08/27/2023 ~ Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Proper 16 ~ Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 124; Isaiah 51:1-6; Psalm 138; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20 ~ NO VIDEO THIS WEEK.

Mythology and Theology

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 finances of the industry commonly called Hollywood totally changed in 1975 with the invention of the Summer blockbuster movie. That first one was Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg.

I was reminded of Jaws because I follow what’s happening on Broadway. You see, a play with the title The Shark Is Broken just opened and it pictures the cast of Jaws, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider, talking to one another while waiting for the less than cooperative mechanical shark to be fixed. The part of Robert Shaw is played by his son Ian, who also co-wrote the play and is a dead ringer for his Dad.

Two years after Jaws made monetary history, Star Wars, directed by Spielberg’s friend George Lucas, burst on the scene and became the new money making record holder. People point to reasons for the success of these films as being everything from the direction to special effects to likeable actors. I’m not sure a shark is very likeable.

I think 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 freely admit they use this old fashioned method commonly called myth.

Now, a myth is not a lie. But the details of any myth are not about engaging reality either. Rather, a myth tells a story in an effort to engage large truths, big ideas. Indeed, a myth is not meant to relate mere facts but is meant to expresses deep truth— the kind of truth which sometimes hides behind facts, often a bigger truth than the mere facts can represent.

The opening words of Star Wars effectively insist the story we are about to see is fabricated. (Quote:) “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….” That says this is fiction. 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 will see is actually about.

It says the mission of Princess Leia is to (quote:) “…restore freedom to the galaxy…” That is the big idea Star Wars conveys: restore freedom.

Big ideas can be described only with the kind of story we call myth. That leads to something important about mythological story telling we need to understand and 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 “Did the story happen?” is moot I am not denying the story happened nor that the details happened nor that the facts happened. Neither am I affirming that the story, details or facts happened. I am saying the story, itself, insists the details and facts of the story are not the point.

Why? When it comes to myth, the only valid question to ask is this: “What does the story mean?” Star Wars is not about Light Sabers or Wookiees, even though these are fun things, fun details. Star Wars is about restoring freedom. (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.)

I have said this here before. Biblical scholars offer a timetable for when the writings of the New Testament developed. The Resurrection of Jesus happened about what we call the year 30 of the Common Era.

The true letters of Paul— fourteen letters are attributed to Paul but the Apostle only wrote seven— the true letters of Paul are written before any Gospel. The earliest work of Paul, First Thessalonians, is likely to have been written around the year 51 of the Common Era, about 21 years after the Resurrection.

Paul did not write after the year 64 of the Common Era since we are fairly confident that’s when Paul died. As to the Gospels, scholars say Mark was written first and is unlikely to have been recorded much before the year 70 of the Common Era, 40 years after the Resurrection. Matthew is often dated to the year 85 of the Common Era.

Luke and Acts, written at the same time by the same author or authors, is said to be written about the year 90 of the Common Era. John is usually dated as being written around the year 100, 70 years after the Resurrection, 36 years after Paul is done writing. Paul, that first writer, gives us very little in terms of story and is largely theology. But not an organized theology. These are sporadic writings responding to questions with specific guidance about specific things going on in specific communities, mostly places Paul had visited. This makes for some haphazardness in Paul’s theological writings.

We also need to realize and understand something very important about what we call the New Testament. Those who first heard or read the Epistles and the Gospels did not identify them as Scripture.

For them Scripture was what we, today, call the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures. The church designates what we call the New Testament as Scripture only a couple hundred years after New Testament times. So what we call 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 they all important, vital? I think these facts are vital because the first thing that gets written in the New Testament is not story. It’s theology.

Then, when the followers of Jesus do turn to relating story, they do something very important. They delve into myth. So let me say this again: myth addresses a bigger truth, a deeper truth than mere facts can represent. And what is the truth the Gospels address?

The Gospels all tell us God is with us. The Gospels all tell us God walks among us. The Gospels all tell us God is present to us.

Let me elaborate on that in just one way. In the modern myth called 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 the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua— Yehôshúa in the Hebrew. And that name means God saves.

So the two names of the Christ in the Gospels mean ‘God is with us’ and ‘God saves.’ Just these names tell us something. The names tell us is Jesus is the Chosen One, the Christ, the Messiah. And Peter is pictured as naming that deep truth, that big idea.

There is one more 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 was not to concentrate on 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 the large truth, the big idea, the deep truth being addressed is simple: God is with us; God walks among us; God is present to us since Jesus is the Messiah, the Chosen One, the living 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.

08/27/2023
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “At the start of the service you heard a quote from N. T. Wright which said for early Christians the key question was ‘is Jesus the Messiah?’ If Jesus was the Messiah then the Dominion of God had been decisively launched. So perhaps the big idea for us, the idea with which the Gospels invite us to grapple, is this: if we are now living in the time of that Dominion what can we do to further the work of the Dominion of God in our time?”

BENEDICTION: This service of worship is over but our service in the name of God continues outside these doors. May we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe God that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.