An Awakening
Stories
Object:
StoryShare
Edited by John Sumwalt and Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Advent 1(Cycle A), November 28, 2004
Based on Revised Common Lectionary Texts:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
Contents
What's Up This Week
A Story to Live By: "An Awakening"
Shining Moments: "Not Left Behind" by Nancy Nichols
Good Stories: "Come, Lord Jesus" by John Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: "Notes for Not Left Behind Sermon" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
Nancy Nichols' "really happened" Not Left Behind story in this week's Shining Moments is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to comment on the theology of the Left Behind series of novels, which has been wreaking intellectual and spiritual havoc throughout Christendom over the past ten years or so. Her story speaks of a dream/vision of a loving Jesus who promises not to leave her behind, a Christ of the Apocalypse who will not leave any of us behind. This is a striking contrast to the "Christ coming in judgment" Jesus in Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkins' creations.
John plans to preach on this theme this week and to tell Nancy's personal story. Check out his sermon notes in the Scrap Pile. And please send us any good stuff you have used in preaching on this theme. We also welcome views of the Left Behind books that differ from those offered here. Write to us at jsumwalt@naspa.net.
For more apocalyptic stories and commentary, see the Advent 1 editions for Cycle B and Cycle C in the StoryShare archives.
A Story to Live By
An Awakening
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light...
Romans 13:11b-12
When St. John was already old, he was visiting the churches in Asia Minor and blessing them with his earnest apostolic zeal and care. Finding a young man who was a pagan and not familiar with the Christian faith, he brought him to a local bishop and asked the bishop to look after him. After some time, the young man began to be tempted and steal, then later joined a band of brigands and left the city and went out into the countryside to live with them. When St. John returned to that place after a few years' absence, he asked the bishop what had become of that young man.
The bishop sorrowfully told him what had happened, and as soon as St. John heard this he immediately inquired which direction the brigands lived, then set out in haste towards that direction with a guide and a horse, finally reaching the chief of the brigands. When the young man saw St. John he was afraid and ashamed and began to run away, but as old as St. John was, he doubled his efforts, ran after him, and caught up with him. The young man, seeing this unashamed love, bowed down before St. John in repentance and amazement at this care, and they both went back to the city to the bishop, who was again given charge of this precious treasure -- asking that the bishop keep him in better care this time.
(Father Simeon, St. Isaac of Syria Skete Holy Orthodox Mission News, Vol. 10, No. 1, November 2004)
Shining Moments
Not Left Behind
by Nancy Nichols
"But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Matthew 24:36
I grew up in a family and church well centered in the Age of Reason; thoughts and ideas gave validity to human experience. My faith was well reasoned. It was historically based. It was habitual. I longed for more.
When I was in high school, a faith group based on charismatic and apocalyptic faith experiences came to the area. The "cool" kids joined in, and so did many of my friends, which made them cool as well. While I could not agree with them rationally, I found myself drawn to the emotional expression of their faith and the acceptance by peers who would once have ignored me. I still attended my United Methodist church, but I was certainly willing to explore something more.
On New Year's Eve, 1975, this group of friends gathered together. We went to an Assembly of God worship service that focused on the coming of the end. They believed that 1976 would bring the parousia, the rapture, the end, the second coming. I left the church thinking "I'm only 17. There is way too much of life left for me to experience. I don't want this yet!" After leaving the church, we spent the night at Jill's house. We stayed up talking about all we had heard. My friends were convinced that this was indeed the year. I wasn't so sure.
I went home the next morning, New Year's Day, 1976. I decided that I needed to read Revelation. So I started reading the most complex book in the biblical record, on no sleep, with a heart filled with fear! I made it about halfway through before I fell into a troubled sleep.
The house I grew up in was old and creaky. The steam heat made loud noises, the floorboards creaked, and the tree limbs just outside the windows rubbed together, making strange noises. Usually those sounds were the sounds of comfort. But on January 1, 1976, every noise that invaded my sleep brought fear. I was sure that each creak was the trumpet prelude to a mass rapture that would leave me behind to face enemy forces!
Then it happened. I had a dream. I had THE dream. In my dream Jesus descended halfway, looked straight at me, and said, "Nancy, I love you, go back to sleep. Don't worry, I'm not coming for a very long time, and I won't leave you behind." I fell into a deep sleep, and woke refreshed.
