Stories can mean different things to different people.

I see this as true. For it to be not true is to deny people their unique experiances and different personalities that go into interpreting a story. It would be a tragic squashing of the story that every person has within their experiance to hold and to tell. Telling stories can be healing too. A friend of mine from England told me of the different situation regarding returned soldiers from world war 2. In England tody, there are very few RSA type organisations. In NZ and Australia their are many. She had done some research into this phenomenon and came up with this view; In England after the war, everybody was effected by the experiance, so the soldiers could tell their stories everywhere, in their families, down the street, in the local pub. Their story was freely spoken, heard and understood by everyone. Through telling their story healing came naturally as much as could be expected.
In contrast, the NZ soldiers that came home were unable to freely tell their story to a public that was quite distant from the action. So where could they tell their story, in the RSA and RSL associations. They could sit with people that would listen and could also tell a similar story. The RSA provided a place for the soldiers to tell their story and be heard.
Stories need to be heard, our stories need to be told. The answer to such stories need not be given, because an answer is not often needed. Some stories just need to be heard and respected.
The place for a preacher telling a story and then explaining the intended meaning is alluded to by Jesus through the parables he told. For example, the parable of the person sowing the seed, and Jesus explaining what it meant later. Such parable telling can be used to help us reflect on where we lie in the story and how we can move on in being open more deeply and richly to the Word of God.