Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely, we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all, and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are human heart.
II Corinthians 3:1-3
STORY
William Blackaby was born in British Columbia in 1935. After graduating from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, he began serving a church in California. In 1970 he was asked to return to his native Canada and assist a small church in Saskatoon that was on the verge of closing. He and his wife Marilynn answered the call to serve Faith Baptist Church. Over the next 12 years, the once-dying church grew from 10 members to a thriving congregation that launched 38 mission churches as well as the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary and College.
As a recognized pastoral leader in both Canada and the United States, lay and celery were interested to learn about his style of ministry. Blackaby distilled the lessons from his pastoral experience in a Bible study, titled Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God.
According to the publisher Lifeway, Experiencing God study book sold more than 8 million copies in English alone, and was translated into more than 75 languages.
In that volume William Blackaby outlined his approach to ministry which he summed up by a short but memorable statement: “Watch to see where God is working and join him.”
DEVOTION
Let us partner with God in ministry, and, according to Paul, allow our lives to be read as if we were a spiritual letter.
Louis Albert Banks, in his book Windows for Sermons, reported, regarding the teaching of Jesus, that “more than nine-tenths is composed of illustrations.” Banks went on to conclude that this is why the teaching of Jesus “appeal not to the head only, but to the heart.” Banks, who published his book in 1902, was a pastor in various American cities and the author of more than 60 books. He was known for his simple preaching style and his use of pithy illustrations.
Jesus chose the use of stories to share ninety percent of the truth he wanted to convey. As we embark on being evangelists, this must be, not should be, but must be a mandate for us – we have a story to tell.
The prophets of the Old Testament, the evangelists of the New Testament, and Jesus himself, realized that the truth about God could most proficiently be comprehended through story. They knew that dictates have power but remain aimless unless placed in the environment of a story. With narration the listener is transported into the message. Theological dictums will no longer be seen from afar, as they are now placed at our very doorstep.
I would be amiss if I didn’t dedicate a section of this devotional to the master storyteller – Jesus. The reader doesn’t need me to solicit the realization that everything that Jesus taught was wrapped in a story. When we hear the word parable our first associate with that word is the name of Jesus. Jesus, we know, could take the common and make it profound. Most of our knowledge and understanding of God, our relationship to the Deity, and the discipline that is required of us, has been conveyed by the stories Jesus told. Jesus liberally used stories to convey a truth regarding spiritual living – proper living.
We must set forth the teaching style of Jesus as our guide and example for witnessing. Jesus, in telling stories to make known the Kingdom of God, never talked down to the listener; he never made the listener feel inferior to the teacher; he always included the audience in his stories; the audience could always relate to his stories. In summation, Jesus had a talent – a knack – for making the listener feel as if he was a part of the story.
This was actualized by Jesus in his use of common events and objects that were very familiar. For the listener the stories could be easily understood because Jesus made his stories applicable to daily living. Though the message of the story was often profound, it was easily comprehended. The story could be upsetting to those he was challenging, though it was never demeaning. If the story called for a change of heart and a reorientation of attitude, the story still conveyed acceptance and forgiveness. And perhaps, one of the most important lessons we have from Jesus, is that his stories are timeless.
Ian Pitt-Watson addressed this problem. Pitt-Watson was a professor of preaching and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. In his book Preaching: A Kind of Folly, which was published in 1976, he discussed how pastors must make the language of the pulpit a contemporary language, not allowing it to remain a foreign language for the congregation. Pitt-Watson wrote, “the language of the pulpit must be not only Biblical but also contemporary, the language of Canaan translated into the language of Babylon.” For this transition to be accomplished, according to Pitt-Watson, the congregation needs a “point of contact.” A point where the unfamiliar becomes familiar.
A sermon, according to the professor that includes “exegesis of life” stories will create a “point of contact.” An exegesis of life story is presented when a minister can relate to the questions that parishioners are asking, and then speaks to those questions in a religious language they can understand. An exegesis of life is described as “The preacher states his theme in terms of some experience which he knows to be shared by himself and his hearers. It may be a specific event, a common emotion, a shared interest, or even something as seemingly ephemeral and trivial as a current catch phrase, or a familiar television program.”
Subservient to the exegesis of life is the use of sermon illustrations. Regarding the use of illustrations Pitt-Watson wrote, “…for a story-illustration from the preacher’s own experience, or from biography, history or fiction – at best can make abstractions real and personal, generalities specific and relevant…” With this, the preacher begins a hermeneutical approach to his sermon.
To preach and be heard a minister must translate the language of antiquity into a contemporary vernacular. The minister must look to the culture of his people and speak in terms and images they can understand. The minister must speak in familiar words permitting the congregation can come to understand the unfamiliar.
The minister proclaims the words of Canaan, but he must not stop there. The minister then translates the words of Canaan into the words and images of Babylon, a new language of a foreign land, so the congregation will understand. If we are to be honest with ourselves, in so many ways, we, today, are a “foreign land” when it comes to understanding biblical language. With contemporary language there will be understanding, enabling us to apply the truth of God to our lives. This makes the Gospel message relevant for a new time and a new place.
This advice to clergy on sermon composition parallels the advice that I would render to laity on witnessing. You have a story to tell. Your most authentic witness will revolve around sharing what Jesus means to you. You don’t need to be a theologian or biblical scholar. Absent is any need to be versed in the history of Christendom. Forego the intimidation of trying to answer those thorny questions. Simple – all that you need to is simple – just share your story.
For the past several months I have been reading a daily devotional guide titled Reflections, published by NextSunday Resources. Kristen Mathis wrote the mediation for Saturday, March 23, reflecting on 2 Corinthians 3:1-6. Kristen is the minister of faith development at First Baptist Church in Rome, Georgia. Each week during the year the booklet has a theme. The topic of discussion for the week of the 17th was “Written on Our Hearts.” In the opening paragraph she wrote, “God wants more from us than a successful score on a set of do’s and don’ts. God wants us to share our inner life and make an impression.” Kristen then went on to write that our Christian resume should not be a list of accomplishments, instead it must be “stories about what God’s living Spirit is doing in us now, those stories we must read each other’s hearts to tell.”
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all, and you show that you are a letter of Christ…” – you have a story to tell.