Sermon preached at The Church of the Holy TrinityRittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, Sunday July 13th 2014The Reverend Alan Neale“In Love With Stories”

Matthew 13:3 “And Jesus told them many things in parables”. Jesus loved to tell stories because he was in love with life and with all those whom he met. Or to say the same thing in another way… Elie Wisesel wrote (at the end of the preface of his 1966 book “The Gates of the Forest”) “God made man because he loves stories”.

Around 1978 a recently ordained curate had the audacity, temerity, insouciance to comment to his priestly boss, senior in every way, about the sermons the senior minister preached. “John, why do you tell so many stories, why not instruct the people in their creedal faith, in the doctrines of the church?”. The senior answered the younger with patience and a quintessential twinkle of the eyes, “There once was a carpenter who waked in Galilee who spoke in parables… do you understand, Alan?”.

My trusted, faithful friend of nearly 40 years died this past week in Ivybridge, Devon, England. John Francis Wentworth Watson, Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral, died after a long and debilitating illness. Apparently the funeral director in charge told a friend, “I have never seen a man so peaceful in death for many, many years”. I cannot easily imagine my life without John.

Today’s Gospel reminds me of John’s inveterate, constant, inspired telling of stories – sometime to amuse, sometimes to entertain but also many times to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus in striking, relevant, contemporary ways.

John, following the example of his beloved Lord, told stories because he was intentionally inclusive, radically respectful and firmly focused – and all for the Gospel, the good news of Jesus.

Intentionally inclusive. The telling of a story is an inclusive action - it seeks to welcome, to offer emotional hospitality to the hearer; it offers space to rest awhile from competitive conversations, a respite from straining to understand a strange language, an unknown lifestyle, a peculiar world. The Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 is also in Mark and Luke and would be immediately accessible to the denizens of Jesus’ world. Some brainless, heartless twerp could doubtless express the parable in profound, polysyllabic, ponderous, pompous phrases but it would be exclusive, inaccessible, abstruse and (most awful in the Kingdom of God) elitist.

My friend and mentor, John Watson, told stories to include, engage, involve his hearer. While his curate I imbibed almost imperceptibly the kind wisdom of building bridges whenever, wherever and with whomsoever… the story creates such a bridge and God only knows what travelers will subsequently traverse that bridge to a better land.

Truly the greatest story ever told, the old old story, is of God born as baby, living as man, dying as victim and resurrected as victor. This story told with passion, with experience, with gratitude will always include, engage, enlist the hearer. This is the story of which St. Paul speaks, “In his Son, Jesus, God personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity” (Romans 8:4).

Radically Respectful. When Jesus uses the story of the wandering sower, when he recounts the frustrations, disappointments and joys of such a man; when Jesus speaks of farmers, shepherds, families – when Jesus does all this He not only make primal, psychic truth accessible… he affirms and honors, he gives value to the work, the experiences, the lives of all people. A story validates the signal merit, role, existence of its characters.

But, also, the story gives respect to the hearer who is not cajoled or bullied into following the party line, repeating in parrot fashion the secret password; no, the story allows personal reflection, a unique apprehension on the part of the hearer. Later in Matthew 13, we read how the disciples came back later to Jesus and said, “Help us understand”.

This past Friday I attended a performance of contemporary dance, presented by BalletX. Now I looked forward to spending some time with friends, to support my friend Christine Cox (Founder and Artistic Director) but… contemporary ballet, well. I was so wrong… it was all riveting. The story was there but also each of us could then enjoy our own “take/read” on the story – this is all part of being radically respectful.

As Vicar of St. Andrew’s, Plymouth, Devon John Watson would invite all walks of life, all manner of professions to come find renewal in the church. And once there, John would respect those who came and speak to them of eternal verities in terms, in words, in stories that would readily be understood. And I know that people feel valued, affirmed when their stories are taken up and woven into the greater story of God’s love affair with men and women – past, present and future. To quote my colleague Mark Smith from this morning’s wonderful study, “God takes the ordinary and makes it sacred” and, friends, this should be our mission and the mission of the church!

Intentionally Inclusive, Radically Respectful and Firmly Focused.

We tend to praise raconteurs and envy their gift; though the telling of a story is a winsome, attractive means to engage the hearer it must never become an end in itself, serving to emphasize, underline the story-teller rather than the purpose of the tale.

Listen to the radiant, refreshing, rewarding word from the prophet Isaiah – (Message Translation) “the words that come out of my mouth will not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them” Isaiah 55:11. Though at times we become short-sighted and reverence the medium rather than the message, God will always be firmly focused in the telling of stories and the sharing of the word.

John Watson never lost the firm focus on the Gospel of Jesus – seeking in all ways, to serve all people in order to win some for Christ.

Friends, in the telling of the story of this faith community, of this church expressed in hearts and souls as well as bricks and mortar we must not, we dare not, lose the focus of this story – it is told to express and extol the grace and wonder of the love of God in Jesus Christ for all people.

(At this point the preacher was moved to sing the opening words of “The Beverley Hill Billies”… listen to the audio or ask for some explanation!)

Today I honor the man who taught me much, my success in life and ministry are largely due to John Watson; my failures I claim as my own!

John taught me the importance

of the power of Anglican liturgy never to forgetting the responsibilities of a good host in making guests as comfortable as soon and readily as possible.

to listen keenly to stories and in them to hear the voice and march of God. to strive to be courageous and to be holy impatient with bullies whether seated in pew

or bishop’s throne. to live by grace and to seek to be gracious to all and… in all things to be ready with a word to speak of Christ and of His grace.

And, of course, I finish with a story that John often told, often told (yes, that’s where I got that habit!)

A true story about a good, happy, poor man, a plumber. Every day he rose early and breakfasted with his large family at the end of which he opened the family Bible, read a passage, then sank to his knees to pray. He rose to his feet, clasping his bag of tools and with one hand holding the bag and the other on the handle of the door, which led straight into the street he would say:Forth in thy name, O Lord, I goMy daily labour to pursueThee, only Thee, resolved to knowIn all I think or speak or do.Without another word or a backward glance he would close the door behind him.

John’s labors have ended; ours continues… so be it, Lord. Amen.