Showing posts with label gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gospel. Show all posts

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Gospel Gossip


Easter tomorrow and I am preaching on the God who seeks life rather than suffering. The woman at the tomb were instructed that Christ was not to be found among the dead but the living. The God-man Jesus spent most of his life "giving life" in all manner and means and not sitting with only a sympathetic ear. Another aspect of the scripture account came to me this morning. After realizing the risen Jesus, the woman rush back to tell everybody. This also includes Peter who goes back to tell. There is no ways you can contain the import of such an event within yourself. There are many things in life that are wiser kept closer to the breast, but the surprise of life offered to us by God should be imparted with enthusiasm. The response will no doubt be with cynical retort, but the heart alive in the risen Christ will blurt it out non-the-less. It is important that we move from Church on Sunday blurting forth the Good News. It is the one day I encourage folk to Gossip as much as they want. But, that is Gossip with a big “G.” Gospel gossip. I have asked worshipers leaving our Tenebrae and Good Friday services to leave in quietness and reverence, but will not do the same tomorrow. Christ is risen.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Storyteller


The faithful are storytellers. A story from the heart and not by yellow pages. The story of a relationship that happens in our ‘now’ life. The glow of this story may not even shine from words but merely from presence and action. In fact words can be a distraction. It is important to know that we are storytellers and not readers. A reader takes in a story and appreciates its meaning but the storyteller takes that meaning and translates it into words that helps others read. A storyteller listens to the subject of its story, the heart’s movements, desires and experiences. The skill of the storyteller lies in how well they know their hearts transformed. The ability to put concepts to feelings, names to hopes, and truth to sentiments. The Jesus story is not placed on a shelf or neatly stacked by the bedside. The story of all stories is translated, re-translated and shared from one heart to the next.