The Gospel according to Scott
December 25, 2023
It is usually our custom here to have a dialog sermon, one where we discuss the readings for the day, explore past and current understandings, and weave something meaningful to take away to ponder during the week. And as this is Christmas, I will also tack on my own observations as a wrap up (get it? wrap up? Christmas? Nevermind)
As many of our regular members know, one of the most important steps in exploring scripture is to ask, how would the original readers/listeners hear this? Can we step back in time and listen with their ears? What would we ask the writer if given the chance? What is that particular author’s intention? How does the part of the whole story we hear this morning fit in the writer’s overall picture? And then of course we can begin to discover how that might speak to us today, another culture and a different way of understanding the world.
So, first question, can someone tell me about the birth story in the gospel of Mark? Trick question. Or John’s? Aha. Trick question again. 2 out of 4 gospels say no to a the baby story. There’s something to explore. Is it possible Matt and Luke have different intentions than Mark and John? You bet! Right away, we get some of questions to ask. Why do 2 gospels see that story line important to their story arc and not the other two do not? You can begin to see why it is important to treat each gospel as a unity in its self. Mashed up nativity plays weaving Matt and Luke make nice productions for the kids, but even Matt and Luke have different intentions in their birth stories and each one’s overall gospel narrative.
For Matthew, Jesus is a Moses-like deliverer, who presents an immediate threat to the world’s Herods. It is filled with exodus-shaped events, which then portray Jesus’ birth as a sign of an exodus to come. For Matthew, Jesus is a Davidic king.
For Luke, however, Jesus is man of more humble origins. Jesus is no threat to Caesar (as yet) and is more closely associated with the Temple and priesthood than with the throne. Jesus is associated with Samuel, the OT prophet. For Luke, Jesus comes off as more subversive and—a man whose ministry lifts up the poor and downtrodden and brings down a corrupt regime.
Another question for you. And I’ll say up front it’s a trick question. How many gospels are there? Over 100! Named and sourced, bits and pieces, it seems more than one would think. But in a more serious vein, I would say there are as many gospels as there are followers of Jesus. Think about that for a moment. I’m sure you’ve all disagreed with a sermon or two in your church career. “Huh, that’s not the Jesus of the gospel that I know.” Be honest, we all pick and chose and build our own gospel about who Jesus is/was, what he did or didn’t do, and how that applies to me or doesn’t apply to me.
So if you were to write a gospel (which actually would be an interesting exercise), how would you start it? What would the gospel according to … have in it? How would you begin? A prophesy from the OT? A birth narrative? Your own situation and how Jesus came to you and revealed it all? What’s in your gospel?
Here’s brief look at the gospel of Scott (somehow it did not make the cut for the New Testament) I am working on a re-submission.
I do kind of like the gospel of Mark’s sudden start of Jesus just showing up on the scene from nowhere. But really I think I would have a baby Jesus in my gospel because babies are cute, of course, they sell the story. Seriously, my infant scene would not be a tool for foreshadowing, telling of things to come. I would have it as a symbol (of which the gospels are chockfull like Jesus as a Moses).
In my gospel, this one birth would show that all children are holy, all births are the signs of incarnation. Each birth is god breaking into our world, a proof that god is indeed with us (O come Emmanuel). and then I would connect that abstract birth with reality of you and me being born. We were all babies, were we not. Our own birth is proof that god is with us. That then means, taking a big step, that you are god with us. Have you ever given that any thought? St. Athanasius said that god became man so that man can become god. It’s built into the system.
You see, the early church evolved its thinking to come to understand that this Christ figure, Jesus, must have been divine somehow, and so must be then both God and man in order to tie up their theology. Where they erred, or rather, let’s say, focused their thought too tightly, was to say that only Jesus is fully human and fully divine. But Scott’s gospel wants to say that Jesus is not a new hybrid creature, but the symbol or sacrament (representing all of us) showing that it has always been this way. Fully divine and fully human did not start with Jesus. Jesus reveals it in the most powerful way. To be human is to be partakers in the divine. Jesus reveals to us who we truly are, what we have always been, and teaches us how through following the way of sacrificial love, we become more and more aware of this truth.
Each of us unique, yet somehow mysteriously all are one in the unity of god.
This is my gospel (for now). For me, I find strength in this telling of the birth story because it confirms what I experience, that I have always been connected with God. There has never been any separation. How can there ever be separation? Is any thing in this created world ever fully separate from the creator? What can separate us from the love of God, in whom we live and move and have our being? From the moment you and I arrived on this stage, as it were, the light has been shining upon us. Nothing overcomes it (to quote John’s gospel opening, his birth story). And what of darkness, you ask? Of course there is darkness. There may be many times during life where all we seem to know is darkness, but it is our own shadow. Ask how how a the shadow is created? By light. A shadow reminds us that light is present, always shining upon us. Our journey begins to flourish as we begin to turn towards the light, practicing the sacrificial love which Jesus lived out. Our blessed shadow will still remain as it to is part of who were are, but it is no longer fearful . The shadow’s work is like a compass, telling us of our true north, encouraging us to turn and begin to embrace the warmth of light.
During this Christmas season, I encourage think about your own gospel. What empowers you in that story? Where do you encounter Jesus and grace? For me, it’s a time to see every birth as a joyful event, including my own. How does your gospel speak to you about Emannuel, god with us?
