The Silence of the Lambs
So, I used Sarah's story in my sermon this morning, and lots of people really enjoyed it. It was one of those You could hear a pin drop moments. I didn't know how to interpret the silence. The people who are most resistant to accepting differently sexually-orientated people were just as quiet as everyone else; but I wasn't sure whether this was because they felt the story was particularly barbed at them, or whether they saw a different point.
Is this the whole thing about Jesus' stories? They give us space to have different views - or even to think the story is about something completely different - but still stay together, in a way that more propositional teaching doesn't. And they don't force us to see that we are wrong, until we are ready to cope with it and change our minds. And when that happens, it's genuine because it feels we have changed from within ourselves, rather than been forced to by something outside.
Is this the whole thing about Jesus' stories? They give us space to have different views - or even to think the story is about something completely different - but still stay together, in a way that more propositional teaching doesn't. And they don't force us to see that we are wrong, until we are ready to cope with it and change our minds. And when that happens, it's genuine because it feels we have changed from within ourselves, rather than been forced to by something outside.
posted by Tony at 9/12/2004 09:31:00 pm
3 Comments:
Help, Tony...the link didn't work either time, and I'm now in a tantalised condition wondering what Sarah's story was.
Glad it was well received, anyway.
K
I should probably have called it Dylan's story, since that's what she calls herself. (See Dylan's Lectionary Blog, where you can find the text). I think there's something wrong with the permalinks on her site: all you get if you click on them is the raw HTML.
Thank you, thank you...What a wonderful site and a wonderful story. Am sitting here smiling away at my puter screen...oh, the pleasures of travelling round the blog world :-)
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