Making Easter Real
As we head into Holy Week I am reminded of an article in the Harvard Business Review about the importance of Storytelling. Here is a portion of the article:
“A big part of a CEO’s job is to motivate people to reach certain goals. To do that, he or she must engage their emotions, and the key to their hearts is story. There are two ways to persuade people. The first is by using conventional rhetoric…It’s an intellectual process…you build your case by giving statistics and facts and quotes from authorities. But there are two problems with rhetoric. First, the people you’re talking to have their own set of authorities, statistics, and experiences. While you’re trying to persuade them, they are arguing with you in their heads. Second, if you do succeed in persuading them, you’ve done so only on an intellectual basis. That’s not good enough, because people are not inspired to act by reason alone.
The other way to persuade people…is by uniting an idea with an emotion. The best way to do that is by telling a compelling story. In a story, you not only weave a lot of information into the telling but you also arouse your listener’s emotions and energy…If you can harness imagination and the principles of a well-told story, then you get people rising to their feet amid thunderous applause instead of yawning and ignoring you.”
If you read carefully you will see a couple of things that stand out from the article. First, trying to persuade by giving facts, statistics, and quotes works only if your info-commercial is better organized and told then the information the congregation already has in their heads. I must admit this has been my basic style — I have a laptop filled with PowerPoint Presentations and I can persuade with the best of them, or at least I try. The key phrase here is at the end: people are not inspired to act by reason alone.
Let that sink in for a moment. When you preach the story of the passion this week are you aiming for the head or the heart? Are you seeking to persuade by quoting The Case for the Resurrection or some similar book? Are you hoping the historical facts will support your argument or are you using the approach of the Jesus Seminar where you will vote for the passages you think only Jesus could have said? I fear that too much of our preaching is focused on analytical arguments rather than touching the heart with (gasp) emotion.
Second, the article makes the case that the way to persuade people is by uniting an idea with an emotion. This comes with telling a riveting and powerful story. During Holy Week you have such a story to tell. If you read the events of the Holy Week with an eye to the story that is being told the characters will leap off the page into the very depths of your soul. The story of Jesus’ last days, his death, and resurrection has fueled the Christian Way since its inception. My hope and prayer for you is that you will be able to tell The Story as if you are hearing it for the first time. The wonder. The tears. The shame. The grief. The hope. The love that prevails to this day.
My father said something to me about Easter Sermons, “Craig, don’t forget to smile on Easter. Point to the flowers and to the cross. Remember that Easter is a celebration.” In his own way he was saying he had heard too many sermons that aimed at the head rather than the heart. Another things crosses my mind, “Do you believe?” “Do I really believe?” I pray that in the midst of all the activities that surround this week, Palm Sunday (whose getting the branches?) the Easter Egg Hunt (do we have enough eggs?), The Maundy Thursday Service (what kind of bread shall we use?), Good Friday (will anyone show up?), and Easter (one more service to go!) that you will have a revelation — this Jesus that you will be talking about came for you. He died for you. He lives for you. He wants to live through you. Let it be so.