Looking back, I realized that the dream was not just about the end of times, but about all of those times when I felt that Jesus was leaving me behind. That dream prepared me to face losing my mother just 15 months later. That dream prepared me to move from being an adolescent to an adult. That dream allowed me to answer, finally, the call to ministry I first heard when I was 12. That dream stayed with me during the dark nights of the soul when I could not find God. That dream is part of my faith. "Nancy, I love you, go back to sleep."
Nancy Nichols, a United Methodist minister, has written teenage pregnancy prevention curriculum, worked in a welfare-to-work program, and taught parenting skills to at-risk parents. In addition to serving St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Muncie, Indiana, Nancy has finished coursework toward a Doctorate in Education and is starting her dissertation on United Methodist women clergy ordained in north Indiana from 1974-1990. She also teaches several courses at the local community college. She still finds time for good friends, good coffee, good food, good rock and roll dance bands, and three dogs.
Good Stories
Come, Lord Jesus
by John Sumwalt
"Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left. Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."
Matthew 24:40-42
Two women lay in their beds on the third floor of a downtown nursing home. They have been roommates for many years. One is 105 years old and the other is 102. They have been waiting and watching for a long, long time. "It won't be long now," they assure one another at the beginning of each new day. "It can't be much longer now." And every night, when the lights go out, they close their eyes and pray, "Come soon, Lord Jesus, come soon."
One morning, just before dawn, one of the women is wakened by a strange, floating sensation. When she opens her eyes, she is surprised to find herself near the ceiling of the room, looking down at the still form of her own body on the bed below. Across the room she can see the blanket which covers her roommate heaving up and down with each labored breath. She notices for the first time how old and tired her friend appears in the bed which has been her home for so many years. She waits for a moment, thinking her friend might be coming, too. And then, knowing she can wait no longer, she blows her a kiss and turns to greet the dawn.
Scrap Pile
Notes for "Not Left Behind" Sermon
by John Sumwalt
"...two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left."
Matthew 24:40
"In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the globe disappear. Vehicles, suddenly unmanned, careen out of control. People are terror-stricken as loved ones vanish before their eyes. In the midst of global chaos, airline captain Rayford Steele must search for his family, for answers, for truth. As devastating as the disappearances have been, the darkest days may lie ahead."
Thus reads the promo on the back cover of the first book in the very, very successful Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Tyndale House Publishers, 1995), which has sold millions and millions of copies all around the world.
Some of you have read one or more of the Left Behind books. Some of you may have read them all. You may have read them just because you find them to be a "good read." You may have read them out of curiosity. You may have read them because you believe or fear that this is the way history will unfold, and you want to be the one of those who is not "left behind."
Is this what Jesus meant when he said, "...two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left" (Matthew 24:40)? "In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the globe disappear?" Is this what Jesus is telling us is going to happen? If we were to have a show of hands, how many here today do you suppose would say yes, and how many would say no?
I am not going to ask for a show of hands. But I am going to ask those of you who are left-handed to move to the left side of the sanctuary, and those who are right-handed to move to the right side. Those of you who are ambidextrous can stay where you are. In just a few minutes, after everyone is settled, the ushers will pass among those of you on the right side and distribute large servings of ice cream with chocolate sauce. Cherries and whipped cream will be optional. We will keep this seating arrangement every Sunday from now on.
I'm just kidding. Don't anybody move. But imagine how it would feel to be in the group left behind, knowing that those on the "right side" are being treated to something good every week and the rest of us are receiving nothing.
(Here is where I will tell Nancy Nichols' "Not Left Behind" story from the Shining Moments section above.)
Then I will say: This is the Jesus I know. This is how the God I know treats all of creation. There is grace enough for everyone. On some occasions there will even be ice cream and chocolate sauce for everyone. In fact, there is ice cream and chocolate sauce for everyone in the Fellowship Hall following this service. I am declaring this first Sunday of Advent in the year of our Lord 2004 "Not left behind ice cream sundae day." (Yes, there is sugar-free ice cream for those who want to avoid sugar.)
Then I will address the obvious question: If the books in the Left Behind series got it wrong about what Jesus meant in this "one will be taken and the other left" passage, then what did he mean?
(If you want to know what I am going to say here, send $20 in a plain manila envelope and I will send you the solution -- just kidding!)
