The Power of Story
The Power of Story
John 5:24 / Luke 5:12-15 / 1 Corinthians 14:6-12
Introduction:
I want to do an activity this morning and I need your help. What I want to do is to show a word on the screen behind me and then I want you to turn to your neighbor and say the first word that comes to your mind. Your response can be anything, … absolutely anything that comes to mind. But the key is to say it fast. You can’t give this too much thought. Are you ready? All right, here’s the first word … Mono. Any “Lisas” out there? Okay, so some of you are catching on, at least. Ready for the next one? How about … Vacation. Anybody think of a warm place? Ok…here’s the next word… Diet. Ok…the next word is…President. Ok here is the last word. It’s the word … Born-again Christian. Okay, let’s stop there for a moment. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could electronically tabulate all the words that floated throughout the room after “Born-again Christian” flashed across the screen? I think the results would be fascinating. Let’s take it a step further. What do you think would happen if we did the same thing to a hundred people who are living far from God? If we said, “Do you know any born-again Christians?” What do think the response would be? Do you think that we might get quite an earful? What if somebody said, “I’ve come across a few Christians, and the ones I know are … hmmm, how do I describe them … they’re just so … uptight … narrow … and rigid.” Or what if somebody said, “I went to school with one once … he was pretty isolated. Kept to himself all the time.” Or what if somebody said, “I don’t know any of them very well. They hang with their own type … certainly don’t rub shoulders with people like me.” Or what if somebody said, “I know a born-again Christian … what a turnoff! I feel judged if I even breath wrong.”
I think that we would all hope these perceptions aren’t out there. Unfortunately, statistics suggest that they are. It’s sad thing because that’s not what we believe about the Christian faith. That’s not what the church is called to be. I don’t know about you, but I wish that whenever I struck up a conversation with people and asked them to tell me what they think of the Christians they know, the first thought that would come to mind would be something like, “Hmmm … Christians? The ones I know are chock full of integrity. That’s what impresses me about them…their integrity … and their moral courage.” Or maybe they would say, “Christians? The ones I’ve come across are filled with compassion. They just love other people…even people who are hard to love.” Or maybe they would say, “Christians? They’re humble people, they’re honest … they have this incredible inner strength. It’s amazing! They’re always taking walks across rooms. Whenever somebody needs encouragement or friendship, Christians are the first ones to make the move.”
I think that we would all like people to describe the Christian life in these words…words that reflect a radical love, a passionate hope, and a heart touching surrender…because these are the words that describe the life of Jesus. Time and time again, Jesus was known to take the walk across the room. His was willing to take the step of faith and reach into the lives of people all around Him. He reached out with unending compassion to children, to women, to the sick, and to the lost. That’s what we see in the gospel of Luke. In Luke chapter 5, we read about an occasion where Jesus came across a man who was very sick. Luke tells us, “While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.”
The man in this story was touched in a powerful way. It was so powerful, that he couldn’t even keep quiet about it. The gospel of Mark’s version of the same story tells us that Jesus asked him to lay low and keep things quiet but that “Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news.” He didn’t do what Jesus asked him to do…but how can you blame him? This man had a powerful story to tell. Scripture doesn’t give a lot of details about his life and what having leprosy was like. But we don’t have to imagine. Leprosy was a terrible disease that had a physical, emotion and even spiritual cost. The man in this story was probably very healthy at one time in his life, but leprosy comes up on you pretty quick. Author Max Lucado suggests that it could have been during an ordinary day when he noticed that his grip seemed a little weak. And shortly after that, the tips of his fingers started to numb. First one finger and then another. Within a short time he could grip the tool but couldn’t feel it in his hand. By the end of the season, he felt nothing at all. The hand grasping the handle might as well have belonged to someone else – because the feeling was completely gone. It’s not too hard to imagine that this man might have had a wife. She knew nothing of the circumstances at first. But then one day, while he was washing up from working out in the field there was blood. She notices that there was blood everywhere. And worst of all, she notices that he wasn’t aware. In that day and age, it was a clear sign. In one heartbreaking glance, they both knew that life would never be the same.
