This Sunday we begin a new series in the "Parables: "Provoking with Truth." There is so much discussion around this teaching device Jesus liked to use, often described as an 'earthly story that tells a heavenly truth.' Many regard them as a quaint way to make a topic easier to understand. But Jesus did not. He said explicitly the opposite to his disciples. Parables either blind or aggravate. These are not moral fables. They are designed to agitate. They are more like Socrates' gadfly - in which a small but persistent irritant keeps stinging a much larger, sluggish animal into action. If so, what does that say about how Jesus regards our spiritual condition? But also, what hope does it give? As Jesus said, if anyone has ears to hear, let him listen. Let's talk about "Why Parables?" (selections from Mark 4)