Today is the second sermon based on some of the issues raised by The Da Vinci Code.  This past week, I saw the movie, and I want to warn you that the movie is more violent than I had expected.  So if you are bothered by violence, you might want to pass this one up.

          Some issues raised by the book are barely noticeable in the movie.  So if you have seen the movie and not read the book, you might wonder why I am focusing on the issues I am talking about today.  But just so you are not confused, I am speaking mainly in response to the book.

          Most of the issues raised in The Da Vinci Code are not particularly new.  As Logan reminded me, Dan Brown borrowed a lot of his information from Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, first published in 1983. 

          Dan Brown raises two issues that I want to talk about today.  One is paganism and its relationship to Christianity.  The other is the position the church takes towards women.

          The first issue is paganism.  Brown attempts to weave paganism into the church, claiming that Christians have lost something by ignoring the role of paganism in our spirituality. He also says that early Christianity included much more pagan spirituality than we recognize today.  On the one hand, he laments the fall of paganism, and on the other hand he claims many of the practices of the church incorporate pagan symbols and practices.

          One of the sarcastic remarks in both the book and the movie about the Bible is that the Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven.  Well, of course.  We know that the Bible is a collection of books written over a period of time by many people.  What Brown does not recognize is that we do believe those people who wrote those books were actually inspired by God.  One of the basic differences between the Christian faith and all other religions is that we believe God has revealed himself to humanity.  The God in whom we put our trust is the God who has revealed himself to us.

          It is true that most of the known world at the time of Jesus was pagan.  Jesus, however, was not a pagan.  He was born into a faithful Jewish home.  He came to the one people group on earth who were not pagan.  The Jews.

          The Jews were the people who had heard God’s voice and responded to it.  They were not perfect people by a long shot.  But they were a people who had been called out of darkness by God—called to be a people set apart and holy.

          The Old Testament is the record of Jewish history and God’s revelation to the Jews up until the time of Christ.  One of the things God revealed to the Jews was the Ten Commandments, which we read earlier in the service.  These commandments held up a new standard of living that had not been observed in pagan cultures. 

          The Ten Commandments taught us to have one God only, and to worship no other gods.  That was the standard for Israel and it is the standard today for all who claim the name of Jesus Christ.  But listen to a statement Dan Brown made on his own website:

          “Two thousand years ago, we lived in a world of Gods and Goddesses. Today, we live in a world solely of Gods. Women in most cultures have been stripped of their spiritual power. The novel touches on questions of how and why this shift occurred…and on what lessons we might learn from it regarding our future.”  (Dan Brown, quoted on his website, www.danbrown.com)

          It is true that there was a world of gods and goddesses two thousand years ago, but it was not in any way the teaching of the Jews or of the Christians.  The gods and goddesses Brown refers to were part of the pagan culture of the Romans, the Greeks, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, and others.  It was out of the midst of those pagan cultures that God called the Jews to worship the one true God.

          As he attempts to push this theory, Brown points out the interweaving of pagan and Christian symbols.  There are three reasons this works, to a certain extent.  First, both Jews and Christians have always lived side by side with pagan cultures.  Second, many pagans have been converted to Christianity and some of them retained some of their culture.  And third, our human nature always tempts us to worship lesser gods.

          In the Old Testament, there are many places where God warns the Jews to remain pure by avoiding pagan culture.  The Jews were commanded not to intermarry with people of other cultures.  The reason for this was not some sort of desire for ethnic purity.  Rather, it was because God had called these people to holiness, and the pagan religions of the surrounding nations were a constant temptation to them.  We could spend weeks and weeks studying this—it is a theme running through the entire Old Testament.

          Let me read some excerpts from 2Kings 21-23 that show what was going on.  And let me just say, this also demonstrates that the Bible is brutally honest about what happened, rather than trying to cover anything up.  The good old days were not always so good.  This story takes place in Israel after Israel had been divided into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. 

          I’m reading from 2 Kings 21:

¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. ² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. ³ He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. ⁴ He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put my Name." ⁵ In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. ⁶ He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

 ⁷ He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. ⁸ I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them." ⁹ But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

          Then, in chapter 22, things changed.  Josiah became king.  By that time, the teachings of their faith had virtually disappeared.  When work was being done on the temple, the high priest discovered the Book of the Law.  It was read before King Josiah.  As he heard the Book of the Law read, Josiah recognized how far his people had strayed from its teachings.  He called the people together and read the Book of the Law to them.  He repented of their sins and told the people of the Lord’s anger. Then he ordered changes.

