The Gospel as an Impossible Possibility
In the gospel reading appointed for this Sunday, Jesus is accused of being demon-possessed. In an article I wrote on that passage, I wondered whether the gospel always sounds a little crazy to those who first hear it…or maybe just to those who take it seriously. That is, the more seriously you take the gospel, the more crazy, or outlandish, or impossible, or even possessed, it sounds. And I kind of think that’s the way it has to be simply because what’s sane, normal, everyday, and expected doesn’t, I think, have the power to transform us, let alone save us.
By way of illustration: near the beginning of his lengthy Christmas poem, For the Time Being, W.H. Auden has the shepherds marching toward Bethlehem make the following confession: “We who are about to die demand a miracle…. [for] Nothing can save us that is possible.”
And there it is: when you are on the brink of death – from illness or failure or disappointment or heartbreak or calamity or oppression or depression or whatever – when you are on the brink of death you are keenly aware that you are insufficient, that this world and reality is temporary, and that you stand in desperate need of the miraculous, of salvation, for that which is merely possible cannot save.
And that’s what the gospel offers – what Karl Barth described as the “impossible possibility,” a reality that transcends the everyday real, a Truth deeper than all else we have been told is true, a story that stretches beyond and encompasses all our stories so as to give them meaning, integrity, and purpose.
Now some, I know, would call this an escape, a flight from reality and the specter of death. And, indeed, this is the great risk, the significant gamble of the Christian life. For the truth the gospel proclaims is not some mere datum or fact that we can verify but rather is a claim, a confession, even a wager, that there is a Reality and Truth beyond the confines of our mortal, meager existence that we will not fully experience until the world as we know it passes away and then and only then will we see through the glass clearly and understand fully, even as we are fully understood.
But make no mistake, it is a risk, one that we cannot calculate or estimate ahead of time but which we throw ourselves into mind, body, and spirit simply because we cannot help it; because, that is, we have been taken captive to the Word of God through our encounter with Scripture, drawn into this world of faith like Lucy was drawn through the wardrobe into Narnia and, having tasted the promises of God, cannot return. And so there it is: the gospel is true, and it is fantastic, otherworldly, beyond our experience.
My friend Anna Carter Florence gets at this in a brief conversation we had several years ago when she was visiting Luther to teach in our Doctor of Ministry program. I asked Anna what she thought was the heart of the gospel preachers are called to proclaim, and she said it was the unbelievable word that always sounds more than a little crazy when you take it seriously. Watch Anna’s comments, if you have time (they’re just 5 minutes long), and then let me know what you think? Is the gospel crazy, the impossible possibility, and what implications does that have for our lives of faith?
This is truly at the crux of what I am experiencing as a Christian Lay person right now. Until I actually looked for myself at the Truth that is in the bible I could not experience faith. It all seemed so crazy to me as a teen and while in my 20s. It wasn’t until I was pregnant that I decided that I better check it out for myself and make sure that is was not just a bunch of “crap”. Going to church did not do it for me but studying just the words of the bible, carefully guided and very slowly over 8 years is what really brought me to this point. It is a point that you articulate so well here “there is a Reality and Truth beyond the confines of our mortal, meager existence..” When I read the words of the gospel, slowly and just a little at a time, I can feel and experience this Truth. To explain it to others is not so easy. I don’t judge others for their unbelief because I so understand where they are coming from. Also, now that I have studied the words of the bible in both the OT and NT, I totally understand church, why we do what we do and why it is important to go not only for ourselves as I once thought but to worship God.
Thanks so much for your response, Judy. I think there is something amazing that happens when we slow down, as you did, and let the impossible possibility wash over us. And you’re right, there is no room for judgment when you realize just how crazy it all can sound. But, eventually, we pray that we sense a deeper reality and truth than what we’d once thought possible. Blessings on your continued journey!
Wow! David, thank you. (Thank you first, for your presence at the recent SC Synod, ELCA Assembly; and for your ‘presents’ in the keynotes, sermon and dinner conversation on Friday at the banquet.) And thank you for this blog entry on the possible impossibility of the gospel and the links to Anna Carter Florence and Ken Burns. I need the powerful truth of the ‘dead not staying dead’, and 1 + 1 = 3 right now. I’ll proclaim this good news, not only from the pulpit but in two home visits this week to middle age couples in my congregation. In one family the husband/father is living with (and perhaps dying from) kidney cancer. In the second a wife/mother is fighting aggressive breast cancer and will have surgery soon. I’ll invite them to wager that the story of redemption Jesus lived is some how true for them also. I’ll pray that the light of this proclamation pierces the darkness that envelopes them just now. Thanks for the reminder of the good news and the means to share it. Steve Plonk
That’s what, I think, the Body of Christ is about – encouraging each other to keep on keeping on with the work of ministry. Blessings to you, Steve, during these difficult but crucial (in the original sense, “of the cross”) visits.
Thank you David for your insight. Anna is also right; why should I expect anyone to believe what I am saying on Sunday morning? We preachers stand at the door after worship and greet everyone as they leave and some of them say, “I really enjoyed your sermon this morning pastor.” When they say that I always wonder what it was they enjoyed. Certainly they enjoy hearing that God loves them and forgives them, but do they really enjoy the truly unbelievable? I never really noticed that the disciples didn’t believe Mary when she came back and told them she had seen the Lord. Anna is right we get to tell the folks in the pews what we know and believe to be true and they have to go and find out for themselves. I find this to be a freeing moment; I will no longer wonder if my folks got what I was trying to impart. I will do my part and trust that the Holy Spirit is doing her part.
Thank you again for your insight. Your weekly installment on Workingpreacher.org is always helpful for me as I work to craft my sermon every week. God bless you sir.
Thenk you for your wonderful and frank commentary. I need a bracelet with WWDP? (What would David preach?) I’m wondering if the best evidence of an alive, growing faith is that we’ve finally gotten over the reality that what we believe is often some pretty preposterous stuff. Every Sunday we gather to make sense of our lives and our faith and often the most direct route to transformation is through the crazy. My hope is that I can preach about more than what it means and take people to why it matters. Our crazy lives deserve nothing less. Namaste David.
The video message that the ELCA has been sending out to the Synod Assemblies this summer begins with a quote from Martin Luther “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that you could stake your life on it a thousand times.” That’s the risk. That’s the craziness in a nutshell (pun intended). Faith in the promise of grace, the hope of new life, staking our lives 1000 times over on a wager as DJL put it so well. Held captive,compelled, posessed by the Holy Spirit.
My former bishop chose this text to preach to a new group of candidates for ordained ministry (of which I was one at the time) and I never forgot what he said about being a little out of your mind to follow Jesus. That’s true for all people living out their baptismal calling. I can’t wait to preach this week!