Pretend With Me?

Pretend With Me?

Would you like to play a quick game of pretend with me? You and I will pretend that Jesus has returned, just for a few months to give the Sunday sermons, while your preacher (or minister, pastor, or whatever title that you give your leader) takes a much needed vacation.

Would His first sermon be the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden? Would He tell you that because they sinned we are still being punished? That we are born in sin and all are natural born sinners? Or…I think that Jesus would be more likely to say, “God creates ALL life. Without God there would be no babies. What He creates He sees as good, not sinful, and that good stays with you all of your life.”

Do you think that Jesus would take up an extra collection? And ask the congregation to give generously for a larger, more beautiful church with the highest steeple? Or…might He take everyone out to the garden and remind them that the sunshine, the shade of the trees, the songs of the birds, and beauty of the fragrant flowers make a Holy place in which to worship God?

Would He preach a sermon on “Sin” and invite you to the altar to confess? Or…More likely would He would teach you that sin is a mistake; a belief in a lie; a false since of things; an error that can be erased.

Can you imagine Jesus proclaiming, “Worship Me! I am God incarnated in the human form of Jesus”? Or…His sermon might be to explain that, “When I said, ‘I and the Father are one,’ I wanted you to understand that the human can not contain the infinite. That the individual lives in the Allness of God and therefore is One with the Father.”

Might there be a sermon about, “God sent me to die on the cross as payment for your sins.” Or…maybe the sermon is, “God sent me to earth on a mission to teach His children how life is intended to be lived! With Love, Laughter, Health and Abundance.”

Maybe Jesus will announce, “A Special Healing Service will be held. You will be charged according to the severity of your disability.” Or…In my opinion, Jesus never saw a damaged person. Jesus healed by knowing sickness is not a part of God’s creation . Jesus brought the thought of the one suffering up to this knowledge then pain, disability, and trouble dissolve into the nothingness from which it came.

What would Jesus have to say about Satan or the devil? Would He tell you that, “Satan is a powerful force on earth and that the devil especially attacks Christians to steal their souls from God? “ Or…might Jesus inform you that, “God fills all time and all space. That leaves absolutely no place for an opposite being or any power to oppose God. God did not create the devil and the devil certainly couldn’t create himself!”

Would “Hell Fire and Damnation” be a topic for a sermon? Wouldn’t you expect words of comfort and cheer? Or…Perhaps Jesus will tell you that, “God’s Love is unconditional. Hell is punishment and the Father does not punish. Any punishment we suffer comes through our consciousness and fear from our wrong doing and thinking.”

We can’t leave our game of ‘pretend’ until we hear what Jesus has to say about death. “God is a God of the living, not the dead. Man will continue to face death until the race consciousness can understand that death is a man made illusion.”

Maybe Jesus would not use the words that I put in His mouth. But, I can assure you He would preach like no one we have heard before and teach us things we have never thought about.

642 words Loretta Ellen Edwards