Anchorage Lutheran Church

What if you were confronted with a question like this; “I’ve tried to read the Bible, but it just seems so long and confusing.  If there truly is a God, and if He loves us as much as I hear people say he does, then why is it so confusing…and why are there all these really bad things going on in the world; wars, diseases, accidents, famine, viruses…I just don’t get it?”

Like it or not, you have just been given an invitation to explain The Creator’s metanarrative.  

 

Perhaps at this moment you are saying something like; “I don’t even know what a metanarrative is…let alone try to explain God’s metanarrative.”

Truth is, we all “narrate” our own life stories all the time.  One has to look no further than social media to see a very clear example of how we do this…pictures, phrases, songs, poems, etc., all posted in a collage that reveals “us” to the world, our personally curated-self to the world.

God has His own Facebook page too…it’s called the Bible…God revealing Himself to us.  

 

Over the next 5 weeks, we will explore this metanarrative.  Week-1 we will look at the Bible from a big-picture over-arching perspective.  Then, in weeks 2 through 4 we will look at the 4 major themes in the Bible; Creation, the Fall, Redemption, then the New Creation.  

 

Most revealing perhaps, will be as we look at how we are already living in the New Creation now…just not fully yet!  

 

Vicar Dave

 

As Christians, we have been commanded to tell a story.  

 

In Jesus’ “parting-shot,” His last words in His physical earthly ministry, He gives us the Great Commission.  We are told to “make disciples…”  and “baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…” and “to teach!”  

 

God gave us “dominion” over the earth at creation (the responsibility for the care of the earth and all its inhabitants), and Jesus does the same with His Church.  

 

We are commissioned as Priests in His Church and have the same degree of responsibility all the Prophets had in the Old Testament.  

 

That responsibility is to tell The Big God Story to “all the nations.”  

 

The important point for us to remember is we are to tell God’s Revealed Story.  He has given us an incredibility diverse list of characters in the Bible revealing Himself.  We too are an incredibly diverse list of characters and we are to reveal His Story of Truth.  

 

We must exercise extreme caution in ensuring the Story remains about God’s story with us written into it…NOT our story with God’s story selectively dispersed.

Last week we discussed the characteristics of the world’s most sophisticated piece of literature; the Bible.  

 

We discussed why it can be a difficult “book of books” to understand.  Yet, it is simple enough even a child can grasp its most important facet…the reconciliation of all creation to its Creator.  

 

So when posed the question, “I just don’t get it,” it’s ok to answer, “sure, the Bible can be difficult to understand.”  

 

Afterall, the world’s greatest minds have studied it for over 3,500 years and are still asking questions of it…yet the Bible self-authenticates itself as being simple enough that even little children can grasp all that really matters.  We (holders of the priesthood) are ALL promised a Helper to ensure we grasp what matters to Him…not necessarily what might matter to us!  Recall the Bible is His Story revealed to us.  

 

This week we delve into creation…and more importantly, will introduce what may be a new Way of understanding the New Creation! 

 

It might seem odd to think of ourselves as living in the New Creation. 

 

 Isn’t that what the Book of Revelation, Daniel, the second coming, etc. is all about?  

 

We will discover – as Martin Luther so often highlighted – we are living in a paradox.  

 

Just like he exclaimed how we are simultaneously sinner & saint, Jesus fully human while divine, we too are living in a paradox, the old creation while it is new creation…just not fully yet!

The Bible is God’s Story. 

 

As holders of the priesthood, all Christians are to exclaim His Story to the ends-of-the-earth. 

 

We are to write our story into His story. 

 

Perhaps now is a good time to begin to answer the question posed at the beginning of this series, “if God is so loving, why does so much ‘bad’ happen in the world?” 

 

This is perhaps the most challenging question you will ever be asked as you witness God’s story. It is a question few are equipped to answer and even preachers ‘stumble’ at the question. 

 

Truth is, the Bible never directly answers the question, but what it does ‘reveal’ is that in the course of 'bad,'even greater will be revealed! 

 

Thanks be to God. 

 

When you have time, re-read the entirety of Genesis Chapter 3 and focus on Gen 3:15. Everything a Christian exclaims hinges on this verse…for this was the “birth sentence” of Christianity. This is the sentence that makes us different from any other religion, philosophy, or psychology. 

 

What God is telling us is; “I have made everything just like I wanted it…PERFECT. 

 

But now something really bad has happened. You (humankind) did this to yourselves…it was not my desire for it to go this way…but just like I made it PER-FECT in the beginning…I will renew it to PERFECTION. 

 

In fact, I’ll do it myself. No action on your part is required. And as I renew to PERFECTION, bad things will still happen, but in those bad things, even greater things will be revealed.” 

God's meta-narrative: HIS creation, OUR fall, HIS redemption, HIS new creation.

 

This Reformation Sunday, we discuss HIS redemption.

 

What happens when we become part of the problem? Truth is, we ARE the problem. There are many things about us that can make God's revealed Word confusing to others. Sometimes, the confusion we induce actually confounds other's ability to hear God's Word. When all of humanity "fell" in the Garden, we became corrupted in four principle ways: mortally, morally, relationally, and intellectually. 

 

Today we will delve into our intellectual corruption. As we do this, remember, there is only one principle objective of this entire sermon series...we are to write ourselves into God's story...NOT God into our story! In peace, Dave.