11.22.2009

Parables

This morning, in Discipleship Class, I was introduced to an intriguing thought. This was in a subject I never had put much thought into - parables.

"Why parables?" You may ask, "Aren't those stories Jesus used when teaching?"

"Yes, exactly. Jesus taught in parables. And if Jesus used this method it must be a very good one."

" Yes, but that was a long time ago. We now live in an era of cell phones, Internet, facebook, science, ..."

" People are people. We all have that same nature. Those in Jesus' time(like us) had the need to be loved, need of belong, a self-centered nature. They cried, laughed, thought, and rested. Even before Jesus' time. "

In class, we were reading the story of David and Bathsheba. This is a dark story ... an account of a sin David committed against Bathseba, Uriah, and God. Then we read that David tried to cover up his sin ... This causes more consequences which spilled into the lives of many innocent people. (2 Sam. 11-12)

Next we find, Nathan, a prophet sent by God, spoke to David in a parable."There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.
'The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
'Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

How did David respond?
"David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!" (2 Sam. 12: ?)

"You are that man!" Nathan replied.

"Why did Nathan speak in a parable? Why did Jesus speak in parables?"

...The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' (Matt. 13: ?)

Jesus said, "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand."

Parables are a way in which one reaches past a person's self-defence/ that feeling in which you have to defend yourself . "This is 'why' I'm O.K!"

What if Nathan had told King David, "You are a sinner worthy of death. You committed adultery with Uriah's wife, then committed murder against Uriah ..."? King David may have had Nathan's head chopped off. Do you think the people would have listened to Jesus? The Word tells us that the people's hearts where calloused. What callouses our hearts? Sin?

Fr. Bob brought forth the intriguing thought that we as Christian should also learn how to "speak in parables" in evangelism. Think about Jesus... OK. I'm stuck in this thought. I know what I'm thinking but just how to write that is a challenge. I found a article on http://www.internetevangelismday.com/ which so beautifully portrays what I am trying to share.


The Parable of Parable

Why stories communicate

"Once upon a time, Truth went about the streets as naked as the day he was born. As a result, no-one would let him into their homes. Whenever people caught sight of him, they turned away and fled. One day when Truth was sadly wandering about, he came upon Parable. Now, Parable was dressed in splendid clothes of beautiful colors. And Parable, seeing Truth, said, "Tell me, neighbor, what makes you look so sad?" Truth replied bitterly, "Ah, brother, things are bad. Very bad. I'm old, very old, and no-one wants to acknowledge me. No-one wants anything to do with me."

Hearing that, Parable said, "People don't run away from you because you're old. I too am old. Very old. But the older I get, the better people like me. I'll tell you a secret: Everyone like things disguised and prettied up a bit. Let me lend you some splendid clothes like mine, and you'll see that the very people who pushed you aside will invite you into their homes and be glad of your company."

Truth took parable's advice and put on the borrowed clothes. And from that time on, Truth and Parable have gone hand in hand together and everyone loves them. They make a happy pair."

Yiddish Folktales, Pantheon Books, New York, edited by Beatice Silverian Weinreich, ISBN: 0805210903

The Example of Jesus

"Jesus was not a theologian; He was God who told stories" - Madeleine L'Engle

We can use parable, as Jesus kid to illustrate the truth by pointing to meanings in books and films and everyday life. It is also very close to the concept of redemptive analogy.

Sermon illustrations are essential to clear communication and are very close to parable. "A sermon without illustrations is like a room without windows." (CH Spurgeon)

The word gospel is a direct translation of evangelion in the New Testament, though many modern translations use the equally valid good news. Interestingly, the word gospel comes from the Old English godspel which also means good story. One thing that makes us human is our imagination, the ability to visualize a narrative which we cannot see, whether past, present or future, fact or fiction. We are hardwired to create and understand 'story', even from a very early age.

"Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: 'I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.'" ( Matt. 13:4-5)

As we read the four gospels, we see that Jesus never used scripture as a starting point except in the synagogue. He always used stories about everyday things. Perhaps surprisingly, it is never recorded that He even used a short narrative story from what we now call the Old Testament.

Note how universal this principal is: TV adverts tell a short narrative story in order to be memorable. Even a humor cartoon usually contains the snapshot of a short story.

Jesus was a Storyteller!

Why is storytelling so important for world mission? Here are some reasons, collected by Jim Bowman, Directoe of Scripture in Use:

  • Over two thirds of the world population receive most of their information orally;
  • For over one third of the world population, oral communication is the only source of information;
  • 95% of women in the Islamic world can only be reached through oral comm.
  • Over 75% of the Bible consists of stories

etc.

A surprisingly large number of people even in the West do not receive most of their information through the printed page. This subject of oral evangelism is very relevant even for evangelism in the West.

www.internetevangelismday.com/parable.php



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