“You need to go to the priest,” she says. Standing next to her was their three-year-old daughter. He gazes into her face and strokes her cheek, saying absolutely nothing. What could he say? The wife reaches out to touch his shoulder. It would be their final touch. The priest wouldn’t touch him at all. That was the law in those days. He looked at the man’s hand, wrapped in a rag. He looked at his face, shadowed in sorrow. He covers his mouth and shouts “You are unclean.” And with that single pronouncement this man loses his family, his farm, his future. The days began to grow long after that moment. Each day and week worse than the one before. Soon the leprosy causes his hands to become gnarled. The tips of his fingers become missing as do portions of his ear and nose. At the sight this man, fathers grab their children. Mothers cover their faces. And children point and stare. The rags he wears can no longer hide the sores all over his body. Countless times he shakes his crippled fist into the sky. “What did I do to deserves this?” But never is there an answer. Some think that it was because he had sinned and that is why. Others thought it was because his parents sinned. But to him it made no difference. Life had become one heartbreaking experience after another. Maybe that’s the reason he took the risk that he did. He had heard that this teacher had healed others. He had heard that this one…he calls himself the Son of God. Perhaps he was moved by faith and a desperate anger. He carefully hides behind a rock and waits for the first moment he could catch. And when it comes, he steps out from the behind rock and says “Lord.” Immediately, the crowd disperses. “Unclean!” someone shouts. Everyone steps out of the way except Jesus. And so the man drops to his knees and says, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” In an instant, he feels warmth where there had been numbness. He feels strength where there had been atrophy. He sees clean skin where that had been oozing sores. The excitement wells up in him so much that he can hardly stand it. Had Jesus healed this man with a word, he would have been thrilled. Had he cured him with a prayer, he would have rejoiced. But he didn’t. Jesus reaches out his hand and touches the man who is covered with leprosy.
This man had something to celebrate. He was touched and changed by Jesus. It was an experience so great that he couldn’t help but to tell people about it. He was lost and then found. He was sick and then made well. The man we read about in the gospel of Luke had an incredible story. Stories like this are powerful stuff. It’s the kind of stuff that brings the world to its knees. It’s the thing that softens a hardened heart. The power of story—and of words—is undeniable throughout the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. Jesus used amazing stories and powerful words to speak about the kingdom of God. And every follower of Christ, will have opportunities to tell some amazing stories. Once you commit yourself to becoming a walk-across-the-room person—engaging with people, living with radical love and acceptance—God is going to open some doors, spiritually speaking. He is going to give you an opportunity to say a word for him or tell someone why you started walking with him to begin with. And in that moment, you will have an opportunity to tell the greatest story ever. Some of you aren’t too thrilled with that open door, I can tell. You’re looking a little shell-shocked. But don’t worry because I want to introduce you to a simple way of explaining God’s story that you might even consider committing to memory, if you haven’t done so already. It’s called “The Bridge”—some of you may be familiar with it.
The Bridge is quite simple, really, but it is a powerful way to illustrate precisely what God—and his Son, Jesus Christ—did for humankind. The next time you find yourself in a spiritual conversation where the person you’re talking to really does want to understand who God is and what he has done, grab a piece of scratch paper, a napkin or whatever, and sketch out this bridge. It’s an image they won’t soon forget, I assure you. Here’s how it goes. All right, for starters, we have to establish the reality of two beings: people and God. [Image 1] Between people and God is a great chasm—a division that exists because of people’s propensity to rebel against God’s way and go their own way instead. The Bible calls this “sin.” The dilemma people face is that we want to get to God but know we can’t just leap over the chasm. So we try everything we know looking for a way to get across. [Image 2.] In the end, we realize that all the human effort in the world will never be enough to get us to the other side. But thankfully, God sympathized with our dilemma. And because he loved us so much, he made a way for us to get close to him. His solution was to choose his Son, Jesus, to serve as the bridge. [Image 3] If you remember nothing else about the bridge illustration, remember this: Christ came to earth to be our bridge, and whoever makes the decision to cross the bridge will live with God forever. Jesus says in John 5:24, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” And remember, you are not responsible for transforming a human heart … that is the role of the Holy Spirit. Your role, when prompted to do so, is to open your mouth and give a tender, thoughtful, clear, and passionate understanding of who God is, of what he’s done for each person who ever has or ever will walk the planet. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.
