TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
November 11, 2007
Rev. Sally Iberg

Fall at Glenview Community Church is a swift river.  There are so many wonderful activities, programs, and initiatives going on that many of us are bounced over the rapids.  Now and then I try to find my way to shore to make sure I’m covering the key elements that fall to me and then I quickly get caught up in the torrent again. 

I was on track with preparations for this morning’s worship service: I had already selected the scripture from the common lectionary that would serve as the focus for worship, identified the theme and the congregational hymns, communicated with others in worship leadership roles.  On Monday I finalized the bulletin and got that to Jane for the initial draft.  It was right about that time that I realized that if the theme was to be “Bless God’s Holy Name” then this would be a sermon that would at least in part need to talk about God.

Once that realization settled in, I perused the books in my office and started a pile of those that might inform the topic.  The pile became so tall that when someone would come in to meet with me, I’d have to move it off the table.  Karen Armstrong’s books made it:  The Battle for God, A History of God, and The Great Transformation.  There were a couple books on the shelf containing worship resources.  Then we have the books from the Progressive Christian Theologians:  Marcus Borg, John Spong, Dominic Crossan, Stephen Patterson.  They all offer such a refreshing take on the subject.  They help clear out the cobwebs, throw open the windows, and let in a bit of fresh air and sunshine. 

Ironically, I avoided the shelves of theologians.  I was content to pass over Tillich, and Bultmann, Whitehead and Fiorenza.  I wasn’t seeking a treatise on God.  I was looking for ways to point us toward the experience of God. The pile was way too tall and I was daunted by the stark white – blank – page sitting in front of me on the computer screen.  Oh, and did I mention the Bible?

Before long, I realized that the pile of books was actually there to be a friend; to remind me of the wonderful notions that many of these thoughtful and thought-provoking people have said and written about God.  What is it about God that has many of us running away?  Is church the only place that it’s OK to talk about God and then only if you have a degree in ministry or theology?  Why is it that many of us seem reluctant to bring God into our every day awareness and our everyday conversation?

I told a couple friends that I was writing a sermon on God and asked what thoughts they had about that.  One asked which aspect of God was I going to focus on?  I didn’t really know then.  That would become clearer once I began to write.  Two said that I could remind people that God spelled backwards is dog.  I’m not sure to what avail.  It’s not an easy topic to talk about and I’m afraid I wasn’t helping with the exploration. 

Is it that we have too many bad experiences with people talking “at” us about their idea of God as if that is the only viable perspective, knowing that they aren’t in the least bit interested in how we understand God.  So we neither respond nor look for ways to explore the topic with others, for fear of being perceived as “one of them” – the people who are only interested in convicting us and converting us to their way of seeing God.

Children have little trouble asking questions about God or telling us what they think about God.  I heard a story earlier this week about a question one of the Sunday school students asked a teacher about where God came from.  Another student was overheard answering the question by saying something like, “Well this is difficult, but it’s like infinity backwards.”  Perhaps you’ve seen the story on the internet about a teacher who asked a 5-year-old what she was drawing.  “I’m drawing a picture of God.”  The teacher replied that no one knows what God looks like.  The child confidently replied, “They will soon.” And what is it that we hear in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke about receiving the realm of God as little children?

Children are in relationship with God in a very open, innocent fashion.  They can talk about God, draw pictures of God, write letters to God, thank God for the new baby brother while reminding God they had actually asked for a pony.  As adults, we may struggle with the notion of God and what that means to us.

We struggle with the names of God.  Do we refer to God as Father, Mother, Parent, Abba.  Elohim is the first name used for God in the bible and is found over 2300 times in the Hebrew Scripture.  The Hebrew root of the word is “strength” or “power” and is used in the plural form.  The shorter form – El – is also used as a name of God.  Both of these words are combined through out the Hebrew Scripture with other words to denote characteristics of God.  Examples include: El Yisrael – God of Israel; El Emet – God of Truth; Immanu El – God is With Us (http://www.allaboutgod.com).  One of my favorites is El Shaddai – The God Who is Sufficient for the Needs of God’s People (http://www.characterbuildingforfamilies.com).

What we call God matters.  If we use only male imagery for God then we lock God and males into a paradigm that is incomplete; a paradigm that excludes nearly half the population of the world.  In the same way, if we use only female images for God then we lock both God and females into that same paradigm prison.  We have been working with more expansive images of God in the Christian Church for a number of years.  (10:30 only – The hymn we will sing following the sermon helps us explore more expansive language for God.)

This is an important movement.  It helps us acknowledge that as humans we cannot know God fully nor can we describe God accurately.  By expanding the images and metaphors that we use for God, we add more texture to how we understand and experience God.  In that way, we make room for God in our lives --  not just when we are in church, but also when we are driving and eating, working and playing.  We take the time to experience God’s presence in the everyday ordinariness of our lives.

How do we praise God?  About a dozen of us, mostly from GCC, have been taking a course on Islam on Wednesday evenings, taught by Professor Ghada Talhami, through Chicago Theological Seminary.  Dr. Talhami helps us understand this very complex religion.  We learned about the five “Pillars of the Faith.”  The first pillar is a profession of faith which consists of the repetition of a simple phrase, “There is no God but Allah, Mohammed is the Apostle of God.”

The remaining pillars include praying five times each day, giving for the care of the poor, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and making the pilgrimage to Mecca once in your lifetime if you are able.  Each of these acts is to be preceded by a statement of intention.  What a profound way to bless God’s holy name:  profess faith, pray every day, give to the poor, fast, make a God-focused journey.  Bless God’s holy name by making God part of your daily life.

Who is this God whose holy name we praise?  Paul Tillich , a 20th century theologian, existential philosopher, and Lutheran minister, defined God as the “ground of being,” as the “ultimate concern.”  For Tillich, God is that which is most important.  John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop and progressive Christian theologian says that God is love, God is life, God is being itself. 

How we define God affects how we praise God.  If God is totally other than us, somewhere out there either pulling strings or disinterested, then our posture toward God is going to be different than if we see the world around us and within us infused with God.    If God is completely separate from us then we are more likely to take a posture of adulation.  God is wholly responsible for the state of the world.  We are mere pawns.

When we see God ever present around us and within us, then we become participants in creating God’s realm.  In Second Isaiah, we are told that we are God’s witness.  That would seem like a rather significant role to play.  In Micah we are told what God expects of us:  to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.  What we do is part of the equation.  The Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament tell us to love God and love one another. 

How do we praise God?  We praise God through worship and prayer.  And we praise God by acting in ways that are consistent with what God has asked of us.  Mahatma Ghandi reminds us that we must become the change we wish to see.  As people of faith, we have responsibility to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with God.  As people of faith, we have responsibility to love God and love each other.

Clark Ross, retired United Church of Christ minister and member of Glenview Community Church, wrote eloquently in the August 7, 2007 issue of the Christian Century in response to discussion about the question, “Where was God in all of this?” referring to the slaughter at Virginia Tech last spring.  Clark wrote,” If God is anything at all, such a reality is whatever love, truth, justice, and beauty you and I are able to manifest and to share” (Christian Century, August 7, 2007, p. 44).  As Clark, Isaiah, Micah, Moses, and Jesus have told us:  it’s up to us to live the word of God.  It’s up to us to care more about justice than about which side our friends are on.  It’s up to us to forgive before we are forgiven.  It’s up to us to love one another.  What better way is there for us to praise God’s holy name?