Low tech visual aid
A little later this morning, I shall be preaching on Christ’s ‘commissioning’ of the disciples in John 20, and in particular his ‘private Pentecost’ in v.23. The disciples had already seen the miracles, heard the parables, and listened to the teaching of Jesus. What they needed now was to act upon all those things. The promises, the teaching, and the insight had to come to life so that they could step out in faith and shake the foundations of the world. This is the point at which Jesus ‘breathes upon them’. Like his father once breathing on a man-shaped clay doll and turning it into Adam; like God blowing and blowing on the waters of the Red Sea to forge a path through them; like the wind of God bringing flesh, muscle and sinew to Ezekiel’s skeletal army – his breath changed everything.
I shall conclude the sermon with a little live origami, I hope. On the left is a sheet of paper covered from top to bottom with the promises of Jesus. In the middle is a sheet with those same promises, but I have interacted a little – folding them into some sort of shape. On the right is the same sheet, with the same promises, folded, and then inflated into a three dimensional thing. I hope to move from the first to the last live. If the visual aid works, it should make the simple point that the promises of God are lifeless until we interact with them and God breathes into them. Like this beautiful Japanese artwork, it should make a lasting impression which people will retain long after they have forgotten any pixels projected on a screen. If it doesn’t…
