This Week's Light Service Sermon

Light Service Sermons for the Month
Unlock Your God-Given Imagination
The Gift of Imagination
DATE: June 10, 2001
TEXT: Genesis 1:26-27

Imagine that it's the early 1900s and you and your fiancée have just rowed across a huge lake in order to enjoy a nice picnic on the other side. As you lay out all of the food your fiancée notices that you've forgotten the dessert. She's terribly upset because her perfect picnic has been ruined. So being the gallant person you are you volunteer to climb back into the boat, row back across the lake, get the dessert, and row back again.
As you row that boat the hot sun begins to overwhelm you. Your muscles cramp up. Blisters form on the palms of your hands. And you think to yourself, "This is nuts. There's got to be a better way."
That's exactly what happened to Ole Evinrude. And in that moment of sheer exhaustion and frustration something happened. His imagination took over, and a year later he created the Evinrude outboard motor. And the rest is history.
Imagine it's still the early 1900s and you work as a janitor in a department store. You love your job but the constant sweeping of the floors stirs up the dust, which in turn activates your allergies. You want to keep your job but the dust and allergies are getting to you.
That's what happened to Murray Spangler. Until one day, like Ole Evinrude, his imagination took over and he began to wonder why, instead of sweeping up the dust, he couldn't find a way to suck it up. His friend, H.W. Hoover, liked the concept and helped underwrite the first Hoover vacuum cleaner. And the rest is history.
One more. Imagine it's still the early 1900s and you're selling waffles at the St. Louis State Fair. Unfortunately, you run out of paper plates so you can't serve your waffles. The other vendors refuse to help you out because they need to make money and see your loss as their advantage.
That's what happened to one young man. Without those plates he stood on the brink of financial ruin. Finally, a friend of his, an ice-cream vendor, allowed him to buy some ice cream at half price so that he could turn around and sell it to try to make up for the lost waffle sales.
As he was selling the ice cream he wondered what he would do with all of the left over waffle batter. It was then that his imagination took over. He took one of his wattles, formed it into a funnel and stuck ice cream in it producing the world's first ice cream cone. And the rest is history.
Everywhere we look we see the results of someone's imagination. From the chairs we're sitting on today to the sound system to the lights to the guitars, everywhere we look we find ourselves surrounded by the outcomes of imaginative, creative thinking.
In fact, imagine where we'd be today if people didn't use their imaginations. We'd have no heating systems for the cold weather or cooling systems for the hot summers. We'd have no TVs (and would therefore not be able to see the Cleveland Indians win the World Series this year). We'd have no storage systems to keep our food fresh. We'd have no medical technology to keep us healthy and alive. We'd have no cars to get us around. Here's a scary thought: Without imagination, we'd have no clothes! The point is imagination is the springboard to life. It's the power and energy that enables us to not only survive life, but also to enjoy it, enhance it, thrive in it!
On a more personal level, the imagination makes the difference between a static life and a dynamic life, between stagnation and success, between despair and hope, between disappointment and discovery. Researchers tell us that the imagination can help us lead a healthier, happier, more just and meaningful life. The imagination is truly one of the greatest gifts God has given to us. And if we can learn to unlock it's power in our lives, we're well on our way to becoming the people God created us to be.
Over the next four weeks, my last four weeks, here at Faith, we're going to look at this very special God-given gift and how God intends for it to enhance our lives. Over the next few weeks we'll talk about the relationships between the imagination and a vibrant, life-giving faith, between imagination and our jobs, and imagination and our overall sense of health and well-being. Today, as we begin, we're going to look at some of the barriers that keep us from using our imagination and how God removes those barriers for us. But before we talk about it, let's pray together.
(Prayer)
Webster defines imagination as: The act or power of forming a mental image or something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality; creative ability; ability to confront and deal with a problem.
And the good news is that God has created each and every one of us with that gift--the gift to see beyond the box to what God is doing; the gift of creatively dealing with issues and problems that come our way.
Unfortunately, over the years many of us have buried our imaginations because we've come fact to face with one or more imagination blockers. One of these imagination blockers is habit.
Several years ago a California Zoo moved to a new location offering the animals a lot more room to move about. One of the rhinos, however, was never able to make the adjustment. Even with all of the new space he still continued to walk about in the same small circle he had grown accustomed to in his old home. His imagination, so to speak, was held in check by rigidity and habit.
Here is an experiment that was conducted in another zoo. In a cage containing five apes, they hung a banana on a string and put stairs under it. Before long, an ape tried to go up the stairs and climb towards the banana. But as soon as he touched the stairs, the scientists spray all the apes with cold water.
After a while, another ape made an attempt with the same result--all the apes were sprayed with cold water. They then turned off the cold water.
When another ape tried to climb the stairs, the other apes did every they could to prevent it even though no water sprays them.
