January 31, 2010
2 Kings 2:23-25
Rev. Jeffrey L. Phillips, pastor
Why do you believe in God? How do you know that God exists? Can you prove it scientifically, philosophically, or historically? I don’t think so. For every argument you give for the existence of God from science, history, or philosophy, there are just as many arguments to the contrary.
The Intelligent Design (“ID”) movement tries to argue “scientifically” that, given the complexity of life on earth and the complexity of the universe, some kind of higher being or beings are responsible for creation. Strictly speaking, ID isn’t an argument for the existence of God since its proponents say that it could have been what we call “God” that intelligently designed the universe and life on Earth, or it may have been aliens from a distant planet. But scientists and federal judges have come to the conclusion that Intelligent Design is not science at all. It is really a social science, or even theological theory. So, ID doesn’t help if we’re looking for scientific “proof” of God’s existence.
I preached a sermon a few years ago on why I believe in God, saying that, for me, it has little to do with science, philosophy, or history. In the end, belief in God, who is Spirit and therefore cannot be seen through a telescope or microscope, is a matter of faith.
The phrase “leap of faith” comes from Danish Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. Faith is not having scientific, rational certainty, but more like jumping off a cliff into the unknown, trusting in your gut that something will be there to save you. He actual phrase was “leaping into the abyss,” the unknown, the mystery. For Kierkegaard, faith is believing in God, even when there is absolutely no evidence of anything to believe in. Faith in God is an act of courage – and some would say a foolish act.
But how can this kind of faith develop? On January 10 I preached about the important role imagination plays in the life of faith. I’d like to continue with those thoughts today.
In that sermon, I said that, for many Christians, faith is about having right beliefs or right actions – knowing about God, not knowing God, which is sensing God’s love for you and having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This latter kind of knowing leads to a faith in God as your friend, knowing that God is always there with you, on your side, in you, and being one with God through Christ.
But how does one develop that kind of faith? By using our imaginations, a neglected part of the human brain – the right brain (artistic, creative, intuitive, subjective, holistic, integrative), as opposed to the left brain (rational, analytical, objective, scientific, breaking things into parts).
A lot of us “left brain Christians” need “right brain” capacities to develop our faith since the left brain - the scientific, rational part - cannot provide satisfying answers as to whether God even exists. To make that “leap of faith” we need our imaginations to take the words, symbols, stories, and rituals of our faith, and play with them until we understand the meanings to which they point.
On January 10, I gave the secular example of the flag, which is not the nation, but a powerful symbol of the nation, pointing to our history, ideals, and values.
Likewise, the many wonderful words, symbols, stories, metaphors, and rituals in our faith all point to a Reality (“God”) that is beyond themselves. But to get to that Reality, you need to suspend rationality long enough to enter the world of those symbols, metaphors, stories, rituals, and words. You have to learn how to pretend, to make believe.
Actually, it’s not learning to pretend and play make-believe. It’s re-learning those skills because once, when we were young, we knew how to play, use our imaginations, and pretend. Jesus said that unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Maybe what he meant is that we have to stop looking at the world through adult eyes all the time, and freely enter, as children do, into the world of symbols and art at our disposal as Christians, using them to take us to where they point – the Reality of God that is ultimately beyond the limited resources of science, history, and philosophy.
Sometimes stories, even fictional ones, can convey truth that science, history, and philosophy cannot. But to get to that truth, you first have to enter into the world of those stories, suspend belief for a moment, and allow them to take you to another place.
Think about how you read a novel. To get into the story and allow it to take you to its setting and receive whatever truths the author wants you to receive, you first have to forget that you are reading fiction. You have to suspend the critical, analytical, adult mind long enough to get into the story. The words on the page are not just words on a page, right? They’re trying to get you, the reader, to a time, place, situation, and reality that are in the author’s mind. By doing so, after you finish the novel, your real life can be moved, changed, challenged, and inspired. That’s how fiction works.
Fiction reminds us that a story doesn’t have to be factual for it to be true. I repeat: a story doesn’t have to be factual for it to be true. In fiction, the characters don’t exist. The place doesn’t exist. The dialogue never happened. It’s all made up. But a good novel can change your life! Why? Because what it says about life, relationships, right and wrong is true – all those things can be true, even if the story itself is completely made up. But you have to be willing to enter that fictional world in order to get the truth that the author has for you.
The death of J.D. Salinger a few days ago reminded me of the power of fiction. Like many of you, I had to read A Catcher in the Rye, as well as other great American novels. At first, I didn’t understand why. Then I read about Holden Caulfield and others, and I got it: books can change your life.
