This is the Pastor’s Blog for the Service on Sunday May 10th. This week the message is titled “The Power of Story”. Included here is the primary Scripture of this message and the Pastor’s notes.

Scripture: Acts 11:1-18

Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, ³ saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”

⁴ But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying: ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. ⁶ When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ ¹⁰ Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, ¹⁴ who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

Pastor’s Message:

My family is a story-telling family.  I grew up listening to my mother, aunt, and grandmother tell stories about family members who died before I was born – so much so that I felt like I knew them.  Some of the stories were hilarious – like the time my grandfather threw his octogenarian great aunt Vic’s hat under the house, and then pretended someone else had done it.  Others were sad – like the time my grandfather used my grandmother’s small herd of dairy cattle for collateral on a loan and then defaulted on that loan.  Other stories were incredibly moving – like when my grandparents eloped because my grandmother’s dad didn’t approve of her marrying my grandfather (I wonder why?).  Some weeks after they married, my great grandfather showed up in front of my grandparents’ house.  He walked up to my grandfather and held out his hand for a reconciliation handshake.  All was forgiven.

On this Mothers’ Day, I could share so many stories with you about my mom.  How much time do we have?  She was 6’1”, with natural platinum blonde hair.  She was a lover of scripture and literature in general and was one of the funniest and wittiest people I have ever known.  After she retired from full-time ministry, she served for a year in England when they had a clergy shortage.  At 72, she rented out her house, packed her bags, and travelled across the water to England for the first time in her life.  She learned how to drive on the left side of the road in a little car with a stick shift.  And she may have used some salty language when the transmission gears made a grinding sound.

Stories create identity, form connections, and change hearts.  Jesus knew this, as he used parables to share about the kingdom and love of God.  Jesus built community by telling stories.  The people who were moved by Jesus’ stories grew and transformed in ways they had never experienced before.  They learned they were loved, forgiven, and free.

Simon Peter experienced transformation through Jesus’ stories.  When we read John’s gospel and the early chapters in the book of Acts, we get an idea of just how much Peter changed.  John tells the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples – a non-verbal parable that shows what love and community should be.  Peter initially fails to understand the “story” that is being told in the washing of feet by Jesus and how it is connected to Jesus’ urging that they love one another as he has loved them.  Peter protests, and asks for Jesus to wash his head and hands as well.  Peter seems to struggle with wondering if he deserves such treatment from his teacher.

By the time we get to Acts, Peter has received the gift of the Holy Spirit and has become a preacher of the gospel story.  In the story we just heard in the 11^th chapter of Acts, the story wheel turns one more time as Peter comes to see that the gospel isn’t just for Jews – it’s for gentiles too, because the Spirit “knows no partiality.”

When Peter is summoned by the early church leaders to Jerusalem to answer for his baptizing of Gentiles, he reaches into Jesus’ story-telling tradition and shares with them what he experienced on that rooftop. He doesn’t offer theological talking points, or well-crafted debate. Peter tells the story of the sheet being lowered from heaven, full of food that is not kosher, and being told to “kill and eat.” When Peter protests (he’s good at protesting), he learns again of the expansive love of the God that knows no limits of culture, language or religious practice. When the Jerusalem church leaders hear Peter’s story, their hearts are also changed. The Jerusalem leaders don’t just sit there, nodding their heads, they launch into praise for what God has done in casting grace and love far and wide.

This is the power of story: connection, salvation, transformation. When we let the gospel story of God-in-Christ sink into our hearts and bones we let it change us. The gospel has the power to make us more Christ-like, more loving, more faithful to who God has created us to be.

We need more gospel stories these days, don’t we? So here’s a modern-day gospel story I’d like to share.

In June of 1996, an 18-year old student named Keshia Thomas learned that the Ku Klux Klan had scheduled a rally in her hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. She also learned that other students and members of the community were organizing a protest of the rally, and she joined the protest.

The day of the rally, the KKK was there in white robes and hoods. The anti-KKK protestors – Keshia among them – were on the other side of a fence that had been constructed. Police were present to keep things peaceful.

Someone in the crowd noticed a man who had on a tee shirt with an emblem often seen in line with what the KKK represents. The man also sported a Nazi “SS” tattoo on one arm. No one knew if he was a part of the rally, but a shout weny up from somewhere in the crowd calling attention to this man.

The protestors began to chase this man and knocked him to the ground, hitting him with their protest signs.

Eighteen-year old Keshia didn’t like what she was seeing. She stepped forward and threw herself over the man to shield him from the blows.

A student photographer named Mark Brunner caught all of this on camera. After witnessing this event, he asked, “who does that in this world?”

What motivated 18-year old Keshia to act so courageously? The account says her religious beliefs played a part. When describing the event, she said that “when [the protestors] dropped [this man] to the ground, it felt like two angels had lifted my body up and laid me down [to protect him].

Perhaps Keshia had heard the story of Peter’s vision that God’s love is for “Jews and gentiles” alike, that there is no limit to divine grace. Maybe she had heard the story of Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet, and of the commandment to love one another, just as Jesus has loved them – and us.

Perhaps when hearing this story, Keshia noticed that Jesus gave this commandment under less-than-ideal circumstances. When Jesus tells the disciples to love each other as he has loved them, Judas the betrayer has just left the room, and Jesus is facing his own arrest and death. Just because the circumstances are threatening doesn’t mean that God’s love doesn’t still flow. When the chips are down and things are hard is when God’s love issues forth like a powerful torrent that doesn’t destroy, but builds up. It changes everything. God’s love transforms the world.

Not everyone can be a Keshia, throwing oneself in harm’s way to bear witness to love. But we can learn the stories of how God’s love shows up, and tell those stories over and over, letting them change us in the telling. Telling the story of God’s love never gets old.

Stories save. Stories transform. In these days, let us share stories of the gospel at work. Our hearts and spirits need them, and the world is aching to hear them.

Closing prayer.