Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
Object:
What are the stories we pass on to our children? Every family has them. My own father concocted an elaborate set of stories based on the adventures of an elf who lived in the forest around my childhood home. This elf had all kinds of adventures with various animals, with each story a moral that somehow fit into the particular childhood struggle occurring. I always marveled at how this elf led a life so parallel to my own.
Aside from family fairy tales and lore, we also pass on and tell other stories, don't we? Caught up, as we are, in our national mythos, we pass along stories of patriots and great leaders. We pass along tales of heroism and valor, and we pass on the narrative of our culture. One cultural narrative here in the United States would be the story line that says everyone has an equal shot at success. Another narrative would be that if we only work hard enough, success will be ours. True or not, these are the background stories for who we are as a nation.
How does this work for us as a people of faith? What stories about God do we hear and pass on to our children? More to the point, what stories do you pass on to your children about God? At dinner with family, at prayer time, on those long car journeys to Grandma's house, what is it that you tell your children about God?
The question is asked because it seems that the stories are told less these days. It's not that God's activity in the world has lessened. Indeed, look around and see everywhere the evidence of a loving and powerful God! Still, the stories don't seem to come to -- or from -- us very much. Why, one is left to wonder, are we not telling our stories about God?
In an evermore secular climate some people, of course, are a little embarrassed to talk about God. Indeed, one church member who was putting on a benefit for a noble cause and was using the church sanctuary recently came and asked the pastor if he could cover up the cross and Christian symbols because he was afraid they might offend someone. Thankfully, the pastor politely declined to have the cross covered.
We also decline to tell the stories of God because we have so nicely compartmentalized our faith. Church or Christianity is what we do one morning a week and perhaps one evening for a committee or Bible study. It is seldom something that dominates our whole being. No, such extremism is for zealots.
So the question remains, not to be answered here, but by our daily living. How do the stories of God's mighty acts in history get told? Who tells them? Who is there to hear? Perhaps the call comes today for us to begin to share our stories with our children, our friends, with anyone who will listen.
Aside from family fairy tales and lore, we also pass on and tell other stories, don't we? Caught up, as we are, in our national mythos, we pass along stories of patriots and great leaders. We pass along tales of heroism and valor, and we pass on the narrative of our culture. One cultural narrative here in the United States would be the story line that says everyone has an equal shot at success. Another narrative would be that if we only work hard enough, success will be ours. True or not, these are the background stories for who we are as a nation.
How does this work for us as a people of faith? What stories about God do we hear and pass on to our children? More to the point, what stories do you pass on to your children about God? At dinner with family, at prayer time, on those long car journeys to Grandma's house, what is it that you tell your children about God?
The question is asked because it seems that the stories are told less these days. It's not that God's activity in the world has lessened. Indeed, look around and see everywhere the evidence of a loving and powerful God! Still, the stories don't seem to come to -- or from -- us very much. Why, one is left to wonder, are we not telling our stories about God?
In an evermore secular climate some people, of course, are a little embarrassed to talk about God. Indeed, one church member who was putting on a benefit for a noble cause and was using the church sanctuary recently came and asked the pastor if he could cover up the cross and Christian symbols because he was afraid they might offend someone. Thankfully, the pastor politely declined to have the cross covered.
We also decline to tell the stories of God because we have so nicely compartmentalized our faith. Church or Christianity is what we do one morning a week and perhaps one evening for a committee or Bible study. It is seldom something that dominates our whole being. No, such extremism is for zealots.
So the question remains, not to be answered here, but by our daily living. How do the stories of God's mighty acts in history get told? Who tells them? Who is there to hear? Perhaps the call comes today for us to begin to share our stories with our children, our friends, with anyone who will listen.
