by David Phelps

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa

May, 2025

Another Easter Sunday has come and gone at Maplewood UMC. For a number of years, we used to decorate our worship space with helium-filled balloons with messages inside and then take them outside and release them after worship. Afterward, I would write about them. Unfortunately, we haven’t done balloons for a number of years due to their environmental impact and the relative scarcity of helium.

One former pastor told us we couldn’t have balloons because we hadn’t articulated their theological basis. Um, shouldn’t the pastor be willing to help with that? You could say the balloons rising represented the resurrection. And you could say releasing them represented spreading the gospel. It really isn’t that hard. We had balloons anyway. We had them because that’s who we were, a bunch of people who released balloons on Easter Sunday. We were the people of Maplewood UMC, and that was one of our traditions.

Our traditions, the stories we tell ourselves, define us and connect us to our past. When I was younger, we told the story of George Washington saying to his father, “I cannot tell a lie.” It meant we were the cultural and moral descendants of men—and it was always not only men but White men—who were honest and honorable. It meant we were Americans. We ignored their shortcomings because they were the heroes of our story.

In 1812, Scottish novelist John Galt wrote, “Every traveller is necessarily the hero of his own story.” There’s an old Daffy Duck cartoon in which Daffy is pitching a script to a movie producer. It’s a swashbuckling picture, and, naturally, Daffy sees himself as the star and hero. The movie unfolds with Daffy narrating. In one scene, he’s about to have a duel with Sylvester the cat. Daffy says, “Ya ain’t got a chance. I’m the hero of this picture, and you know what happens to the villain!” Sylvester replies, “So, what’s to know?”

For the people of Israel, the hero is Abraham. When his name is still Abram, God promises, “. . . I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing.” (Gen. 12:2 New English Translation). When Abram and his wife, Sarai, are advanced in age, God promises him offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5). Scripture says “Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord credited it as righteousness to him.” (vs. 6 NET). God changes Abram’s name to “Abraham” and Sarai’s to “Sarah” and promises many descendants (Gen. 17:1-16). Several years later, after he and Sarah have given up hope, his son, Isaac, is born (Gen. 21:1-4). But when Isaac is a young man, God tells Abraham, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering . . .” (Gen. 22:2a NET). Abraham obeys God, but just as he is about to slay his son (Gen. 22:10), God sends an angel to stop him (vs. 11). Sarah dies at the age of 127 (Gen. 23:1) and Abraham buries her (vs. 19). He then commissions his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac (Gen. 24:2-9). Abraham himself remarries, and his wife, Keturah, gives him five more children (Gen. 25:1-2). Finally, Abraham dies at the age of 175 (Gen. 25:7), “. . . at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life.” (vs. 8b NET).

For the people of Israel, identifying with Abraham meant they were blessed, faithful, and brave. It meant they were the hero. But John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees, “‘Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!’” (Matt. 3:8-9 NET). And later, when believing Jews questioned Jesus, he challenged them (John 8:31-38). “They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father!’ Jesus replied, ‘If you are Abraham’s children, you would be doing the deeds of Abraham.’” (vs. 39 NET).

For Christians, Jesus is the hero, and we’re called to do what he did (Phil. 2:3-7). He overcame sin and death (1 Cor. 15:54-57) and we can be like him (Gal. 3:27, Eph. 4:22-24). There’s a hymn called “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus.” That’s what we do at Maplewood UMC: we tell stories of who we are; we tell stories of Jesus. We perpetuate our traditions, and we perpetuate the traditions of our faith. What stories will you tell?


“Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.” (2 Thes. 2:15 NET.)
Copyright © 2025 by David Phelps