Be sure to subscribe on youtube for more post-evangelical “sermonizing”. (Or you can sign up for the email list here.)

If you prefer reading, below is the script I used for this video. It’s not word for word, but it’s close enough.

Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft.

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               STUDIO

                                   NATHANIEL

                      Hello neighbor. I'm Nathaniel. Welcome

                      to Reluctant Sermonizing. Today we're

                      starting a Christmas series where

                      we're raising questions, specifically

                      one question: God is with who?

                      Immanuel means "God with us" but who

                      is "us"? Some people seem to think

                      it's a rather small group of people,

                      but I think this needs a second look.

                      So each week we're going to break down

                      a part of the Christmas story and see

                      what we get. If you want, hit the

                      subscribe button to get the whole

                      series.

                                                                   TITLE

                                   NATHANIEL

                      So let's start with the Christmas

                      story Dante's Inferno. Ok, that's not

                      a Christmas story, rather it's a

                      medieval book about a guy on a guided

                      tour through hell. But I remember my

                      professor saying the book held

                      knowledge as the way to heaven. Now

                      his interpretation or my memory might

                      be wrong, but I do remember bristling.

                      Knowledge is something we earn. We

                      educate ourselves. And as a good

                      Evangelical kid I was quite certain we

                      can't earn our way into heaven.

                      But then you look around and see

                      Sunday School and Bible Studies and

                      realize all the stories and things

                      we're supposed to believe to be a

                      Christian and go to heaven are

                      portions of knowledge.

                      Ok, actual Christmas story. There's a

                      bunch of shepherds. Uneducated,

                      illiterate shepherds. They don't know

                      squat. 

                      At this time the God of the universe

                      happens to become a dad for the first

                      time. The family dynamics are a little

                      complicated, but this God gets

                      excited. And like any knew dad after a

                      bit he starts making phone calls,

                      though his are more angelic. So who

                      does he call first? Does he ring up

                      Bible scholars in their dreams? Leave

                      voice mails with priests? Text the

                      most accurate Rabbis? 

                      No. This God goes to the know nothing

                      shepherds.

                      And seriously these shepherds wouldn't

                      have a clue what was going on. It's

                      not like they had some idea for a

                      "plan of salvation" or anything like

                      that. The disciples didn't, so why

                      should these shepherds. But The Divine

                      was just there, with them.

                      As a child I remember being afraid of

                      brain injuries and things like

                      alzheimer's. I knew sometimes people

                      couldn't remember or they couldn't

                      think the same way or their

                      personalities changed. I was afraid of

                      losing my salvation because I lost

                      some function of my mind and didn't

                      believe like I was supposed to. What

                      if I forgot who Jesus was?

                      My Grandma on my dad's side had

                      alzheimer's before passing, and I've

                      met many people with intellectual

                      disabilities. If you've had

                      experiences like mine, then you know

                      the divine is with them. 

                      So the Divine is with, who? Those

                      who've learned the answers? Who knew

                      the right prayer to say?

                      Who educated themselves on what story

                      to believe earn God's acceptance?

                      Or is the nature of the Divine more

                      like the character of God in the

                      Christmas story, throwing a party to

                      celebrate with a bunch of ignorant

                      shepherds because... it's divine.

                                                                 END TAG

                                   NATHANIEL

                      Hey! Thanks for watching. Today was

                      shepherds. Next week will be magi or

                      wisemen their connection to the late

                      Freddy Mercury of Queen and the baby

                      Jesus. Be sure to subscribe. And merry

                      Christmas.
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Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft.