The Hot Fudge Bible

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. – John 1:14 (NRSV) 

My mom is the boss of the sauce. She makes a hot fudge that’s truly out of this world.  

This thick, chocolatey ambrosia, under which ice cream melts in surrender and taste buds sigh in devotion, was the sweet reward of my childhood. With her blessing, and in joyful anticipation that you might also taste the most delicious thing ever concocted from earthly elements, I reveal the sacred recipe: 

Mom’s Hot Fudge Sauce: 

– 2 squares unsweetened baker’s chocolate
– ¼ cup butter
– Melt together in a heavy pan.
– Add: 1 cup sugar, 5 oz heavy cream, 1 tbsp vanilla, and a pinch of salt.
– Boil while stirring for 5 minutes.  

Can you taste it already? Actually … you can’t. 

That recipe is just a bunch of letters and numbers. If you want to taste it, you have to make it. Assemble, stir, simmer, smell, pour, partake.  

Scripture is no different. 

It’s a recipe, a witness, a guide, an invitation to encounter the Divine through the lived experience of ancient Israel, her prophets, her poets, and through a carpenter from Nazareth. We can read it, memorize it, quote it, but until we live it, we haven’t tasted it. 

Notice we don’t say, “The Bible is the words of God.” We say, “The Bible is the Word of God.”  The words point to the Word, but they are not the same. John takes it further: “The Word became flesh…” The Word, the living experience of God, took on skin, voice, life, flavor. 

The words of Scripture aren’t the final dish. They’re the ingredients pointing us to the living and embodied Word. 

When we stop treating the Bible like a dropped-from-heaven manuscript and start seeing it as a pointer to the living Word, it becomes a window, not a wall; a sweet yet hot sauce, not a dusty cookbook.  

Prayer
God, don’t let me just read the recipe. Make me hungry enough to fire up the stove.

About the Author
Matt Laney is co-Pastor of Virginia Highland Church UCC in Atlanta, GA and the author of Pride Wars, a fantasy series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Young Readers. The first two books, The Spinner Prince and The Four Guardians are available now.