The Christian Liar
Stories
Object:
Contents
"The Christian Liar" by Sandra Herrmann
"But We Smell" by C. David McKirachan
* * * * * * * *
The Christian Liar
by Sandra Herrmann
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Cornelia ten Boom was a devoted Christian. A spinster, as they used to say of unmarried women, and a watch maker in her father's shop. She had been 22 when World War I broke out. When the Nazis came to power, the Netherlands were soon an occupied country. Until then, she said, her life had been quiet. Her skills were valued as part of a watch-making business that had started in 1837, and enjoyed a wide reputation as one of the finest in the Netherlands.
Their house was small and cobbled together out of what had been two houses. There was the shop in the front ground floor, backed by the workroom and a kitchen. A winding wooden staircase led to the second and third floors in a narrow set of hallways that had once been the space between two houses, both just one room wide. This building stood cheek-by-jowl with other shops with houses above them, precluding much sunlight from penetrating the rooms.
Once, this house had held a full family – Mama, Papa, Mama's three sisters, and Corrie's sister Betsie. Not to mention all the friends and family who were constantly visiting and filling the house with laughter and music. But by 1937, they were down to just three – Papa, Betsie, and Corrie. A small family in a small house in a small city in a small country in Europe.
But then the Nazis rose to power. In Germany, Jews were hunted, imprisoned, killed, their homes and businesses and personal effects confiscated. And Corrie ten Boom's life changed drastically, along with all of her family. Those who escaped capture came pouring into Haarlem seeking safety and sanctuary. And right behind them came the German army, turning the Netherlands into an occupied country, and ending the safety of the Jews who had run there.
This had nothing to do with the ten Booms. They were Christians. But then the Germans demanded that all Hollanders turn in their radios. The ten Booms had two: a large, powerful radio like a piece of furniture, and a small, portable radio. They decided to turn in the small one and keep the large one, but hiding this in a small space under the winding stairs. Corrie was the one to turn in the small radio. The German soldier questioned her: Were there other radios in the house? "No." Did either her father or her sister have a radio of their own? In her autobiography The Hiding Place she says, "I had known from childhood that the earth opened up and the heavens rained fire on liars, but I met his gaze. 'No.' Only as I walked out of the building I began to tremble. Not because for the first time in my life I had told a conscious lie. But because it had been so dreadfully easy."
Shortly thereafter, all private phones were cut off. Only public phones that went through a central switchboard were allowed, so all calls were monitored.
And then, one morning, "the streets were bright with yellow six-pointed stars sewn to coats and jacket fronts. We were surprised... at how many of the people we had passed each day were Jews." The full impact of the Nazi hatred became apparent slowly. A sign forbidding Jews entrance to a restaurant or a park; a shop closed here, a watch not picked up and telephone service suspended where the customer used to live. They had no way of knowing what had happened to these people -- they might have been arrested, but they might have fled ahead of the Gestapo.
Finally, German soldiers came to the shop across the street and ransacked the shop, confiscating the owner's entire inventory and tossing his clothing out of the upstairs window. The ten Booms took the man in, and that put them on the wrong side of the law. They knew that some of their relatives were working to protect Jews to get them out of the reach of the Gestapo. They wanted to help their neighbor, but so many of the stories of the Dutch Underground involved things they had always believed godly people did not do: lying, stealing, even murder. "How should a Christian act when evil was in power?"
First and most important, no Jews were issued ration cards, and no food could be sold to someone without a ration card. So if they were to take in Jews, they would have to stretch whatever food they could buy so everyone could have something to eat. Or, they could use stolen cards. So she went to the father of a child she had been working with. This man worked in the Food Office. She asked if there was any way that ration cards might "go missing." He said he was sorry, but there were too many controls. However, there had been a hold up in the Food Office in a neighboring city. If something like that were to happen in Haarlem... And so it did, and Corrie suddenly had 100 ration cards. Of course, this needed to happen every month if the ten Booms were to be supplied regularly, since the cards were changed that frequently.
