Telling Stories, Teaching Truth
Several years ago, I sent a sermon CD (many years ago!) to a church searching for an interim pastor. When I heard back from them, they told me that my sermon contained, in their words, “too many stories”. Granted I’m not the world’s greatest preacher and have been guilty of preaching what one preaching prof calls a “skyscraper sermon” (one story after another!), but I thought I had dealt fairly with the text.
I shared this experience with a pastor friend who remarked that I should have replied with “Jesus told stories”.
Indeed Jesus DID tell stories. They’re called parables and they are intended to teach the truth. Just like a well-chosen and well-timed sermon illustration, stories illuminate the truth just like throwing open a shuttered window to light up a darkened room. Stories have a way of climbing down the abstraction ladder to make truth more available and understandable.
To be sure, there’s a place for substantive, biblical teaching. But stories/parables have a way of relieving tension for hearers/readers from intense content while teaching truth from another perspective. Interestingly the word “parable” literally means to throw alongside. Stories/parables are another way of teaching truth that’s down to earth.
One of my favorite parables is found in Mark 4:26-29, what the NIV calls The Parable of the Growing Seed:
“He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’”
Jesus lived in an agrarian society. Stories about farming and agriculture would have caught the attention of hearers while getting behind their defenses. Everyone could relate to planting and tending a crop. Effort is involved. Soil must be prepared and seeds sown. There must be precipitation or the seeds will not sprout. But growth is a mystery. We can’t make it happen. When conditions are favorable, crops grow to harvest.
I especially like the phrases “though he does not know how” and “all by itself”. Expanding the kingdom of God demands effort. But we can neither explain nor take credit for its growth. It’s a head scratcher. In this parable, Jesus details the mystery of the growth of the kingdom of God in everyday language so his listeners can understand.
One final story. A few weeks ago, I attended the Trout Opener Event put on by the Confluence Fly Shop in the Old Mill District in Bend. For you non-fisher people, the Deschutes River opens up for fishing on both sides of the river on April 22 from Warm Springs itself downstream to the northern boundary of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Confluence celebrates the date by offering fly casting lessons, sale prices on gear, a BBQ dinner as well as hosting several flyfishing industry reps.
My favorite rep is a guy named George Cook. George represents FarBank Enterprises which encompasses a large collection of flyfishing gear and a flyfishing travel agency. I’ve watched George on YouTube but never met him in person. George isn’t an imposing figure. He’s hoisted a lot of beers in his day. He can drink with the best of them. He’s the quintessential trout bum. But when George talks flyfishing, people listen.
That Saturday in the Old Mill, he patiently listened to my questions and gave advice on what gear to choose based on his experiences flyfishing the world. By his stories, he made concrete what was abstract in my mind. And yes, he peppers his stories with profanity. But he uses everyday language to make what was confusing in my mind understandable.
George Cook tells stories because he’s a storyteller and wants to sell fly fishing gear.
Jesus told stories to teach the truth and change people’s lives. Let’s follow his example, and we’ll help build the kingdom of God.