But don't put imagination down. It is a gift of God, though like so many of God's other gifts, it can be twisted away from the good purpose for which God has given it to us.
The prophet Joel looked forward to a time when "your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions" (2.28b) - words which Peter saw fulfilled in the events of the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2.17b). In God's purpose the dreams and visions aren't to be a substitute for action, but a means of guidance and motivation for action.
In the world of fantasy, with the help of camera crew and production team, Clark Kent - a very ordinary sort of a newspaper reporter - can become Superman and soar from the top of buildings. Then again, if you laugh a lot, you may find yourself bobbing against the ceiling - as in "Mary Poppins". These things are fun and pure nonsense. They don't attempt to reflect the real laws of the real world, though they may appeal to the secret wishes of ordinary people struggling with the real world.
The idea of getting rid of a witch by throwing water over her - as in "The Wizard of Oz" - must go back a very long way. Robert Burns's poem "Tam o' Shanter" bears witness to belief in the power of water over witches. This may have come from a belief in the superior power of Christian baptism over the occult. But, with the resurgence of witchcraft in our own day, we had better be aware that it is not as simple as that!
We were in Childers when the Apollo 11 spacecraft was on its way to the Moon. I recall well an old lady down the road from us stating quite strongly that the moon mission couldn't possibly succeed, because the Earth is where God meant us to be. I tried to help her understand that this is God's universe, that the same physical laws apply out in space as they do here, that, short of malfunction or miscalculation, they should arrive there safely… After watching the landing, I wrote this poem -
We know the laws of motion,
Of gravity and the like,
But forget the Ten Commandments
And all the laws on life.
We thank you, God, that Jesus came
To bring us back to you,
That we may know in everything,
Dear God, your laws are true!
All of God's laws are important. There are children who have tried to copy Superman in the real world - with disastrous results. Unfortunately, there are young people who have copied the lifestyles of some of the popular singers - also with disastrous results. Tragically, as older people try to imagine a world without God and with no Ten Commandments, they end up building a sadder, not a happier, world.
In fact, the Ten Commandments represent part of God's plan for life.
Ted Turner, creator of Cable News Network, told members of the National Newspaper Association in Atlanta that the biblical Ten Commandments do not relate to current global problems, such as overpopulation and the arms race.
"We're living with outmoded rules," Turner said. "The rules we're living under are the Ten Commandments, and I bet nobody here even pays much attention to 'em, because they are too old.
"When Moses went up on the mountain, there were no nuclear weapons, there was no poverty. Today, the commandments wouldn't go over. Nobody around likes to be commanded. Commandments are out."
We certainly have a generation that doesn't like to be commanded. But, whether we follow them or not, these are the "laws on life." There are moral absolutes, because there is a God - and learning to respond to him in worship, faith and obedience is very central to why we are here on earth. When we are out of relationship with him, it soon shows up in a break-down in our relationships with others and with ourselves.
The generation that ignores God and doesn't like to be commanded has been marked by more violence and corruption than earlier generations and by a diminished ability to make stable marriages.
Now God has the right to expect worship, faith and obedience from all people everywhere. He especially looks to find it among the people who are called by his name. If this response to him is among his people, then it should be strongly expressed in the worship at the Temple.
But it wasn't! The Temple had become the centre of religious corruption and hypocrisy. A great deal of talk about the Lord didn't get far beyond talk. The sacrificial rituals were performed with a cold faithfulness.
In Isaiah 56 we hear the Lord talking to the foreigners who become part of his people, "these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations" (v.7).
And yes, there was part of the Temple where people of other nations were welcome to come and pray. It was called the court of the Gentiles. But that was the very place where they set up the market for all the money-changing and for the sale of certified offerings. They insisted that all money offered had to be in Jewish shekels, not in Roman coins. Animals brought for sacrifice had to be free from defect. What a racket it had become! In a real sense, those responsible for the Temple attended more to their financial profits than to the prophets who had spoken the word of the Lord.
Into the Temple came Jesus. They had hardly heard of him at this stage - unlike three years later on Palm Sunday when he did it again. All this trade must stop - the Father's house must not be a market-place.
It is true, of course, that occasionally we may clear out our unwanted goods in a "garage sale". But, in general, why do you go to a house? It is to meet with the people who live there. They may well be suspicious of anyone snooping around for some other reason.
So why would you go to the Father's house? To meet with the Father! There is a real problem with folk who have other motivations, and a bigger problem still when those caring for the Father's house have a different agenda from enabling people to meet with the Father.
The problem is that we let our imagination run away with us. We follow the imaginations of our own hearts. Instead of dreams and visions that point us to the ways of fulfilling God's purposes in our time, we go after things to make us feel better or more fulfilled, to build up ourselves, our congregation, our own denomination…
Our greatest need is to know God. And if Jesus came here today, what would he be clearing out of our churches? What are the barriers we have set up that hinder people from meeting the Father here?
Are the Ten Commandments still relevant today? We have scrapped the design. How can we get back to know the Designer? That is why the word of the Cross is so vital. It isn't the sign the Jews are looking for, or the wisdom the Greeks are trying to find. But it is the only way to know the Designer. It is the power of God to bring us back to his way of living (1 Cor. 1.22-24).
Jesus was calling people to come back, to repent, to be open to change... That is still his call today. Come back to God - and be open to the call of his Spirit to bring salvation, hope and change in this world.
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