Matthew 13:10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
Do you look forward to hearing your minister's sermon on Sunday? Endless cartoons and jokes about dozing off in church at this particular juncture in the service would indicate otherwise. For me, there is nothing worse than a sermon that tells and doesn't show, preaches, but doesn't teach.
Ultimately, it fails to reach. It falls on deaf ears.
Not so at my church! Pastor Wallace and Pastor Emily are the paradigms when it comes to effective preaching. Their sermons are peppered with personal anecdotes, memorable stories, vivid imagery, and humor - LOTS of humor!
When they stand up to speak, you sit up to listen. Right there, on the edge of your seat. Hanging onto their every word.
Their delivery makes the scripture come alive, resonating with fresh perspective. I always come away from church with their tales and vignettes dancing joyfully in my head.
Because of these, I remember the day's lesson and am encouraged to reflect deeply upon the message. Stories make all the difference!
Jesus understood the importance of story-telling. His parables are chock-full of descriptive imagery to engage the listener's imagination. His references to activities that were commonplace to the people living at that time helped them to make an immediate connection with His message. His words never told, they showed.
And, they worked.
If they hadn't, none would have appeared in the Gospels. These stories were what the disciples recalled, His followers remembered. They were deemed important enough, memorable enough, to be written down for posterity.
And, we are blessed.
Thank you, Jesus, for telling us your stories!
Readings
Psalms 119:49-72
Ezra 6:1-22
Revelation 5:1-10
Matthew 13:10-17
Nice post Martha...even in Hindu Religion we have lot many stories to make it easier for us to remember HIS words.
ReplyDeleteYou may have heart it said, "Without the story there is no glory."
ReplyDeleteJesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. ~ Matthew 13:34
Hi, Janu and Debra! Thanks for stopping by today!
ReplyDeleteNothing better than a great story to help us remember things. Glad to hear it is in the Hindu faith, too! :)
Blessings to you both!
Martha
I think as long as there are human beings, there will be stories! Nothing 'sells' like a good story!
ReplyDeleteI love Socrates and Plato for the stories they told were interestin and profound in helping people understand the physical world around them and that their was a non physical world of profection that existed which we can know and use to make empical and value judgets about our physical world. They even introduced the idea that God was real. Then Jeasus comes along and tells very different stories to help explain how God is not only real, but is available to us to undersand good an eveil, love, and compassion, the impotance of the humanities as a study of how we can fulfil our souls and find peace with the source of all thing. It really is an incredible human journey from physics to spirtualality in my humble understanding.
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