What do you make of this? Matthew 13:3 (MSG)
Truth is Found by Faith and Trust – The Seed Series – Part 1
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
The scriptures are rich with story. It tells a thousand tiny ones, which together, mix, mingle and culminate into a much larger, expansive narrative. One that is ongoing still through all of us, in one way or another. As the universe itself is still expanding, so the is the story of how The Divine become (and keeps becoming) “flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1:14 MSG).
The Biblical text is often referred to as “The word of God” or the “Truth.” Which it is, but maybe not in the way we think.
In the scriptures, we find that Jesus (and other writers) hardly ever gave truth in dot point form. Of course, there are a few instances, yes. But those need to be dug into, through and around.
“Truth” is told through stories and parables, pictures and poetry, biographies and metaphors. The interpretations of which are vibrant and expansive.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6).
He didn’t say: “Hey, here’s the truth in ten easy, clear, black and white, points and rules, distinctions and actions.” (I wrote a devotion about this on the Live in the Movement Part 5.)
He is truth: his personhood and divinity, his life and example, his ways and his walk; his incarnation and cosmic habitation. It’s not black and white, color by number, easy to follow. Truth is found by faith and trust. It’s a WAY and a LIFE, not a list or a club. It’s lived into and discovered day-by-day by those who are willing to find it for themselves.
Frederick Buechner said:
“Faith is better understood as a verb than as a noun, as a process than as a possession. It is on-again-off-again rather than once-and-for-all. Faith is not being sure where you’re going, but going anyway. A journey without maps.” (from his book, Beyond Words.) (1.)
Matthew 13:1 says:
“In no time at all, a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing [Jesus] to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. “What do you make of this?” He said.”
He addressed those gathered around him by telling stories. Not dot points of “truth.” Stories. He was about to launch into a short, confusing, convicting, parable.
Now, look: parables are NOT illustrations or fables used to reveal a certain point or uncover a static, motionless truth. They don’t have one set meaning that we are left to find on our own, or have explained to us by the right preacher. They serve as keys that can unlock the challenges we face in our every day, ordinary, divine lives by helping us ask the right questions:
How do we live in community?
How do we determine what really matters?
How do we live the life God wants us to live?
And what does that even mean?
They are provocative stories designed to make us think. Disruptive, and at times oddly encouraging, they leave you with questions and hope alike.
Jesus rarely interpreted his parables, and this in itself, reveals how they work. The meaning bends and morphs (like a shapeshifter… sorry, is my nerd showing? *wink*) over time, through situations, depending on where you’re at when you hear it, making them timeless and transcendent. Jesus asked his audience,
“What do YOU make of this?”
He’s asking US – you and me – to think, to get down and dirty with the story, and let it expand, rise and fall, where it will in our lives and situations…
That is what “living words” look like.
Go to Why I Tell Stories – The Seed Series – Part 2
Written by Liz Milani
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1) Frederick Buechner. Beyond Words. HarperCollins 2009.
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