Today was a day for noticing religious bumper stickers. That usually means Christian bumper stickers. I could become very cynical here - but I won't. Instead, I want to play with images and words and simply ask, what do you mean when you say that? Today's bumper sticker was actually the frame around a license plate. It is a well known quote even for folks who are not religious. In fact, if you live in Ohio, it has been the motto of our state since 1959. With God - All things are possible. I will probably try to say three things here - but when I start ranting, I'm not promising anything.
First of all, let's look at it like this. This can mean all things - just as it says. That means it includes the corruption in government - the violence in our lives - the racism - the hatred - the housing that is built to exclude - crooked politicians - unkind remarks - inequality - this and that and then some more. Yep, with God, all things are possible. It is as though when we say we believe in God or say we have God in our lives, that which is possible is endless. Sounds good. Usually it is a way religious folks try to tell others that if they would believe in God - their lives would be better - because all things are possible. That simple motto or that biblical verse is of no moral worth - it is weightless - it permits anything - it encourages nothing of benefit to the world - it simply says everything is possible. So, why even say it - why use it - why hang onto it as though it is the way to make your or my day any better. It is like saying: With God, All things are status quo...but could be better or even worse.
Another look at this well quoted verse points us in the direction of the weightless lie associated with prosperity religious/secular thinking. With God - All things are possible becomes the beacon for those who want people to follow their preaching and teaching - so that the preachers can become prosperous. It is so easy to think that someone who has become prosperous has had that happen because they believe in God. How else could that ass have changed - right? How many stories by well-worded preachers have been used to promise wealth and a good life? They are able to convince folks that the mantra - if often spoken - will change their lives. On another note, it also has a wonderful way of convincing people who get shit on every day - or find themselves at the end of a rope - that they can endure it. God will open up possibilities for you. Yet, most often, the people who are shit on in our society, rarely experience those possibilities. God becomes a type of magician - a power that can change what is, so as to give us what we want, or maybe, what we think we deserve - maybe more than others.
To be quite honest with you, I do not think this motto/verse has a thing to do with God giving us what we want or hope to have or expect will make things better. What if we are really being invited to look a bit deeper? What if this use of God and this mention of possibilities begins with the notion that there is a life in which peace prevails - race prevents us from going color-blind - justice and mercy rain down on all people without partiality - hope transforms us - forgiveness and reconciliation make up a stream that takes folks into a new world? To be quite truthful, all the stuff I just wrote down is a bunch of wishful thinking - foolish thinking - naivete to the max. Hmmm. Thinking like this is as easily dismissed as hearing John Lennon sing 'Imagine.'
But - and please pause with me - what if With God - All things are possible means that all the things within the Reign of God - the Kingdom of God - the Kingdom of Heaven - the coming of the Messiah (whatever you call it), will come among us only as we let go of our ways of trying to bring it all about - which is usually by warfare - coercion - self consuming actions and policies - threats - control of others. Even though I don't have to write sermons anymore, I find that I count on the stories of the great Prophets and Jesus and any number of saint-like folks to lead me into that which is possible - The Peaceable Reign - or as MLK called it: The Beloved Community.
With the power of God - the power to dismantle the violence of the world's ways that are all around us (and including us) - I have been coming to the awareness that all things within the vision of God's Reign are possible. They don't just come - they become among us. That is the launching pad for the life that is able to turn into that possibility - no matter what the cost may be. Boom - that's the part that we usually kiss goodbye. We are each invited into the impossible of God's reign of justice and peace and endless healing and wholeness. It becomes possible - all of it - as we enter it and become a part of it - as we are able to take ourselves out of the cycle of death that is so much of our lives - as we side with those who seem to be push out of every side - even if we begin the adventure for mere moments at a time. Even more, if you are a coward like I am - a Peter who would rather blend into the crowd rather than stand within the vision of a new creation - then we need to lean into the lives of those who take the risk to walk into that which is called impossible so that we can begin to wander within God's expanding possibility for a new life. Folks learn about possibilities when they see them moving from the realm of impossibilities into the lives of ordinary folk taking the risk to be trampled but also taking the risk to build something in the image of God's creativity.
TRRR
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