Parables for Preachers: The Gospel of Luke, Year C

Barbara Reid's books on `Parables for Preachers' follow the Revised Common Lectionary. Because of this, the book for Year C concentrates primarily on the texts of the gospel of Luke. Before getting into the heart of the texts, Reid presents introductory material on parables, preaching, and the gospel of Luke. Reid states in her introduction, `In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus rarely explains his parables. They are meant to be wrestled with by each generation of hearers who allow themselves to be disturbed and challenged by Jesus' subversive stories.'Subversive stories? One of the things that comfortable Christianity has sometimes forgotten is the revolutionary and radical character of Jesus and his teaching in the first century. Perhaps this is because the teachers are so familiar. How does one find new meanings in familiar parables that show up again and again? This is a particularly important question for preachers, and Reid addresses it directly. The term `parable' can refer to a range of types of speech - it goes beyond the simple moral stories similar to Aesop's fables. As Reid says of the gospel of Luke, it can be considered `a narrative of the events that have fulfilled among us.' Parables are a significant part of this narrative. Jesus, of course, was not the first to preach or teach in parables. In doing this, he was following an ancient and honoured tradition. This is a tradition that may be continued by modern teachers and preachers. Reid illustrates several ways in which parables serve to carry a message. They provide a way for Jesus to explain his experience of God and holiness without boxing it into academic or dogmatic statements. It helps connect the encounter with the holy with the common people and their daily lives. `In his parables, Jesus always began with the familiar. The images and situations he painted in his stories were from the fabric of daily life of his audience.' Of course, Jesus' parables were broad and inclusive - nothing was outside the scope of God's realm. While parables began with the familiar, they never lingered there. They served to recast `common' creation in a new way - the realm of God. Of course, this then begs for interpretation, which is never as straightforward and simple as some preachers would have it seem. `What catches up with the hearer is that Jesus' parables are usually open-ended; Jesus rarely interpreted these stories for his disciples.... Because they are told in figurative language, the parables are capable of conveying distinct message to different people in diverse circumstances.' Other aspects of parables that are key to their meaning include that they are not neutral, but always have a slant or bias, often toward the more marginal in society. They are a communal endeavour, and not really meant for individualists (something that Western society tends to forget). Parables are short, which makes for easier recollection - they are small like seeds, from which much m