One More Thing with Pastor Tim Burchill 5.21.2023

The Image of God and
We Diamonds in the Rough

        I found a wonderful illustration while preparing for Sunday’s sermon, The Gospel According to Aladdin/Disney. In the sermon I talked about how all of us were brought into this world to reflect the image of God that is within us. I wanted to use this story but ran out of time. Thank goodness I’ve got this blog so I can work in what I regrettably cut out and left on my study floor.

Consider this:

       Father John of Kronstadt was a nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox priest at the time when alcohol abuse was rampant in his city. For their own reasons none of the priests ventured out of their churches to help the people. They waited for the people to come to them. John, compelled by love, went out into the streets. People said he would lift the hungover, foul-smelling people from the gutter, cradle them in his arms, and say to them, "This is beneath your dignity. You were meant to house the fullness of God. Your brokenness does not define you. You are one in whom Christ dwells. You were meant to house the fullness of God."

       That, my brothers and sisters, is the voice of Jesus, offered without judgment or correction but intended only to inspire, challenge, and encourage. What I’ve discovered—and Lord knows it took me years to discover it—that any conversation with a broken brother and sister that includes a “But…” is very unlikely to achieve its desired effect. I like to talk about what it would mean to be a “But Free” people of grace, saying things like, “I love you, God loves you, and you carry within you the image of your Creator. You were put into this world to house the fullness of God. Whatever we can do to help you toward that end, we offer willingly and eagerly.”

       Honestly, that is one of my most fervent prayers for us at Carmel United Methodist Church. I long for us to become a "But Free" church, welcoming all, disqualifying none, and allowing the Spirit to do her thing over time among her people.*

       * We know that God is not gendered. Yes, Jesus was born a man, but the preexistent Word was above femininity and masculinity. Since it is common to refer to God has Father, I figure why not refer to the Spirit with feminine pronouns? Actually, one of the words used to describe the spirit in Greek is Sophia—the Spirit of wisdom—and that is presented in the feminine form.

        Our pronouns for God cause us discomfort at times, but mature Christians understand that God has bigger fish to fry than questions of which gender we address God with.