Balm In Gilead
Stories
Object:
Contents
"Balm in Gilead" by John Sumwalt
"The Parable of the Shrewd Manager" by Sandra Herrmann
* * * * * * * * *
Balm in Gilead
John Sumwalt
Jeremiah 8:18--9:1
It was on September 15, twelve years ago, that my father crossed over into the next world. Anniversaries bring back some of the thoughts and feelings of that time and cause one to think more deeply about the meaning of life and death. Those of you who have lost dear ones know how the heart can ache for someone you love even after the passing of many years.
I will never forget the six days our family gathered around Dad's bed at Pine Valley Care Center, near Richland Center. We sat with him in shifts night and day, talked to him, held his hand, put ice chips on his dry tongue, and told him we loved him. We assured him that it was all right for him to go; that we would take care of Mom and the farm. We made sure he had enough morphine to tolerate the constant pain, read from the Bible, and sang the old gospel hymns that he loved so well: "What A Friend We Have In Jesus," "The Old Rugged Cross," "In The Garden," "Rock Of Ages," "Blessed Assurance," "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder," "Wonderful Words Of Life," "There Is A Balm In Gilead," and many others, including some that are no longer in our United Methodist Hymnal.
Dad's old Tabernacle Hymnal, with his name on the inside cover, is on the shelf in my office. It is one of my treasures, more dear to me than my Robin Yount Bobble Head Doll and my Bud Selig-signed baseball, special because Bud once called me on the phone. There I was talking to the Commissioner of Baseball, but that's another story....
I still sing many of these old gospel songs in the shower and when I am driving alone in the car because I know them by heart. How could I not, after singing them a million times in worship every Sunday morning and at Wednesday evening prayer meetings at our little country church for the first umpteen years of my life. They are etched in my memory forever -- even the ones I can no longer stand.
"There Is A Balm In Gilead" is one I love and find myself singing or whistling (I am a whistler) unconsciously in times of trouble or illness. It is a prayer that wells up from my soul and does just what the words promise:
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sinsick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work's in vain.
But then the Holy Spirit revives my souls again.
I don't recommend singing this on an airplane lest someone think you are warning about a bomb. The security people are very touchy about these things now.
Sing it in times of pain and distress, personal or national. It was during a time of great national distress (destruction of the nation was imminent) that Jeremiah raised this lament that resulted in the writing of the hymn thousands of years later:
My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.
Hark the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land...
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?
I am singing and praying for a balm in America as our troops come home from Iraq, many of them wounded in body, mind, and/or soul. I am praying for a healing balm for the grieving families who have lost loved ones there, both Americans and Iraqis -- and for our troops and their families still suffering as the war in Afghanistan continues.
Who will sing with me?
There is a balm in America to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in America to heal the sinsick soul!
John Sumwalt is the pastor of Our Lord's United Methodist Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin, and a noted storyteller. He is the author of nine books, including the acclaimed Vision Stories series and How to Preach the Miracles: Why People Don't Believe Them and What You Can Do About It. John and his wife Jo Perry-Sumwalt served for three years as the co-editors of StoryShare. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), Sumwalt received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for parish ministry from UDTS in 1997.
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
Sandra Herrmann
Luke 16:1-13
1Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
2So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg --
4I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
5"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6" 'Eight hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,' he replied.
"The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
7"Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'
" 'A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
8"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Footnotes:
Luke 16:6 Greek one hundred batous (probably about 3 kiloliters)
Luke 16:7 Greek one hundred korous (probably about 35 kiloliters)
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants
as food to the birds of the air,
the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of reproach to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, O LORD ? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, O God our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name's sake.
Most people think that the little stuff doesn't count -- you "borrow" stamps from the office to mail your bills; you absently tuck a pen into your pocket and forget it. You have piles of pens all over the house, all from work. We don't watch ourselves, and the pen we bring home gets left in the kitchen, not realizing that we have twenty or thirty pens we have at home. Because we only think of "a" pen. Those who don't punch a time clock can decide to come in late or leave early and don't realize that this has subtracted hours from our assigned job.
The housekeeper takes home one or two rolls of toilet paper each week, or keeps a cheap pair of earrings she finds in the washroom rather than turning them in so the original owner can have them back.
This begins to erode our honesty. And, the attitude of entitlement spreads, so there is a corporate dishonesty built up.
The owner in this story actually praises the manager for his shrewdness, and thus encourages this kind of behavior. This manager will be dishonest in the future, and an atmosphere of misbehavior grows.
A culture in which dishonesty is overlooked allows people to do things like charge the government for $3,000 toilet seats. Everybody knows there's a little rip-off and pays no attention to the big stuff -- because who would do THAT?
Bernie Madoff -- sub-prime loans -- Nigerian computer scams -- all of these are rip offs.
This manager thought the job would be his forever, and therefore didn't save anything. He wasn't stealing, he was being sloppy in his accounting, and waste is the biggest thief of all.
Sandra Herrmann is a retired United Methodist pastor living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
**************
StoryShare, September 19, 2010, issue.
