The story of Saint Patrick that most of us remember has to do with driving snakes out of Ireland. That’s the legend, anyway. What do we know or care to know about the real Saint Patrick? Patrick’s father was an English clergy man. Patrick memorized all of the Psalms as a youth. Tragically, Patrick was abducted in England and brought to Ireland as a slave. In the midst of his slavery, Patrick writes that he heard God tell him to walk across Ireland all the way to the coast where he would find a boat waiting to return him to England. It seemed like a dangerous long shot—he would be returned to his master and killed if anyone heard his Irish accent—but Patrick followed the Lord’s advice. He found the ship. The crew was not inclined to help him until Patrick shared the memorized Psalms which had sustained him through his captivity. The crew of the ship assumed they were helping a clergy man (and thus would receive blessings) and so obliged Patrick in his quest to return home.

However, once Patrick arrived safely home he felt God calling him back to Ireland, this time as an apostle of the Good News of Jesus Christ to the largely “Druid” population. Patrick is credited with converting all of Ireland to Christianity. He is also credited with spreading literacy and with abolishing the slave trade which had interrupted his own young life.

Fascinating! But all I ever hear about the man is some unbelievable story about snakes. Meanwhile I am confused about the other stuff that has grown up around Saint Patrick—green beer, pot-o-gold and Soda Bread. No-one ever told me that the shamrock was used by Patrick to teach non-believers about the concept of “Father, Son and Holy Spirit”. All I knew was that there was supposedly some “Luck of the Irish” (which seems unlikely given the abundance of green beer).

What do people know about Jesus? Some “unbelievable” stories as wild as the story of Saint Patrick persuading thousands of snakes to follow him out of Ireland? Are they confused about what all these traditions which have grown up around Jesus have to do with Jesus' reason for being? How are we Christians helping non-believers with their questions and assumptions about all of this Jesus stuff?

Lent is an excellent time to get real about Jesus. Jesus was a real man with real temptations, real courage and real faith. Our friends may not be able to make the leap to the miraculous teachings about Jesus. That is fine for now. There is plenty of good material to teach people about him without asking people to believe “snake stories”. Start with the Matthew chapters five and six and the “Sermon on the Mount” teachings. Follow that quickly with sharing what you know about Jesus. Of course it won’t matter what you say about Jesus if your life doesn’t reflect the Sermon on the Mount.

Need some help remembering what Jesus is all about? I’ll look for you Sunday and we can remember together.