Wednesday, October 24, 2018

We Love to Tell the Story!

 “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.  But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”       -- John 20:30-31
            Ever seen a movie re-make that should never have been made?  Why does Hollywood take classic movies and redo them, minus the magic that made them classic in the first place?  I guess the answer is money, as usual – they figure people will go see it.  But why tell a story over and over again when it has been told so well in the first place.  I’ve seen it with movies from my childhood – Willy Wonka, Clash of Titans, Karate Kid – and my pet peeve, Planet of the Apes—have all been made into far less wonderful imitations.  And then there are those great books that are made into movies time and time again, proving again and again that great books don’t always translate well to the silver screen.  The immense power of Melville’s Moby Dick just can’t be squeezed into a movie, so why do filmmakers keep trying? 
            Maybe because there is something in the story that bears repeating, rethinking, reworking.  The beloved well-known versions of the Maltese Falcon, The Ten Commandments, Wizard of Oz and Ben Hur were all remakes.  Barbara Streisand remade A Star is Born from a classic Judy Garland version that itself was a successful re-make.  And now, get ready for Lady Gaga’s version!  The original 1933 King Kong was a technical masterpiece of its day, but modern special effects have made more recent versions if not better, at least impressive in new ways. 
            So when you’ve got a good story, it bears repeating.  Besides movies, we get stories in many forms: e-books, graphic novels, musicals, Netflix serials, audiobooks, plays, websites, and once in a while a plain, regular, old-fashioned book with words and pictures that don’t move.  Back in elementary school, our teacher used to read to us.  We were allowed to sit on the square carpeted space on the classroom floor and didn’t have to answer questions or do math problems for once…we could just listen and use our imaginations to give life to the story.  It was relaxing and fun.  Those stories took us to other places, other lands, sometimes other planets.  They got us using another piece of our brains for a while, and got us to slow down and think.  Story time made school seem a whole lot friendlier.  It’s amazing what stories can do.
The gospel writers were no dummies.  They wanted to present the Good News of Jesus in the most inspiring and powerful way possible.  They could have just made a list of ways to follow Jesus – dos and don’ts, good ways to live and evil things to avoid.  They could have given step-by-step instructions on how to evangelize and start churches.  They could have made complicated arguments for different doctrinal positions and ways to defend Christian beliefs against pagan doubters.  There were lots of ways the gospel writers could have gone about presenting Christianity to encourage those early generations of believers.  But what they chose to do was tell stories.
Those stories had probably been told before.  In fact, even after Mark had given a pretty good overview of the ministry of Jesus in his gospel, Matthew and Luke had things they wanted to add.  So we have multiple gospels – each of them a collection of stories about what Jesus said and did…and two of the first three were re-makes.  Then John comes along and gives a whole new perspective on Jesus with a bunch of new stories, teachings, and a more divine take on the Son of Man.  So now we have four gospels, all of them showing us Christianity through the lens of the Jesus story.  But the creation of story-collections about God wasn’t totally new and unheard of.  The Old Testament itself takes many stories and weaves them into one great, continuous story stretching from the dawn of creation through the rise and downfall of Israel.  I’ve heard it said that, page-for-page and word-for-word, over ¾ of the Bible consists of stories. 
It’s not always easy to follow the storyline, but God is trying to tell us something very important, not just in what he says but in how he says it.  That long, continuous story which God started at the beginning bears repeating.  We tell it again and again and are still telling it.  We tell it again and again because it is also our story, yours and mine.  Maybe sometimes we tell it better than others.  Maybe sometimes we get the story wrong.  Maybe sometimes we tell it at just the right moment that hearts are open to receive it in a way that they see exactly how the story is theirs, and they respond by praising God.
When you tell your story, how do you connect it to God’s?  Where does your life history intersect with the history told in the Bible?  One point of contact is through baptism – through that water and those promises, God reached out and touched you and brought you into his story.  What stories about God have been particularly meaningful to you?  Maybe there are parts of that story that caused you to change the direction of your life.  Maybe you’re still figuring out that story and what it means to you.  Maybe you’re well aware that the life you are living right now, at this very moment, is also part of God’s ongoing story.
As we prepare for our new 11:30am Child of God service, we celebrate storytelling in its many forms.  We will be going back to the basic stories in Scripture and tracing how that one continuous story of God’s love has unfolded through the vast ages of time and continues in the very living and storytelling that we do right now.  Because it is God’s story, it is ageless and endless.  Because it is our story, it is personal and poignant.  Although it is told over and over again down through the years, it is never exactly the same.  That’s why it bears repeating.

Peace,
Pastor Scott

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