Actually, I have only a vague idea about what I am going to say next. This will be my research project this week. If you have ideas to share, write to me at jsumwalt@naspa.net. I would love to hear from you.
I may say something about a couple of other best-selling books in this genre which were all the rage in the 1970s: Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods. And I may even throw in a word about a more recent best-seller, Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, which I am embarrassed to admit is in our church library. We invited one of our neighboring pastors, Dr. Steven Peay, to speak about Brown's book in two evening lectures during our Lenten Forum series last year. We had nearly a hundred persons turn out for both sessions. If we had announced a routine Bible study we would have had less than half that number. What is it about these kind of books which have little, if any, basis in fact that we find so intriguing?
I will certainly quote what James W. Fleming wrote in Biblical Issues and Conflicts In the Middle East: "Most serious scholars, even in evangelical seminaries, do not accept the premises of the Left Behind series. I know of no Bible teacher who would accept the theology of the Left Behind series."
Fleming writes this about the books of Revelation, upon which much of the Left Behind series is based: "The worst thing that can be done is to take the book of Revelation literally. It would be murdering the book. Revelation was not accepted into the canon of scripture until the fourth century A.D. For the first three centuries after Jesus, Christians were afraid to call the Book of Revelation scripture. They were afraid some might take it literally and use it to justify violence for God.... Finally St. Augustine in the fourth century A.D. convinced the church that the Book of the Apocalypse belonged in the canon, on the condition that it would not be taken literally. Gog and Magog are not two armies in a literal valley where blood flows high as the bridle on the horse in the Book of Revelation. It is a way of saying that there is going to be great conflict between good and evil." (Biblical Resources, pp. 99-101. Click on http://www.biblicalresources.net)
Bruce Bawer, author of Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity, is even more adamant about this point: "...Protestant fundamentalism is not a more 'extreme' version of mainstream Christianity -- it is a different creature entirely. Though many individual fundamentalists may be loving people, the theology to which they subscribe delights in a God who casts his children by the millions into eternal hellfire, and who has ordained a sequence of events of end times that amounts to a grotesque pageant of slaughter and bloodshed without any visible moral significance or spiritual dimension." (Crown Publishers, 1997, p. 103)
Bawer also writes: "...millions of American Protestants had begun 'to read the scripture as if it were a puzzle containing clues to God's historical timetable.' They also began to look at Christianity in an aggressively horizontal way, seeing it as centered not on the individual's spiritual experience but on total assent to a highly specific and ahistorical set of theological propositions... salvation is dependent not only on one's acceptance of Jesus Christ as savior but on one's acceptance of the truth of the entire dispensational historical schema. Those who declare their belief in... the Rapture and so forth will be saved; those who don't will endure the pains of hell. Period. Where does love fit into the picture? Nowhere." (p. 86)
Speaking of the fatalism that is implicit in the Left Behind thinking, Tom Sine writes in the Logos Productions publication On Our Minds: "Implicit in this kind of literature is a fatalistic view of the future and degenerative view of history. As a consequence many Christians who ardently embrace this view insist that the 'Bible teaches that everything is destined to get worse and worse, so it makes absolutely no sense to work for social change. The best we can do is to get a few more people in that salvation lifeboat before Jesus comes back.' Several years ago Jerry Falwell reflected this kind of end-times fatalism when a TV commentator asked him if he was concerned about the environment. He said, in effect, that he had no concern about the environment because Jesus is coming back, and therefore we had better use it before we [lose] it..."
Sine adds, "The Left Behind series could influence many outside the evangelical movement to succumb to an eschatology of escape and disengagement, in contrast to the biblical vision that people can be a part of the in-breaking of God's new order even now." (On Our Minds, Vol. 7, No. 5, November/December 2001)
(I will conclude the sermon with the "Come, Lord Jesus" story from the Good Stories section above.)
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
How do I get a free sample of StoryShare?
Discover for yourself the real value of StoryShare. Click here http://www.csspub.com/storysample1.lasso to see two of our weekly editions.
How do I subscribe to StoryShare?