          In chapter 23 beginning at verse 4 it says, (in case you are trying to read along,I am skipping parts, to shorten this).

 ⁴ The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest … to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. ⁶ He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there... ⁷ He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the LORD….

 ⁸ Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places… where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the shrines at the gates…⁹ Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

 ¹⁰ He desecrated Topheth …so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. ¹¹ He removed from the entrance to the temple of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. …Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.  

 ²⁴ Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the LORD.

          As you can see from what I read, Israel had strayed far from the teachings they had received from Moses.  They had intermarried with their pagan neighbors and incorporated pagan religious practices into their own religion.  This was absolutely forbidden by the teachings God had given his people.  And these sorts of pagan practices are just as detestable to God today as they were in the time of Josiah.

          The idea set forth in The Da Vinci Code that paganism is something we should reclaim is as unacceptable to our God today as it was in the time of King Josiah.  Being a Christian means renouncing all other gods and worshiping the one true God alone.

          Brown uses a feminist agenda to make his appeal, implying that a world of gods and goddesses is more empowering to women.  He laments that “women in most cultures have been stripped of their spiritual power.”  But our God teaches that there is only one God, and all power belongs to God.  Neither men nor women are to have spiritual power in themselves.  Only God has spiritual power.  Acts 1:8 says “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samarian, and to the ends of the earth.”  This is not power to become godlike, but it is the power to witness to the world the message of salvation.

          Brown’s feminist agenda makes this sound like an issue of male dominance.  It is not.  The issue here is that God is God and we—whether male or female—are not God. 

          Christian feminists have rightly pointed out that God is not male in the way humans understand male and female.  That’s why you will hear some people pray using gender neutral terms.  For example, instead of calling God “Father,” they will say “God, our Parent.”  I understand why they do this, but I feel it pushes just a bit too far.  I think it can be helpful for us to acknowledge the feminine descriptions of God that are in the Bible.  But I prefer to refer to God as Father.  Of course, Jesus was a human male.  Because humans are born male or female, God had to make a choice, and he chose to become human in the form of a male.  I suppose he could have been a woman, but in his culture—regardless of what Brown claims about the goddesses of that time—it would have been extremely difficult for him to have the ministry he had.  But the God we worship, the one true God who is expressed in the Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is beyond human sexual categories. 

          So why does Brown—or anyone, for that matter, attack the church regarding the power of women?  Brown is certainly correct in saying that the church has withheld power from women, and that this was not Jesus’ intent.

          Jesus was amazingly open with women, and, for his time, shockingly affirming of women.  Again and again in the gospels, Jesus treated women with dignity that their society did not give them.  And in the early church, as recorded in the New Testament, there are many references to women in positions of authority.

          It is true, however, that the church reversed a great deal of those practices.  Women have historically been prevented from full participation in leadership in the church, and this is certainly still true today.  I believe the Bible teaches, both explicitly and implicitly by example, that women should participate equally with men in the church.  And I also believe the church has opened itself to criticism by not allowing women full participation.  But things are changing, and women have many opportunities for leadership in the church today.  I don’t know if the Catholic Church will ever allow women to be priests, but who knows?

          The church is imperfect because it is made up of imperfect human beings.  The history of the church is complex.  Like the biblical history of Israel that we read, when Israel’s kings led them in idolatry, the history of the church has some dark and embarrassing times.  To me, the fact that the church has survived and continues to grow and thrive is living proof that God has not given up on the church.  We are his people.  He gives us great freedom, and we often misuse that freedom.  But he continues to work out his purposes in the church.  In Ephesians, Paul says “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:25b-27)

Prayer:

Lord, you love the church.  Thank you for keeping your church safe through good times and bad, through persecution and prosperity.  We are just one tiny part of the church gathered here today, but we know that you love us very much and you care about us.  We may feel that we are small and insignificant, but in your eyes, we are important.  We are your beloved people, called out of darkness into your marvelous light.  Cleanse us from all unrighteousness and lead us in the way you would have us to go.    Amen