Stories within Stories
Whenever someone returns from a trip or some other time away, they have stories to tell. I’ve never had someone say to me “Last week we went to Maine,” (or wherever they went) and think that’s all they have to say. There is always more to it—what they attended, who they saw, where they ate, how cold the ocean was, or who finally won the 57th game of checkers.
The headline is never the story. I find that happens often in the Bible, too. There are so many summary sentences, and for every one, there is a whole story waiting to be told.
I’ve often said that we need to consider the context when approaching texts from Scripture. While we don’t want to read too much into them, it can be helpful to imagine what the people would have been like and what they may have been doing in a given moment. Thinking about the stories that could be told helps us unfold that world in a way we might not understand as well otherwise.
2025 brings us to Year C in the Revised Common Lectionary. The gospel readings are primarily from Luke with some passages from other gospels mixed in as they are every year. The additional readings each week range from Genesis to Revelation, and they will bring us to Abraham and Sarah as they anticipate the birth of Isaac, the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah as they make their proclamations, new churches as they form in Corinth and Philippi, and a number of other places.
This month alone, we’re going to encounter sentences in our readings like, “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,” and, “Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.” 1
There’s so much there we can wonder about in just these verses. What happened on that journey for the wise men? How many of them were there, really? What was that journey like for Peter and John? Did they walk or talk with anyone else on the way? There are stories that these people lived in the sentences here.
As I said at the beginning of this article, whenever someone returns from a time away, they have stories to tell. Their experiences always seem to have changed them. Even if it’s a small thing, the person telling the story has something new or different to share. In listening, I often find that I learn something, too, and in learning I adjust my own approach to the world. It changes me as well.
As we encounter the Lectionary Readings this year, I encourage you to approach the Scripture passages with a sense of curiosity. Allow yourself to wonder about the people on the pages and the lives they lived. In doing so, I hope you find the stories within the stories, and get a better sense of the message and meaning of these lessons. Let them say something new to you, and consider how the lesson may impact and even change your approach to the world around you, too.
Happy New Year!
1Matthew 2:1 and Acts 8:14.