Subscribing online is convenient using our secure server -- or you can all CSS toll-free at (800) 537-1030 Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (Eastern Time) or send an e-mail to orders@csspub.com, and our customer service team will be happy to assist you. Subscribers receive weekly installments of StoryShare -- plus full access to the StoryShare archives -- for an annual subscription rate of only $19.95. A two-year subscription is available for only $34.95. We think this is the best value in preaching, teaching, and devotional resources available anywhere. If you don't agree we will refund the balance of your subscription payment. To subscribe online, click here http://www.csspub.com/css-secure/storysubscribe.lasso.
We invite you to forward this offer to all of your friends who are looking for good stories.
**************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), is now available from CSS Publishing Company. (Click on the title for information about how to order.) Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Jodie Felton, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music. The stories follow the lectionary for Cycle A.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
You can order any of our books on the CSS website; they are also available from www.amazon.com and at many Christian bookstores. Or simply e-mail your order to orders@csspub.com or phone 1-800-241-4056. (If you live outside the U.S., phone 419-227-1818.)
**************
About the Editors
John E. Sumwalt is the pastor of Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee, and is the author of eight books for CSS. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), John received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for Parish Ministry from UDTS in 1997. John is known in the Milwaukee area for his one-minute radio spots which always include a brief story. He concludes each spot by saying, "I'm John Sumwalt with 'A Story to Live By' from Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church."
John has done numerous storytelling events for civic, school, and church groups, as well as on radio and television. He has performed at a number of fundraisers for the homeless, the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, and women's shelters. Since the fall of 1999, when he began working on the Vision Stories series, he has led seminars and retreats around the themes "A Safe Place to Tell Visions" and "Vision Stories in the Bible and Today." To schedule a seminar or a retreat, write to jsumwalt@naspa.net or phone 414-257-1228.
Joanne Perry-Sumwalt is director of Christian Education at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with a degree in English and writing. She has co-authored two books with John, Life Stories: A Study In Christian Decision Making and Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit: 62 Stories For Cycle B. Jo writes original curriculum for church classes. She also serves as the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF), and is a member of the National CEF.
Jo and John have been married since 1975. They have two grown children, Kathryn and Orrin. They both love reading, movies, long walks with Chloe (their West Highland Terrier), and working on their old farmhouse in southwest Wisconsin.
**********************************************
StoryShare, November 28, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
Edited by John Sumwalt and Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Advent 1(Cycle A), November 28, 2004
Based on Revised Common Lectionary Texts:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
Contents
What's Up This Week
A Story to Live By: "An Awakening"
Shining Moments: "Not Left Behind" by Nancy Nichols
Good Stories: "Come, Lord Jesus" by John Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: "Notes for Not Left Behind Sermon" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
Nancy Nichols' "really happened" Not Left Behind story in this week's Shining Moments is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to comment on the theology of the Left Behind series of novels, which has been wreaking intellectual and spiritual havoc throughout Christendom over the past ten years or so. Her story speaks of a dream/vision of a loving Jesus who promises not to leave her behind, a Christ of the Apocalypse who will not leave any of us behind. This is a striking contrast to the "Christ coming in judgment" Jesus in Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkins' creations.
John plans to preach on this theme this week and to tell Nancy's personal story. Check out his sermon notes in the Scrap Pile. And please send us any good stuff you have used in preaching on this theme. We also welcome views of the Left Behind books that differ from those offered here. Write to us at jsumwalt@naspa.net.
For more apocalyptic stories and commentary, see the Advent 1 editions for Cycle B and Cycle C in the StoryShare archives.
A Story to Live By
An Awakening
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light...
Romans 13:11b-12
When St. John was already old, he was visiting the churches in Asia Minor and blessing them with his earnest apostolic zeal and care. Finding a young man who was a pagan and not familiar with the Christian faith, he brought him to a local bishop and asked the bishop to look after him. After some time, the young man began to be tempted and steal, then later joined a band of brigands and left the city and went out into the countryside to live with them. When St. John returned to that place after a few years' absence, he asked the bishop what had become of that young man.
The bishop sorrowfully told him what had happened, and as soon as St. John heard this he immediately inquired which direction the brigands lived, then set out in haste towards that direction with a guide and a horse, finally reaching the chief of the brigands. When the young man saw St. John he was afraid and ashamed and began to run away, but as old as St. John was, he doubled his efforts, ran after him, and caught up with him. The young man, seeing this unashamed love, bowed down before St. John in repentance and amazement at this care, and they both went back to the city to the bishop, who was again given charge of this precious treasure -- asking that the bishop keep him in better care this time.
