A Word about God

The other night, at dinner with some friends in the countryside a few miles from Epping, I noticed the moon rising in the sky. It was a particularly striking moon  and we all looked at it and expressed views like, “Wonderful”, “Magnificent” “So beautiful” and “Absolutely breath-taking.” None of these actually described the moon, shining in the sky. We were not discussing the physical attributes of the moon itself nor were we making any astronomical points.  What we were expressing was our own feelings and emotions that this particular object of creation had opened up within us.  Inevitably, we were reduced to words which could not adequately describe what we were feeling and this is so often the case when we are faced with breathtaking scenes of nature.  It’s much the same when we try to talk about God.

We discover that despite the richness and breadth of the English Language, words tend to fail us when we come to talk about what God is like.  We jump into superlatives such as ‘Almighty’, ‘Omnipotent’ and ‘Immortal’ or negatives like ‘Uncreated being’, and ‘Invisible’. 

Well might my professor of Doctrine have once set us an essay with the title:  “The problem for theology is not whether God exists but how we can meaningfully talk about Him.”  The Language we tend to use about God is often obscure and wrapt in layer after layer of theology.  It is left to hymn-writers and poets to try and interpret this theology with an imagery we can find accessible though even here we get bogged down in obscurity.  This happens just as much in modern hymns and songs as it did in the past.

Before we puzzle over phrases like ‘mystic rose’ and ‘trisagion’ let’s ask ourselves what kind of religious imagery we are presenting when we sing incessantly of ‘being washed in the blood of the lamb’.  When we are expressing something about God, words ultimately fail us, even poetic words. When Archbishop John Habgood wrote the preface to the Alternative Service Book in 1980 he made the point that

Words, even agreed words, are only the beginning of worship. Those who use them do well to recognize their transience and imperfection; to treat them as a ladder not a goal; to acknowledge their power in shaping faith and kindling devotion, without claiming that they are fully adequate to the task.

Only the grace of God can make up what is lacking in the faltering words of men.  Perhaps that is why, in prayer, it is when we are silent that we are closest to God.  Faced with God’s mystery and majesty we are reduced to silent awe.

Even so, if we want to excite and enthuse others, we have to try and share that experience of God that we have had.  For some this comes through art and music, both of which provide us with levels of expression that are rooted deep in the heart.  An Icon, an anthem, a sculptured image of the crucifixion, can all say something about God.

Buildings such as this one also speak of Him. When Bodley had his grand vision he was doubtless thinking about how the people of Epping might be led to worship a God who is bigger than anything we can conceive. So he made big gestures in his design. We cannot enter this building without being lifted up. So the function of this building is bound up with carrying us beyond ourselves towards the ‘other’ which is God.  If that is the function of this building, how much more true is it of Jesus himself. 

Yet Jesus did not try to convey God or lift our hearts towards Him by painting a picture or composing a concerto. He, like us, was a man of language and his preferred method of communication was, seemingly, in words.  Much of the Gospel is taken up with our Lord’s teaching. He used words but unlike many theologians, he kept those words simple. He used them to paint a word-picture which was readily understandable to those who heard.  Take today’s Gospel:  we are given, by St. Matthew, five simple sayings – parables which draw their imagery from every day life.  In talking about the Kingdom he cast around for illustrations which those who heard him could relate to.  Mustard seeds, Yeast, treasure hidden in a field, a pearl found in an oyster; a dragnet cast on the waters drawing in fish both good and bad.

These are all pictures Jesus paints about God’s Kingdom using ordinary language and everyday illustrations and the Bible is packed full of such imagery.  Today, perhaps, we need explanation because we do not live in a rural or coastal society but then, those who heard easily understood – and in fact, said so.  You want to know what God and His Kingdom is like? Pick up a mustard seed, so tiny that it is almost invisible. Plant it in the ground and watch it grow. It produces a bush so dense with foliage that the birds can fly into its branches and be hidden.  Of course – that’s how grace works we might say as the penny drops. An insignificant thing becomes something much bigger and grandeur.

And isn’t that how the seed of grace works in our hearts. We let God in and slowly he takes us over until we are, ourselves, bigger than we imagine.  That’s what Jesus is trying to tell us, but even Jesus has to abandon words when it comes to the central part of his message. 

There were few words spoken on Calvary but there was a big gesture. God expresses His love for us then not in words but in a self-offering and self-giving which conveyed far more than words ever could. At the heart of our faith is a Cross not a theological treatise.  When it comes down to it, the truths of God are expressed not in words but in actions. 

How does God speak to us about the Incarnation? – by being born in a  manger in the smelly outbuilding of an inn.  How does he show he cares? – by touching the eyes, the ears, the limbs of the needy.  How does he feed the hungry?  Not by calling a G8 summit in the Temple or Pilate’s palace but by blessing, breaking and sharing the resources that are available to him.  How does he restore sinful humanity in order that we might fulfil our potential to be God’s children?  By gestures of forgiveness.  How does he show his deepest love for us? – by allowing himself to be Crucified on a Cross.  How does he tell us that there is life beyond life? – by rolling a stone away from a tomb.  How does  he empower his Church to proclaim Him to the ends of the earth? – by reigning down tongues of flame upon heads.  How does he ensure that He is with us always? – even to the end of time?  By slipping into our lives, our souls, in a sliver of bread and a sip of wine.

Words are not enough. There must always be action. We know this from our own lives.

When Tony and Ann [Harvey] got married 50 years ago, they said some important words to each other about commitment and love, faithfulness and fidelity – but those words, on their own, are not why they are here together this morning to give thanks to God for 50 years of married life. A lot of love in action has had to take place between them and it is this that has made their marriage. That is the sign to us of their love, commitment and faithfulness towards each other.

And Jesus taught in actions as well as words.  God commits himself to us totally and we are given signs that this is so, in the life, not just the words, of Jesus.  It’s the same for us. We are called not just to try and talk about God, about what our faith in him means, but much more in our actions.

Jesus once told another parable – just a few words long. He said that the Kingdom of God is within us.  So what is God and his Kingdom like? Like us, it seems.  The answer lies in our hearts and insofar as we try to reflect Jesus Christ – becoming like Him not just through our own efforts but by allowing God’s grace to work within us transforming us from within, then as Jesus in who He IS is God’s true Word to us, so by becoming more like Him we become God’s Word to the world.

Of course, we are a ‘work in progress’ and it takes time and effort but it also takes something beyond words. Like the old man who sat in Church day after day. One day somebody asked him what he was doing. 
“Well,” he said pointing towards the Crucifix above the altar, “I looks at Him and He looks at me.”
No words were exchanged but doubtless a transformation was taking place.

As was the case with a little boy born in a North American Indian village. Above the village, on the mountain face, they had carved an image of God – a serene and majestic face – and they had a legend that one day, their God would come down and live among them.  From an early age, the boy crawled to the edge of the village and just sat gazing at the face of his God.  This went on for many years and then, one day, in his late teens, he returned to the village after a day of looking at his God. All the villagers ran out of their tents and shouted, “He is here! Our God has come to live among us.”  The young man, you see, had so looked at God that he had become like him. 

That is the way we can express God to others. By so looking at Him that we become like Him.  It’s not about words – but about Who we can become if we let God take us over.