The same thing is true about the stories of our faith, including the ones in the Bible. They’re not all historically and scientifically accurate. Many of them are in the genres of legend and myth. But, I promise you, if you take the leap of faith and enter into them fully, your life can be changed and you can meet the living God - not because they are literally true, but because they are symbolically true.
On January 10 I gave the examples of baptism and communion. The same thing is true about the stories in the Bible. A lot of people hear them, like the strange one acted out today, and conclude that they sound like a fairy tales, not a factual accounts of things that really happened. They further conclude that, since they didn’t really happen, they really don’t matter. How tragic and odd – that we’d conclude that just because a story is fanciful, fantastic, and probably fictional, it doesn’t matter!
We don’t think this about other important stories, like George Washington and the cherry tree. Did George Washington really chop down the cherry tree and then, when confronted, say, “Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did it”? It doesn’t matter whether it happened or not! We tell the story not because it is factual, because of what it says about the honesty and integrity of the Father of our Nation, and because we want the same ideals for ourselves as a country.
Friends, some things in the Bible really happened, but others did not, and scholars do not agree about which is which. If Elisha lived at all, he lived about 400 years before what was written about him in the Bible. The gospels themselves were written a generation or two after Jesus lived. But does it matter? To some people, it does. For them, if a biblical story is not literally true, it ceases to have the power to reveal the living God. How sad!
This is the problem of modernity (with us since the dawn of the Enlightenment): we think that the only things that matter are the ones that really happened, that can be seen in a telescope or proved in a test tube. No! Things that cannot be proved scientifically, or with the rational left brain, are also true – things like beauty, values, right, wrong, love, trust, wonder, justice, fairness, and God.
Likewise, the stories of our faith and of the Bible can be true, even if they didn’t happen. I cannot prove which things in the Bible happened and which did not. Some did – like the Babylonian exile we talked about last week. And I think Jesus was a real historical figure. But is the Bible a factually correct book? Often it isn’t – but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true! A story can be true, even if it didn’t happen.
If your faith depends on the literal truth of the Bible, that is a very weak basis for a powerful, living faith. Fundamentalist Christians believe that, but so do some liberals, who likewise conclude that if it didn’t happen, then it’s all made up, so I can’t be a Christian. Both groups suffer from what Marcus Borg calls “fact fundamentalism.” He could also call it modernity – the sad, hyper-scientific, hyper-rationalist belief that the only things that matter are the ones you can see and touch and prove.
When I say that you have to use your imagination to receive the gifts that the symbols and stories of our faith have to offer, I’m not saying that God is “made up.” I’m saying that the words, symbols, rituals, stories, and metaphors of our faith are God-given means that can take us to God if we utilize our God-given imaginations to let them do so.
The words, symbols, rituals, stories, and metaphors of our faith may be made up. They’re very human, aren’t they - water, bread, wine, parables, tales, poetry, music, and art? But that to which they point is Real. It is my testimony, as someone who for 28 years has been a full-time investigator of these symbols and stories, that there is a Reality that stands behind them, and this Reality is a living God who loves us and cares for us.
Today’s story may not be a great example of what I’m talking about because it doesn’t seem to be that edifying, so let me try another fantastic story in the Bible – Jesus calming the storm. You know the story: Jesus and the disciples are out in the boat sleeping. A storm comes up, threatening the boat and the lives of the disciples. They awake, terrified, but Jesus sleeps. They wake him up, “Master, do something! We are about to perish!” Jesus responds, “Oh, ye of little faith. Calm down!” and the winds and the seas and the hearts of the disciples are calm.
Did it really happen? That’s not the point! The point is that, just as Jesus calmed the storm, he can calm the storms of our lives. He is the master of all things – nature and human nature, especially our fears. “Fear no more!” the story says. God wants us to be calm and collected when the storms of life are raging, and Jesus can calm us down.
But first you have to get over the need to believe that it really happened. I don’t know if it happened or not! That is not the point! In fact, it’s a distraction! The point is, if you enter into the story now, Jesus can calm your fears now. Can you place your faith in the person described in this story? Can you leap into the unknown with this man who calms the wind and the sea – and you and me?
There are hundreds of stories in the Bible. The events they portray aren’t always real, but the stories are true, and that to which they point is true, if you allow yourself to enter into them. The stories of the Bible do not prove that God exists, but they can help us experience the reality of God as we experience the story.
Just as there are no “mere” symbols and metaphors in our faith, there are likewise no “mere” stories. These stories are powerful – the most powerful in the world if you let them have their way with you. Thousands of years of human encounters with these stories prove that they can change you, move you, inspire you, challenge you, and direct you. They have the power to reveal the presence and love of Almighty God.
I don’t know about you, but, because it reveals God, I love to hear the story, I love to play with the story, I love to know the story, I love to tell the story – of Jesus and his love.
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