We need a fresh way of looking at the importance of our lives. Family, DNA and the past do not determine our day. To change how we see things, takes falling in love. A shift of sight can be redemptive. 'Accidental happenings' coalesce into destiny, if we but have eyes to see. Any force that is not in the genes or environment is outside of physical reality as we perceive it. This doesn't mean it does not exist." (James Hillman, The Soul's Code, In search of character and calling, NY: Random House, 1996)

The gospel text for today speaks of Jesus teaching with "authority." As this narrative is presented here, the word itself has a peculiar nuance. The New Testament Greek for "authority" (ex ousia) would translate into "teaching from the essence of his being from the core of who he is." So immediately we are thrown into some heavy theology. Any authority of the Gospel has something to do with what we think about the person of Jesus.

The Second Corinthians passage explores the psychological state of "ecstasy," being "outside yourself," (again the new Testament Greek, ex stasis, means just that). But the Apostle Paul was not too impressed with this altered state of consciousness, even when he was able to carry it off himself -- and he goes to great lengths to say that he was. Today, in an "entertainment culture" (See the classic study on this topic, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, NY: Viking Penguin, 1985) we should not be too impressed either.

So what might be the relationship between these two very different ways of establishing credibility, or gaining our attention, being "charismatic," caught up in the spirit, and the presentation of Jesus, as one "who speaks with authority," from the essence of who he is? And especially is this question important as we consider what is before us today:

"What is the Gospel and what is our authority for proclaiming it?"

The "Gospel" is "good news." In the culture of Jesus' times ..." it would be better to speak of "good stories." Jesus did not teach except "in parables, or stories. The language of story is the language of the New Testament Gospel narratives. And the "good stories" are not ideas about God but activities of God, especially Easter, God's act of smashing death's dominion through a rolled-away stone" (Leonard Sweet, The Three Hardest Words in the world to get right, Colorado Springs: Random House, 2006, p. 41).

There are only seven basic "large stories" in the world of literature. (These are called overarching stories or "meta narratives" [Christopher Booker, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, NY: Continuum, 2005, quoted in Sweet, listed above, page 179]). ...and this one is about the "Quest for The Presence." The Presence is now dwelling among us and within us, the "kingdom" becoming "close" or "near."

Jesus taught us to pray using these words: "Your kingdom come..." (Luke 11.2). Biblical scholars agree that the "kingdom of God" is the cornerstone of Jesus' preaching and teaching. No one makes the kingdom or "presence" of God happen; we can only "enter" it, "find" it and "cherish" it. Aligning ourselves with this "metanarrative," through study of Scripture, and in prayer, listening for the call upon our life from God's Holy Spirit, is the "way" to the presence.

As a faith community, our authority is in the mighty acts of God, through "the presence," made specific in history through Jesus, the Christ. And there is no other way to get within hearing distance of this good news than to study scripture together, as our "authority" (See the Essays page, especially..."How is the Bible authoritative for faith and practice of the church? What practices of reading offer the most fruitful approaches?") It is not the case of speaking with a loud voice to establish credibility or even being "colorful," and "charismatic". This "good and grand story" is in its essence a universal one, yet presented with variety in each new cultural situation, which is why the public voice of Christianity must always be a "chorus of voices" (Sweet, p. 40) filtered through our studying scripture together.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

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