Tell The
Story Again.
Easter has passed once again. I hope that in the midst of momentous things taking place in our
world that you had time for personal meditation and reflection on what the Son
of God did for you and me – to feel the agony of Gethsemane, to walk with Him
on the Road to Calvary, to be there at the foot of the Cross and to share with
the disciples in the wonder and triumph of the Resurrection.
We all know the real meaning of Easter gets lost for the
majority of people in the hype of eggs and bunnies and never-ending chocolate –
but pity help us if we haven’t given our grownup kids a chocolate egg. When people ask us how was our Easter, it is
a good time to tell them that the real story is more wonderful than anything
they could imagine – the Story of new beginnings, of restoring the years that
the locust has eaten, of peace, and meaning – real meaning, and being really
alive. There are so many ways in which
this can be done but there’s no need to preach, just tell one aspect of the
story and how it affected you. Well,
I sat for a while at the foot of the cross and meditated on what the Son of God
did for me and what a difference that has made in my life.
This is something we need to practise; to tell the old, old
story again and again. Practise telling
it to each other, to family or Christian friend and then go tell it on the mountain. Tell it with vigour and excitement. You can still eat your chocolate, share some
with your neighbour, and then tell them the story.
Don’t underestimate the power of The Story. After all, God’s Word does not return to Him
empty. There is a time to be
intellectually persuasive and there is a time to just simply tell The Story and
let it do its own work. Tell them why
you are telling it: I want you to know this story like I know it because for
me this is the most significant thing I have ever known – to know that there is
a God who loves me and who I can call Father. You may be laughed at – cry if you will, and then tell The Story
again. Do not stop.
The power of The Story has taken on new realisation for me
recently and I would like to share that with you:
I’ve Moved.
Well, I’ve been moving for a long while but I’ve only just
realised what the journey has been.
It has been a journey from a primarily intellectual
acceptance of what God has done – with appropriate commitment – to a deeper emotive
appreciation of the wonder and intrinsic mystery of the most magnificent story
of all time, and to have the glory of the story permeate into my inner being
and feel it.
Which probably brings me full circle for it was the pathos
of the Easter account when I was about 10 or 11 years old that first compelled
me to surrender my life to the dying Jesus who loved me so much that He would
die in my place.
And now I want to tell the story and I want it told to me
when I can no longer tell it.
And, looking back, I’ve been telling the story often. I tell it to people in need – particularly
people with serious illness or who know they are going to die – especially of
the Christ on the Cross and the conversation with the two criminals – a
wonderful way to cut through the obstructions that sometimes get in the way of
simple but true surrender. I’ve told it
in my letter to patients with an appropriate emotive element, and I’ve
emphasised the wonder and mystery and ‘magic’ of the Christmas story in the
Christmas services that I lead. But I
didn’t realise the full extent and significance of my move until now.
What caused me to realise it? Re-reading CSLewis Myth Became Fact. I guess – like many others – I’ve struggled a
little with the use of the word ‘myth’ in referring to the story of God’s
relationship to mankind even though I thought I understood it. But reading it again has highlighted the
importance of The Story in getting through to people and the need to tell it
over and over again. The hymn written
by Kate Hankey Tell me the Old, Old Story takes on new meaning. (Did you know she wrote 50 four-line
stanzas?)
This is the story of all stories, the grandest and most
wonderful and full of wonder – the campfire story to end all stories, the
retelling of the real ‘dreamtime’. The
Story is truly awe-inspiring and we rapidly run out of suitable adjectives to
describe – but what would we expect?
Maybe to be surprised by joy…
Lewis says it well (from Myth Became Fact):
…we must both assent to the
historical fact and also receive the myth (fact though it has become) with the
same imaginative embrace which we accord to all myths.
Perfect Myth and Perfect Fact: claiming not only our
love and obedience, but also our wonder and delight, addressed to the savage,
the child, and the poet in each one of us no less than to the moralist, the
scholar, and the philosopher.
May the reality of The Story permeate into your being; may
it be real when you are down, when you are in pain, and when you are
tempted. May it be there in all your
relationships including every aspect of your marriage. May it be there in your joys and especially
in your praises and worship of the God whose Story it is.
Lachlan Dunjey.
March 2003.
Postscript:
And when 20 or 30 of us go hiking soon in the forests of
southwest Western Australia and sit around the campfire I shall ask for people
to tell The Story in their own words and I will borrow from CSLewis and from
George Lucas in the paragraph with which I shall stimulate their creativity
(and we will – as always – finish with a round of prayer):
A long, long time ago in a galaxy
far removed from the centre of the universe, God put a small planet and he
called it Tellus. It was a pretty
planet. It had all the wonderful sorts
of things that we can imagine – pretty lakes and waterfalls and beautiful
flowers and rolling hills and it was warm and fresh and moist and the air was
so good to breathe. It was the kind of planet
that made you feel really alive.
And God walked there…
Try it around your own
campfire. Switch off the TV and gather
your family or others together and tell the old, old story to each other. Practise it and get excited about telling
it. And praise God together!