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mony.” These lofty goals were insepa- rable from buying “the world a Coke” and keeping “it company.” If viewers of the advertisement were tempted to find the premise that Coke had such power more than a little unreal, the closing refrain of the ad insisted that Coke was indeed “the real thing” and “what the world wants today.” If we are to believe Paul more
than Coca-Cola, what we need is a renewal of attention. We need for our attention to be less captivated by the fantastic promises of marketing. We need our attention to be won over by the beauty of God’s creative activity among us and for us.
What Luther says In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther said the strongest antidote we have against that which would turn our attention away from God’s ways is to talk, sing and think about God’s words and commands. Specifically, Luther commended his daily practice of reciting the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and some Psalms. For Luther, these were ways of directing our attention to what God is up to in the world. They help us grow accustomed to attending to the God who, out of sheer love for us, insists on being God with us and for us. In a confused way, consumer
advertising recognizes a profound truth. God does satisfy our deep- est longings in and through mate- rial things. At the center of Lutheran worship are bodily realities: bodily baptism, bodily sharing of the com- munion meal and bodily proclama- tion of the word of God. We don’t just think silently about spiritual truths. The life-giving word of God comes to us and through us in bodily form. At the same time, consumer advertising turns our attention in the
wrong direction. It leads us to think of consumer goods as keys to unlock the door to meaning, belonging and identity. If I used this product, then I would be more popular. If my par- ents would buy this car, then I would be part of a cool family. If I ate this food, then I would feel as good about myself as the model in the ad seems to feel about herself. The gospel directs our atten-
tion away from the logic of “If ... then ....” In Christ, God comes to us and embraces us as we are. By the Spirit, God works to heal our lives, beginning right where God finds us, not waiting for us to fulfill a set of conditions.
Advertisements direct us to the
future that could be if only we bought the right product. The gospel sur- prises us with the realization that God already delights in us here and now. God’s delight in us is insepara- ble from God’s delight in Jesus. Advertisements train us to imag-
ine that our problems and failures will find their solution once we make the right purchase. The gospel directs our attention to the transforming power of the Spirit already mov- ing in our lives. The Spirit comes to us even before we take a single step to improve ourselves or our world. Indeed it is the Spirit who enables us to take that step.
December 2014 17
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