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What Is Your Story?

When husband and I were pasturing the little church in Yelm I read lots of other people’s sermons for inspiration. Today I spent an hour searching for (and eventually found!) one by Pastor David Heflin that he posted on Sermon Central in 2011.

Pastor Heflin grew up in Texas where both the athletic and academic meets are governed by a body called The University Interscholastic League (U.I.L.). When he was in the second grade the children were given the opportunity to compete in the U.I.L.’s storytelling competition. Because I love hearing and telling stories, his experience embedded in my memory and I was compelled to reread his sermon this week.

The rules were fairly straightforward. The students listened to a teacher read a story, and then they would retell the story as best they could before a panel of judges. Pastor Heflin wrote, “Not knowing what I was getting into, I eagerly volunteered. The day came for our first practice. We were to hear the story from our homeroom teacher and then go tell the story to the other class. I had no problem on the first part, but the second was a different matter altogether!

“I stood in front of the classroom and stared blankly into the eyes of my fellow second graders. No words were coming out of my mouth! I was simply petrified! In a great act of mercy, the teacher, Ms. Chisum, had me turn around and face her desk and just tell the story to her. So with my back to the class I mumbled some pitiful version of the story to Ms. Chisum, slipped out the door, and my U.I.L. storytelling days were over.

“It doesn’t matter how good your story is, if you can’t tell it.”

I have days when I feel like that terrified second grader. I know there is something compelling about my story, but I am afraid to tell it. My back is turned to the world while I mumble my story in church or to a close friend, but the people who need to hear it most, don’t hear it at all.

Part of the problem is that many of us don’t relate our faith journey within the context of a compelling story. What we believe is tightly wrapped up in our commandments, church ordinances, sacramental liturgies, and religious vocabulary that most people don’t even understand very well. None of those things bring people into a relationship with Jesus.

Stories do.

In fact, the Bible is predominately written through stories. Even those portions that are not in narrative form are based on them. And let’s not forget that Jesus used parables—stories—to teach the important lessons of love, forgiveness, and mercy.

On those occasions when I have wandered from God’s plan for my life, it is the story of the prodigal that gives me the courage to turn around and return to Him. When I have been in great emotional pain, I don’t search for a commandment that might set me aright; I remember the woman who bravely touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and was healed. When I feel insignificant, liturgy doesn’t speak to me, but the story about a shepherd who left his flock of sheep to search for the one who was lost reminds me of my value.

The greatest thing about the biblical story is that it isn’t just God’s story—it is ours also. He invites us into the narrative.

I don’t think God wants us to whisper our stories to teachers while we turn our backs to the world. It is time for us to face the classroom and boldly proclaim the living parables that have led us home, healed our pain, and taught us that we are significant in God’s eyes. Those are the stories people need to hear in this troubled time.

Let’s speak up.

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