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Isaiah 6:1-13, I Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Revd W. Lee Shaw
One of my joys for over the last several years is to be a mentor for the Education for Ministry (EFM) program out of the University of the South, Sewanee, TN. Each year we begin with a very particular exercise: the spiritual autobiography. The class and I spend as many evenings as it takes to tell a part of our story as a Christian: where we came from, how we came to our faith, our story of faith and of life. Each of the four years of EFM each student does this as a way of introducing themselves to each other and to remind themselves of where they have been, where they come from. It is an incredibly rich time of sharing.
Story telling is the essence of the Christian faith. Jesus did not sit and expound long lectures on systematic theology and dogma. He told stories. You know the stories: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the sower of the seeds, the woman who lost her gold coins, the man who found a great treasure in a field, to name a few. He told so many stories from which we glean our faith, our understanding of our relationship with each other and with God.
Our readings today are about story telling. The call of Isaiah is about story telling in negative sense. Warn the people by telling them what they are doing wrong. Tell them they will not understand until it comes to them as a sign of God, and the very stump of what is left will become the holy seed of the future. That is one way of teaching.
St. Paul takes another approach. He reminds the people of Corinth that he is telling them the exact same story he had been told by the apostles: “For I handed on to you what I in turn had received….” St. Paul reminds them and us that the story of Christ is given from one generation to another to pass to the next. He may be least of the apostles in his eyes, but he stands strong as one of the great preachers and teachers of the church.
I find it interesting in St. Luke’s Gospel reading that we do not get even a hint of what Jesus is saying to the crowd. But it is clear that what has to say has their full attention and they want more. We heard how the “crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God.” I see him talking to them as the crowd continues to grow and him slowly backing up bit by bit as they press in on him until he feels the cold water rising up on his ankles. Then he sees Peter’s boat, gets in and moves a bit out from the shore. My guess is that it prevented him from getting even wetter as well as possibly enhancing the acoustics of his voice by being carried over the water.
It is unfortunate St. Luke did not preserve for us what Jesus was teaching that day, the stories he was telling. But like a good teacher, my guess is he used the same stories with different twists for various settings; whatever seemed to fit the needs of his listeners.
We tell our stories too. We did so last week at our annual meeting. I do not mean just those standing for election who shared why they wanted to be elected. But each of us in our own way shared a bit about our common life as the community of St. Stephen’s. We did so in table talk, we did so in narrative, we did so in parish business. This was all part of our common story as a people.
In two weeks we will turn a page in our common story as we enter the Season of Lent and I invite you to share this part of our story with others. Lent is a time of simplicity, quiet, introspection and self-examination. It is a time we tell our story in a different way, a more reflective and personal way.
So, as part of your Lenten discipline this year, invite someone to come to church with you. Invite them to come with you to hear part of the story of Jesus and part of the story of you as an Episcopalian. It is as simple as, why don’t you come with me to church on Sunday, I would like you to see my church. I can pick you up. Or, come with me to our “Worship on Wednesday” for a really good meal, a simple worship and an interesting program. We’re done by 8:30!
In Lent we will be using the traditional language of Rite One and so it is a time to really hold up our tradition and our heritage as Christians. There is something very comfortable about the traditional language and idioms of our worship.
Do not be shy about sharing your story, your spiritual autobiography as it were. This is how we share our faith. Faith is not shared nor is faith nurtured in religious debate or argument. Faith is shared and planted in the stories of men, women and children. Share your story of why you come to St. Stephen’s and what drew you to the Episcopal Church. Share your own unique story of faith.
Who knows, perhaps the crowds will be pressing around you so much to hear your story that you will feel the water lapping about your ankles and you will need to find a way to tell your story even better.
This Lent, share your story of faith with another person. This Lent, invite a friend, co-worker, neighbor to church with you. This Lent hear again St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “…so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.” Share your story so others may come to believe in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.