Collect for Trinity 3
Lord, you have taught us that all our doings without love are worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love, the true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you. Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake.
2 Corinthians 5: 6 – 17
Mark 4: 26 – 34
Why parables?
‘Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the mind of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them.’
So speaks Mr. Gradgrind, the teacher in Charles Dickens ‘Hard Times’, in the first chapter of the book. He couldn’t be more wrong. ‘Facts’ alone actually stultify the process of reasoning. On their own, they do not convey meaning or enable learning. To do so, they have to be contextualised, and easily the best way of doing this is through the vehicle of story; and so through the ages, story has been used as the basis of wisdom transfer. Stories have the ability to convey deep truths across generational, cultural and even linguistic boundaries in a way that dry facts never will. Not only that, but the use of stories to teach a lesson offers the added benefit that people actually enjoy hearing them; they are easy to remember and can be repeated and shared. When learning is not seen as a chore but as a pleasant experience, it is also at its most effective.
Jesus is speaking to a crowd by the lakeside. Some will be educated, some not; there will be those who want to learn, others who are just passing by and listen out of curiosity. The stories used by Jesus to explain the Kingdom of heaven – the ‘parables’ – offer understandable truth to all of them whoever they may be– and through many generations, to us.
But to get the best from a story or parable does demand that we think about (and put into practice) it’s significance. What audience is Jesus addressing? Do we identify with one of the actors? Is He explaining about the Kingdom? Is His purpose teaching, encouraging, or rebuking? What lesson are we meant to take away?
Eventually, even Mr Gradgrind realises that facts alone cannot coney truth. A parable may not be ‘factual’ – but does tell a truth – and it is truth that sets us free.
Previous Posts
Praying Together 12th May 2024
But in Christ, a much more reliable ‘Truth’ can be found. Truth in the ‘Logos’ – the Word. The Word made flesh.
Praying Together 5th May 2024
Collect for Easter 6 God our redeemer, you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your Son: Grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy; through...
Praying Together 28th April 2024
‘If you love God, then you love your brothers and sisters’. You cannot have one without the other. If you do not love your brother and your sister, you cannot claim that you love God. No exclusions.
Praying Together 21st April 2024
There is only one leader who invites us to follow of whom we can be sure – the one who is prepared to lay down His life.
Praying Together 14th April 2024
It is easy, with hindsight, to criticise the disciples for their incredulity. But we have to ask ourselves what we would do in their place.
Praying Together 7th April 2024
We are challenged to decide what we need to ‘see’ to believe – and then to seek it in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Praying Together 31st March 2024 Easter Day
“I have seen the Lord”. It is difficult to imagine her emotions. She has seen the Lord! She doesn’t yet understand fully – but her eyes have seen Him. Her life is changed for ever, and she doesn’t care who knows it.
Praying Together 24th March 2024
But Jesus is aware of what He will have to endure in order to fulfil His mission of salvation – and He sets the necessary elements in motion.
Praying Together 17th March 2024
The Anglican Church of Ireland has produced an excellent example of the way in which St Patrick’s life embodies the Five marks of Mission – a real cause for celebration and a model for us to follow (And by the way, St. Patrick’s flag colour is blue, not green.)
Praying Together 10th March 2024
It’s a day of being aware of, and thankful for, the caring and loving relationships that exist within family and friends.
Praying Together 3rd March 2024
And what of our anger? Is it based on injury to self? Injury to others? Or injury to love, to forgive, to serve? Can we defend it at the foot of the Kingly throne?
Praying Together 25th February 2024
‘Which am I – the chicken or the pig? Jesus makes it clear that in following Him, there is no half-way house – our values are either of the material world, or of the Kingdom.