“Don’t Change the Story”

In this Christmas sermon, The Rev. Ben Jones invites the congregation to rediscover the Bible as a single, unified story rather than a collection of disconnected texts. Drawing on the structure of the Eucharistic prayers, he traces the biblical narrative through creation, fall, Israel, Jesus, and the ongoing life of the Church, showing how Scripture consistently points toward Christ. The Gospel of John is highlighted as offering a theological account of Jesus’ birth, intentionally echoing Genesis to proclaim the Incarnation as God’s decisive act of bringing heaven and earth back together.

The sermon challenges common assumptions shaped more by Platonic thinking than by biblical theology—especially the idea that the material and spiritual realms must be separated. Instead, the Incarnation, resurrection, and ascension reveal God’s commitment not only to forgiving sins but to redeeming all creation. Heaven and earth, once divided by sin, are united in Jesus and will ultimately be fully restored in the new creation. The sermon concludes with a pastoral exhortation: before we attempt to revise or reshape the Christian story to fit our preferences, we must first know it deeply and allow it to transform us. “Don’t change the story,” the preacher urges. “Let the story change you.”