(Father Simeon, St. Isaac of Syria Skete Holy Orthodox Mission News, Vol. 10, No. 1, November 2004)
Shining Moments
Not Left Behind
by Nancy Nichols
"But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Matthew 24:36
I grew up in a family and church well centered in the Age of Reason; thoughts and ideas gave validity to human experience. My faith was well reasoned. It was historically based. It was habitual. I longed for more.
When I was in high school, a faith group based on charismatic and apocalyptic faith experiences came to the area. The "cool" kids joined in, and so did many of my friends, which made them cool as well. While I could not agree with them rationally, I found myself drawn to the emotional expression of their faith and the acceptance by peers who would once have ignored me. I still attended my United Methodist church, but I was certainly willing to explore something more.
On New Year's Eve, 1975, this group of friends gathered together. We went to an Assembly of God worship service that focused on the coming of the end. They believed that 1976 would bring the parousia, the rapture, the end, the second coming. I left the church thinking "I'm only 17. There is way too much of life left for me to experience. I don't want this yet!" After leaving the church, we spent the night at Jill's house. We stayed up talking about all we had heard. My friends were convinced that this was indeed the year. I wasn't so sure.
I went home the next morning, New Year's Day, 1976. I decided that I needed to read Revelation. So I started reading the most complex book in the biblical record, on no sleep, with a heart filled with fear! I made it about halfway through before I fell into a troubled sleep.
The house I grew up in was old and creaky. The steam heat made loud noises, the floorboards creaked, and the tree limbs just outside the windows rubbed together, making strange noises. Usually those sounds were the sounds of comfort. But on January 1, 1976, every noise that invaded my sleep brought fear. I was sure that each creak was the trumpet prelude to a mass rapture that would leave me behind to face enemy forces!
Then it happened. I had a dream. I had THE dream. In my dream Jesus descended halfway, looked straight at me, and said, "Nancy, I love you, go back to sleep. Don't worry, I'm not coming for a very long time, and I won't leave you behind." I fell into a deep sleep, and woke refreshed.
Looking back, I realized that the dream was not just about the end of times, but about all of those times when I felt that Jesus was leaving me behind. That dream prepared me to face losing my mother just 15 months later. That dream prepared me to move from being an adolescent to an adult. That dream allowed me to answer, finally, the call to ministry I first heard when I was 12. That dream stayed with me during the dark nights of the soul when I could not find God. That dream is part of my faith. "Nancy, I love you, go back to sleep."
Nancy Nichols, a United Methodist minister, has written teenage pregnancy prevention curriculum, worked in a welfare-to-work program, and taught parenting skills to at-risk parents. In addition to serving St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Muncie, Indiana, Nancy has finished coursework toward a Doctorate in Education and is starting her dissertation on United Methodist women clergy ordained in north Indiana from 1974-1990. She also teaches several courses at the local community college. She still finds time for good friends, good coffee, good food, good rock and roll dance bands, and three dogs.
Good Stories
Come, Lord Jesus
by John Sumwalt
"Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left. Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."
Matthew 24:40-42
Two women lay in their beds on the third floor of a downtown nursing home. They have been roommates for many years. One is 105 years old and the other is 102. They have been waiting and watching for a long, long time. "It won't be long now," they assure one another at the beginning of each new day. "It can't be much longer now." And every night, when the lights go out, they close their eyes and pray, "Come soon, Lord Jesus, come soon."
One morning, just before dawn, one of the women is wakened by a strange, floating sensation. When she opens her eyes, she is surprised to find herself near the ceiling of the room, looking down at the still form of her own body on the bed below. Across the room she can see the blanket which covers her roommate heaving up and down with each labored breath. She notices for the first time how old and tired her friend appears in the bed which has been her home for so many years. She waits for a moment, thinking her friend might be coming, too. And then, knowing she can wait no longer, she blows her a kiss and turns to greet the dawn.
Scrap Pile
Notes for "Not Left Behind" Sermon
by John Sumwalt
"...two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left."
Matthew 24:40
"In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the globe disappear. Vehicles, suddenly unmanned, careen out of control. People are terror-stricken as loved ones vanish before their eyes. In the midst of global chaos, airline captain Rayford Steele must search for his family, for answers, for truth. As devastating as the disappearances have been, the darkest days may lie ahead."
