Imagine That!

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen . . .
so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

(Hebrews 11:1, 3)

A sermon by Siegfried S. Johnson on Consecration Sunday, November 19, 2006
(Volume 1 Number 20)

First United Methodist Church, 605 West Sixth, Mountain Home, Arkansas 72653
 

The back page of this sermon is a print advertisement for Microsoft found in WIRED.  Most of you will be familiar with these ads, particularly their television version, in which Microsoft sketches out images of potential, the point being that even if you lack faith in your own potential, they see your potential and have developed technology to help you reach that potential.  The print ads work on the same template, beginning with “We See” in the top right hand corner, and at the bottom is their trademark closer, “Your potential.  Our passion.”  In-between is the working their own creativity, drawing what I might call, the Beyond of What Is, causing us to see what is not yet, but what could be. 

 This ad features a young lady playing a bass guitar, her laptop on the amplifier and a notebook open on the floor.  She’s looking off into space.  Is she composing a song?  Could the look on her face be one of searching for just the right word or note?  Or, is she dreaming, imagining success in a music career?  We don’t know what this young woman is seeing, but we do know what Microsoft sees.  They’ve sketched it on the wall for us, three gold, three platinum -- things we see though they aren’t actually there.  Her potential is sketched on the wall, unseen to all eyes but those eyes of the heart, vision, faith, and imagination.  

 The ad goes on to say, “The point is we all have the potential to do new things.”  What a wonderful message from God’s Spirit to the church.  The ChristBody has the potential to do new things!  Imagine That!   Imagining what could be shouldn’t, after all, be a challenge for the church.  Seeing things that aren’t there?  Are you kidding?  It’s in our spiritual DNA!  Hebrews 11 makes that point clearly, that “faith is the assurance of Things hoped for, the conviction of Things not seen.”  Abraham went out in faith at the call of God, “not knowing where he was going,” but believing God’s promise, seeing the Beyond of What Is. 

 See how that one word, “Things” jumps off the page?  Things times three.  If we think the church overly involved in material things, we should think again.  Yes, ours is the realm of the spirit, faith, vision, and imagination.  But if faith is going to be meaningful in our lives, it must, at last, have to do with Things -- Things drawn in the heart and in the imagination.  

 May God give us eyes to see the Beyond of What Is.    I wonder what that wall would look like for us as a church?  Suppose that young lady symbolized our church and that wall what our church might become.  What can we dream, what can we imagine for our church?  If we could only see what the Holy Spirit has sketched out on that wall for us. 

 Seeing things that aren’t there is not so radical a concept.  Parents see things from the moment of a child’s birth.  “We See.  Your Potential, Our Passion.”   Why, I can’t think of a better description of parenting.  Parents see things when they envision their children’s potential, and they make that potential their own passion.

The church, too, must see Things when it envisions its own potential.  Do you ever drive by your church and envision a new building, a new ministry, a new spirit, new and enthusiastic faces crowding the sanctuary?  Perhaps a key trait of any pastor’s ministry is to see Things in the flock whose pastoral care has been entrusted to him, Things that are not there – a deepening spiritual growth, a broader love, a greater hunger for God, a stronger commitment to the means of grace, ministries impacting more people.  Ministry is enhanced to the degree that the church’s potential becomes the pastor’s passion.  Randy and I are charged with seeing things that as yet are not, the Beyond of What Is. 

And, the church’s potential must become the passion of her lay leaders.  The ChristBody needs individuals with a vision of what could be.  I feel uniquely blessed to be a part of FUMC Mountain Home, and so thankful for the privilege of working with so many in our church whose vision is alive, who see things that as yet are not.  May God give us eyes to sketch out our potential in a way that excites in us to a willingness to give of ourselves in order to make those dreams a reality.  Let’s be a forward-looking, future-oriented people.

This sanctuary is, I think, awe-inspiring.  Not too many years ago, there was no sanctuary here to see. You, the members of this congregation, sketched out in faith what eyes could not yet see.  Your vision of a sanctuary was bold.  Not willing to rest on what the church’s vision once accomplished, you went forward.  And this is our calling still, to celebrate not merely our past, but to hear the Invitation to the Imagination, to dream of our future.

Girolamo Savonarola, one of the great preachers of the 15^th century, was called to preach in the great cathedral of Florence, Italy, which contained a magnificent marble statue of the blessed Virgin Mary.  Within weeks of his arrival at the cathedral, he noticed a bent, elderly woman praying at the statue of Mary every day.  He remarked one day to an elderly priest who had served there for many years, “Look at this devoted and earnest woman.  Every day she comes and offers prayers to the blessed Mother of God.  What a marvelous act of faith.”

The elderly priest replied, “Do not be deceived by what you see.  Many years ago the sculptor needed a model to pose for him. This devout worshiper you see here everyday is that young woman who posed for the statue 70 years ago.  She is worshiping what she used to be.”

I don’t know if the priest fairly judged the woman’s heart, but I do know that we must not worship what we used to be.  That is a recipe for stagnation.  What our ancestors built and what you have continued to build, is here and plain for all eyes to see.  While we honor that achievement and are thankful, we know that we must train our eyes, as they did, to see “the Beyond of What Is.”  

Now, what does all this has to do with giving?  Oh . . . only everything.  Because, you see, we give in the proportion to what the eyes of our heart and faith are able to see.  What are we able to see?  What are we able to see that is not yet there?  What of the Beyond of What Is are our eyes able to believe? 

Most pastors, believe it or not, are uncomfortable with Stewardship Campaigns and with pulpit talk about money.  I fall in that category.  These are the most uncomfortable sermons for me in the writing process.  But at least there have been some humorous moments along the way of such finance campaigns.  I love the pastor who reminded his congregation that the most successful ancient Stewardship Campaign was fear, the selling of indulgences in the Dark Ages.  Need a new cathedral?  Tell the people that they will miss heaven and be punished eternally if they don’t give.  That should get the job done.  Sell indulgences, let the people know that their gifts are purchasing pardon from sins.  The pastor playfully told his finance committee, “Can’t we bring back indulgences just for Consecration Sunday?  It was the best Stewardship Campaign ever.  Couldn’t we just imply that your sins aren’t forgiven if you don’t give?”  Thank God we’re past that.  They’re not called Dark Ages for nothing.

I think, rather, that the most effective Stewardship Campaign is to give people an image, to help people see what is not there.  I could preach a six part sermon series on tithing, drawing out meticulously and exhaustingly the biblical premise for giving.  I think, though, that what we most need, so much more important than a series on biblical principles of giving, is the gift to see our potential in a way that stirs us toward commitment. 

This is the Invitation to the Imagination.   Let’s see if I can give you an image.  We at FUMC are having growing pains.  We already need space for Sunday School and children.  As Rev. Randy noted for our Charge Conference, if we wanted to start a new Sunday School class, we have no place to put them.  Those here last Wednesday for the building of the Thanksgiving Baskets could see how evident this growing pain is.  The extent to which we see that will determine the level at which our church family responds in faith.  I don’t mean to announce a building program, rather merely to point out that our church has been uniquely blessed, that we stand at a threshold of change, facing decisions in the coming months and years that will determine the level at which we’re able to do ministry in our community.  But it starts with giving, and our giving starts with the image of what we can be.  May God open our eyes to the exciting image of a church preparing for growth.

 Sources and notes:
Microsoft advertisements in WIRED, October 2004 and Scientific American, October 2004.

The story of the woman at the statue of Mary comes from R. Curtis Fussell, Deadly Sins and Living Virtues, CSS Publishing, an illustration found at www.esermons.com