The Community of Storytellers

So every year we celebrate this as 'Gotcha Day' with a cake and party, and story-telling about what happened to our family because Christina became a part of it.

Gotcha Day – what a wonderful time for family story-telling!

As a way to remember what brought them together, and to express the love they ave for each other, they tell a story.

Let's suppose that in the middle of a conversation one day, a person asks one of us, “Why do you bother with church?”

I hear that there are disagreements,

--that a person I really don't like goes there,

--that they talk about money and what we do – things that are supposed to be one's own private business,

So why waste those hours that you could be using for something more enjoyable? Why bother?

Then it is time for our answer.

There are things that we could say that should not be the top of the list:

--what a beautiful building we have,

--time to catch up with friends,

--keeping up appearances, etc.

Sooner or later, if our questioner is persistent and won't let us off the hook with a weak answer, we will have to begin telling a story --

not just any story, but the story of all stories that begins long ago and continues right up to this very minute.

It is a story with many characters,

some of whom we know, but many more that we do not know.

It is the story of God's love for us first through Israel, and most especially through our Lord Jesus Christ.

That story and our involved place in it are the real answer to the question of “Why bother with church?”

Anything else is purely secondary.

Why bother with church?

--because it is the gathering of people whom God has claimed and named as his own,

people, who in their joy, want to praise God, encourage each other, share the Good News with a despairing world,

and care for all, whatever the need.

Why bother with church?

Some will ask the question very directly.

These days folks say, “You're down there in the middle of town and one has to come in by way of Mulberry Street.

It is just too much of a hassle.”

The implication is clear: Why bother?

If we can avoid simply trading insults, the appropriate response will begin to retell a portion of the story that includes:

...and Christ called and baptized me with water and his promise and has given me lots to do and say right here in St. Mark's.”

With all of its warts and wrinkles, joys and sorrows, it is still God's place for me now, with his people.”

And then the discussion needs to be turned the other way, saying, “Hey, what about you, friend?

Do you know that there is room for you, too, in this or another fellowship of the Gospel?

do you know that Jesus lives and died for you, also?'

The next chapter of the story is about you!

That is an appropriate response, because it opens an opportunity for the other person.

It gives him or her a chance to enter into a conversation and not a confrontation.

This approach is not a new invention; we have the model for it in Jesus conversation with Peter in today's Gospel.

We start with the easy question: “Hey, what are you hearing around town?”

And the disciples gladly give him all the latest gossip.

But then the question turns intensely individual: “But who do you say that I am?”

No more hiding behind someone else's opinion.

“Why are you following me? Why bother?

There are troubles, controversies, arguments about money, difficult people, mixed in with the good times and the laughs.

“Why bother,?” asks Jesus.

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, blurts out Peter.

No, he does not know all of the implications of what he is saying, but he is beginning to see how Jesus is a key part of God's story.

And Jesus commends him for that beginning.

We can begin to sense a connection between the question and the question to us.

“Who do you say this Jesus is.?” and

“Why bother with church?” are the same question, asked from different perspectives!

The answers, though phrased differently, are the same answer in both cases: they are acknowledgments of the preeminent role of Jesus in our lives,

because Jesus is God's Messiah.

And that is a story with power, one which continues to grip us.

Yes, we are a community of story-tellers.

Each of us has experienced a slightly different facet of the story, but we share its central part as we share in its faith passed down from each of the generations which follow the apostles.

In three weeks, God will be calling a number of persons in our midst to shape our story-telling as teachers in the Sunday Church School here.

They will be assisting the pupils to answer clearly “Who is this Jesus?”...

They deserve every bit of encouragement which we can give to them.

And the challenge is for all of us, not just those who serve as teachers.

Many say, “It is just too difficult in this pluralistic society; let's leave it to the Council, a committee, or the pastor.

It never has been easy of comfortable, and Jesus never said that it would be!

I remember seeing a poster with this message:

If you think being a Christian is inconvenient today, just look back 1,500 years.

The illustration is St. Sebastian being shot full of arrows.

Wooden arrows may not be coming our way at the moment, but lots of other kinds are:

--the barbs of hate and misunderstanding,

--the broad-tipped arrow of indifference,

as sent by the person who says

“hey our new neighbor is Hindu, but that isn't important. After all we're saying mostly the same thing.”

But as pleasant as the Hindu neighbor may be, we're not saying the same thing at all.

Hindus may talk about fate;

Christians talk about the grace of God.

Hindus may talk about reincarnation;

Christians insist on Christ's promise of .the resurrection.

There is good reason why the story of Jesus sounds like Good News to those who are at the bottom of the social heap in India,

and why higher-ranking Hindus are reacting with murder and hatred against Christians.

The Gospel says that the divisions imposed on these people are not true.

The power of the story will change that society one person at a time.

It has always been this way:

Remember that the Gospels were written at a time when Christians were in a tiny minority and there was great pressure on them to conform with everyone else.

Yet the first followers do not give in.

--They freely proclaim what makes the Christian faith fundamentally different.

--They know that their accomplishments pale in significance next to what has been given to them by God, namely, the capacity to answer the question Who do you say that I am? with the confident You are the Messiah, the Son of God....and then go on and tell more of the story.

No matter which way the question is asked: Who do you say this Jesus is? or, Why bother with church?

The answer is the same:

Jesus is the Son of God; come and listen to him....not arrogantly or condescendingly, but earnestly and invitingly.

And this brings us finally to the brochure included with the bulletin today.

It is there as a reminder to all of us about the many good things that we have together here at St. Mark's.

But its bigger job is to be a tool for you to use sometime this week when someone asks you Why bother with church? and you can answer Come and see Jesus with me, as you hand the brochure to that person.

Let me tell you the story of how the love of God continues to reach out to me.

If Jesus could figure out how to make use of that impetuous and irascible Peter, who had messed up so many things,

he can certainly make use of us as well!

No matter which way the question is asked:

Why bother with church? or who do you say this Jesus is?

The answer is the same:

Do we have a wonderful story to tell you! Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.