April 11 - I love to tell the story
Contributed by
Keith Graber Miller, professor of Bible, religion and philosophy on Tuesday April 10
Scripture
Acts 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 5:19-26 Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea,beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is
the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that
everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Prayer for the week from Builder O wonderful Teacher, Counselor, Savior and Lord: When I was lost, you called me home; you saved me from my wandering and provided all I need. Now let me walk with you all the days of my life; may I receive with joy the gift of salvation you paid such a heavy price to ensure. Amen.
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Devotion
“When meeting new friends or lovers, people reenact the ritual of telling stories,” writes Carol Christ in Diving Deep and Surfacing (Beacon Press, 1980).”
Why? Because they sense that the meaning of their lives is revealed in the stories they tell. People reveal themselves by telling stories. But stories also reveal the
powers that provide orientation in people’s lives.”
This term, I’m working with students in the Religion Senior Seminar on narrative theology, a discipline which has emerged over the last half-century and focuses on the story of God and Jesus as told in the biblical text. Peter’s sermon to Cornelius, retold in Acts, is one of about five such sermons attributed to Peter in this account of the early church, a book which also records Paul’s early messages to unbelievers.
The preaching of these early apostles was neither primarily doctrinal nor ethical in nature: it was a recital of the events associated with the appearance of Jesus Christ.
Peter says Jesus was the bringer of peace, anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power to do good and bring healing to those oppressed. This same Jesus was put to death, but God raised him again, as Peter and others have witnessed. The result of the story of Jesus is that “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin through his name.”
As Christians, we are called to embrace this narrative about Jesus, to believe the good news he preached and embodied and to write ourselves into the life-giving story of the one we call Christ. In a complex world, where many “authorities” seek our attention and our loyalty, the Jesus story – including faithfulness to a calling, even unto the cross – is one that best provides orientation to our lives.
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