“It’s Like, It’s Like, It’s Like…”

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
July 27th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“It’s Like, It’s Like, It’s Like…”
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
As you might imagine, I watch my fair share of children’s television. I do it, mostly because I want to know what the girls are watching. From time to time I find myself turning to Karen to point out the logical inconsistencies of a given program. In other words, that wouldn’t happen in real-life. My condescending tone does not last long with a reminder that it is, after all, children’s television. At its best, the whole enterprise is meant to foster imagination. When I, who am so caught in the ‘realities’ of our world, watch these programs, I find it difficult to even entertain that there might actually be a different way to view the world.
Let me put it another way: There is a war going on. Well, there are actually lots of wars happening but this morning I want to talk about the war for our imaginations. In fact, I believe the war actually might actually be over and we have lost. What I mean by this is that our imaginations have been captured by the messages and the ‘givens’ of our world. That may sound a little high-minded, so let me give you some real-world examples.
Last week I listened to the debate between the two republican candidates running for Missouri Governor. It was a lesson in captured imaginations. But do not get me wrong, what I am about to say includes both major political parties, if not all. They are in the business of setting the bounds of acceptable dialogue, which is really a form of capturing people’s imagination. One of the givens in our culture, and one that was well represented in that debate is this: ‘There is not enough money to provide insurance for everyone. It might be a nice thing to do but it is just not possible.’ Now, if anyone questions this given, that person is often labeled foolish, ignorant, or worse liberal.
I find this given quite curious as I consider the events of the last week. As homeowners are becoming homeless by the hundreds of thousands we are told there is simply no money available and that this is just a market correction. And, after all, there is just not enough money to bail out all the homeowners. They are at the whim of the market and their own mistakes. That is the message of this given. However, in the same breath we can, without impunity, extend unlimited and unknown amounts of money for failing banks. When it comes to the investors and the multi-million dollar salaries, there is an endless supply of money. The given in this situation tells us that there is nothing wrong with any of this it is just the way things work.
As this has happened I am left to wonder: Isn’t this the exact sort of thing the church should speak about? I believe the deafening silence is related to the fact that our imaginations are captured by the givens. It may seem out of place, or wrong to say such things. I can almost hear the objections: ‘Preacher, the bible is about spiritual things and now you are meddling.’ Well, this is true, guilty as charged. However, my objection to this given has to do with the bible being pretty clear about systems which place profits over people.
If it sounds like I have become partisan or overtly political let me suggest that any discomfort at this teaching is rooted in our loss of collective memory. And when people lose touch with their history there is bound to be trouble. Let me center this in the scriptures. In the beginning of the Book of Exodus a King came to power who did not know Joseph. This is bad news for the people. The king does not remember Joseph. Joseph made the King very wealthy, while at the same time saving people from the great famine. Joseph had imagination, he listened to dreams, and found a way to bring about economic success and provide for the care of the least of these. But this new King did not know Joseph. As a result he put people over profit. He enslaved the people and saw them as only tools for the accumulation of wealth. God is not pleased by this and as a result the great empire of Egypt finds itself in ruins and its great military bogged down at the bottom of the Red Sea.
Some of you might be wondering if I prepared the wrong sermon for this morning since I haven’t said anything about Jesus. Do not worry, this is vital background information. After all, when Jesus comes on the scene; he does not come out of thin air but as part, as an extension of, this history. And Jesus knows that the world he is living in is a time which needs its’ imaginations set free.
The world Jesus enters is also a fixed world. Rome was in charge. It appeared that God must be on their side and that might makes right. In the face of the overwhelming evidence, the religious leadership decided to become compliant and content with their little piece of the pie. Into this fixed world, Jesus comes and teaching and heals, and works to set peoples’ imaginations free. Over the last few weeks and particularly in this passage this morning Jesus tells stories about the Kingdom of God to ignite the imagination of his followers. Jesus is trying to unbind their imaginations because there is great confusing between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms, empires, and even republics of this world.
Unfortunately, this week, what we learn about the kingdom of God is that it is not easily defined and identified. It is small, and appears insignificant. It takes time for the kingdom of God to accomplish its work. Sometimes the kingdom of God is something that we can find by searching for it, like the merchant, and other times we can stumble upon it when we least expect it. This is not very satisfying. And worse yet, this insignificant kingdom can, and does upend the world unsettling the givens, and inviting us to give them up for some of more value. But we will miss it, and so often do because our imaginations have been captured and we are blinded to the glimpses of the kingdom in front of us. Jesus’ teaching in these stories is meant to set our imaginations on fire so we might just see, and participate in the kingdom.
The key to understanding our response to these stories is found in the work of scribes. Jesus uses the tern scribes for the kingdom. This is the calling of the disciple. Jesus, using this term as a positive one, means that we must be rooted and grounded in the stories of our faith. We must know the stories of Jesus, and Joseph, and Moses. We must know the stories of our God who created us, who brought slaves out of Egypt, who brings people together for life giving community, and who says we are responsible for our neighbor, never forgetting that all people are our neighbors. We must become scribes of the kingdom so that we will not forget and so that our imaginations will not remain captured.
In his book Torture and Eucharist, William Cavanaugh, tells a story near the end of the book of a fictional character named Carlos. And while Carlos is a fictional character the book is a story of the very real experience of life in Chile under the Pinochet terror regime. Carlos realizes that he must not submit to the torture’s goal of capturing the imagination of the people. Carlos knows and understands the power of imagination when he says: “We have to believe in the power of imagination because it is all we have, ours is stronger than theirs.” Never underestimate the power of imagination and story. This is what Jesus is teaching in these stories. He is calling us to be scribes for the kingdom. Let us nurture the power of imagination so we do not forget, so that we do not becomes scribes to a story which is not given by God. Amen? Amen.