotic act.  Ever.  God becoming human?  That doesn’t fit...it doesn’t even fit into the orderly system of logic.  And when Jesus came, he disputed with the authorities, he broke the natural laws of disease and medicine, and ultimately Jesus demonstrated that, with God, life and death don’t come in that order.  No, death gives way to life.  That one event, that one fact, has created quite a commotion the last two thousand some years.  It created chaos enough for God to enter into our lives and hearts, and the lives and hearts of our children and down the generations.

God gives us what we need.  What we need is usually the opposite of what we have, or have had: stability in chaos; commotion in stagnation (cacophony in monotony; passion in placidity).  God wishes to create in us balance.  The fine, intricate balance that life requires.


God is still moving.  God is still doing new things.  And we have the task and the utter joy to follow.  

I am glad that my life is chaos right now, for it has given me the occasion to see that the only thing that is steadfast is God.

Thanks be to God for that!

Pastor  Ryan