On Faith: Sharing our Stories

On Faith: Sharing Our Stories

June 11, 2017

Luke 8:1-3; Matthew 28:1-20

Today we celebrated the baptism of Amanda, and the joining of the church by Farrah, Melanie, Amanda, Mary, and Cristin. If you haven't yet had the chance to get to know these women, please do so. They each have a wonderful story to tell about who they are, their families, their faith, and the journey that brought them here to Zion United Church of Christ.

I like stories. I'm sure you also like stories. Pretty much the whole world likes stories. The stories we tend to like draw us in, help us to identify with a character or a situation, provide some insight as well as enjoyment, and then end in a way that wraps it all up in a nice package; so we can sit back, sigh, and say, “That was a great story!”

Today we begin a new journey together, a new set of stories. Those stories are ones we will be hearing and reflecting on for the next several months. The stories will be about faith; our faith, your faith, and the faith we testify to in the United Church of Christ. For the next few months, each and every week we will be diving into our faith looking at one part of it, or maybe a part of the church, or maybe something else. Either way we will be taking time to look at our stories.

Today, we heard the story of Mary Magdalene. We first encountered her in our reading from Luke, where we discovered she had been possessed by seven demons, which had been called out of her by Jesus. That's a story to tell. Then, we met her again in Luke's account of the resurrection where she was the first of the witnesses, the one who returned to the disciples with a story to tell that would trump all other stories.

Stories. Stories about Mary Magdalene. Stories from the lives of our new members here at Zion, stories about the lives that has been found within these walls for the last hundred plus years. My stories, and your stories. Stories of Faith.

By hearing the stories of others, their faith, and their doubts, their encounters with God, and what it means to them to live life as followers of Jesus, we become a part of their story as well. Their stories influence our story. We want to know a loving God who understands us and accept us as we are. We want to be in covenant with God and with others through Jesus Christ. We want to become part of the vision of the reign of God. As we become more familiar with the story, the more we become a part of it.

The story of Christianity, the story of our faith is found and told in three essential locations: the words of scripture, in the words and lives of other people, and in the regular coming together of God's people in worship, praise and thanksgiving.

Within the pages of the Bible, we find the story of the relationship between God and humanity. Within its pages we find the human story, our story of falling away again and again, the story of a God who never abandons us, the story of salvation. Our realization of our many failures, our repentance, God's mercy and forgiveness. Our relationship with God is dependent on who God is and who we are as God's people. The Bible tells us that story.

In worship we hear and tell our story in a different way. Through prayer and praise, God's word and the sacraments; worship is meant to be a joyful response, a thanksgiving of God's people to God's redeeming love in Jesus the Christ. As we gather regularly together, over the course of each year we hear and explore the stories of Jesus' birth, his teaching and ministry, his death, and his glorious resurrection. In worship, we deepen our understanding of and faith in God's saving grace.

Faith, though is most powerful when it is shared. When we hear the stories of faith from each other. We need to hear those stories: the stories of young and old, the stories of people who grew up in the church and those that are just recently part of it, those who are like us and those who are different. The Holy Spirit moves and breathes through these stories, and we must be open to hearing it. By hearing other people's stories, our own stories are enriched and deepened; our identity as a child of God, as a follower of Jesus strengthens.

The story Mary Magdalene told the disciples on Easter morning changed the world. In the hearing and telling of our stories we are changed, in the telling and re-telling of the story of faith the Church grows and the world is changed again and again. What is the story you have to tell? What stories have meant the most to you? When was the last time you told your story? May we discover the stories of who we have been, who we are becoming, who we are yet to be; and may those stories heal us, bless us, and empower us in all we say and do. Amen.