Not only does God have a story, but you have a story as well. A powerful story. And your job is to tell it well! Do you believe that you have a powerful story to tell? If you have come into relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ, then you have a wonderful, redemptive story to tell. Here’s why that’s true. Regardless how old you were when you came to faith, you were different before Christ than you are after Christ came into your world and beautifully wrecked it with things like grace and mercy and love. Once you commit yourself to becoming a walk-across-the-room person—engaging with people, living with radical love and acceptance—God is going to open some doors, spiritually speaking. He is going to give you an opportunity to say a word for him or tell someone why you started walking with him to begin with. And in that moment, you will have an opportunity to tell your story. It will be an opportunity to paint a picture of your life…a before and after picture. “I once was striving for pleasure … but now I’m at peace.” “I once was fear-stricken, but now I’m confident.” “I once was discouraged, but now hopeful!” Your before-and-after picture doesn’t have to be more complicated than this. It just has to be simple, humble, succinct … and true.
It should be this easy to tell a powerful before-and-after faith story. But if I’m being honest, I have to tell you that it is possible for these stories we’re talking about to absolutely crash. There are some significant warning areas. First, faith stories crash when a Christ-follower just doesn’t control his tongue. He oversupplies and just slaughters the demand. He goes on and on and on … and even after the listener sends all sorts of warning signals that disinterest and disdain have taken root, the storyteller obliviously keeps chatting away. Second, faith stories crash when a Christ-follower is fuzzy about the story’s core theme. She gets all tangled up in a dozen story lines and leaves her listener frustrated, exhausted, and baffled. Third, faith stories crash when a Christ-follower lays out a string of twenty dollar theological words that no one outside the family of faith can understand. The words redemption, justification, and possibly even the word “salvation” won’t mean much to someone who is living far from God. Our words have to be in everyday language. Fourth—and finally—faith stories crash when … please hear me on this … your faith story will blow up and leave a trail of smoke a mile long if you play the superiority card. If you act like you have you things perfectly together and the listener is somehow inferior to you, you are headed for a crash. Trust me, you don’t want to have this kind of a crash when of heaven is standing on tiptoe to see what will happen. First Corinthians 14:9 says, “If you speak in a way no can one understand, what’s the point of opening your mouth?” Is that a good reminder, or what?
Scripture is jam packed with reminders of how useful, how potent, how supernaturally empowered, words can be? Ecclesiastes 6:11 says that when used sparsely … succinctly … words carry great meaning. Psalm 119:130 says that words can actually give light. Words can give understanding to those who don’t yet understand. Proverbs 12:18 says that although reckless words pierce like a sword, words from the tongue of the wise can actually bring healing! Proverbs 17:27 says that when used with restraint, words prove you’re a person of knowledge! Ecclesiastes 9:17 says that words you speak will be heeded when they are spoken quietly! Proverbs 16:24 says that pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Isn’t that a great image? Ecclesiastes 10:12 says that although a fool is consumed by his own lips, the words from a wise man’s mouth are … gracious.
Deuteronomy 32:2 says words can actually descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. Words. Humble words. Healing words. Wise words. Gentle words. Grace-filled words. Let the One whose name you bear shape and sharpen your story. Because stories can change the world. You have to understand the power your story. You were once lost and but now you are found. You were sick and but now you are well. You were blind but now you can see. Stories like this are powerful stuff. It’s the kind of stuff that brings the world to its knees. The impact may be far greater than you can possibly imagine. Your story may just change all of eternity…even if it is for just one person. In fact, your story may be only one that someone who is far from God may be willing to hear. Never underestimate the power your story can make in lives of people every. It may be what gives another person hope, comfort and a glimpse of the grace of Jesus Christ. God has done a great thing in your life…and only you can tell that story.
Just ask a man by the name of John Newton. John was given every opportunity to live a Christian life and develop a rich faith in God. He grew up in a Christian family and was taught good morals and the love of God. All of which had little meaning most of his life, as he abused people, cheated friends and family, and lived for wealth and pleasure. Later in his life he admitted that it was his own life of poor choices and selfish ambitions that let him to the slave trade industry. As a captain of one of these slave ships, he had sold people into slavery and put many of them to death. Somewhere along his path of rebellion, he realized his need for confession. On one stormy night at sea, when everything seemed that it was crumbling around him, when life had gotten the best of him, he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. In a moment of true conversion, he felt the touch of Christ. This man with such a horrific past came to believe that God could forgive even the worst of sins. But he was committed to changing his life. In every way possible he sought to share that with others. And he did, as he wrote words and the melody for the song that we sing today called, Amazing Grace.