What if we as people of faith really do change this world?
This very question encapsulates our hope as people of faith. We know that the world we live in is not exactly what God intended. There is too much hate. There is too much hurt. There is too much “othering”. There is too much separation and division. There is too much fear driving our relationships and interactions with our neighbors. There is just too much disconnection for this to ever be what God intended when God looked over what God had created and called it good.
November 17, 2024
Love… It Might Just Be Crazy Enough to Change the World
“What if We Change the World?”
Matthew 5: 1-16
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
What if We Change the World? Matthew 5: 1-16
Walter Brueggemann, a prominent Hebrew Bible scholar and theologian, crafted a concept which he argues is not for the faint of heart, nor is its use to be limited to only the clergy who stand in the pulpits. Rather, this spiritual practice, he argues, is a vital part of the ministry of any community of faith. It is an essential piece of mission for all communities of faith. Brueggeman argues that the people qualified for this spiritual practice are the very people who sit in the pews each and every Sunday, are the very people who watch church services online on Sundays. Brueggeman argues that this spiritual practice is for the many and should not be limited to the few. This spiritual practice is called prophetic imagination.
Let me explain….There is a certain pattern of actions and consequences within the writings of the prophets. This pattern shows us how the prophets were often ignored because the way they offered was not the easy way out. And in the words of someone I greatly admire, the prophet’s role as they understood it was if the future unfurled as it seemed it would, and the people were unfaithful, it would seem as if God was punishing them. But in reality, this season of suffering was just the consequences of the people’s poor decisions and bad behavior.
Yet in the midst of this season of suffering, the prophet never left the people in despair. The prophet always brought a word of hope, always brought a promise that God was with them, that God saw them, that God was bringing about healing and wholeness. This word of hope, this word of promise is what Bruegemman calls prophetic imagination
Because it invites the people of faith to pay attention to where God is moving in and around them, to “pay attention to the new miracles of rebirth and new creation that God is enacting before our very eyes” but most importantly, prophetic imagination helps us as people of faith to name the fact that “the world we have trusted in is vanishing before our eyes, and the world that is coming at us feels like a threat to us.
The reason why prophetic imagination is so important to us as people of faith, to our communities of faith, is because it helps us name the “fact that we don’t know how the world is going to be structured differently or what will survive that we recognize. It helps us as people of faith name the fact that living in this in between is stressful [while at the same time]it is also hopeful.” Brueggeman argues that this spiritual practice of prophetic imagination is what gives us strength and courage. It is what reminds us that this world does not have the last word. It is what reminds us time and time again that love and light will overcome. Now that I have given everyone a long drawn-out explanation of what prophetic imagination is, let me give you an example. Let’s turn to our reading for today…
Matthew 5: 1-16
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘full of care for others’ you find yourselves cared for.
“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
“Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
You see, Jesus grew up within the tradition of the prophets. Jesus knew the words of the prophets. The words of the prophets are woven throughout Jesus’ preachings and teachings. And it is the words of the prophets which have shaped and continue to shape our realization as people of faith that the world we live in is not exactly what God intended. There is too much hate. There is too much hurt. There is too much “othering”. There is too much separation and division. There is too much fear driving our relationships and interactions with our neighbors. There is just too much disconnection for this to ever be what God intended when God looked over what God had created and called it good.
In our text today, Jesus taps into this prophetic imagination when he shares with the disciples what is commonly known as the Beatitudes, simple statements which turn our world upside down because they remind us again that God does not play by our rules, that God does not ask permission before God shares grace, before God brings healing and wholeness. The Beatitudes embody this prophetic imagination because they remind us that the Gospel message of God’s love calls us, challenges us to relate to one another in a different way… a way of mercy, a way of peace, a way which recognizes each and every one as Beloved Children of God. The Beatitudes invite us to dream, to vision, to imagine what it would look like if we as people of faith really did change the world. If we put aside our choices which continue to destroy the environment, our choices which continue to cultivate hate if we, as a society, put aside our poor decisions and bad behavior and embrace the vision of God’s Beloved Community coming to fruition here on Earth. The Beatitudes invite us to think, to act, to be in ways which are counter cultural to our world, to act in the way of love instead of acting through power and might.
Or let me say it this way…I shared this in my Theology Tuesday, but it bears repeating again…I want us to remember how we started this series…with Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, proclaiming that the fire which has brought and continues to bring so many atrocities to our world, that fire still burns on and on and on…. As Midway Christian Church, we could end this series the same way we started, by throwing our hands up in the air, wringing our hands, and proclaiming that it is just the way things are and there is nothing we can do about it.
Or we can choose to break the pattern. We can choose to disrupt the cycle. We can choose to change the world by embracing the courage to make peace, to choose the way of mercy and gentleness. We can choose to reframe the narrative towards grace. Or in the words of our text, we can choose to “let our light shine before people, so they can see the good things we do and praise our God who is in heaven”. Because by embracing God’s love for ourselves and for others, by sharing God’s love, by showing God’s love, there is no might about it. We will change the world. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for November 17, 2024 – What if We Change the World? Matthew 5: 1-16.
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