Sermons

“The Gospel of Plagiarism”

Sermon on Sunday, September 29, 2024

 
Dear church,

Plagiary is defined as the stealing of literary or intellectual property. The word’s origin in Latin is “kidnapping,” so it literally points to the kidnapping of someone’s knowledge. In recent times I have noticed an increase of very public, high-profile cases of plagiary. One time it was a respected newspaper where one of the journalists was accused and found guilty of stealing information from others without citing the source and pretending it was his own. He was fired. Another time it was government officials. In my native country there were at least two cases of officials resigning over plagiarism, dating all the way back to their dissertations - years, in one case decades ago. They stepped down. Now we have AI, and the question is: where does Artificial Intelligence get its information from? Does it have a direct connection to God, a channel to the secrets of the universe, a crystal ball? AI generously dips into the wealth of research and knowledge that’s already out there, put together by hardworking researchers and creates its own version of it. That can be plagiarism, right? In fact, at this moment there are lawsuits running against AI companies, addressing that very issue. Is this knowledge suddenly free for use just because the user is a machine? Not so fast, some people say, who are trying to protect their intellectual property.
 

And you wonder now, why is the pastor talking about plagiarism, a day after Oktoberfest? That seems a bit heavy… Of course, it has something to do with the gospel that we just heard and a lot to do with the world we live in, but mostly, it illuminates the generosity of God as portrayed in the entire New Testament. God is generous! Christ is generous! God is boundlessly generous!

 
In today’s reading the disciples are trying to protect the assets of the Jesus company. Their assets were not counted in dollars, stocks or databases of knowledge but in the spiritual tools and healing practices that Christ taught his students at Christ University in Galilee. And while the man from Nazareth was unique - gifted with charisma, wisdom and an uncanny connection to God (he was called Son of God), there were certain practices he taught his followers; and there was no shortage of people who wanted to benefit from his knowledge without having to hang out with the master all the time. It’s sort of like when you visit a famous place and there is a tour guide with a group of tourists who instructs them in a language that you’re familiar with. Let’s say English. As you overhear the guide, your ears perk up, you find her presentation fascinating. You listen more intently. Am I the only one who has snuck up to a guided tour group to hear what the tour guide had to say – without having paid the fee for receiving this sort of information? Am I the only one who has even gone as far as following the group to the next stop because it was so interesting? Have any of you ever been tempted to do that?

 
Well, strictly speaking that’s against the rules, isn’t it? I feel it’s a very minor offense. I will have to bring this to the New York Times ethicist. They have a weekly column in which ethical questions are weighed by an ethics expert, and some of the questions are quite interesting. But I digress…

 
In the gospel, Jesus, the tour guide, the teacher of healing and wholeness, tells his supporters not to worry. The more people who know how to heal, how to bless, how to forgive, the more people who practice the medicine of Christ, the better, he argues. “Let them plagiarize me! I’m not here to collect a profit. I don’t want to protect the gospel. It is truly free for all.” Jesus’ approach is against the very human tendency, the Western world tendency to define what is ours and protect it. There is a whole society built around “ownership.” Jesus takes a radically spiritual view and asks, “What do you really own?” Even what you own now, what you own before the law, will at some point no longer be yours because your life is fleeting, our lives are fleeting. At some point you will have to pass it on. Nobody owns for eternity… And then there are things in life, things of deep value, that cannot be owned but only lived; love, compassion, faith, hope, humility we can never own, only live. Christ was the master teacher of being, not having. He was the master teacher of living, not owning. Today we might say that he led an alternative lifestyle. But for Christ this was not the alternative, it was simply the Kingdom of God.

 
And so, let us find ways to become more generous, a bit less attached to possessions, a bit less calculating.  We are all blessed, and blessings are everywhere for those who have eyes to see. There are blessings even in AI. In fact, the definition for plagiarism that I used at the beginning of my sermon was probably AI generated. So, thank you, AI, whoever you are…

 
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. 

 
Let that ruminate in you for a while. What do we need to let go of? What do you need to let go of, for your own sake and for God’s sake? Letting things go, both material and immaterial is a big part of the gospel.  Amen.  

 
Pastor Andreas Wagner