At the end of October, Bob Nolty preached from Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema, Amos 5:24 and Micah 6:8.

(Note: His humorous reference to being asked to be brief was due to two licensings and an ordination that were to follow.)

Bob introduces us to the book “My Imaginary Jesus” by Matt Mikalatos, based in Portland. In chapter 1, the apostle Peter shows up, smelling like fish, and convinces Matt that the Jesus he’s been hanging out with is an imaginary Jesus: a Jesus that we construct in our own mind that we can relate to. An imaginary Jesus may take some of the rough edges off the real Jesus.

It can be difficult for us to reconcile God’s role as judge with that of his role as mercy-giver. Being human, we tend to err on one side or the other. Sometimes the scriptures are boiled down into judgement in the Old Testament, and mercy in the New.

How did David reconcile the merciful God and the judging God? He seemed to draw a line between the righteous and the unrighteous: God was merciful to the righteous, and judging toward the unrighteous. Bob’s a bit uncomfortable with this line.

Bob finds hell to be the ultimate distillation of this problem. How do we reconcile the loving God who extends grace, with the idea of hell and eternal damnation.

Being in a relationship with the radical other in God is difficult. When we struggle with aspects of scripture, we can ask ourselves who’s in charge of our doctrine. Is it me? Or is it God? Is Jesus too much like me? Is he then an imaginary Jesus?

And where does mystery come in? What experiences bring us closer to a real Jesus?

Hear these thoughts extended with a hefty dose of humor in the audio below.

download here