And so it went -- a small secret room had to be built in the back bedroom on the third floor. More Jews came and went. Mothers with babies and small children, families, pregnant women, trooped in the front door, stayed until transport could be arranged. Some of the women were dressed in maid's uniforms so they could have something to do. But the children were unable to keep still for long periods and would burst into loud laughter and song.
So eventually the Gestapo came for the ten Booms. They were shipped to a concentration camp, where Corrie's father was killed immediately due to his age. Betsie died there, too. Corrie alone survived.
Now you would think that this woman, freed from death by a clerical error, would decide she had had enough of lying, sneaking, and facing down dictatorial governments. But once she recovered from her weakened state, Corrie went on to work with Brother Andrew, smuggling Bibles into the Soviet Union and other communist countries. She had a wide speaking ministry, teaching others that our only secure "hiding place" is in God, and how God enabled her to do His work, especially the work of forgiving those who had despitefully used her.
And more, she learned the answer to her question, "How does a Christian behave when evil is in power?" Like Samuel, she learned to lie, cheat, and hide in order to do the work of God.
Sandra Herrmann is a retired United Methodist pastor living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
But We Smell
by C. David McKirachan
Psalm 23
I don't know if any of you have ever smelled a flock of sheep. Just imagine 50 wool sweaters that have gotten wet and dirty and then tangled in things we won't talk about for months and months without being exposed to Woolite or the dry cleaner's ministrations. Sheep seem cute and romantic, from a great distance or in nicely framed pictures in the Christian Education rooms. Get close to the real thing and other senses start kicking in.
BO isn't the only thing that sheep carry with them. They are about as smart as fence posts and respond to most stimuli with wariness begotten of a predators' habit of using them as fast food. Thus their need for a shepherd.
But consider for a moment; what if these stinky, needy dummies were self-aware? What if they, those of them that had enough wisdom not to assume that the universe revolved around themselves. What if they knew they were stinky, needy dummies? They would look at the shepherd as some amazing being who had no good reason for being so good to them. They might ask: Why should this being of intelligence and grace (he doesn't even need four legs to walk on!) condescend to protect us from the ones with claws and teeth, find us green pastures after we've destroyed our present environment, and still waters that we won't drown in if we try to drink? Consider us! We stink!
Some among them would poo poo the whole conversation. After all, we're fluffy and cute, they would assert. Or perhaps, they'd blame the whole problem on those other sheep, the black ones, or maybe the goats (you know how goats are). But the wise ones would begin to see that there is no good reason for the shepherd to be so good to them, let alone lay down such a wondrous two legged life for them. And these few, though often drowned out by the baaa sayers, would know the truth. That crazy shepherd must do this because that is who he is.
But isn't this just a waste of time? Sheep aren't self-aware, are they? And what does all that have to do with our lives, after all? We're not needy the way they are. We're smart. Sounds like a lot of baaaaa to me.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. McKirachan is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder (Westminster John Knox).
*****************************************
StoryShare, April 3, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 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.
"The Christian Liar" by Sandra Herrmann
"But We Smell" by C. David McKirachan
* * * * * * * *
The Christian Liar
by Sandra Herrmann
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Cornelia ten Boom was a devoted Christian. A spinster, as they used to say of unmarried women, and a watch maker in her father's shop. She had been 22 when World War I broke out. When the Nazis came to power, the Netherlands were soon an occupied country. Until then, she said, her life had been quiet. Her skills were valued as part of a watch-making business that had started in 1837, and enjoyed a wide reputation as one of the finest in the Netherlands.
Their house was small and cobbled together out of what had been two houses. There was the shop in the front ground floor, backed by the workroom and a kitchen. A winding wooden staircase led to the second and third floors in a narrow set of hallways that had once been the space between two houses, both just one room wide. This building stood cheek-by-jowl with other shops with houses above them, precluding much sunlight from penetrating the rooms.
Once, this house had held a full family – Mama, Papa, Mama's three sisters, and Corrie's sister Betsie. Not to mention all the friends and family who were constantly visiting and filling the house with laughter and music. But by 1937, they were down to just three – Papa, Betsie, and Corrie. A small family in a small house in a small city in a small country in Europe.