Thus reads the promo on the back cover of the first book in the very, very successful Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Tyndale House Publishers, 1995), which has sold millions and millions of copies all around the world.
Some of you have read one or more of the Left Behind books. Some of you may have read them all. You may have read them just because you find them to be a "good read." You may have read them out of curiosity. You may have read them because you believe or fear that this is the way history will unfold, and you want to be the one of those who is not "left behind."
Is this what Jesus meant when he said, "...two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left" (Matthew 24:40)? "In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the globe disappear?" Is this what Jesus is telling us is going to happen? If we were to have a show of hands, how many here today do you suppose would say yes, and how many would say no?
I am not going to ask for a show of hands. But I am going to ask those of you who are left-handed to move to the left side of the sanctuary, and those who are right-handed to move to the right side. Those of you who are ambidextrous can stay where you are. In just a few minutes, after everyone is settled, the ushers will pass among those of you on the right side and distribute large servings of ice cream with chocolate sauce. Cherries and whipped cream will be optional. We will keep this seating arrangement every Sunday from now on.
I'm just kidding. Don't anybody move. But imagine how it would feel to be in the group left behind, knowing that those on the "right side" are being treated to something good every week and the rest of us are receiving nothing.
(Here is where I will tell Nancy Nichols' "Not Left Behind" story from the Shining Moments section above.)
Then I will say: This is the Jesus I know. This is how the God I know treats all of creation. There is grace enough for everyone. On some occasions there will even be ice cream and chocolate sauce for everyone. In fact, there is ice cream and chocolate sauce for everyone in the Fellowship Hall following this service. I am declaring this first Sunday of Advent in the year of our Lord 2004 "Not left behind ice cream sundae day." (Yes, there is sugar-free ice cream for those who want to avoid sugar.)
Then I will address the obvious question: If the books in the Left Behind series got it wrong about what Jesus meant in this "one will be taken and the other left" passage, then what did he mean?
(If you want to know what I am going to say here, send $20 in a plain manila envelope and I will send you the solution -- just kidding!)
Actually, I have only a vague idea about what I am going to say next. This will be my research project this week. If you have ideas to share, write to me at jsumwalt@naspa.net. I would love to hear from you.
I may say something about a couple of other best-selling books in this genre which were all the rage in the 1970s: Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and Erich von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods. And I may even throw in a word about a more recent best-seller, Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, which I am embarrassed to admit is in our church library. We invited one of our neighboring pastors, Dr. Steven Peay, to speak about Brown's book in two evening lectures during our Lenten Forum series last year. We had nearly a hundred persons turn out for both sessions. If we had announced a routine Bible study we would have had less than half that number. What is it about these kind of books which have little, if any, basis in fact that we find so intriguing?
I will certainly quote what James W. Fleming wrote in Biblical Issues and Conflicts In the Middle East: "Most serious scholars, even in evangelical seminaries, do not accept the premises of the Left Behind series. I know of no Bible teacher who would accept the theology of the Left Behind series."
