(When the Summerfield Church congregation was invited to suggest topics for sermons, one suggestion was a discussion of the best-selling book by Dan Brown, The DaVinci Code.  In his sermon of May 21, Pastor Don Greer discussed that and other texts, including the Judas Gospel and the Gnostic gospels.  After evaluating the factual and theological bases of the texts, Pastor Greer concluded by offering the perspective below.  Highlighting added.) 

Now the sermon this morning was just to say, “How are we supposed to respond to these things?” And here’s what I think. I take my cues from those who invite conversation. I think of those who don’t know the story, and maybe the first time they get introduced to the Gospel of Jesus Christ they read this (The DaVinci Code). Or the first time they get introduced to the whole idea of old texts they read this (Judas Gospel). What is going to happen? I simply think that God can use all things for good.

I believe that we have gone far too long as a church just trusting that folks can read the Bible at face value, not learning how to read it as an ancient manuscript, not learning about how to think about how it got passed down through time, how it was interpreted in the language translations, not thinking about the missing parts that got filled in later, not thinking about how it is similar too, but not just like, some books that were intentionally not included in the Bible. These things matter. If you go to a seminary and get a good theological education you can learn about it. Not all of us are going to do that; but maybe these documents are going to help us have that conversation in the church. I invite it.

I think that if we are afraid of these things and demonstrate resistance we are going to prove the conspiracy theory that we have something to hide. The truth is we don’t. The truth is, what we have is a conversation that needs to take place, so that people can discover that our faith, in truth, is not based on getting the story right in a text.  Our faith is not based on having a certain, and only one way, understanding of the order of events in the life of Jesus.  We are a people of resurrection.

My faith is not based on the fact that I finally read the Bible right.  My faith is based on the living, working power of God in my life today. My faith is based on the experience of God here and now, and when I read the Bible I take my faith experience to it. We are a people of resurrection. We don’t need to be afraid of stories that bend it. We don’t need to be afraid of what happens when someone takes our “holy figure” and draws a cartoon the wrong way. We don’t have to riot in the streets about it.  As offensive as that may seem to us, we are a people that are open, open to information, open to thinking, open to knowing why our ancient manuscripts were sorted in the way they were. We are a people who are not afraid to have the conversation, because we know that the truth of the Gospel is witnessed to in the continuing work of God over centuries, in our lives.

I go back to the text that was read for today from the Book of Acts.  Here they are preaching a sermon, Peter preaching a sermon. Now, imagine this in a world of versions of the church that are very different from today. You have got a Jewish church that understands that the only way to be a Christian is to be Jewish first, and then to be a Christian as a specific expression of the covenant faith. You have a group of people that are following, maybe, the Gospel of Thomas, another group following the Gospel of Mary, another group – they are all over the place, and a lot of these are groups with secret knowledge, like I was saying before about the Gnostic forms of the church and the Gnostic Gospels.

But here in this text you see the message being openly preached, and the Holy Spirit publicly descending upon everyone. No secrets, no anything.  It’s just there! The Gospel is! God is! It comes to you, rather than forcing you to search around the world following clues, like in the novel. It just comes to you. And the journey starts where Peter said it started in the text, right here (at the font) in Baptism. That’s where it starts. And your story started publicly in front of a congregation, right there! And your story is lived in the context of people, no secrets. And the life of God in you is done in the context of people in the church, no secrets. We are real (authenticity, honesty, integrity), and we have nothing and no reason to fear.

I want to end with this point.  You can read the novel, Dan Brown’s novel, or you can see the movie, either way; and you can watch the story as he weaves his way around through churches and looks for cryptic clues, looking for the holy grail, searching for an ancient bloodline.  But, when you were baptized, you were given it! With the water and the word, Jesus baptized you in the holy bloodline, and you are his family. You don’t have to look anywhere!  It’s right here (at the baptismal font)! And you are in it (the bloodline)!  The only place you need to look is here (in your heart), and you have it, in your baptism.  And your faith is your story. Enjoy it! I hope it’s a good story.