I appreciate all the positive feedback I’ve received following the portrayal of Peter which I did on Easter Sunday. It’s been considerably more than what I usually receive. I’m not quite sure what to make of that fact. I don’t know whether it means that the portrayal was that extraordinary or if anything would be better than one of my regular sermons?!?
Seriously, though, I think what it really means is that there is power in stories. We western world Christians have too often diluted the scriptures into a series of principles; “do these things and you’ll be happy, wealthy and wise.” And while there are certainly principles for life found in the Bible, the scriptures are made up primarily of stories.
It is stories which define who we are and how we live. If you ask me to tell you something about myself, I could say, “I’m six feet tall. I have blue eyes. I have brown hair and a beard.” I have truthfully told you something about me, but you could not say you really knew me. We can’t know other people until we know the stories of their lives. It’s the same with God.
Getting to know God requires we know God’s stories. That’s one of the reasons the Jewish people have celebrated Passover for thousands of years. In the Passover celebration the story of God’s deliverance is retold. Through that story, God’s people come to know who God is. Jesus was a supreme storyteller. His primary of teaching was telling stories (parables).
My portrayal of Peter was nothing more than a story told in the first person. The way it touched people demonstrates the power of story.
What’s really incredible is that the power of story is being discovered by people one would not normally think of when talking about stories. Daniel Pink in A Whole New Mind (one of the best books I’ve read in a long time) devotes an entire chapter on how businesses and other institutions are using stories to help them achieve their goals. Pink quotes Dr. Howard Brody, a family practice physician:
Stories—that’s how people make sense of what’s happening to them when they get sick. They tell stories about themselves. Our ability as doctors to treat and heal is bound up in our ability to accurately perceive a patient’s story.
So what’s your story? And in particular, what’s your God story? Find somebody to tell your story to this week and watch what happens.
John, you have hit the nail on the head. I said it in my last comment regarding preaching styles. Story moves people. 3-point sermons don't. You have proved the point yourself by people's reaction to your portrayal of Peter. Take a clue from your congregant's reaction. They will be moved when you engage them in the richness of the biblical Story, and the meanings behind why things happen they way they did. People want to know what happened any why. That's why "reality" TV is so absurdly popular these days. It is real-life people, not some fictional character. And good reality tv gives the insites as to why they reacted the way they did. It involves the audience in the show by giving them the inside scoop. Sounds like your portrayal of Peter was good preaching, and I doubt you delivered it in the form of a 3-point message.
Posted by: Jeff Edmondson | April 29, 2006 at 10:22 PM