Is God's Wrath on America?

Is it true that God's wrath is coming on America because it is rejecting traditional marrige?  I guess the question is really a couple of dozen questions. Let's look briefly only at a couple of them.

First of all, what is wrath? Even the Biblical concept seems to be muti-valent. In places, God punishes directly: fire from heaven, the earth opening and swallowing a clan, that sort of thing. In other places, God punishes directly but it is in and through some natural means: foreign invasion, drought, famine and disease. This second type requires discernment. Are all droughts God generated punishment? Natural disaster and war occur in all manner of places and does not always correlate with pious practice. The third type, is God's withdrawal. There are places where God says "I will turn my face" and seems to withdraw His hand of  blessing and protection. This is wrath by subtraction. God says, "Have it your way" and we are left to pay the consequences of this decision. In other places, "God's hand weighs heavy upon" the sinner. There is an experience of God's judgment.

Another question: what would generate God's wrath? Well, some people around these parts would say, "It is in the Bible." And they are right, but the Bible can create some serious confusion, too. People reading the plain meaning of the texts do not always come to a shared and plain conclusion. Christians do not agree on what OT laws are relevant and which aren't. One classic funny, to me, is when people say, "Follow the ten commandments." The sabbath rest is not part of most people's lives (and certainly not as described in Torah). The Ten Commandemnts as a concept is great, it is the practical keeping that is the challenge. The ceremonial vs. moral laws gets even trickier. Some condemned practices are advocated by us today, including the most conservative Christian.

One other question (there are more I have not raised) is about the relationship of our nation with God. America is not in covenant with God. There was an appeal to Biblical imagery in our early years, in large part because the educated person would be well versed in Bible. Even if many were not religious men or even Christian, they still were grounded in the Word. In light of that, America as the Promised Land grew in popularity and it is reflected in the American sense of being special and different. We know that God punished nations in OT but it is not clear what that would look like now. Nor is it clear how God sees this relationship.

A final question, can wrath co-exist with love in the heart of God? I think that is easy: yes. One concern is properly defining love. It is not just affection, or a warm mushing feeling, or anything-goes-turn-a-blind-eye-to-human-sin permissiveness. Love is unconditional but relationships are not. I think this is part of the confusion with the word grace, especially in a post-Reformation, consumerist culture like ours. It is hard to get our minds wrapped around the concept. Love is God's sel-emptying, but without a reciprocal gift of self there can be no relationship. As much as it appeasls, there are no solo's in life. Some things are more important than others, but the less important still matters. There are expectations and demands. There are consequences for choices.

I believe the revelation of God is clear. There is a cost for sin. We can call it wrath, punishment, natural consequences, fruit or any of a number of other things. We can understand God's actions as direct, indirect, in and through, withdrawal or a number of other ways. We can wonder how love and wrath co-exist and ponder it. We can construct all manner of amazing (and not so amazing) theological systems. What we cannot do is completely explain it nor can we reject it. Perhaps an analogy from real life will help. I love my kids more than I love any other kids on the planet. Who will I most intensely scrutinize and most harshly correct? My own. It is an analogy, but it seems to square with something fundamental. Love is the opposite of indifference and when one cares that caring impacts how one behaves. Even God (to the extent we understand anything about divine activity) seems to behave this way.

So I believe in wrath. I expect judgment on a society at large. I think judgment works in myriad ways. I do not think it is quick (it can take generations in the Bible stories). I do not think it is always obvious. My job is to remind people that sin produces wrath.I am not a prophet like Isaiah so I cannot fill in all the finer details. I do not have to identify a particular group or singular behavior as the cause of it. Nor do I have to identify exactly what events constitute judgment. I have a distorted view of things (as do you). The things which we believe will bring down God's wrath may not be God's main concern. I take solace knowing the Lord God sits in the Judge's chair. I do not need to worry about things which are not in my control, especially things too big for me to comprehend.