Our Common Story

This is the disciple who testifies concerning these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If all of them were recorded, I imagine the world itself wouldn't have enough room for the scrolls that would be written.  (John 21:24-25, CEB translation)

My new staff is being very kind and patient. But for my first three weeks of preaching in this new appointment, I have preached from very long stretches of Scripture.  Okay, the first one was only 6 verses.  But then came 22 verses.  And then 30 verses!  And my poor staff not only has to put it on slides to go on the screen, they have to find ways to wedge it into an already crowded bulletin as well. I know some of this work is cut and paste, but some of it is pure artistry. It doesn’t go unnoticed.

One of them asked me if this was going to be a trend.  I said, “Unfortunately, yes. Yes, it is.”  Again, they respond with love and patience. But I know what I am asking of them. Just like I know what I am asking of people who will listen to 30 verses from time to time. It is a borderline unreasonable request in this fast paced world of ours.

So I feel like it is important to explain myself, since this is a departure from how so many of us have grown accustomed to hearing Scripture. Usually it is just a small handful of verses read. Scriptural Cliff Notes, if you will.  So let me give you the three main reasons I depart from that norm:

1.      The Lectionary looks deceptive: Ever notice a passage of Scripture listed in your bulletin, and notice that several verses get skipped? That is usually because a pastor is following the lectionary, an agreed upon series of texts that many mainline denominations all choose to preach on in a given Sunday all at once. Sometimes the lectionary skips verses because they are repetitive or to side step a weird side bar. But all too often they are skipping difficult passages. Yeah, no. Come on, lectionary! Let’s be honest that the Bible is messy. Even if we aren’t preaching on it in the moment, let’s at least be up front about what all is in there. So when I am preaching from the lectionary, when it does that, count on me to often add those verses back in.

2.      People don’t know the Bible anymore: There was maybe a time when you could read 4-5 verses of a story and it was enough to jog everyone’s memory about what story we are talking about. I am doubtful, though, that such was ever really the case. I think it created a sense of exclusion rather than inclusion. But I (sort of) digress. We are now fully in an era when more people do not know the full story, so we need to read more of it if we can. And then summarize around it so everyone is all on the same page.

3.      In reading the story from the pulpit, it becomes the story we all share.

That last point doesn’t get much explanation there because I really want to dig into it, because it is more and more shaping how I preach.

When I was in seminary, I was all excited about how I was going to be one of those pastors who would be able to take whatever was happening in pop culture and bring the Gospel in conversation with it. And I have to admit, that is one of my gifts. I mean, if you follow this blog you know I have one whole section called “Pop God.” If you follow this blog, you will also see that there are not very many entries in that section either. Why? Because what is pop culture anymore? It is certainly not some shared experience that we all gather around the water cooler and discuss. No, even if we did still gather around a water cooler (which no one does because… Covid), we would come to that cooler and I would say, “Oh, I am binging X series – you should check it out!” and the person I am next to would say, “Ok, maybe after I finish Y series,” and then another person would come up and say, “I heard you both talking about X and Y series. I haven’t seen either of those, but have you all seen Z series?!?!” And me and the first person I would talk to would both shake our heads no.

All this was driven home to me when I preached my last sermon in Conway before coming to Bentonville. I made reference to two things that I would consider media phenomena: Iron Man and Scooby Doo. My Scooby Doo reference floored the whole room. Iron Man, not so much. After the service, I had about 3 people say they appreciated the Iron Man reference, but far more say they did not know what I was talking about.  Iron Man!!!! I mean, I thought Marvel ruled the world by this point. I figured it was a broad reference! I was astoundingly wrong.

That’s when I came to terms with what I have been feeling stirring in me for several years now. There is no pop culture anymore. Our media is far too customized. Our devices have learned us and preselected a world for us, so much so that I may not ever be aware that shows that appear prominently advertised in my neighbor’s Netflix feed even exist. We are all watching the same streaming services; hardly any of us are watching the same content on those services.

So now, even when making reference to cultural phenomena like, say, Game of Thrones or the more recent Bridgerton, at best maybe 20-25% of the congregation will have any idea what I am talking about. So that means I have to tell them the story of what I am referencing to bring enough people along. Now here is the question: is that how I want to spend my precious 18 minutes at the pulpit? Trying to bring us all together around a Hollywood produced story?

Or instead, do I want to make the story I have just read to the whole room from the Bible come alive and be real for them?

I want to do the latter.

And now, I am even more excited about preaching than I was in seminary. Because now, I can clear away everything else and preach the Bible. Now I can focus in on how these timeless stories, these dramatic and joyful and heartbreaking and hilarious stories, how these stories still speak truth into our lives. Because the 30 verses I just read to this crowd of people in front of me… that is what we all have in common. We all have this moment. This preaching moment. This listening moment. This encountering God moment. And now we are not divided by devices that are feeding us what we want to hear. We are gathered around the campfire again, and we are sharing in our common humanity, and we are living as a people in community. We have a story that we all share. And that, my friends, is a rare and sacred moment these days.

So be patient with me as I read 30 verses of Scripture. I promise I will put some real effort into the telling of the story. But that is because it is the story I want to share with you. Because in that sharing, God’s story becomes our story – the story shaping the lives we live together.

Photo by Nathan Lindahl on Unsplash