“A Portrait of God” 2012

Isaiah 42:10-16                   Luke 13:22, 34-35

 

Isaiah 42:10-16

10Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. 11Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the tops of the mountains. 12Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands. 13The Lord goes forth like a soldier, like a warrior he stirs up his fury; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes. 14For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant. 15I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbage; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. 16I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.

 

Luke 13:22, 34-35

22Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’

 

One of the ways we might evaluate our

            children’s Christian Education program

                        would be to examine what the ones who are involved in it

                                    have learned and believe about God.

            One of the ways that can be done, is to invite the children

                        to write their thoughts and questions to God in a letter.

 

“Children’s Letters to God” is a collection of such

            that children have written to God …

                        … including one from a little girl named Sylvia,

                                    who wrote, “Dear God, are boys better than girls?

                                                I know you are one, but try to be fair.”

 

Sylvia’s letter raises an important question for the church ---

            - why did she believe that God is a ‘boy’

                        and therefore wonder if boys are better than girls? …

            … is that something we are intending to teach our children?

 

We know that God is a spirit, a mystery, and neither a boy or girl,

            but we all have some mental image of God,   that probably à

                        carries more emotional weight than we realize.

 

 

 

Theologically, if you asked me,   I would say that God

            is infinitely far beyond anything our minds can comprehend,

                        and that since God is neither male nor female;

                                    our prevalent use of  “Him and He” pronouns

                                          is to some degree driven by culture & convention.

 

I was at a chapel service one time,

            and throughout the worship, the women leading the service

                        used feminine pronouns every time they referred to God…

              … and it was not a good or worshipful experience for me.

 

In fact, it made me feel uncomfortable and surprisingly angry.

            I felt excluded and that they were intending to worship

                        a different God who didn’t connect in any way with me.

            I don’t think I had ever realized how important

                  the metaphors and images we associate with God really are.

 

We all have our own familiar and favorite mental pictures of God

            which help us think and talk about characteristics of God,

                        that we think describe the heart and will of the Lord,

                                    and how God relates to us and to our world …

                         … and some are more faithful and helpful than others.

 

Part of our challenge,   is that we are finite-limited creatures,

            who have only what we know, what we have experienced,

                        or what we can imagine    to describe and talk about God,

                                who is a spirit, a mystery, infinite and unknowable…

 

… and that whatever we can think to say about God

            will always we incomplete and inadequate, far less than God.

 

We can talk about qualities, descriptions and attributes of God,

            but they will always

                    fall far short of the full wonder and mystery of the Lord.

 

I did a research project in this area

            for a Christian Education course during seminary

                        that focused on faith development in young children.

I wanted to study their faith and what they believed about God,

            by conducting interviews and by drawing pictures of God.

 

One of my interview questions was whether they thought God

            is more like their father or more like their mother.

                                    Almost all the children answered, their father,

                                                and drew a masculine picture of God…

 

… except for one little girl,   a remarkably astute theologian,

            who asked in response,

                        “but aren’t mommy and daddy          more like God,

                                    then God being like them?”

 

For any one, especially for an eight year old,

            that was a pretty impressive understanding and application

                        of Genesis 1:27, where we read:

            So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

 

Clearly, both male and female derive their image from God.

            Both genders are stamped or embossed with the image of God,

                        who is above and beyond any definition of human gender.

 

That little girl’s answer was a faithful interpretation

            revealing a decidedly advanced and biblical perspective,

                        and one way that Judaism was unique in the ancient world.

 

Other ancient cultures identified their gods and goddesses

            as being the actual things that they observed in nature,

                        such as the sun, planets, storms or even fertility.

                 But the God of Israel, was the Creator of all things,

                        and not a part of, but separate from creation itself.

 

The God of the Hebrews was ambiguous, worshipped in spirit,

            and beyond any physical description, any graven image,

                        or something that could be represented by an idol.

 

The God of Israel  was infinitely beyond image or representation,

            but you could say,

                        that in a limited way, God was  like  something else…

            … so we find in Scripture,

                        lots of different metaphors and images being used

                                    to describe

                                                different aspects and characteristics of God.

 

The Isaiah 42 text is an excellent example of this,

            of the way that descriptive metaphors are used in Scripture.  vs. 13-14

            The Lord goes forth like a soldier, like a warrior he stirs up his fury; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes. … now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant.

 

            Written to those held in exile in Babylon,

                        this passage is a message of hope,

                                    describing God’s intention to bring them back home.

 

   It is poetry that uses both male and female imagery

            to describe God’s response to their suffering and captivity…

 

                        … that God is like a mighty warrior or soldier,

                                    and that God is like a woman suffering during labor.

It is not saying that God  is   a soldier or a woman in labor,

            but that those images

                  point to something that is true and characteristic of God.

 

This is a proclamation of hope and salvation,

            that because of God’s mighty power and caring empathy,à

     God will bring them home, and sustain them along their journey.

