PASTOR’S PONDERINGS

February.  It’s here.  And on the second Punxsutawney Phil may see his shadow and then we’ll have six more weeks of February weather.   Ever wonder where that piece of “wisdom” came from?  According to Wikipedia, there are conflicting stories, but there are roughly six weeks from February 2nd until either the Vernal Equinox, (the first day of Spring), or the day when the light first begins to take over the darkness, and people thought that was the first day of Spring—take your pick.  Either way, someone came up with the idea of a story about a groundhog—apparently groundhogs are very timid—and tied it to the idea of six more weeks of winter and the possibility of an early Spring.
And that brings three things to mind.  The first is that man is always inventing stories about the mundane of life.  Man is incredibly creative—and I really love seeing that in all of you and in others.  It’s part of what God had in mind when He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness,” (Gen. 1.26.)   The imagination of man is almost limitless.  The problem is that man, in his stories, almost always leaves God out.  When we fell from righteousness in the Garden of Eden, we became rebels against our Creator, and we no longer include Him in our stories.
And that brings me to the second thought: the greatest story-teller ever was Jesus.  His stories were called parables.  He almost always included one line with His stories: “He who has ears, let him hear.” The clear implication is that some could not hear; that is, some could not and would not understand – and that was intentional. In Matthew 13.10-16, Jesus said that He spoke in parables so some people would not understand, otherwise they would turn, or repent, and He would heal, or forgive, them.  God’s plan for man in his rebellion against his Creator included stories, stories for some to understand and for some not to understand—for some to be cured of their rebellion and for some to continue and to perish in their rebellion.
And that brings me to my final thought.  Most of you who read this are those who understand the parables of Jesus.  Praise God!  Know also that with that comprehension God has given comes the privilege and awesome responsibility of passing on the stories of Jesus to this and the next generation or two, to seeing others come to understand those same parables and to trust in the Savior of Whom they speak and to know the forgiveness of which they promise.  But sometimes the stories we delight to tell are the “creative” stories of men rather than the stories of the best story-teller: Jesus.  Sometimes we find it more amusing to pass on the fables of the generations rather than the truth of the ages.
There is nothing wrong with the fairy tales of men, as long as those we tell know the truth, and know that what we are telling them about Punxsutawney Phil is just creative malarkey.  Stories can be fun, as long as they don’t steal from the truth about Jesus.  You think about that.

– Pastor Jim