God Glasses

I was a guest preacher at a church in D.C. this past Sunday, which mean I had the pleasure of leading a children’s sermon. I love the challenge of making my message relevant to the children of the church. I asked the children what it would be like if we had glasses that let us see the world the way God sees. Jaws dropped. One girl beamed at me and said “that would be amazing!!”

I can’t take credit for the idea of “God Glasses.” The concept was passed to me from my college chaplain, who borrowed it from John Calvin, the great Reformer. Calvin wrote: “For with Scripture as our guide and teacher, not only does God make plain those things that would otherwise escape our notice, God virtually forces us to behold them, as if God had assisted our dull sight with eyeglasses.” 

Calvin’s description of God’s eyeglasses is a core image of my theological imagination. I imagine God– somehow with very large hands–descending from the clouds like a painting from the Sistine Chapel, dropping off an old pair of glasses into my confused hands, and saying “here you go” before disappearing back into the clouds. I put on my new God Glasses and the world is totally different. I can see a world without poverty, war, famine, or evil. I see a world overflowing with joy, wholeness, and right relationships with each other. I see what can be, and the path to get us there. I get infused with the hope of the Spirit to bring about God’s kingdom. 

Calvin’s point is that we don’t have to wait for God to emerge from the clouds and drop glasses off for us. We have Scripture, divinely revealed to us and stewarded through generations. Of course there are issues with translations, interpretations, and additions to the text over centuries. There are passages that have been–and continue to be–used to harm, enslave, and kill people. There are passages that are incoherent when read together. I’m not trying to suggest that scripture is infallible. I am trying to encourage you to see how scripture is overwhelmingly filled with God’s encouragement for how the world can and should be. By immersing ourselves in these truths we find how to best use our God-given gifts in service of building the world that God desires. 

The world needs more people convicted to embody God’s logic of love, peace, and justice. Choose to see that world, roll up your sleeves, and join in on the building.

Text copyright © 2023 Grace Woodward. All rights reserved.