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Posts Tagged ‘story’

And They All Fall Down

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 4, 2009| 1 Comment »

John 18:4-6
Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

The gospel of John is the only account of the crowd falling down to the ground when Jesus was arrested. Isn’t that the strangest thing? How could this happen? Why would John include this in the gospel?

I really like creating pictures in my mind as I read. Needless to say, my picture for this scene is quite dramatic. The only thing I can wrap my head around is that Jesus released a great deal of power (a release of power is also recorded in the story of the woman who bled for 12 years and touched his cloak in Mark 5:32). In my mind, Jesus was always having to choose to limit himself to the human side, the human container. But this moment was really a turning point. It was no longer a possible future; it was no longer a mere concept.

Turning points are moments of power in all of our lives. Some years ago I participated in a wonderful conference on “Story” at the Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle. Before starting the workshop, our homework was to identify the turning points in our lives. This was a very illuminating exercise and I recommend it for everyone.

The power in a turning point comes from the motive or driver that brings the moment before us. Do we take the left or right fork in the road. When we choose a direction that is under girded by the Holy Spirit, then power is released. In Jesus’s case, there was enough power to knock down a crowd of people. If we take the other path, we are on our own.

If a turning point comes today, Lord, guide my decision.

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Fulfilled, Finished, Accomplished

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on August 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 17:5
“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” [Jesus prayed]

Think about this! He finished the task that was laid out for him. He didn’t need more time. He didn’t ask for more time. The teaching part was finished. The community work was done. The message was sent. He was successful.

How many of us would have thought Jesus had done everything he had set out to do? Surely, if he would have stuck around another ten or fifteen years, we would have known more, understood more, accepted more. Or would we?

Apparently, the message was simple enough and the right people heard it (not too many, not too few). He finished the job.

It made me think about the “six degrees of separation.” Jesus touched the lives that needed to be touched “in the big picture.” Jesus healed the ones who needed to be healed to accomplish his overall purpose. Jesus faced each moment, checked with the Father, and acted accordingly. The miracles, the lessons, the parables, the witnesses… it was all part of the economical use of his time.

Those on the receiving end of his message, they also had a purpose: to carry the message of salvation and everlasting life to others, to tell the story of Jesus, the Son of God. It all worked quite well until some of the folks decided to mess with the message. It’s like the old game, “whisper down the lane,” where the first person whispers into the next person’s ear and by the time it gets to the end of the line, the message has changed. We hear what we want to hear. We fix what we don’t understand. This phenomenon is discussed in some detail in a wonderful book I’m reading, “Why We Make Mistakes” by Joseph Hallinan.

The point for me today is that every person I meet, every circumstance, every day is part of my story and now, ultimately, Christ’s story. I’m not saying I’m supposed to stuff the name of Jesus down everyone’s throat. But being me, an authentic me, must reflect Christ within. Anything less and I’m “whispering down the lane.”

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Fish Not Figs

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , on June 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 6:8-9
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

What would have happened if the boy would have had figs instead of fish? I think they would have feasted on lots of figs. God uses what we have and works the miracle with us. We are part of the miracle.

In Rob Bell’s Jesus Wants to Save Christians (p.32), he pulls this same idea from the 2nd of the ten commandments. The second commandment prohibits the creation of an image in the form of anything to represent God. This was primarily in contrast with the norm of that day of having “idols” that would help the people understand “what their god was and what their god was like.” But our God is seen through the people, his followers, the believers, his priests.

In I Peter 2:5, it says, “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” And in I Corinthians 12:12, it is written, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” We are Christ on earth now.

We are the ones who collect the fish, the bread, even the figs, and multiply them. We distribute them to those who don’t have what we have. We touch and our touch is healing. By telling our story, we are telling His story, because we are His.

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Accepting Story

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , on June 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 3:33
The man [or woman] who has accepted it [his testimony] has certified that God is truthful.

Everyone has a story but until it is heard or accepted, it has no power. This is true for anything we hear, including gossip, television news, blog postings, sermons, chit-chat, memories, songs, entertainment, explanations and so on. It is really just a story until we integrate it into ourselves. There is a point of choice with everything we hear. We can accept the story and thereby validate it within or we can reject it. Once it is is integrated, it becomes our truth.

Unfortunately, we also fall prey to habit. We often accept a story as true without giving it much thought. Or, sometimes, we accept what we hear as true simply because of the source. The source may not always be authoritative, but we don’t like to question or investigate its authority. That takes effort and may shake up our norms.

One of the best tools I received from acting school was to ask questions of a story: both in speech and text. What does this mean? What are all the possibilities? How do I interpret these words? Why does this story touch me so deeply? What do I fear? Why do I care? Does this story resonant with me? Why? Who is telling this story? What is the point of this story?

