Jesus used stories to teach people. We call them parables, but they were really just stories. Some were long. Some were very short. Some were kind of enacted. A few involved religion or God, but most did not. They were stories about families, about people, about nature, but Jesus used his stories to teach important lessons about what God was like and what it meant to be faithful to God.

In using stories to teach people, I think that Jesus set an important example. At least in part, the example is that we can use stories to teach people important lessons, but more than that, I think that Jesus’ example is a reminder to us to listen to stories. During March, here at Central, we will be listening to the stories contained in contemporary Broadway musicals, but what we mean to encourage is the discipline of listening to all sorts of stories. Listen to the stories told by other people, real and fictional. Listen to the stories of our own lives. Listen to the human stories being told all around us all the time because in listening to the stories, we can hear the echo of God.

–Pastor Don Steele