Pastor David reflects on the Christmas story exploring the wonderful tension between faith and reason. 

<p>Pastor David reflects on the Christmas story exploring the wonderful tension between faith and reason. </p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hillside O’Malley SDA Church

David Shin

Faith and Reason in the Christmas Story

This week the BBC published a story of a young lady who 14 years ago when she was 9 years of age received the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with a rare genetic blood disease that would require chemotherapy.

The physicians were worried because chemotherapy destroys the reproductive organs, the ovaries would be destroyed by the treatment.

And so researchers at the University of Leeds harvested at the age of 9, this nine-year-old's ovary tissue, and put it into a freezer, negative 320 degrees Fahrenheit, and it remained there frozen for 14 years until she was at the age of 23, ready to have children.

Probably looks a little bit different than the freezers that you have in your kitchen.

They got out that tissue from when she was 9 years of age, implanted it now into this woman who's 23, and miracle of miracles, that ovary tissue started to operate like she was in her 20s.

The researchers were saying that because of her reproductive functions were so destroyed, she was actually going through menopause in her 20s.

But now the ovaries were working, the ovary was working and producing eggs, and 9 months later, just a few days ago, her son Rashid was born.

She told the BBC, and I quote, it's like a miracle.

Today I want to invite you to open your Bibles, if you have not already, to Luke 1, verse 28, and this is the miracle birth of the ages, amen?

Miracle birth that dramatically changed human history.

I want to read from this gospel account, Luke 1, verse 28, as we reflect on the implications of the Christmas story.

Now, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David.

Just 6 months prior, you remember the same angel Gabriel had gone to Zechariah and told him that in his old age him and Elizabeth would bear a son.

She is at the time, Elizabeth is 6 months pregnant And so the angel goes to Mary and in verse 28, verse 27, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, the virgin's name was Mary, and having come in, the angel said to her, "'Rejoice, highly favored 1, the Lord is with you.

"'Blessed are you among women.' But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was.

Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will be no end." The angel has essentially told Mary that she will conceive and have a son, and her son will be the Son of God, the long-looked-forth Messiah.

Now there's a small little wrinkle in this statement and as Mary is processing this you can see that she comes to this problem.

Look in verse 34, Then Mary said to the angel, how can this be?

Mary recognizes, look, we have a slight problem here.

In order for reproduction to happen, certain things need to take place and they haven't yet.

Afterwards, the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

Therefore, also that holy 1 who is born will be called the Son of God.

Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren, in verse 37, for with God nothing will be impossible.

Do you recognize that the whole Christmas story and this season that we celebrate every year around this time is predicated on the incredible notion that a woman over 2, 000 years ago who was a virgin conceived and had a son, and that this son is none other than the son of God.

In my last district, I was in dialogue with an individual that was attending our church.

He said, Pastor, I need to meet with you.

I'm reading Scripture and I'm having some really challenging aspects as I'm reading.

And so he sat in my office and I love to engage, amen, not alienate.

I want to engage in conversation and I want to understand.

And so we're sitting there, we're having good dialogue, it's not confrontational, we are seeking understanding in matters of faith and he said, David I am really having problems with these portions of Scripture because my understanding of science, I'm a man of science and as I read scripture there are certain parts that really contradict my understanding of science and I cannot accept them.

I simply cannot and I listened and I said, look brother, I understand where you're coming from and we dialogue some more and I said to him, my brother, do you believe in the virgin birth?

I said, so if I'm understanding you correctly, there are some aspects of scripture that you cannot understand and you cannot comprehend, you cannot accept on the basis of science, but when it comes to the virgin birth, you can accept it on the basis of faith.

And I said, look, let's talk about science.

It is a fact that has been reproduced over and over and over again that in order for there to be conception in order for there to be life it takes human sperm and Human egg without those elements there is no life.

This is a scientific fact Not a theory and I said my brother if you're going to be consistent, if you're going to reject these other elements on the basis of science, you need to also reject the virgin birth on the basis of science.

You need to reject the resurrection on the basis of science.

Matter of fact, every miracle in the Bible that conflicts with natural law, you need to reject on the basis of science.

Or on the other hand, you need to accept these things consistently on the basis of faith.

Fortunately, after the dialogue, weeks later, he said, Pastor, I have chosen to accept these other elements consistently with the basis of faith, or on the basis of faith.

You know, in the 17th century, another gentleman actually followed the other side to its logical conclusion.

In 1677, Spinoza published a theological treatise contending that any event in scripture that conflicted with natural law must be considered a myth.

This was a hermeneutical approach called demytholization, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and every supernatural miracle was considered an error or a metaphor.

This is a hermeneutical approach, demytholization.

You go through scripture and essentially you shake out everything that conflicts with natural law.

You reinterpret it as an error or a myth.

The raising of Lazarus from the dead, a myth.

All of these things are myth, and essentially it is the enlightenment approach of the search for the historical Jesus.

The Jesus of faith is different than the Jesus of history.

So this morning, as we engage in this thinking, in this process, as we approach Scripture, what is the relationship between faith and reason?

What do we do when faith contradicts reason?

Some would argue, look, the Christian experience, it's all about the heart.

And then someone on this side would say, look, the Christian experience, it's about the mind, it's about reason.

And when I was going through the seminary, which by the way, Praise God that it's over.

I started in the Masters of Divinity program, which is a professional degree, And after my first year, I went to a master's in historical theology.

But 1 of the things that I discovered in my conversation and engagement with the great thinkers of Christian history, we need to recognize that it's been 2, 000 years plus since Jesus walked on this earth, and there has been a lot of theological thinking during that time.

There's a lot that we can learn from the theological thinking that has gone on, and most likely If there is a problem that you're wrestling with, someone else has thought of it before.

And when you look at the scope of history, I had the privilege of engaging with thinkers like Augustine and Aquinas, Reformation theologians like Calvin and Luther.

And my emphasis was during the Enlightenment period of some of these brilliant German theologians.

And as I stepped back from this panorama of these great thinkers throughout the history of Christian theology, I recognized that the history of Christian theology can be summarized in 1 word.

1 way of summarizing the thinking down through the 2, 000 years of Christian theology can be summarized in 1 word, and that 1 word is pendulum.

1 theologian comes along and emphasizes 1 aspect, faith and reason.

And then someone else comes along and says, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's about reason.

And you can see the reaction going back and forth, back and forth.

Matter of fact, we do not only experience this when we look at theology, but we also experience this biographically, in our own experience.

That is why children that grow up in conservative homes grow up to be more Progressive.

And then children that grow up in progressive homes tend to be more conservative because they are reacting.

Biographical theology going all the way through.

If you've been burned on 1 end, you tend to react and go to the other end.

And you see this in the aspect of theology.

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Faith and Reason in the Christmas Story

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