I have grown up knowing the stories of my family. Trips to the cemetery on Memorial Day were opportunities for my aunt and mom to tell their memories, and they made my ancestors come alive for me. Often at the dinner table or riding in the car, we'd hear a story about dad's folks...just stories of every day life, but to me, they were wonderful. We'd ask for the one about the turkey or Pocket-book and Glasses, and we would eagerly listen even though we knew the ending and had heard it dozens of times before. We love stories.
One of my professors at BTS knew the value of story-telling. We anticipated the point in his lectures when he would clear his throat, look around our circle and say, "A story...a story." And we would answer, "Let it come; let it go." And we'd sit there, eagerly listening for the story that would parallel our homework or the discussion at hand.
Joshua does that when he gathers the tribes of Israel to Shechem to offer them once again the story of their history. I picture elderly Joshua speaking in perhaps a wavering voice, telling his people things they shouldn't forget, trying to make their heritage come alive for them, reminding them of their story...
And then I read the passage in Luke...the master storyteller, Jesus, perhaps seated on a hillside with folks gathered around him begins, "A sower went out to sow his seed..." And he tells a story that folks will have to think about. Later in the chapter, he lives the stories we still like to hear...the calming of the sea, the healing of the demon-possessed man and the bleeding woman, the raising of Jairus's daughter.
Aren't you enjoying this year-long Bible reading journey? I get excited knowing we are doing this together--you are reading the same story I am reading, and it is the story of our shared faith. We come from a family of storytellers; we love stories. What story has inspired you this week?
I love these stories. They grow like mushrooms, lying dormant for a long time, then suddenly popping up when and where you least expect them.
ReplyDeleteReading Joshua this time I was struck with the story of the Valley of Achor--the Valley of trouble. What a bitter lesson that was for Achor, and his family. On the one hand it seems so harsh, and yet it says something very important.about our response to God, and His to us.
Stories are so great at teaching us things and we tend to remember them. In Luke Jesus uses down to earth subjects for his parables which people could relate to - a shepherd searching for a lost sheep, a woman turning the house upside town to find a coin, a tale of family strife between father, son and brother (the prodigal son) and the seating arrangements at a wedding feast. There is so much to learn from everyday life if we only would look around us.
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