Copyright 2010 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., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Balm in Gilead" by John Sumwalt
"The Parable of the Shrewd Manager" by Sandra Herrmann
* * * * * * * * *
Balm in Gilead
John Sumwalt
Jeremiah 8:18--9:1
It was on September 15, twelve years ago, that my father crossed over into the next world. Anniversaries bring back some of the thoughts and feelings of that time and cause one to think more deeply about the meaning of life and death. Those of you who have lost dear ones know how the heart can ache for someone you love even after the passing of many years.
I will never forget the six days our family gathered around Dad's bed at Pine Valley Care Center, near Richland Center. We sat with him in shifts night and day, talked to him, held his hand, put ice chips on his dry tongue, and told him we loved him. We assured him that it was all right for him to go; that we would take care of Mom and the farm. We made sure he had enough morphine to tolerate the constant pain, read from the Bible, and sang the old gospel hymns that he loved so well: "What A Friend We Have In Jesus," "The Old Rugged Cross," "In The Garden," "Rock Of Ages," "Blessed Assurance," "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder," "Wonderful Words Of Life," "There Is A Balm In Gilead," and many others, including some that are no longer in our United Methodist Hymnal.
Dad's old Tabernacle Hymnal, with his name on the inside cover, is on the shelf in my office. It is one of my treasures, more dear to me than my Robin Yount Bobble Head Doll and my Bud Selig-signed baseball, special because Bud once called me on the phone. There I was talking to the Commissioner of Baseball, but that's another story....
I still sing many of these old gospel songs in the shower and when I am driving alone in the car because I know them by heart. How could I not, after singing them a million times in worship every Sunday morning and at Wednesday evening prayer meetings at our little country church for the first umpteen years of my life. They are etched in my memory forever -- even the ones I can no longer stand.
"There Is A Balm In Gilead" is one I love and find myself singing or whistling (I am a whistler) unconsciously in times of trouble or illness. It is a prayer that wells up from my soul and does just what the words promise:
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sinsick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work's in vain.
But then the Holy Spirit revives my souls again.
I don't recommend singing this on an airplane lest someone think you are warning about a bomb. The security people are very touchy about these things now.
Sing it in times of pain and distress, personal or national. It was during a time of great national distress (destruction of the nation was imminent) that Jeremiah raised this lament that resulted in the writing of the hymn thousands of years later:
My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.
Hark the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land...
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?
I am singing and praying for a balm in America as our troops come home from Iraq, many of them wounded in body, mind, and/or soul. I am praying for a healing balm for the grieving families who have lost loved ones there, both Americans and Iraqis -- and for our troops and their families still suffering as the war in Afghanistan continues.
Who will sing with me?
There is a balm in America to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in America to heal the sinsick soul!
John Sumwalt is the pastor of Our Lord's United Methodist Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin, and a noted storyteller. He is the author of nine books, including the acclaimed Vision Stories series and How to Preach the Miracles: Why People Don't Believe Them and What You Can Do About It. John and his wife Jo Perry-Sumwalt served for three years as the co-editors of StoryShare. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), Sumwalt received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for parish ministry from UDTS in 1997.
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
Sandra Herrmann
Luke 16:1-13
1Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
2So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg --
4I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
5"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6" 'Eight hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,' he replied.
"The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
7"Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'
" 'A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
8"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Footnotes:
Luke 16:6 Greek one hundred batous (probably about 3 kiloliters)
Luke 16:7 Greek one hundred korous (probably about 35 kiloliters)
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants
as food to the birds of the air,
the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of reproach to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, O LORD ? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, O God our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name's sake.
Most people think that the little stuff doesn't count -- you "borrow" stamps from the office to mail your bills; you absently tuck a pen into your pocket and forget it. You have piles of pens all over the house, all from work. We don't watch ourselves, and the pen we bring home gets left in the kitchen, not realizing that we have twenty or thirty pens we have at home. Because we only think of "a" pen. Those who don't punch a time clock can decide to come in late or leave early and don't realize that this has subtracted hours from our assigned job.
The housekeeper takes home one or two rolls of toilet paper each week, or keeps a cheap pair of earrings she finds in the washroom rather than turning them in so the original owner can have them back.
This begins to erode our honesty. And, the attitude of entitlement spreads, so there is a corporate dishonesty built up.
The owner in this story actually praises the manager for his shrewdness, and thus encourages this kind of behavior. This manager will be dishonest in the future, and an atmosphere of misbehavior grows.
A culture in which dishonesty is overlooked allows people to do things like charge the government for $3,000 toilet seats. Everybody knows there's a little rip-off and pays no attention to the big stuff -- because who would do THAT?
Bernie Madoff -- sub-prime loans -- Nigerian computer scams -- all of these are rip offs.
This manager thought the job would be his forever, and therefore didn't save anything. He wasn't stealing, he was being sloppy in his accounting, and waste is the biggest thief of all.
Sandra Herrmann is a retired United Methodist pastor living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
**************
StoryShare, September 19, 2010, issue.
Copyright 2010 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., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