Fleming writes this about the books of Revelation, upon which much of the Left Behind series is based: "The worst thing that can be done is to take the book of Revelation literally. It would be murdering the book. Revelation was not accepted into the canon of scripture until the fourth century A.D. For the first three centuries after Jesus, Christians were afraid to call the Book of Revelation scripture. They were afraid some might take it literally and use it to justify violence for God.... Finally St. Augustine in the fourth century A.D. convinced the church that the Book of the Apocalypse belonged in the canon, on the condition that it would not be taken literally. Gog and Magog are not two armies in a literal valley where blood flows high as the bridle on the horse in the Book of Revelation. It is a way of saying that there is going to be great conflict between good and evil." (Biblical Resources, pp. 99-101. Click on http://www.biblicalresources.net)
Bruce Bawer, author of Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity, is even more adamant about this point: "...Protestant fundamentalism is not a more 'extreme' version of mainstream Christianity -- it is a different creature entirely. Though many individual fundamentalists may be loving people, the theology to which they subscribe delights in a God who casts his children by the millions into eternal hellfire, and who has ordained a sequence of events of end times that amounts to a grotesque pageant of slaughter and bloodshed without any visible moral significance or spiritual dimension." (Crown Publishers, 1997, p. 103)
Bawer also writes: "...millions of American Protestants had begun 'to read the scripture as if it were a puzzle containing clues to God's historical timetable.' They also began to look at Christianity in an aggressively horizontal way, seeing it as centered not on the individual's spiritual experience but on total assent to a highly specific and ahistorical set of theological propositions... salvation is dependent not only on one's acceptance of Jesus Christ as savior but on one's acceptance of the truth of the entire dispensational historical schema. Those who declare their belief in... the Rapture and so forth will be saved; those who don't will endure the pains of hell. Period. Where does love fit into the picture? Nowhere." (p. 86)
Speaking of the fatalism that is implicit in the Left Behind thinking, Tom Sine writes in the Logos Productions publication On Our Minds: "Implicit in this kind of literature is a fatalistic view of the future and degenerative view of history. As a consequence many Christians who ardently embrace this view insist that the 'Bible teaches that everything is destined to get worse and worse, so it makes absolutely no sense to work for social change. The best we can do is to get a few more people in that salvation lifeboat before Jesus comes back.' Several years ago Jerry Falwell reflected this kind of end-times fatalism when a TV commentator asked him if he was concerned about the environment. He said, in effect, that he had no concern about the environment because Jesus is coming back, and therefore we had better use it before we [lose] it..."
Sine adds, "The Left Behind series could influence many outside the evangelical movement to succumb to an eschatology of escape and disengagement, in contrast to the biblical vision that people can be a part of the in-breaking of God's new order even now." (On Our Minds, Vol. 7, No. 5, November/December 2001)
(I will conclude the sermon with the "Come, Lord Jesus" story from the Good Stories section above.)
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
How do I get a free sample of StoryShare?
Discover for yourself the real value of StoryShare. Click here http://www.csspub.com/storysample1.lasso to see two of our weekly editions.
How do I subscribe to StoryShare?
Subscribing online is convenient using our secure server -- or you can all CSS toll-free at (800) 537-1030 Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (Eastern Time) or send an e-mail to orders@csspub.com, and our customer service team will be happy to assist you. Subscribers receive weekly installments of StoryShare -- plus full access to the StoryShare archives -- for an annual subscription rate of only $19.95. A two-year subscription is available for only $34.95. We think this is the best value in preaching, teaching, and devotional resources available anywhere. If you don't agree we will refund the balance of your subscription payment. To subscribe online, click here http://www.csspub.com/css-secure/storysubscribe.lasso.
We invite you to forward this offer to all of your friends who are looking for good stories.
**************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), is now available from CSS Publishing Company. (Click on the title for information about how to order.) Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Jodie Felton, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music. The stories follow the lectionary for Cycle A.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
You can order any of our books on the CSS website; they are also available from www.amazon.com and at many Christian bookstores. Or simply e-mail your order to orders@csspub.com or phone 1-800-241-4056. (If you live outside the U.S., phone 419-227-1818.)
**************
About the Editors
John E. Sumwalt is the pastor of Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee, and is the author of eight books for CSS. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), John received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for Parish Ministry from UDTS in 1997. John is known in the Milwaukee area for his one-minute radio spots which always include a brief story. He concludes each spot by saying, "I'm John Sumwalt with 'A Story to Live By' from Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church."
John has done numerous storytelling events for civic, school, and church groups, as well as on radio and television. He has performed at a number of fundraisers for the homeless, the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, and women's shelters. Since the fall of 1999, when he began working on the Vision Stories series, he has led seminars and retreats around the themes "A Safe Place to Tell Visions" and "Vision Stories in the Bible and Today." To schedule a seminar or a retreat, write to jsumwalt@naspa.net or phone 414-257-1228.
Joanne Perry-Sumwalt is director of Christian Education at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with a degree in English and writing. She has co-authored two books with John, Life Stories: A Study In Christian Decision Making and Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit: 62 Stories For Cycle B. Jo writes original curriculum for church classes. She also serves as the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF), and is a member of the National CEF.
Jo and John have been married since 1975. They have two grown children, Kathryn and Orrin. They both love reading, movies, long walks with Chloe (their West Highland Terrier), and working on their old farmhouse in southwest Wisconsin.
**********************************************
StoryShare, November 28, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