Now, remove one ape from the cage and replace it with a new one.
The new ape saw the banana and wanted to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other apes attacked him. After another attempt and attack, he learned that if he tried to climb the stairs, he would be assaulted.
Next remove another of the original five apes and replace him with a new one.
The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.
Again, replace a third original ape with a new one.
The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four apes that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest ape.
After replacing the fourth and fifth original apes, all the apes, which have been sprayed with cold water, have been replaced. Nevertheless, no ape ever again approaches the stairs. Why not?
Because that's the way it's always been around here.
Habit blocks the imagination by trying to convince us that there's only one right way to do something. Sometimes that's true. But the only way to know that is to from time to time experiment with other ways. Ultimately, however, there is usually more than one right way to do something, and breaking through the habit block can release our imaginations to help us see new and even better ways to do things. While habit can give us stability, it can also rob us at other times of the new dreams and ideas that God has in store for us.
A second imagination blocker is the mistaken belief that I'm not creative.
I have to admit, this is the one that used to get me. I am not really that creative a person, not like a Dick Sefton with his pictures or Bill Woodall with his poetry or Don Hill and his paintings or Charlotte Shuff with her sewing. But then I started to listen to the truth. Our Bible reading tells us that we've been created in God's image. Now part of God's image is creativity. Everywhere we look in nature we see the creative finger of God--from snowflakes to flowers, to mountains, to myriads of different insects, to awe-inspiring oceans, to colors of fish that dazzle the mind, to unique races and cultures. God is a creative, imaginative God. And a part of being creative in his image means that we too, are imaginative and creative.
Here's the truth. If you've ever solved a problem, you're imaginative.
If you've ever pictured yourself playing quarterback and leading the Browns to a come-from-behind Super Bowl victory, you're imaginative.
If you've ever dreamed of playing the love interest opposite Brad Pit in a movie, you're dreaming.you're imaginative.
If you're praying for your son to marry the perfect woman, you're imaginative.
If you got dressed today, you used your imagination as you put together the different pieces of clothing--some of you did a better job than others but you did use your imagination.
What I learned was that, even though my imagination may not work on the grand scale of a president or a Disney, every day each of us uses our imagination--to solve problems, to create dinner, to make a sale, to teach a child, to stop an argument, to better the company. You are an imaginative person because God created you that way. And as that truth permeates your soul, you'll rediscover the power and joy of the imagination.
A third imagination blocker is fear.
The fear of making mistakes, of being seen as a fool, of being criticized, of disturbing tradition and making changes, of losing the security of habit, of truly being an individual.
Someone once said that fear is the wrong use of imagination. Fear is imagination in reverse, it keeps us from our potential rather than releasing it; it robs us of faith rather than enhancing it. Fear can keep us from being the people God created us to be. And it's only as we overcome those fears that we'll be able to enjoy the life-giving power of imagination.
Because God created you to live life at its best through the imagination, he has a vested interest in making sure that we unlock and use that very special gift. It's a gift he's given to us because he loves us and he wants us to enjoy it.
So 2000 years ago God did something that goes beyond the imagination to help set us free from all of the imagination blockers we face in life. God, the creator of the universe, became a human being. He became one of us. He lived life from our perspective. He experienced all of the pain, joy, sorrow, and triumphs that we experience. He lived through the ups and downs of life and dealt with all of the barriers that keep us from being the people we were created to be. He became one of us so that he could understand us.
But then he went a step further. Seeing that we could not free ourselves form self-doubt, fear, brokenness, shame, sin, and the other stuff that stifles us and robs us of life, God, in the person of Jesus, gave his life for us on a cross. Somehow, in someway, on that cross, he bore all of our fears, hurts, sin and failure. And through his death, somehow in some way the power of sin, fear, hurt, and failure was broken.
And now, having risen from the dead, Jesus stands ready to set us free from all the barriers that keep us from being the image of God. He replaces the self-doubt with his belief in us. He transforms the fear to courage. He breaks down self-imposed barriers and releases our God-given creativity. He unconditionally forgives us and wipes away the guilt and shame. He reconnects us with our creator and in the process our imaginations are set free so that we truly can be all God wants us to be.
When God created you he gave you a very special gift--a gift that can energize you with hope, life, faith, and new dreams, a gift that can unleash your potential. That gift is the imagination. And to ensure that you could use that gift he sent Jesus to remove all of the imagination blockers so that you can enjoy life as God intends you to.
I encourage you to discover the life God has for you by inviting Jesus to come and free you from all that keeps you from using your imagination. For as you walk with him each day, he'll energize you with new dreams and ideas that go beyond your wildest dreams.

AMEN