What's Your Story?

Based on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

       “What’s your story?” That’s a great question when you want to get to know somebody. I mean, really know them. When you want more than just where someone lives, what they do for a living, if they have family, you want to hear their story. When people tell their story, they are giving you a sense of how they understand themselves, what they are about, what joys and sorrows they have experienced, what life lessons they have learned along the way. You get a richer understanding of who this person is when they tell their story.

A few days ago, I had the privilege of interviewing people who are in the process of ordination. One was pursuing commissioning to begin her probationary years as a deacon and the other two were presenting themselves for full conference membership and ordination as deacons. One of them has a Parkview and Westgate connection! Alycia Orcena’s father is Rev. Boyer, who served at Parkview and her mother, Joy Boyer, was the secretary at Westgate. After reading over their files, the interview team got to ask them questions so that we could hear more about their story, so that we could get a sense if they were ready to move forward in their ordination process. It was a joy for us. All three candidates had incredible stories to share about how they had experienced God in their lives, the ministry that they have been doing, the personal, professional and spiritual growth they have experienced in their lives. One in particular shared her story about how she had got caught up in a relationship that had drawn her away from the church. But the Spirit never let go of her. Eventually, she found herself coming back to church. And it was through worship, and especially the receiving of Holy Communion, where she experienced deep healing in her life. This personal experience is what drives her to use her musical gifts to design worship and lead others in how to create meaningful worship experiences. She also teaches classes at United Theological Seminary on the sacraments. Her story of redemption was so inspiring to us and I for one am excited that she will be ordained as a deacon in a few months.

Each of us have our own stories to tell. The stories we tell about ourselves are powerful stories. These life stories shape our identity. They help define for us who we are, where we come from, how we understand our place in the world. These stories help give our lives meaning. As we tell or write down our stories, our autobiographies, we are able to see how the experiences we have had in our lives all fit together to make us who we are.

There are other stories we tell that are not specifically about us as individuals but are instead community stories. These stories have power too. I am talking about family stories. My mom told me and my sister this story about her great-grandfather who immigrated from England. He meant to get on a ship headed for Australia. But somehow he ended up on a ship to America. Mom doesn’t know how he made that kind of mistake. We are left to wonder! But at any rate, that’s how her family ended up in America instead of Australia. What family stories have you passed down to the younger people in your family? We also pass down folklore, national stories that try to communicate what it means to be an American. There are so many stories we tell. I think of the one I heard about when George Washington cut down the cherry tree and when confronted with it said, “I cannot tell a lie, I cut down the cherry tree.” Folklore is powerful because through them we try to create a communal identity. This is who we are as a family. This is who we are as a nation. The stories we pass down as a congregation does the same thing.

Paul had a story to tell. We hear a bit from these two stories in the scripture passage we are reflecting on. One story is the one he heard from the followers of Jesus that he is passing along. It is a community story. The other story is about how he has experienced the community story in his own life. It’s a personal story. Let’s take a look at these stories.

The community story is the story about Jesus. It is a story that has roots in the Holy Scriptures, especially Isaiah 53. It is the story of Jesus’ mission: that he died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to Cephas, to the twelve, and to many others, and lastly who appeared to Paul himself. The community story that Paul is telling is the gospel, the good news. It is this story that is passed along from generation to generation, a story first told by the apostles 2,000 years ago and is still being told today. It is a story that has power. Not only does this story give the reason for why the church exists, but it has the power to save those who believe and hold fast to this story. This story tells us that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53. And Jesus rose from the dead, giving us the hope that we will experience the resurrection ourselves. Sin and death have been defeated, as the story goes. It is our belief in this story that saves us from judgment and from despair. We are cleansed. We are set free from the bondage of death. Our future is secure. This story gives us reason to live our lives from a place of faith, hope, and love. That’s the power of this story. This is our family story, the one we pass on from generation to generation. It is the story that establishes who we are as a community of believers.

Then, Paul tells his own personal story of his encounter with Jesus. It is his experience of grace, his testimony. He gives his testimony a few times in the book of Acts and in a few of his letters. This telling here in chapter 15 is brief. But it is the heart of his testimony. Paul speaks of how he was once a persecutor of the church. Yet, God had chosen him to be a witness of the gospel story. In an act of amazing grace, Paul encountered Jesus while on the way to Damascus in his pursuit of Jesus followers. It changed everything in his life. The persecutor of Christians had come to belief, by God’s grace. 

The amazing grace that Paul received was not lost on him. It was this grace, this encounter with Jesus, that drove him to fulfill his purpose as an apostle. Just as the person I shared about earlier, who experienced deep healing through worship and the sacraments which now provides her reason why she serves God as she does, so Paul’s experience of God’s grace gave his reason why he worked so hard, harder than all the rest Paul humbly brags, because of the grace that he experienced. If someone wanted to know Paul’s story, to get to know what he is about, this is the story that Paul would tell. It is his testimony.

What’s your story? I know you have one. It may not be as dramatic as the stories we have heard in this talk. It is certainly different from the ones I have shared. Your story is yours alone. And it is yours to tell. Have you ever sat down and written your story? One of the documents that those who are in the ordination process have to provide is called a spiritual autobiography. They are invited to look back over their life and write about how they have experienced God. It can be a clarifying experience. When we reflect on how our life has unfolded with God, we may get a better sense of how our life fits together. We can see how the unseen hand of God has led us to where we are today. It is a sacred story, a story worth sharing.

This is my invitation for you. Write it down. Give your testimony. How have you encountered Jesus in your life? What’s your story?