God’s Imagination
Isaiah 7:10 -17
Matthew 1:18 – 25
I find literalism an affront to God’s power and imagination. “Literal meaning and the powerful presence of a precursor’s meaning (a refusal to imagine new interpretations) are equivalent to death in that they prevent the impulse to communicate further” (James Arnet Aune). Metaphorical imagination is the preacher’s best friend.
Every preacher has the weekly experience of trying to find something new to say about well-known texts and well-worn subjects. This is no excuse for falling into the superficial, mind-numbing exercise of merely attempting to be interesting. Instead, the preacher stands before the throne of God and asks for imagination fit for this Sunday.
Start with creation. God imagined the universe before the divine energy and motion started the universe spinning. We came to a universe prepared for our coming because God imagined and then created a world where human beings could flourish. God wanted us to experience the ecstasy of aliveness, the joy of sheer goodness and in Creation God made this possible. He wants to give what he is to what isn’t him; he wants difference to appear, he wants an Other to receive his joy and delight. He isn’t bored and in need of company. He isn’t frustrated and in need of help. Williams, Rowan. Tokens of Trust (p. 12). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
We have to bend our minds around the notion that we exist because of an utterly unconditional generosity. The love that God shows in making the world, like the love he shows towards the world once it is created, has no shadow or shred of self-directed purpose in it; it is entirely and unreservedly given for our sake. It is not a concealed way for God to get something out of it for himself, because that would make nonsense of what we believe is God’s eternal nature. Love and generosity are the reason for the universe. Every action, word, and thought that is unloving goes against the grain of the universe.
Psychologists like to talk about the idea of flow. It means being completely involved in what we are doing – focused, concentrated. A sense of ecstasy – of being outside everyday reality. Great inner clarity – knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing. The flow of the universe is love and generosity. Think of God’s purpose as a mighty river flowing through the land. Go with the flow. “Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that are not drifted by.” God decided that humans were worth all the risks, all the pain, suffering, and agony, all the awful transgressions. God decided that we were worth dying for, so God sent the Son. That’s Isaiah’s vision. Whenever you are confused about God’s imagination, read the prophets. These are the people who are in touch with the imagination of God. There’s the way the world is and there’s the way God intends the world to be, and this has been revealed in the prophets.
Students of the brain tell us that somewhere in the 8th century, the right side of the human brain experienced an evolutionary breakthrough and started firing messages to the left side of the brain. This is when the prophetic imagination first flourished. God reveals God’s imagination, God’s purpose in the messages of the prophets. And here in Isaiah we have one of the most significant of all of God’s imaginings.
And what has the church done with this story? Turned it into a battlefield. The story is that a son will be given, and his name shall be Immanuel. And what has the church made of this story? A fight over the Hebrew translation of the boy’s mother. Is it “young woman” as the NRSV translates or is it “virgin” as the KJV insists?
Isaiah tells us what God wants us to know: God is with us. There’s never a moment when God turns God’s back on God’s creation. In fact, if God’s attention span were to slip for a nanosecond, we and this entire universe would cease to exist. God is with us. Williams, Rowan. Tokens of Trust (p. 125). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
Most of us grew up with the virgin Mary version. You had to believe in Mary’s virginity to be a Christian. The story certainly works well for Joseph because he is in a tough spot if he got Mary pregnant. I’m not sure if Joseph ever told the guys at the Carpenter’s Union Hall that his wife was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, but he believed Mary’s story and he stuck by her and married her and helped her raise God’s Son. Our Christianity doesn’t hang on Mary’s virginity but on God’s generous love. This is our story and I’m sticking with it.
The Apostle’s Creed affirms, “born of the Virgin Mary.” I’m fine with the church’s confession. But Mary didn’t have to be a virgin to bear the son of God. The idea that sin is passed along in the blood is known as original sin. Augustine gave us this doctrine and I’m not convinced. People are born. We are as capable of altruism as we are of wickedness. Jesus wasn’t perfect because his mother was a virgin. Mary could have been a single mother. Mary could have had sex with Joseph before marriage and been the mother of Jesus. That’s what the people in Nazareth believed. Mary’s greatness doesn’t depend on her being a virgin as if that is the only virtue in a woman. Her greatness lies in her obedience to God’s imagination. Her greatness lies in her raising Jesus and preparing him for his mission. Her greatness is in her faithful discipleship.
