November 25, 2015

I love to tell the story, 'twill be my theme in glory; to tell the old, old story, of Jesus and his love.
Katherine Hankey, 1834-1911

Those are the words from a poem which were eventually set to music and is a popular hymn in many churches and “Old Time Religion” shows.  At some point, I'm sure that most everybody has heard at least a part of this hymn about loving to tell the story.

In his book, A Table in the Desert, Fr. Jones taps into this telling of the story by relaying an old Jewish parable:
During a crisis, an old rabbi went to a sacred place in the forest, lit a sacred fire, said
sacred words, and the Jews were saved.  When another crisis developed, another rabbi
went to the place and lit a fire, but didn't know the words, and the Jews were saved.
Another crisis came, and another rabbi knew the place, but didn't know about the fire
or the words, and the Jews were saved.  At the next crisis, the rabbi knew neither place,
fire, or words, but he knew the story.  And it was enough, the Jews were saved.

If you think about it, we are in a similar place – we are so far removed from the actual event that all we have is the story.  We have the old stories of the bible.  We have the old stories of the resurrection.  We have old stories of what God has done in ages past and what God has done for us in our current age.  It is this story that Katherine Hankey wrote about when she put pen to paper, and it is this story that many Christians sing about and still tell.

But there's more to it than that.  As Fr. Jones points out, and I agree, we need to do more than tell the story.  We need to participate in the story, for it is through our participation that the story becomes part of us.  We can read and tell many stories, but those stories do not become a part of us until we become active participants.  I don't necessarily remember the bedtime stories I read to my daughter, but I remember participating in the ritual of bedtime stories.

Telling the story isn't enough.  We need to participate in the story.  We need to participate in the ritual until it sinks into our bones and becomes a part of our spiritual DNA.  It is through our participation, through our reading and hearing, through our singing and praying, through our taking, blessing, breaking, and receiving of gifts that the story becomes holy.  It is through these actions that these normal, everyday things of a story and of bread and of wine become holy.

It is not only those normal, everyday things that become holy through our participation, but it is us who become holy as well.  As I said, it is our participation in the story that the story becomes part of our spiritual DNA.  We knowingly laugh at the automatic response generated to, “The Lord be with you.”  But our spiritual muscles also respond in kind to, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace . . .”, and “The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew,” and “We believe in one God . . .”, and “Christ has died . . .”, and “Eternal God, heavenly Father . . .”, and so much more.

Yes, we need to tell the story.  But we also need to participate in the story.  When we participate wholly, the place of our participation becomes holy.  When we participate wholly, the gifts become holy.  When we participate wholly, we become holy.  And it is when we participate wholly that we can truly say, “Holy things for holy people.”

Amen.