 

This passage uses images to give us a portrait of God,

            using metaphors to describe and help us understand

                        that God is powerful, that God is truly with us,

                                    and that God will never forsake us …

                                                … because all of that is the nature of our God.

 

That is the power and purpose of biblical metaphors,

            to paint a picture of some specific aspect of God,

                        which helps us understand how our God relates to us,à

                and how that makes a difference in the living of our lives.

 

One of my favorite metaphor-portraits of God is found in Hosea.

            God says in Hosea 13:8,         "I will be a like a bear robbed of her cubs"

It’s not saying God is a bear, but that in a way  God is like a bear.

 

One of the most dangerous and fearsome creatures in all of nature,

            is a mother bear feeling threatened, & protecting her young.

During winter hibernation when new cubs are born,

            the mother bear sacrifices as much as 1/3 of her body weight

                  nursing her cubs before they finally emerge in the Spring.

 

   So just coming out of hibernation, usually in May or June,

      the mother bear is ravenously hungry, feeling a bit cranky,

                                    and will be fiercely protective of her young cubs…

            … and so the very last place you ever want to be

                        is standing between a mother bear and her young cubs.

But for the young bear cub, that is a very good place to be.            

 

The prophet Hosea is comparing God's protective love for us

            to a ferocious mother bear jealously guarding her young.

Scripture is rich with metaphors, images and word pictures

            that help reveal and describe God’s sustaining love for us.

 

A few years ago,

            a hippopotamus gave birth to twins at the Memphis zoo. 

                        The zoo directors

                                    planned to make a big deal about naming them;

                but the mother hippo wouldn't let anyone

                        get close enough to determine the gender of her babies.

 

I don't know exactly what a hippo does to protect her young

            but apparently it was pretty effective,

                        and forced the zoo directors to delay the naming.

 

The mother hippo continued feeding them, protecting them,

           keeping them close to herself and away from danger. 

And the babies, untroubled by their nameless state,

            didn't stray from her who faithfully protected them

                        and reliably provided  them with just what they needed. 

But then, why should they stray?

 

Kittens don’t turn away from the warm fur they know so well.       

       Chicks don't stray far from the protection of the hen's wings. 

   Animal offspring stay close to the one who gave them life,

            and naturally trusts the one who nurtures and protects them.

 

But people?  

            We human beings  do stray and even turn away

                        from the love and protection of the God who made us.

 

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus also uses the metaphor of motherhood,

            when he laments the consequences that Jerusalem

                        will face for having rejected him, the Messiah;

                                    using the image of a brood of baby chicks refusing

                                                the protective comfort of a mother hen's wings.

vs. 34

            Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

 

In those words of Jesus we hear the voice of God's lamenting. 

            We hear the sound of God's heart breaking, 

                        with the tender fierce love of a mother, her love rejected.

One of the ways

            the Lord chose to explain how incredible God’s love is,

                        is through the ideal of maternal love and compassion,

                                    and the rejection of that love  was like the religious authorities.

 

Jesus was on his way to suffer & die a terrible death in Jerusalem.

            His  concern is for the people and the terrible judgment

                        their rejection of him will bring down upon themselves…

… which was fulfilled in 70AD during the Jewish rebellion,

            when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans.

 

Jesus compares his sorrow and compassion for their suffering

            to that of a mother,

                a mother hen trying to gather and protect her young chicks.

And I wonder sometimes, how could they miss  the Messiah,

            how could they be so blind and insensitive to the Lord?

 

One time on a high school retreat,

            I set some common and ordinary objects our on a table,

                                    and I challenged the youth

                                                to think deeply about each item,

                                                                        what is was, how it was used,

                                                                                    what it was like, how it was made,

                                    and consider all of its characteristics …

                                                and what they had in common

                                                            with some truth and characteristic of God.

 

            That conversation about those objects and their faith

                        went on for well over an hour…

                                    … in fact when I ended it, they complained,

                                                that there was still so much more to be said.

 

Like Scripture, sometimes we have to wrestle with a metaphor.

            Sometimes the meaning is obscure and has to be teased,

                        other times they can speak directly to the heart,

                                    or point to a new truth about our unknowable God,

                                                and grab our attention in wonderful new ways.

 

            God speaks to us through imperfect images and metaphors

                        because there is no adequate way to speak of God…

… and like the facets of a precious gem stone,

            there is always more to be seen from another perspective.

 

As suggested reflections and spiritual exercises during Lent:

 

1 –       make a list of all the images and metaphors

                        you can remember from Scripture,

                                    and how do they point to God,

                                                and what might God be telling you through them?

 

2 –       or you might pick a Psalm, write out all of the metaphors ,

                        reflect on all that those images reveal about God,

                                    and God’s call and connection to your life.

 

3-        As you are driving and living this week,

                        take time to look around your ordinary life

                                    for objects and experiences that point toward God…

                                                … and prayerfully consider what God might be

                                                            intending to reveal and say to you.

 

As we read in  Psalm 19

            The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.

            There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

            Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.