The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, December 7th: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8)

THE IDENTITY OF JESUS IS THE KEY

This week’s gospel reading is the initial eight verses from the Gospel of Mark. The very first sentence is the prologue, the title of everything else Mark wrote about during the next 16 chapters. It reads: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Right there in that brief sentence Mark made it clear that the most important point—the whole reason he bothered to write in the first place—is the identity of Jesus Christ.

What Jesus did is important; what Jesus taught is important; but who Jesus IS is the most important message of all.

Jesus claimed to be the Son of Almighty God, and the only channel through which human beings can enter into eternal life in Heaven. If His claims are true, then nothing in all of history is more momentous.

On the other hand, if His claims are false, then He was either a nut-case or someone so pathologically dishonest it would make Bill Clinton blush. If Jesus’ claims about Himself are not correct, we would be much better off ignoring Him completely, regardless of how attractive some of His philosophies and social teachings might be.

A few years ago I watched a video produced by The Discovery Channel titled, “The Riddle of The Dead Sea Scrolls.” The show explored the theories of Dr. Barbara Thiering, an Australian historian. Dr. Thiering claimed to be on a quest to uncover the “historical Jesus,” and she systematically offered naturalistic explanations (she called them realistic and rational explanations) for all of the prominent miracles attributed to Jesus in the Gospels.

Dr. Thiering discussed the Virgin Birth, changing water into wine, walking on water, raising Lazarus from the dead, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. In each case, she offered what really happened, minus any miraculous elements. Essentially, she said the Gospels were written on two levels, with political/social commentary woven subtly into the narratives, and supernatural fables added on to make it interesting. As she explained, “Children need magic.” So all those miracle stories were invented by the Gospel authors, apparently, to attract ignorant, simple-minded dunderheads.

Although Dr. Thiering came across as someone who had approached the subject with an open mind, willing to follow wherever the evidence led, the fact is, her research was rigged from the start. She could have drawn no other conclusions, regardless of the evidence. This is because her most basic philosophical assumption about reality is: “Miracles simply cannot occur.” Therefore, there must be some other explanation. (And trust me, some of her explanations were so downright goofy, I had a hard time keeping a straight face.)

It all goes back to basic worldview questions. Is our universe a closed system of exclusively natural phenomena? Or does a supernatural realm exist somewhere outside of our natural world? Is it possible for supernatural events (miracles) to occur occasionally in our natural domain? Or is there a “realistic and rational” explanation for everything? Do we really have a soul? Or have we been misled by an unlikely arrangement of complex electro-chemical activity in our brains? Did God create mankind? Or did mankind, out of fear and ignorance, create the concept of God?

One of the best books I’ve read on the stark differences between the Christian and materialistic worldviews is the late Francis Shaeffer’s “A Christian Manifesto.” It was written in either the late 1970s or early ‘80s, and I don’t think it’s in print anymore, but you might be able to track down a copy on Amazon, eBay, or at a Christian book store.

Another excellent book is Charles Colson’s “How Now Shall We Live?” As you may know, Colson was one of Nixon’s hatchet men, and he went to prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Colson had a profound and life-changing conversion to Christianity during that tumultuous time in his life, and he has spent the years since as a powerful witness to the faith. Colson has written many excellent books, but “How Now Shall We Live?” is truly his magnum opus.

Colson addresses three key ideas: creation, the fall, and redemption. In other words, Where did we come from and who are we? What has gone wrong with the world? And what can we do to fix it?

If you’ve ever wondered why modern social engineering efforts have failed so miserably—for example, public education and the welfare state—it is because the underlying worldview of these efforts is not grounded in reality. When your first step is in the wrong direction, then all your other steps will move you further and further away from your goal. When your answers to the questions, “Where did we come from, who are we, and what has gone wrong with the world?” are mistaken, then proposed solutions will be ineffective at best—and as the last four decades of government-nanny meddling has demonstrated, severely destructive at worst. (If you think Nanny State-ism is bad now, let’s pray the radical left wing MoveOn.org crowd doesn’t call the shots in the new Obama Administration, as many pundits predict.)

In Colson’s book, he explains the only way to maintain a civilized society is to hold a worldview based on reality: God is our Creator, we are inherently sinful, and God has given us a firm set of rules to restrain our sinful urges—for the benefit of all.

But Colson’s main focus is not on creating utopian societies. In fact, he does a great job chronicling all the misguided and failed attempts throughout history to create Utopia. (Note to MoveOn: read this book!)

Colson’s main focus is on the eternal destination of our souls. It all depends on the identity of Jesus. If He was just a mere mortal, then we’re sunk. But if, as Mark declared in the opening line of his Gospel, Jesus is the Son of God, then we have hope.

The most important decision a person will ever make concerns the identity of Jesus Christ. Advent is here. It is time to contemplate Jesus’ identity and make that decision. The only thing worse than making the wrong decision is to think the issue is unimportant and make no decision.

©2008