09-23-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
September 23, 2023
Tomorrow, I get to preach on the topic I’ve been discussing almost all week here in my Etchings. The sermon will be based on the three parables in Luke’s Gospel, the three lost “items” — sheep, coin, son. Of course, I plan to turn the parable a little upside down in regard to who exactly is lost, but you’ll need to be there tomorrow to hear that. 

So often, I hear people say, “Oh, that parable means…” (and they provide a very detailed explanation of the parable). Maybe I’m wrong, and I am often wrong, but I sort of believe that if Jesus had wanted that “very detailed explanation,” he would have just given us the detailed explanation. The power of parables and stories in general is their capacity to speak well beyond the actual words used to communicate. A good story grabs your attention, has something to which you can relate, and then stays with you while it continues to prod you. I believe Jesus used parables to suggest the journey of discovery is equally important to the destination, or maybe even more important.

Over the last thirty years, I have found more and more depth, meaning, and discomforting layers to some of the parables that I thought I fully understood thirty-one years ago. And maybe another reason for parables is their capacity to meet us where we are, and so depending on my current challenges or questions, a parable can become a window through which I see something I had never pondered before. 

O Holy Giver of Wisdom, as strange and head-scratching as some of the parables might be, I am thankful for the way they walk alongside me in life, or even how they guide me onto paths I had never previously imagined. Thank you! Amen.