What’s Your Story (Audio)

No matter where I go, when I meet people within the Lutheran Church, I’m forever being asked: “So, what’s your story?” Folks want to know all the details: where did I come from, where did I grow up, who am I related to? It seems everybody has a story, and we want to know it. We’re fascinated in knowing all the bits from other people’s lives.

This also applied to the apostle Paul. In 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Paul lets us in on some rather intimate details of his life and what we learn is that he was a lot like you and me. In fact, his story is also our story and it’s a story of God’s amazing grace and love, where like Paul, through God’s grace and love, we too are being continually transformed to be a Reliable Witness and have been given a Reliable Message to share with others.

Paul was a reliable, unyielding figure. He stood strong in the faith – in fact, he was imprisoned and eventually martyred for his faith in Jesus – yet Paul also tells us a different story. He tells the story of himself in the following terms: “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.” Paul goes on say that “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus”—that is an amazing testimony of God’s faithful love. And this same amazing grace that transformed Paul from an ignorant persecutor to a wise gospel messenger, is the same grace that changes us—it transforms us to also be reliable gospel witnesses like Paul was.

Like Paul, Jesus considers us worthy to be his witnesses. What a statement! In light of his grace, Jesus allows His love to be showcased in our lives, where we become His stained-glass windows of love and grace, shining out all that He has given and done for us.

What’s Paul’s story? It’s an example of how God turned what was “worst” into something reliable and wonderful—what happened to Paul, who was lost, like a lost sheep, the worst of sinners—is an example of what has happened to us…and so we too share this story of what God has done and continues to do for us and others.

The Bible says that we are always to give the reason for the hope we have—so when somebody asks, “And just what’s your story?” You can say with the apostle Paul, “I’m a forgiven and redeemed sinner in Jesus Christ. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

Pr. Wayne Kerber