All dressed up with no story to tell?

Exodus 28: 1-43

The priest in the Mosaic covenant had to be dressed in a specific way, not only  symbolising his role as mediator, a representative of the people and his total dedication as the servant of the people before God but as a vehicle to actualise his role. He had to wear the robes of the office.  Today some of us still get dressed up before God and the community of disciples.  We gather together symbols that tell the story of the reconciliation of humanity with God and our true purpose of peace-making and prosperity sharing in Jesus.  As baptists (small b is deliberate) we generally go more for the simple approach but we should not devalue the multi-sensory process of storytelling. Many disciples tell the story of God revealed in Jesus through the use dramatic wardrobe, creation of sacred storytelling space, use of light shining through picturesque and coloured windows and the sound of silence, music and word not to mention the use of the  ‘olfactory worship’ of incense.  The important point is this.  Are we telling the Jesus story in a language that communicates with the people we live among? Or, does the story of Jesus get lost in the overwhelming noise of symbolism and ritual that most of us have long forgotten the meaning of?  Telling the story of Jesus and His reconciling, transformative and sacrificial love is too important in a world gone mad to allow it to be silenced by tokenism of any form. The lived life of the disciple remains the most powerful storytelling medium in our repertoire. Let us hear the words of Jesus and put them into practice and watch the dramatic change in ourselves and the communities we act out our faith among.