September 4, 2011
The Stories that Define Us
- Exodus 12:1-14
- Dr. Teri Thomas
How do you get to know a new acquaintance? You ask them to tell their story.
How do you make connections with others? You find places where your stories connect.
How do you form a close community from a bunch of individuals? You share stories.
What do you do at major life events- birthdays, weddings, funerals, reunions?
You tell stories.
Stories are the way we as individuals come to know who we are; they give us identity.
We all have stories that define us.
Stories about where your name came from.
Stories about your birth. Stories about school.
The story of how you met your spouse or partner.
We welcome new members to our families by telling stories.
Stories help us make sense out of our lives, to determine our values, and to find meaning.
Stories connect us with others. They help us remember those who have gone before us; they remind us of why we believe what we believe.
The passage we read in Exodus this morning is the story of Passover.
God told the people of Israel to remember the story-
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you.
You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord;
throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Every year Jewish families gather around the table and re-tell the story. The story forms their identity and their faith. We gather here every Sunday and listen to stories. Stories about Jesus, stories about people of faith, stories about our hopes and dreams and our sorrows and pains. These stories make us who we are.
There are stories about our beginning as a congregation-
The purchase of four lots on the corner of Kessler and Kingsley next to the Dawson family house and barn. Cliff Bradley, Norm Hartley and PE MacAllister would come together occasionally to cut the weeds.
We have stories about prayer and its role in the life of this congregation.
When I came to be your pastor one of the first stories I heard was about Lauren Schmahl. Lauren had a rough start in life because she was born prematurely. When I was introduced to her I was told this congregation had prayed her into existence. We are a church that prays.
We are a church that serves the community. About 40 years ago a group of members took 50 IPS kids to Sears to go shopping at Christmas time. Then they went to MCL for lunch. Clothe-a-Child was born. It has grown over the years and changed a little but it was the first "hands on" mission project for this congregation. Our local community mission has expanded and grown stronger because we learned what we are capable of doing and how good it feels.
We are a church that walks with people who are going through the dark valleys. One day several years ago, then teenaged Kelsey Bigelow came home from school to learn that her mother had been killed, by her father. Kelsey picked up the phone and called the church. The church provided the funeral for MaryAnn, raised money for Kelsey and Nick to go to college, and provided pastoral care for John in prison.
We know how to help in tragic times because we have lived through them. When Fred and Cleta Mathias were killed it tested the faith and the strength of this congregation. You learned about trust, forgiveness, fear, anger and grief as a community. You learned how to help one another through the unbearable. You learned about God's grace and the power of resurrection.
Josh Hill tells this story-
The 15th of December is historically a dark day in the history of Northminster. It is the date we lost our pastor and his wife, Fred and Cleta Mathias. Nine years later on that date...with little advance discussion and very little prep, a new family arrived, one that changed our lives forever. The Wube family came to us from Eritrea by way of an Ethiopian refugee camp. A team of teachers, pastors, college kids, church members, friends and neighbors were recruited and they rallied around this special family. Ruth Moore said: I believe God sent this family to us so we could be the hands and feet of Christ. So we could welcome the stranger. The 15th of December is no longer a day of sorrow- it is a day of celebration and joy. We thank the Wubes for making that possible and we give thanks and praise to God for the joy this family has brought to our congregation.
We are the stories we tell. They shape us. They help us make sense of the world and our place in it. It is in our stories that we learn what we value and what we believe. Stories are intended to be shared.
When Audrey Neterval was three years old she was fascinated by castles. Coming to church one day they drove past Second Presbyterian Church. "Presbyterian Castle", Audrey announced. Then they drove by St. Paul's Episcopal. "Episcopal Castle" was her declaration. When they drove into the parking lot here at Northminster Audrey yelled, "Friends."
Thanks be to God.
Amen.