“Why don’t you mind your own business!”

By John

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082821.cfm
I Thessalonians 4:9-11
Matthew 25:14-30

A couple of times during our local men’s group retreat this past weekend, I heard a rather blunt warning from God. Some of the fellas were bantering about God’s will for us, including myself. We wondered why God does certain things. Question God’s motives or purposes, and he speaks to us. I’ve always thought that was true. It seems to me that he did. His answer came out in raw, frank words. 

“Why don’t you mind your own business!”

There’s no question mark at the end of that sentence, by the way. It’s an exclamation point.  

I didn’t hear God speak in those words. No voice from heaven shouted out. There was this harsh whisper, though, several times. God poked into our discussions, and a few of us had no doubt about the direction that took place in our conversations. 

“Are you questioning my intentions?”

That sentence does have a question mark. So, we should answer it. “Are you questioning my intentions?”  Yes. We are questioning God’s intentions. We don’t understand what he’s doing, so we throw our problems back at him. We need, apparently, to get clarification on this point. 

In Isaiah 55, we hear the answer. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

That’s the penultimate explanation. God’s intentions rank way above ours. We should recognize that his thoughts and ways always come from goodness. He’s not like us, wavering, self-absorbed, worried, and worst of all, judgmental.

The sharpest, clearly the most brutal, rebuke to us questioning God comes from the book of Job.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?” Job 38

Makes you want to crawl into a hole, doesn’t it?

Another scripture follows this run-out-of-patience theme. It’s way back in Numbers, chapter 11. When we forget the constant showering of blessings in our lives, we cry out to God for more, like spoiled children,

“Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?”

Ouch. Sounds pretty clear to me that God gets exasperated with us. Is that what God is saying, though?

There is a true story about St. Augustine, who today is remembered by the Church as Saint, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church. The story begins with taunting from pagans challenging Christianity. You can expand this story regarding your own questioning of God if you like. The question thrown at St. Augustine rebukes God for being “late” and taking too long to solve the world’s problems.

“What was your Creator God doing for all that infinite time before he got around to making the world? Why did he sit idle for those infinite ages? What was he waiting for?”

St. Augustine reportedly replied, “God was creating hell for people who ask such questions.”

In fact, St. Augustine never said that. Upon hearing about his supposed snipe, Augustine responded with a total twist on the question in typical Augustinian style. He praised the questioner as profound and called the snarky go-to-hell reply the actual error.

“I do not give the answer that someone is said to have given (evading by a joke the force of the objection), “He was preparing hell for those who pry into such deep subjects.”. . . I do not answer in this way. I would rather respond, “I do not know,” concerning what I do not know than say something for which a man inquiring about such profound matters is laughed at, while the one giving a false answer is praised.”

If you need a more direct answer, it is probably this, from St. Augustine.

“For understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe so that you may understand.”

While God can certainly express exasperation with us, he does so for another purpose. He wants us to rely upon him, not someone or something else. God is not so much hiding stuff from us as he is asking us to trust him.

The book of Hebrews provides a hint regarding questioning God. 

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

We can hope and even be assured that God will win out in all matters of things. We trust that God allows delays, trials, and bad things to happen for his reasons. So, because his ways make little sense, we need to begin with faith first, rather than understanding. This is counter-intuitive. We want evidence. Only then will we believe. In fact, there’s plenty of evidence, but we cannot see truth without the assistance of God. That is, faith must be handed to us.

As humans raised in human circumstances, we are subject to lies and propaganda which countermand God’s goodness. So, faith first is the way to operate with God. Faith changes our perspective. We need to believe that God is concerned for the salvation of our souls and so eager that we will join him for eternity he’ll do anything to win us. 

In today’s first reading, Paul in 1 Thessalonians says basically the same thing. He’s not speaking for God, though. He is speaking from the chair of an apostle, appointed by God, attempting to focus the Christian community on their foundation.

“Mind your own affairs,” he tells them. That sounds an awful lot like, “Mind your own business,” doesn’t it? It’s not mean-spirited, though. It is practical, forward-looking. If you trust that God will adequately direct you, if you keep God in your sights, then you will be a proper witness for others. In the process, you will be doing what God wants you to do.

Mind your own affairs because that’s what God has given you. Leave others to their own affairs. Especially God.

God’s exasperation with us in scripture is meant to get our attention. Know that God is the supreme being. He’s “got this,” as we say. God is keenly eager for us to know him. He’d love for us to understand why he does what he does. 

Grasping God’s purposes will likely take an eternity. So, we trust him first, obey him absolutely, and wait upon his answers.

God answered Job. He answered Isaiah. He answered the apostles. He will answer us, too.