I want you to imagine that I have given you a piece of paper with a box of coloured pencils and I now want you to draw a representation of the image of God. Those of you who attended church when we had a family with children will will recall that one used to draw a dinosaur for everything but I am not sure that a dinosaur accurately represents God's image. We usually think that an image is a picture or a photograph but it can be more than that. For example, the Macquarie dictionary also describes an image as “a mental picture or representation; an idea or conception; the impression a public figure strives to create”. In a little while I will ask if anyone would like to share their image of God but before then let's think more about images.
Today's readings showed the importance of an image. You will recall that for the past few weeks we have been reading the parables that Jesus used to tell the religious leaders they had failed to live up to God's expectations of them. They were not happy to be “called out” in such a public way and decided to hit back. Unfortunately, their first attempt to show Jesus in a bad light failed because of an image on a coin. They hoped that he was going to say “do not pay taxes” which would have endeared him to the people but would have opened him up to charges of sedition by the Romans. Or perhaps he would say that people must pay taxes, which would upset the people. Neither happened, instead he told the people to render to Caesar the things that belonged to him and to God the things that belonged to him. The image on the coin showed who it belonged to.
The reading from Exodus also has much to say about the correct image of God, as opposed to last week's reading in which the people created a completely wrong image, the golden calf, to be worshipped in God's place.
When God told Moses that he would send an angel to guide the people in future Moses was upset because he felt that it was important for everyone to know that God was actually with the Israelites, V16 says “For how shall it be known that I have found favour in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way we will be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.” While God agreed to continue to go with the people he also began to show Moses that it was his image or the impression that he created that was more important than his actual physical presence. Moses asked to be shown God's glory but it was not possible for God to do that because his glory is too great to be viewed by mortal eyes. So he allowed Moses to see the image of his glory as represented by his retreating back.
The Thessalonians were recognised as being in the image of the disciples and therefore in the image of God, for in verses 6-9 it says “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord … so you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia …. For the people of those regions report to us what kind of welcome we had among you ..” The Thessalonians were showing an idea, conception or impression of what it means to be a Christian and a follower of Jesus.
In these reading we have considered various image statements but have ignored the greatest “image” statement in the bible, that is Genesis 1: 27 which said that God created man in his own image. The Latin for this is “imago dei” which refers to “the immaterial part of humanity, that which sets human beings apart from the animal kingdom and enables them to commune with God. It is a likeness mentally, morally and socially”. This begs the question, if we are created in God's image and if God's image is important would others know this from our behaviour in the world.
It's time to return to the exercise that I set at the beginning of this talk. Could we please have a short sharing time of the different images we have of God. (Pause for discussion or put forward own ideas.)
Thank you for sharing your images of God which basically fell into two categories. Some of you saw God in the natural world such as the rays of light streaming down from the edge of a cloud or in a rainbow. Others saw the image of God in other people, other people in church or the faces of people that you meet. I think that the over-riding image is of a supreme creator / power concerned for the future of creation and expecting those who profess to believe and accept the salvation offered by Jesus to behave in a way that reflects his image.
As followers of Jesus, his disciples in fact, we are expected to go out and make new disciples. This is not an easy job for most of us and we should not try to fool ourselves into thinking it is. But we can make life a lot easier if we try to ensure that we reflect the image of God in our lives. Do we ensure that other people know that we love God or is that something that we shut away to be brought out when we say our prayers and attend church? Do we demonstrate that we love our neighbours, not only by providing support for those in need, donating to charity and trying to be friendly towards those we meet but by refusing to join in discussions or activities that put down or blame “the other” for things they cannot control. Do we clearly show that we expect respect and good behaviour from ourselves and our fellow Christians. Do we show that we expect good behaviour from those in authority, be it secular or religious authority. Are we honest, reliable, trustworthy, creative? Do we care for our world and seek to preserve God's creation. The list could appear to be endless but these are the issues that we need to consider if we are to be a reflection of God's image for those around us.
I do not have to remind anyone of the many examples of where the church has failed to live up to the image of God. Whether it was by failing to deal with child abuse, making outcasts of those who had difficulty in living up to societies' expectations, promoting conflict by supporting wars or ostracising those who wished to worship in a different way, there is a lot of baggage that today's Christians have to work with. By ourselves we cannot hope to resolve all the problems but with God's help we will be able to find a way to reflect the image of God and develop a disciple making ministry here in Cygnet but we do need to spend time in prayerful consideration to discover how best to achieve our aim.