Now, I want to do an analogical interpretation of the virgin and Immanuel. I am convinced that when the churches go off on tangents, they are thwarting the primary purpose of the universe: love and generosity. Intolerance, drawing lines in the sand, insisting that folks must all have the same beliefs – these are the enemies of the faith. Your Christianity doesn’t depend on what you believe about an array of doctrines or social issues.
This is important to you why? Because Christians are losing what John Wesley named “the Catholic spirit”. Have you noticed that when two people attempt to debate a political issue how quickly it degenerates into accusations instead of rational arguments? Each person presents the first point of his or her argument. The next move is not a second point. The next words are “You are an idiot.” From zero to 120 in a nanosecond. It’s like dropping an egg on the pavement in Dallas, Texas in August. That egg is fried hard right then and there.
I believe our lack of love for one another names failure. Or to be more theological, it names a sin in our midst. John says, “Whoever does not abide in love abides in death.” Our disunity seems to be at odds with God’s purposes of peace and praise. No matter which side ends up winning the culture war, it will only end up killing us. Christianity is committing suicide. We are destroying the body of Christ of our own mean-spirited free will. If we no longer have broken hearts at the church’s division, then we cannot help but celebrate Christmas unfaithfully.
We have lost the “catholic spirit” of the church. We need to get it back. In our politics. In our churches. In our communities. The catholic spirit is dying in America. It’s being trampled to death. Instead of fellow Americans, we now call one another liberals or conservatives. We are no longer brothers and sisters in Christ. Now, we are enemies. We think the other side is either demonic or dumb. Where’s the gospel? Where’s the presence of the Spirit of God – love, grace, kindness, generosity, goodness? Many Christians believe there is a war for the soul of the American Church—and they have decided they cannot stand on the sidelines. They aren’t alone. We have turned friends and fellow Christians into demons and enemies.
John Wesley defined the “catholic spirit”: The Christian who adheres to the truth as it is in Jesus, who worships God in his own church, but his heart is enlarged toward all humanity; he embraces with affection neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. This is catholic or universal love. And if this is your approach you have the catholic spirit. For love alone gives the title to this character: catholic love is a catholic spirit.
If you believe in God, in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, then give me your hand. If you embrace the basic teaching of the Apostle’s Creed, give me your hand. I am not asking if you have the same opinions that I have. I’m not asking if you worship like me. I am not asking if you believe baptism is by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. I am not interested in your church polity. These differences do not prevent the catholic spirit or keep us from loving one another. If you believe the Catholic doctrine of holy communion, fine. If you are a Hardshell Baptist who believes communion is an ordinance and you should only share the meal once every 3 months and only with persons who are members of your local church, that’s not a strong enough reason for us to live in division from one another.
By “catholic spirit,” I mean love me. Love each other. Love one another. I mean love me with long-suffering, kind, and patient love. There are 2 words in the Bible for patience. One of these words has a deeper meaning than the other. It means the willingness, the ability to keep loving someone who is difficult, who is hard to get along with, someone who steps on your last nerve, someone who believes stuff that you find crazy. It’s the ability to stay put in a relationship of difference. To put up with difficult people.
I mean love me by praying for me. I mean love me by provoking me to love and to good works. I mean love me by making me think twice about my own beliefs, convictions, and opinions. I mean love me when you think I’m unlovable.
The baby is coming. We need to be ready. John said we needed to clean house. Build a road in the wilderness. Mend some fences. We need to straighten up and fly right. The baby’s coming. That means that God is coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. The catholic spirit is the Christmas spirit.
You can have the fundamentalisms of this world, they are too intolerant for me. You can have the old-time religion, it’s not good enough for me. Give me that “catholic spirit.” Give me a Christmas with our stockings bulging with “catholic spirit.” Give me a Christmas that brings the “catholic spirit” in large brightly colored, elegantly wrapped boxes with big red bows. That’s all I want for Christmas: More “catholic spirit.”