Gospeling our lives this Fall

 

So far this week, we have set the stage for reading the Gospels in 50ish Days by remembering that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written in a particular time and place.  Each sought to speak to the conditions of the lives and souls of people living under the oppression of Rome, where Caesar ruled over you.  We held four questions of challenge, change, joy, and service that each Gospel will address in their own beautiful way.  Today, a quick seminary lesson.  I promise it will be painless.  We will start the 50ish days with Mark, not Matthew who is the first Gospel when you open the New Testament.  Why?  I am so glad you asked.  Most scholars suggest Mark was written first.  It is also the shortest, so you will feel so good after finishing Mark’s 16 chapters and realizing you are 1/4^th of the way through.  Woo hoo.  Plus, some say that Matthew and Luke had a copy of Mark’s gospel on their desk.  Matthew and Luke also seemed to share some other notes too (like having Jesus preach a sermon either on a mountain in Matthew or a plain in Luke).  Mark can be a foundational outline that Matthew and Luke both follow and enhance and leave some of Mark’s stories on their editing room floor.  Matthew and Luke each have unique stories as well.  John takes his own route, not really following Mark’s outline.  John is poetic and passionate in his storytelling and decides to color outside the lines of the other three Gospels.  Two Gospels (Matthew and Luke) talk about Jesus’ birth and parents.  Three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) have Jesus telling parables ~ John prefers signs like changing water into wine.  And all four wrap up their confessions of faith, testimonies to the truth of God’s love, with Jesus’ death and resurrection.  There are similarities and differences, there are stories they share and some that are entirely unique.  We start with Mark for a foundation.  We move to Matthew because I am taken by Shaia’s understanding of climbing a mountain and facing change.  We then move to Luke and acts of service.  Finally, the frosting on the cake is John’s words that can stir our sacred imaginations like hot sauce wakes up our tongues and taste buds.  This is the adventure for 50ish Days and a bit of the roadmap for you in the coming weeks.  The truth is there is the journey we plan and the vacation we take.  That is, I can have an itinerary or a reading plan, but what I actually experience, and encounter will be found not on a piece of paper or an online reservation, but in the engagement with the words of the Gospels day-by-day.  I cannot tell you everything that will happen out on the road through the Gospels, but I can promise that it is rarely boring, and it might just cause your heart and mind and soul to expand toward the Eternal.