A New Word for an Old World

Christians are Post-Resurrection people living in a Pre-Christian world.

Why is Luke every historian's favorite gospel? Why do we treat Luke's account of Jesus' birth as the "real one" -- the one it just wouldn't be Christmas without hearing?

Luke adds all those lovely historical details that make the story come alive. Luke's wealth of names, places, dates and events animates the ancient world, making it seem less like "Scripture" and more like story time.

But do you think you might be comfortable with putting today's gospel text into a bit more current historical context -- bringing Luke's setting a little closer to home (in our case, Eastsound, Washington; in your case ... [you fill in the blanks])?

In the sixth year of the administration of President Bill Clinton, when Gary Locke was governor of the state of Washington, Norman Rice was mayor of Seattle, Rhea Miller was county commissioner in San Juan County, during the time when Elias Galvan was bishop in Washington state for the United Methodist Church, the Word of the Lord came to ... you! And...