Well, read these three texts (Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Revelation 12:1-6 and Mark 1:21-28) and you will find one of two things: why people attend worship and why people don’t! These are wild and difficult scriptures but SO dramatic and so full of images. Prophets, demons, dragons! And Jesus! Some people are fascinated and respond in faith while others are repelled or afraid and stay away.

Personally I am drawn to this sort of stuff but I am also the preacher and am responsible to some extent to deal with this responsibly and faithfully. I imagine if you really like to read books, watch TV or go to movies, or just like a good story, you TOO are interested in such wild difficult scriptural stories. Plus, we hold forth that there is God’s Truth being revealed and proclaimed in scripture! I think these stories of Truth are more helpful and demanding of us than, say, some general rules and guidelines for good behavior!

Truth comes to us personally in Story. You are more likely to respond and act when you find YOURSELF in the Bible stories rather than when someone just lays out laws and rules to be obeyed. We need both but one is a more positive appeal where the other is more like a perpetual threat since, sure enough, we are “rule breakers!”

Tell me the stories of Jesus and THEN I will better understand why we need to contend against evil that inhabits people and why the universal True Story is so cosmic in nature that we hear about dragons and women and childbirth on a scale beyond our mere earthly existence!

There…..hope that gets your attention! Now go and read these texts for this Sunday’s worship and Word proclaimed. You might just turn your TV off for a while as you read the Bible dramas!

Blessings in reading and hearing God’s Word in community with your brothers and sisters this Sunday!

Pastor Barry