Pinocchio: the courage to believe

We all know the story of the wooden boy who longs to be a real boy, but who has to learn to be good in order to achieve his dream. The story of Pinocchio.

If you were Pinocchio, would you be one that longed to become a boy or would you rather counsel acceptance of one’s reality? One position might be summarised as ‘I am a wooden toy, accept it and enjoy my lot’ and the other ‘I am a wooden toy, I want to be a boy’.

It might be that the first position is the wiser one. What sort of existence would it encourage? The second position may only lead to disappointment. What sort of existence would it encourage?

The contrasting Biblical texts that we read today (see below) present two very different understandings of what it means to be human in relation to God. They encourage us to reflect on our own expectations concerning the nature of human or ‘created’ existence. They ask us to consider what the end of human life is-

The first Biblical text, from Ecclesiastes, presents us with a Pinocchio who counsels if somewhat unhappily, acceptance. The particular passage that we have is one of the more comforting passages from this book. The familiar ‘a time to..’ encourages us to consider life as deeply ordered with a consequent sense of satisfaction. The idea that everything happens in its right place and at the right time appears comforting. But, as the latter part of our reading hints at, the text presents a pre-occupation with the passage of time and what that means for created beings, i.e. humans. Mortality for the creator of this text makes all human endeavour vain: ‘vanity of vanities, all is vanity’ is a recurring refrain throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. And this is because the passage of time obliterates, according to the author, any sense of individual human achievement. He struggles to find deep meaning in a life that, the writer perceives, is crafted by another. The wisdom advised in this book rather is to live within the confines of our creaturely limitations and enjoy as far as possible the small framework of our existence: to work and play and enjoy it. The God that accompanies this understanding of human life is one who is other, incomprehensible – something to be in awe of: “God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him”. Consolation doesn’t come from any sense of hope that human existence might be transformed, but from the sense of accepting the difference between what it means to be creator and created, immortal and mortal. This viewpoint might be characterised as a Pinocchio who wants to be a boy, but who thinks such a desire is just vanity.

The second Biblical text, from the letter of Peter, presents us with a Pinocchio who truly believes that he will become a boy. This text is full of expectation and of hope – there is the destined for prize – eternal life, and the writer looks to this, he is sees it as the future. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time’. So, rather than counselling acceptance of our natural limitations, such as mortality, this writer positively encourages the hoped for transformation: the passage is animated, excited. There is the reality of a living, abundant relationship between God and his created beings and there is hope of a future with God beyond death. This God inspires worship, praise and love. Here there is the expectation that mortality is overcome by God in Jesus Christ. This hope makes all the difference to the tone and nature of the relationship between God and human beings.

What is the difference between the 2 Pinocchios? The difference is simply in their willingness or not to hope. Of course, the writer of the second text has been given a reason to hope. The fairy tale dream of eternal life has been affirmed by and made real through his understanding of Jesus’ life and death.  But, the nature of whether we believe or not is in many ways to do with whether we have the courage to hope.

And so it’s worth reflecting upon our own instincts in relation to this story of Pinocchio. It is a story after all of transformation, and of hope being realised.  Christians do put their hope in what many could quite rightly consider to be as foolish a dream as Pinocchio, the wooden toy, wanting to become a real boy. And yet, perhaps one of the most animating drives in human beings is that of hope, and hope is ultimately a story of resurrection, of re-birth and of transformation from death to life.

Ultimately of course what we believe affects the way that we live. I asked at the beginning of this sermon what difference it would make if we lived within or sort to reach beyond our assumed limitations. There are dangers with both kinds of living, but, perhaps its worth reflecting upon how these assumptions affect our relationship with our maker.

The writer of Ecclesiastes certainly does not have a personal relationship with his Maker who is distant, unknowable, abstract, and awesome. But the relationship attested to in the Letter of Peter is one that is animated by love and desire on both sides. Imagine being Gespetto, the creator of Pinocchio – if you wanted him to become a real boy, your investment in his development would be very real, whereas if you simply created a wooden toy with no expectation of its transformation, perhaps your relationship with him would be much more distant and formal. I know what creator I want to continue to be in relationship with. The question for reflection tonight is, do we have hearts ready to believe that we will be transformed?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

The God-Given Task

 What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.

1 Peter 1:3-12

A Living Hope – very different idea of God here, a God in deep relationship with his people. Able to bring about love not just respect and awe.

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry, inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated, when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look!