Finding New Images of Who God Is

For the past few months, our church has been exploring expansive images of who God is through the lens of Mallory Wyckoff's aptly-titled book God Is. Maybe you've heard these themes in our sermons and worship life; maybe you've been practicing our weekly reflection prompts on social media; or maybe you've had the chance to participate in a small group or adult formation hour discussing the book in depth. I've cherished the opportunity to connect with many of you and to hear new and different perspectives—perspectives like Jeliner Jordan sharing about what it means for her that God is Creator, or Rev. Brandi sharing her experience about how God is Mother, or so many of you sharing vulnerably in our group discussions.

Again, and again, and again, I'm reminded that God is bigger than the boxes I try to construct around God. I don't think that means God is unknowable or inaccessible. On the contrary, I think God deeply desires for us to know God intimately, and God is willing to go to all lengths to help us find that intimacy. Look no further than Jesus, "in [whom] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily," in order that we might share a meal with the divine, might reach out and touch the eternal God, might see and hear what was previously invisible (Colossians 2:9).

Yes, God is bigger than the boxes I try to construct around God—and that means God shows up so many places that I might not have expected to encounter the divine. When we're willing to imagine God as Mother (e.g., Isaiah 66:13), we can recognize the divine goodness of a caring and compassionate and protective mom, and we can trust that God cares for us and protects us, too. When we experiment with imagining God as Midwife (e.g., Psalm 22:9), it makes it more possible for us to welcome God into our own most vulnerable and painful transitions.

Here's the key: As much as I like to live in my head and keep my nose buried in books, relationship seems to be essential to understanding and imagining God in more expansive ways. In these classes and discussions, I've learned a lot from listening to each of you and how you experience God in your own particular identities and life circumstances. Many of us have had to do the difficult and sacred work of letting go of harmful or destructive images of God; but equally difficult and sacred is the work of finding new images of God that can sustain us. I'm grateful that these conversations have given me a whole new vocabulary—the names and phrases and stories I learned from you, I mean—to describe who God is.

Lately I'm becoming more and more persuaded that who God is seems to be connected to community—that the more we learn about and understand God, the more we want to tear down the things (personal grievances, resentments, fears, structural barriers, injustices) that keep us from knowing and loving others. And, of course, the more we know and love others, the more we discover together about who God is.  It's this cycle of grace, drawing us towards each other and towards God, and the primary movement of all of it is love. "God is love," 1 John 4 tells us, and of course God is many other things, too. What else have you learned about who God is? Will you tell me what you have discovered?