Jesus told many stories. He told stories to teach concepts and he told stories to prepare fallow ground for truth. He told stories to break down barriers and he told stories to reveal himself to others. He told stories to explore the meanings of words like “kingdom of God” and “eternal life” and “forgiveness.” He told stories to explain his purpose on earth. He told stories to explain his identity.

It is possible to go through life and never accept or integrate Jesus story into our lives. But that did not happen to me. I decided 30 years ago to accept the stories that are recorded about Jesus and his message. I believe Jesus is who he says he is. I believe Jesus spoke true….both then and now.

As a result, my story is an expression of his story within me…. just as his story is an expression of God within him. This does not mean that I have stopped asking questions. In fact, if anything, I am asking more than ever. And His story prevails.

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For This One Act

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , on May 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 23:50-51
Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, … and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.

There is another story besides the one about Joseph of Arimathea that comes to mind, and that from Esther, when Mordecai says to her, “….and who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” [Esther 4:14] Both stories carry the same message for me: there may be only one moment that is our unique moment. There may be only one person who we must touch. The key is to be ready.

When I accepted Christ back in 1979, there was a young man who went to acting school with me. It turned out that he was a “closet Christian” (because he didn’t want anyone to know). In the end, everyone knew and particularly because of the conversations that he endured with me, my mocking of his faith and challenging his truths. And yet, it was this same young man who suggested I read the New Testament like a play script and put the words, “if this were true…” at the beginning of the text and take everything at face value until the end… only then, making decisions about what was true or not.

And I did just that. And I did read. And I did choose to follow the way of Jesus as a result. Whether there were or will be other moments of power for this man, I will never know. He left acting school at the end of that school year and went on with his life. But for that moment, he did what was needed…. what he was, perhaps, called to do: to tell his story to a callous, self-important, prideful young woman. And his story and his patience and his prayers, changed my life.

Joseph of Arimathea was there to provide a tomb. Esther was there to turn the heart of a king. And what about me? Or you? Has that defining moment come? Is there another? Am I ready?

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Being the Samaritan Woman

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 4:9
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I watched the movie, Being John Malkovich. Now, that’s a strange film, but intriguing. Today, I began wondering what it would be like to inside the head of the Samaritan woman.

I have known what it feels like to be an outcast. As a first generation Latvian, I never felt part of the American community as a child. My father didn’t speak English and my mother had a pronounced accent. We were different. I did everything I could to blend in. On the converse, I wasn’t particularly accepted into the Latvian community either. My father died when I was nine and my mother raised my brother and me as a single mom. I discovered (years later) that she wasn’t really embraced by the Latvians after my father died because she was half German. She was on her own until other women became widows and sought her out for advice. So, while she was ostracized (for both her heritage and her widowhood), so were we.

In the end, both my brother and I became over achievers in an effort to find place. But, much like the Samaritan woman, I was still desperate for relationships. Before I met the Christ, I wandered in and out one relationship after another. Thankfully I didn’t marry each of them, but there is one divorce in my history.

By the time I met Jesus, I needed what she needed: acceptance, renewal, hope, connection, promise, change, transformation.

Upon my conversion, I found no need for drugs or alcohol, that was amazing. I even quit smoking. And then, I tried the great experiment, I became celibate. (Big discovery: those guys weren’t dating me for my mind.) And so, it was just Jesus and me. What a honeymoon.

I wonder why we never learn the Samaritan woman’s name. Perhaps she is a metaphor for all women. Perhaps the details are different, but the feelings and thoughts are ours. I’m glad Jesus was direct with her, telling her specifically who He was. I needed that too. And I believed Him. Thanks be to God.

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Power of Story

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 4:42
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

It all begins with a story. The Samaritan woman ran back to her town and told them what had happened to her at the well with the man, clearly a prophet, who revealed truth to her. Her story drew their curiosity and eventually, they too believed in the Christ, through direct encounters with Him.

I used to think that evangelizing or “bringing others to Christ” meant I had to know the “Four Spiritual Laws” or master the script from “Evangelism Explosion.” And although these programs work for some folks, they have not worked for me.

Meeting Christ and choosing the Way of Jesus transformed my life. When I met Jesus, I was flirting with the dark side in a major way: drugs, alcohol, filthy speech habits, and casual sex. It was ultimately just another young man’s story that made me curious enough to read the New Testament. This was my direct encounter with the Lord and I could not say “no” to His invitation. I asked to become his disciple the night of December 24, 1979.

I wish I could say that I was as enthusiastic as the Samaritan woman and ran to tell all of my friends that I had made a decision to follow Jesus. Instead, I was still embarrassed, worried about what they would think or say. And yet, they heard about it anyway. I was changed and people noticed. They asked questions. They wanted to know how I, one of the depraved, could have met Jesus. Like the woman at the well or the woman who washed Jesus feet with her hair, I was renewed by His acceptance and love.

But what about today? After 30 years, is there still power in my story?

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