by Wan Chung
Tonight, we started off by looking at God's instructions for the building of the tabernacle in Exodus 25-31.
We pondered on what these very elaborate instructions tell us about who God is.
Extravant, Grand, Lavish, Detailed, Exacting, Richly-Symbolic...
We picked up on this last one about God's extravagant use of symbols. God uses colours, numbers and things to represent ideas and meanings.
Then, we reflected on how we don't quite see God presenting Himself - grand and glorious - in the NT. Where has this God gone to? Where is the fire, cloud and smoke?
The metaphor has switched from Lion to Lamb...
What is a 'symbol'? A symbol has 2 parts - meaning and expression. The God of the Universe is a God who uses symbols, He is a God who communicates. In the NT, He continues to communicate thru' symbols - except this time, He uses parables, allegories, metaphors, songs - or stories.
In Exodus, God was building a physical temple - He used artisans and physical materials. In the NT, Jesus would build living temples (1 Cor 3:16, 1 Cor 6:19 2 Cor 6:16 ). Transforming lives necessitate the use of relational tools. Jesus used relational tools and strategies to engage, provoke and capture his audience - stories, conversations and lots and lots of questions.
In Exodus and much of the OT, He communicated His glory. In NT times, He communicated His grace.
Jesus is one great fellow of a storyteller. The Gospel is one magnificent story. The Bible, from cover to cover, is one unbroken chain of stories...
Someone said 'The future belongs to the storytellers, especially those who can build stories around arresting metaphors and compelling images'.
Today, we prefer 'analysis' over stories. While analysis is good for control and prediction, story-sensibility is good for understanding meaning and role.
The great Chinese storytellers of old waxed lyrical and enchanted their audience in the teahouses and hidden corners of Yangzhou. Their legacy is the perfected art of storytelling...
Parables
Jesus recognised the power of story. He used parables and indeed purportedly only used these in teaching the masses. He knew that parables would provoke thought and coax his listeners into participating more actively as they consider the parables' ambiguous content.
The parables were simple and memorable enough to survive in an oral tradition before being writen down years after Jesus' death.
Questions
Nowadays, asking questions and conversation have been elevated to the coveted status of 'art'.
McDonalds was created when Ray Kroc asked 'Where can I get a good hamburger on the road?' The Theory of Relativity came about when Einstein asked 'What would the universe look like if I were riding on the end of a light beam at the speed of light?'
If asking good questions is so critical,why don’t most of us spend more of our time and energy on discovering and framing them? Our culture and education system focuses on having the “right answer” rather than discovering the “right question.” Quizzes, examinations, and aptitude
tests all reinforce the value of correct answers. Is it any wonder that most of us are uncomfortable with not knowing? The aversion in our culture to asking creative questions is linked to an emphasis on finding quick fixes and an attachment to black/white, either/or thinking. (Just to stir your thoughts...)
Jesus recognised the power of questions.
Look at Luke 2:46 - Jesus was teaching in the temple, by listening and asking questions. One would typically associated the act of teaching with making statements. But, Jesus listened and asked questions. Jesus asked a total of 82 questions in the book of Matthew!
Now, look at Luke 24:13-35 (Road to Emmaus). 2 short lines in red (Jesus' words - they are open-ended questions) generated long responses from the 2 disciples. Questions are very powerful in provoking thought and reflection. "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road...?" The disciples later declared. What a powerful declaration! I wonder if I am also able to bring others to this sacred place of self-discovery and conviction...
The challenge I leave with us - How are we able to emulate the example of Jesus by using more stories and questions to build trust and relationships, and to provoke reflection and participation?
Rembrandt told the moving story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) with oil on canvas. This canvas hangs in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg today. Henri Nouwen encountered this story told through the window of art, through a print of it in 1983, and his life was never the same again. The Prodigal Son, with its main cast - the son, the elder brother, the loving father and the joyous community - became a powerful portrayal of a spiritual odyssey for him, which eventually led him to live and serve in a community of mentally handicapped persons.
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