with groups of short sayings. The impact a story makes on our minds and hearts does not usually result from individual words or lines. Rather, we remember scenes such as Odysseus escaping from the Cyclops; Huck lying to save Jim, the runaway slave; and Absalom hanging by his hair, pierced with three javelins. Preaching texts from narrative literature are likely to be longer than preaching texts from epistles. Because it takes more time to show than to tell, the text of a sermon from narrative might