Changing gears. Hebrews 1.

Today we start our first letter together. The books of Mark and Acts are for the most part, narratives. A narrative makes its point(s) primarily by telling a story. The letters in the Bible have a literary style that I'll label discourse. Discourse is a text that makes its point(s) by presenting a series of ideas in logical sequence.

The MisterRogers TV show mixed these two styles perfectly. Mr. Rogers would introduce a subject, like encouraging kids to do well by taking their time, with a few words. Then, the trolley took the viewers to the Land of Make Believe, where the puppets and people acted out a story that made the same point. After the story, Mr. Rogers would talk about what had happened in the story. This discourse made the same point in a direct way: it's a good thing to take time to do something well. And often he would use a third literary form - poetry, in the form of a song - to reinforce the lesson.

So, there's nothing really complicated about this. We live our lives moving between various literary types. And as we read the book of Hebrews, we're still going to be paying attention to the text using the same observational skills we've been using. Skills like looking for references to God, time, locations, and individuals. But it will help us understand the book better if we remember we've changed gears, and are now reading a letter that is primarily discourse.

Having said all that, what do you think Mr. Rogers would write a song about from Hebrews, chapter 1? What would the story in the Land of Make Believe be about?