Advent 4
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series II, Cycle C
My friend, Pastor Ray Christenson in Las Vegas, once told about a pastor who would regularly visit a farm family outside of town. He would visit them particularly because the farmer's wife was blind. Each time the pastor would visit, things would go along like any of the other visits he would make. He enjoyed talking with Farmer and Mrs. Syverson. They would tell the pastor of how their families came from Norway and how they settled in Minnesota. They would share their remembrances of family traditions and customs. It was always an enjoyable time together. The pastor would then try to direct the visit toward spiritual matters. He would offer to pray or to share Holy Communion. During these moments the farmer would excuse himself and go outside to continue his chores around the farm. When this happened, the pastor noticed something that he could never understand.
As the farmer would work around the farm, the pastor noticed that he always whistled. In and of itself, this was not very strange. What was odd was that it was never a tune that the pastor could recognize. So on one of those many visits, as the pastor got in his car to drive back to town, he gathered the courage to ask the farmer about his whistling. "Mr. Syverson," he asked, "I notice that when I am visiting with your wife, you are out here working, and while you do, you are whistling, but it is never a tune I recognize. What are you whistling?" "Pastor," the farmer replied, "you know that my wife is blind and while I am out here working, I whistle so that she will know that I am near."
God became a man in Jesus Christ so that we would know that he is near. He comes to us in such simple ways. He comes to us even as a little baby. Listen for the whistling of God.
Source: Ray Christenson, Community Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, Nevada. Used by permission.
As the farmer would work around the farm, the pastor noticed that he always whistled. In and of itself, this was not very strange. What was odd was that it was never a tune that the pastor could recognize. So on one of those many visits, as the pastor got in his car to drive back to town, he gathered the courage to ask the farmer about his whistling. "Mr. Syverson," he asked, "I notice that when I am visiting with your wife, you are out here working, and while you do, you are whistling, but it is never a tune I recognize. What are you whistling?" "Pastor," the farmer replied, "you know that my wife is blind and while I am out here working, I whistle so that she will know that I am near."
God became a man in Jesus Christ so that we would know that he is near. He comes to us in such simple ways. He comes to us even as a little baby. Listen for the whistling of God.
Source: Ray Christenson, Community Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, Nevada. Used by permission.
