“The Story”
*The stories we
tell each other help define and shape who we are in the world.
*Let me share a
story with you that my mother used to tell regularly about our family. I have
seven aunts and uncles from my father’s side of the family, and when I was a
small boy, all but one of them still lived in the small town in Iowa that we
all called home; Ft. Madison. We had a large, but close knit extended family.
*So when our family
moved 1200 miles away to the central west coast of
*She would tell us
that every year in January my Dad would get the itch to move. And every year
she would scratch that itch and we would stay in
*This little
narrative helped us boys understand why we had moved to a place so far from
everything we had known. It helped us define who we were and our place in the
world. We were a family that was willing to explore new things and take risks
in order to seek a better life.
*All families have
such little stories that help us understand who we are and where we come from.
These narratives help us carve out our sense of place and belonging.
*Similarly, church
families also share such narratives or stories that help us define ourselves
and our sense of purpose and place in the world.
*My first church
that I served in
*From the early
1920’s Presbyterians from Government Street PC in
*Over time as more
and more people lived along the Bay year round, they gathered for church beyond
the summer months. Then, in 1954 a new congregation was chartered. Today, from
its humble beginnings, it is a church of about 600 members with an active
ministry for adults, youth, and children.
*For that
congregation even today, the memory of their beginning as a small informal
group of dedicated disciples still shapes and influences their identity. They
remember that they came from a much larger and very much older congregation in
*We here at Trinity
Presbyterian Church also share a number of defining narratives or stories that
help shape and define our identity in the present and guide us into the future.
*Let me point to
just one. Our congregation began in about 1933 in the Renfrew Mill village as a
yoked congregation with a group of Methodists and Baptists. Back then, we would
be Presbyterians one Sunday, and Methodists the next, and then Baptist.
*It was not until
1958 that this land where we are this morning was obtained. The next year 1959
the original sanctuary (now the Fellowship Hall) was built and completed. So,
for the first 25 plus years of our church’s life we co-existed with Christian
brothers and sisters from outside our Reformed Tradition.
*This legacy of
cooperation and fellowship with another tradition continues to influence and
help define our congregational identity today.
*First, we are
broadly ecumenical and eager to cooperate with our neighboring congregations.
Our passionate support of the NGFC (food pantry) is a prime example of this
attitude, but it is not the only one.
*Second, within our
congregation there is a heartfelt desire to maintain our distinctively
Presbyterian/Reformed way of worship and being the church. As Presbyterian
Christians we seek to cling tenaciously and exclusively to scripture as our
rule for both faith and practice. In our life together we seek to guard against
the influence of cultural innovations that may at first appear appealing but
upon close examination are not of God, but of man.
*Without question,
both in our families of origin and in our family of faith stories help shape
and define who we are and what we do. The Apostle Paul certainly understood
this reality as he wrote to the churches in
*Here in chapter 15
he is drawing his letter to a close and to do so, he employs the common story
that fundamentally defines every Christian community. It is the story of
Christ. Throughout his letter Paul has addressed the troubling issues of
conflict among the various groups in
*He has affirmed
that each disciple receives spiritual gifts. He has affirmed that while there
are a variety of gifts they each have a divine role within the body of Christ.
He has affirmed that the only way to bridge the differences between various
groups within the body is by holding onto each other with a love that refuses
to let go.
*Now, here in
Chapter 15 he retells the story that defines every one of them. It is the story
of Jesus Christ. This story of his birth, death, resurrection, and the
witnessing of that resurrection by many others is the story of the birth of the
church as Christ’s body at work in the world. It is the promise of the
resurrection that holds the key for all that we say and all that we do.
*This is still our
defining story as the church. It is the story we are called to tell in every
way we can imagine. At its core, it is a simple story. The one who was dead, is
now alive! It is that simple.
*Yes, theology is
important. Yes polity is important. Yes, mission to those in need is important.
But the most important thing is to tell the story of Jesus Christ. This was
Paul’s reminder to the Corinthians. Hold on to the truth of the resurrection.
It is the foundation of everything else.
*Over the centuries
the church has often made the story appear complicated and elaborate. And it
can be once we know the story and seek to better understand how Christ changes
us and continuously shapes and forms us. There is always more for us to know in
the particular.
*However, Paul’s
message in these 11 verses is simple and straightforward. Jesus Christ saves us
from our sin and grants us new life with God.
*Let us always seek
to tell the story. Let us tell it to our children. Let us tell it to those who
have never known it, and to those who have forgotten it. Let us tell it to each
other that we may be comforted and strengthened. May this story always be the
story that defines who we are and we do. So may it be. Amen.
Reverend Marc V.
Mason
February 4, 2007
Trinity
Presbyterian Church
Travelers Rest, SC