December 25, 2023
It is usually our custom here to have a dialog sermon, one where we discuss the readings for the day, explore past and current understandings, and weave something meaningful to take away to ponder during the week. And as this is Christmas, I will also tack on my own observations as a wrap up (get it? wrap up? Christmas? Nevermind)
As many of our regular members know, one of the most important steps in exploring scripture is to ask, how would the original readers/listeners hear this? Can we step back in time and listen with their ears? What would we ask the writer if given the chance? What is that particular author’s intention? How does the part of the whole story we hear this morning fit in the writer’s overall picture? And then of course we can begin to discover how that might speak to us today, another culture and a different way of understanding the world.
So, first question, can someone tell me about the birth story in the gospel of Mark? Trick question. Or John’s? Aha. Trick question again. 2 out of 4 gospels say no to a the baby story. There’s something to explore. Is it possible Matt and Luke have different intentions than Mark and John? You bet! Right away, we get some of questions to ask. Why do 2 gospels see that story line important to their story arc and not the other two do not? You can begin to see why it is important to treat each gospel as a unity in its self. Mashed up nativity plays weaving Matt and Luke make nice productions for the kids, but even Matt and Luke have different intentions in their birth stories and each one’s overall gospel narrative.
For Matthew, Jesus is a Moses-like deliverer, who presents an immediate threat to the world’s Herods. It is filled with exodus-shaped events, which then portray Jesus’ birth as a sign of an exodus to come. For Matthew, Jesus is a Davidic king.
For Luke, however, Jesus is man of more humble origins. Jesus is no threat to Caesar (as yet) and is more closely associated with the Temple and priesthood than with the throne. Jesus is associated with Samuel, the OT prophet. For Luke, Jesus comes off as more subversive and—a man whose ministry lifts up the poor and downtrodden and brings down a corrupt regime.
Another question for you. And I’ll say up front it’s a trick question. How many gospels are there? Over 100! Named and sourced, bits and pieces, it seems more than one would think. But in a more serious vein, I would say there are as many gospels as there are followers of Jesus. Think about that for a moment. I’m sure you’ve all disagreed with a sermon or two in your church career. “Huh, that’s not the Jesus of the gospel that I know.” Be honest, we all pick and chose and build our own gospel about who Jesus is/was, what he did or didn’t do, and how that applies to me or doesn’t apply to me.
So if you were to write a gospel (which actually would be an interesting exercise), how would you start it? What would the gospel according to … have in it? How would you begin? A prophesy from the OT? A birth narrative? Your own situation and how Jesus came to you and revealed it all? What’s in your gospel?
Here’s brief look at the gospel of Scott (somehow it did not make the cut for the New Testament) I am working on a re-submission.
I do kind of like the gospel of Mark’s sudden start of Jesus just showing up on the scene from nowhere. But really I think I would have a baby Jesus in my gospel because babies are cute, of course, they sell the story. Seriously, my infant scene would not be a tool for foreshadowing, telling of things to come. I would have it as a symbol (of which the gospels are chockfull like Jesus as a Moses).
In my gospel, this one birth would show that all children are holy, all births are the signs of incarnation. Each birth is god breaking into our world, a proof that god is indeed with us (O come Emmanuel). and then I would connect that abstract birth with reality of you and me being born. We were all babies, were we not. Our own birth is proof that god is with us. That then means, taking a big step, that you are god with us. Have you ever given that any thought? St. Athanasius said that god became man so that man can become god. It’s built into the system.
You see, the early church evolved its thinking to come to understand that this Christ figure, Jesus, must have been divine somehow, and so must be then both God and man in order to tie up their theology. Where they erred, or rather, let’s say, focused their thought too tightly, was to say that only Jesus is fully human and fully divine. But Scott’s gospel wants to say that Jesus is not a new hybrid creature, but the symbol or sacrament (representing all of us) showing that it has always been this way. Fully divine and fully human did not start with Jesus. Jesus reveals it in the most powerful way. To be human is to be partakers in the divine. Jesus reveals to us who we truly are, what we have always been, and teaches us how through following the way of sacrificial love, we become more and more aware of this truth.
Each of us unique, yet somehow mysteriously all are one in the unity of god.
This is my gospel (for now). For me, I find strength in this telling of the birth story because it confirms what I experience, that I have always been connected with God. There has never been any separation. How can there ever be separation? Is any thing in this created world ever fully separate from the creator? What can separate us from the love of God, in whom we live and move and have our being? From the moment you and I arrived on this stage, as it were, the light has been shining upon us. Nothing overcomes it (to quote John’s gospel opening, his birth story). And what of darkness, you ask? Of course there is darkness. There may be many times during life where all we seem to know is darkness, but it is our own shadow. Ask how how a the shadow is created? By light. A shadow reminds us that light is present, always shining upon us. Our journey begins to flourish as we begin to turn towards the light, practicing the sacrificial love which Jesus lived out. Our blessed shadow will still remain as it to is part of who were are, but it is no longer fearful . The shadow’s work is like a compass, telling us of our true north, encouraging us to turn and begin to embrace the warmth of light.
During this Christmas season, I encourage think about your own gospel. What empowers you in that story? Where do you encounter Jesus and grace? For me, it’s a time to see every birth as a joyful event, including my own. How does your gospel speak to you about Emannuel, god with us?