08/24/2014 ~ Proper 16 ~ Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ Exodus 1:8-2:10 ~ Psalm 124 ~ Isaiah 51:1-6; Psalm 138; Romans 12:1-8 ~ Matthew 16:13-20 ~ At the Baptist Church ~ Pastor Joe Shares the Word.
Mythology and Theology [1]
The Apostle to the Gentiles says this in the work known as Romans: “...be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you may discern, that you may judge what the will of God is— that which is good and acceptable and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) And the writer of Matthew pictures Jesus as asking this question: “What do people say about who the Chosen One is?” (Matthew 16:13)
Those who study popular culture will tell you the industry commonly known as Hollywood changed in 1975. The summer blockbuster movie was invented. And every year since then each studio tries to present a new Summer blockbuster.
That first Summer blockbuster was Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg. (We all remember Jaws, right?) Once released, it went on to be— at that point in time, at least— the highest-grossing film in history. Two years later Star Wars, directed by Spielberg’s friend George Lucas, burst on the scene and became the new money making record holder for a film in its initial release.
Now, many people point to the reason for the success of these blockbusters as being everything from the direction to special effects to likeable stars— although I’m not sure a shark is very likeable. I want to suggest the real reason these films were successful is they went back to a very old fashioned way of telling a story.
Both Spielberg and Lucas admit the way they tell stories is by using the old fashioned method called myth. Contrary to popular belief a myth is not a lie. But the details of a myth are not about engaging reality, either. Rather, a myth employs story telling in an effort to engage larger truths, big ideas.
Indeed, a myth is not meant to relate mere facts but meant to expresses deep truth— the kind of truth facts sometimes hide. Put differently, a myth addresses a bigger truth than the mere facts can represent. Indeed, the opening words of Star Wars crawl across the screen and effectively insist the story we are about to see is fabricated.
(Quote:) “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....” That’s a clear message: this is fiction— made up. But it’s the final words in that introduction, words to which we might not even pay attention, which tell us what the myth we are about to see will be about.
It says the purpose of voyage on which Princess Leia now travels is to (Quote:) “...restore freedom to the galaxy...” “...restore freedom to the galaxy...” This is a big idea: restore freedom.
This type of big idea is an idea that can only be described with the kind of story we call myth. Let me emphasize this again: a myth is a story which addresses a bigger truth— a bigger truth— than mere facts can represent.
That leads to something important about mythology we need to understand and we need to remember. When it comes to the stories we call myths this is a question the stories, themselves, never ask: “Did the story happen?” ‘Did it happen?’ is a moot point.
Please note: in saying that the question “Did it happen?” is a moot point I am neither denying the story happened or the details happened or the facts happened nor affirming the story happened or the details happened or the facts happened. I am saying the story, itself, insists the particular details of the story have little traction.
When it comes to myth, the only valid question to ask is this: “What does the story mean?” What does the story mean? (Slight pause.)
The Apostle to the Gentiles says this in the work known as Romans: “...be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you may discern, that you may judge what the will of God is— that which is good and acceptable and pleasing and perfect.” And the writer of Matthew pictures Jesus as asking this question: “What do people say about who the Chosen One is?” (Slight pause.)
Biblical scholars insist there is little question about this timetable: the Resurrection of Jesus happened about what we would call the year 30 of the Common Era. They also tell us all the true letters of the Apostle Paul are written before any Gospel is recorded. The earliest work in the New Testament is likely to have been First Thessalonians, written around the year 54 of the Common Era, or about 24 years after the Resurrection.
Further, while fourteen letters are attributed to Paul, the Apostle probably only wrote seven of them. And we are fairly confident Paul did not write after the year 64 of the Common Era because we are fairly confident Paul died about the year 64 of the Common Era. So Paul’s starts writing in the year 54 and is done in the year 64.
When it comes to the Gospels, the sequence we find in the Bible is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. However scholars, also with great confidence, say Mark was written first. It’s unlikely Mark was recorded before the year 70 of the Common Era, about 40 years after the Resurrection. Matthew is often dated as being composed about 15 years after Mark or the year 85 of the Common Era, 55 years after the Resurrection.
Luke and Acts are written together, at the same time and by the same author. In short, Luke and Acts are simply two volumes of one work. It is, therefore, never appropriate to think of Acts as being separate from Luke. They are one.
Some scholars date the writings attributed to Luke as being written about the same time as Matthew. Others say it was at least five years later, or about the year 90 of the Common Era.
Among the Gospels, John is the last one written, probably recorded around the year 100, 70 years after the Resurrection, 46 years after Paul first writes, 36 years after Paul is done writing. Put differently, the Gospels are written over a thirty year span from the year 70 of the Common Era to the year 100 of the Common Era. (Slight pause.)
Paul, that first writer, gives us very little in terms of story. There is theological information, but it’s not an organized theology. Rather, these are sporadic writings over the course of 10 years, mostly to places Paul has visited. These words are not well organized because they are written in response to those who have asked for specific guidance about specific things going on in their community. This circumstance produces the haphazardness in Paul’s theological writings.
And, indeed, we need to realize and to understand something important about what we call the New Testament. For those who first heard these words or first read these words the Epistles and the Gospels were not Scripture.
What those who first heard or read the words of the Epistles and the Gospels saw and identified as Scripture is what we, today, call the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures. The church does designate what we call the New Testament as Scripture only a couple hundred years after the First Century. So the New Testament is not Scripture for several hundred years into the history of the church. (Slight pause.)
Well, that was a bunch of facts. Why are all these facts important? Why is this information vital? I think it’s vital because the first thing that gets written in the New Testament is not story. It’s theology. And like all theology Paul’s writings tends to be thick— hard to understand at times.
However, when the followers of Jesus turn to story, they do something very, very, very important. They delve into myth. Now, let me say this again: myth addresses a bigger truth, a deeper truth than the mere facts can represent. And what is the truth all the Gospels address?
The Gospels tells us God is with us. The Gospels tell us God walks among us. The Gospels tell us God is present to us.
Let me elaborate on that in just one way. In the modern myth known as Star Wars it’s clear the name Luke Skywalker is a mythological name— a name that tells us something.
In the Gospels Jesus is given two names. One is Emmanuel, which means God is with us. The other name is Jesus. Jesus is only what the name sounds like in Greek. The Hebrew version of the name is Joshua— Yehôshúa in the Hebrew. And that name means God saves.
So, the two names Christ is given in the Gospels mean ‘God is with us’ and ‘God saves.’ Just the names tell us something. The names tells us is Jesus is the Chosen One, Christ, the Messiah.
There is one last important fact to consider here. It concerns those who first heard or read the words of the Gospels. If you asked them if the details in the Gospels were true, they would not have understood the question.
Why? They understood the point of the Gospels is not wrapped up in factual detail. They understood the point of the Gospels is to declare large truth, a big idea, deep truth. And those who first heard or read these words were much more concerned with large truth, the big idea, deep truth than factual details.
And this is the large truth, the big idea, the deep truth these words address: God is with us; God walks among us; God is present to us. Jesus is the Chosen One, Messiah, the Christ. And that is not the kind of myth we would label as a lie. That is the kind of myth which reveals a deep, world changing truth. Jesus is the Christ. Amen.
08/24/2014
First Baptist Church, Norwich, NY
[1] It needs to be noted that there were visuals accompanying projected on a screen this sermon from pictures concerning the movie Star Wars to charts with the dates which references the writing of the Epistles of Paul and the Gospels.
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