Out Our Way: The Gospel according to Goliath

   “Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables … so was fulfilled what had been spoken of (in Psalm 78:2) ‘I will open my mouth in parables and utter things hidden since the creation of the world.’” — Matthew 13:34-35

Out our way, we find that sometimes folks from different parts of the country have difficulty in understanding us — and vice versa. Sometimes it’s the accent, but often it is a different vocabulary. For example, a friend of mine from Connecticut asked for a regular coffee and was shocked when it was served black. Back in his part of the world, “regular” means with cream and sugar. Who knew? Folks back East laughed at the way I pronounce the word “err” as in “to err is human to forgive divine.” We pronounce, “err” similar to how we pronounce “air.” They pronounce it as “er,” so it rhymes with “her” If an inning ends without any mistakes made by the fielders, they say “no runs — no hits — no er—ors.”  A “submarine” sandwich is a “hoagie” and a bottle of pop is called a “soda.”

Man, I didn’t just have to learn Hebrew and Greek in Seminary — I had to learn “Eastern.”

Of course I picked it up along the way and could converse with a New Yorker or someone from Philadelphia and make myself perfectly understood in time. But there was yet another language I had to learn in seminary … and that was “preacher-speak.  It is one of the dangers of higher education to start to use theological jargon in the classroom and then continue to use it in the pulpit. It is very catchy and smart to refer to the “Decalogue” in your Old Testament class, but for Pete’s sake, it’s the 10 Commandments you try to explain to the folks in the pew.

I think I shared this joke before — it’s one that really cracked me up in seminary but some of the egghead profs never quite understood the humor.

It goes: And Jesus said to the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” And Simon called Peter said, “Lord, you are the eschatological manifestation of the ontic state of our being, the kerygma in which we find our ultimate meaning!” And Jesus said unto Simon called Peter,  “HUH?”

I guess some things never change, for it seems in Jesus’ time there were many rabbis and scribes who also liked to use big words and religious jargon that impressed some folks, irritated others, and baffled them all. And that is why He spoke in parables. He told stories about everyday things, like planting seed, making bread, plowing a field, herding livestock and so forth. And by speaking in word pictures and trying to illustrate even deep religious thoughts in simple homey stories, He got the message across. And ultimately, isn’t that the point?

For nearly seven years, Goliath and I have attempted to do the same thing; we have been trying to share the Gospel in bits and pieces with stories from our time playing with cows, other horses, and occasionally other people along the way. Many of you have been kind enough to say you appreciate Goliath and have even found his horse sense theology helpful from time to time. With that in mind, “Old Doc” and I want to try something rather special.

I have never been what they call a “lectionary” or “topical” preacher — one who preaches from different books of the Bible every Sunday. Nothing wrong with that style of course, but I prefer to preach one book at a time. I like the context of following the verses as they were written and in context so that each text builds on the foundation of the text that preceded it; thus building up the context and, hopefully clarifying the fullness of the message to a greater degree.

So Goliath and I have decided we’d like to try to see if together we can clarify the Gospel of Mark to a greater degree by telling Goliath stories based on a weekly reading of Mark. Parables by Goliath in which we hope to further clarify and share insights of John Mark. Eventually we hope to put it together into a small book, perhaps called “The Gospel According to Goliath.” Wouldn’t that be a hoot? But for now, we’ll just try it out one week at a time and see how it goes. Who knows? Maybe Old Doc will teach us all a thing or two we preachers never quite managed to get across.

(Pastor John Bruington and his horse Goliath’s weekly columns are available, along with Bruin Town Tales for children and weekly sermons, at http://www.havrepres.org)