But then the Nazis rose to power. In Germany, Jews were hunted, imprisoned, killed, their homes and businesses and personal effects confiscated. And Corrie ten Boom's life changed drastically, along with all of her family. Those who escaped capture came pouring into Haarlem seeking safety and sanctuary. And right behind them came the German army, turning the Netherlands into an occupied country, and ending the safety of the Jews who had run there.
This had nothing to do with the ten Booms. They were Christians. But then the Germans demanded that all Hollanders turn in their radios. The ten Booms had two: a large, powerful radio like a piece of furniture, and a small, portable radio. They decided to turn in the small one and keep the large one, but hiding this in a small space under the winding stairs. Corrie was the one to turn in the small radio. The German soldier questioned her: Were there other radios in the house? "No." Did either her father or her sister have a radio of their own? In her autobiography The Hiding Place she says, "I had known from childhood that the earth opened up and the heavens rained fire on liars, but I met his gaze. 'No.' Only as I walked out of the building I began to tremble. Not because for the first time in my life I had told a conscious lie. But because it had been so dreadfully easy."
Shortly thereafter, all private phones were cut off. Only public phones that went through a central switchboard were allowed, so all calls were monitored.
And then, one morning, "the streets were bright with yellow six-pointed stars sewn to coats and jacket fronts. We were surprised... at how many of the people we had passed each day were Jews." The full impact of the Nazi hatred became apparent slowly. A sign forbidding Jews entrance to a restaurant or a park; a shop closed here, a watch not picked up and telephone service suspended where the customer used to live. They had no way of knowing what had happened to these people -- they might have been arrested, but they might have fled ahead of the Gestapo.
Finally, German soldiers came to the shop across the street and ransacked the shop, confiscating the owner's entire inventory and tossing his clothing out of the upstairs window. The ten Booms took the man in, and that put them on the wrong side of the law. They knew that some of their relatives were working to protect Jews to get them out of the reach of the Gestapo. They wanted to help their neighbor, but so many of the stories of the Dutch Underground involved things they had always believed godly people did not do: lying, stealing, even murder. "How should a Christian act when evil was in power?"
First and most important, no Jews were issued ration cards, and no food could be sold to someone without a ration card. So if they were to take in Jews, they would have to stretch whatever food they could buy so everyone could have something to eat. Or, they could use stolen cards. So she went to the father of a child she had been working with. This man worked in the Food Office. She asked if there was any way that ration cards might "go missing." He said he was sorry, but there were too many controls. However, there had been a hold up in the Food Office in a neighboring city. If something like that were to happen in Haarlem... And so it did, and Corrie suddenly had 100 ration cards. Of course, this needed to happen every month if the ten Booms were to be supplied regularly, since the cards were changed that frequently.
And so it went -- a small secret room had to be built in the back bedroom on the third floor. More Jews came and went. Mothers with babies and small children, families, pregnant women, trooped in the front door, stayed until transport could be arranged. Some of the women were dressed in maid's uniforms so they could have something to do. But the children were unable to keep still for long periods and would burst into loud laughter and song.
So eventually the Gestapo came for the ten Booms. They were shipped to a concentration camp, where Corrie's father was killed immediately due to his age. Betsie died there, too. Corrie alone survived.
Now you would think that this woman, freed from death by a clerical error, would decide she had had enough of lying, sneaking, and facing down dictatorial governments. But once she recovered from her weakened state, Corrie went on to work with Brother Andrew, smuggling Bibles into the Soviet Union and other communist countries. She had a wide speaking ministry, teaching others that our only secure "hiding place" is in God, and how God enabled her to do His work, especially the work of forgiving those who had despitefully used her.
And more, she learned the answer to her question, "How does a Christian behave when evil is in power?" Like Samuel, she learned to lie, cheat, and hide in order to do the work of God.
Sandra Herrmann is a retired United Methodist pastor living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
But We Smell
by C. David McKirachan
Psalm 23
I don't know if any of you have ever smelled a flock of sheep. Just imagine 50 wool sweaters that have gotten wet and dirty and then tangled in things we won't talk about for months and months without being exposed to Woolite or the dry cleaner's ministrations. Sheep seem cute and romantic, from a great distance or in nicely framed pictures in the Christian Education rooms. Get close to the real thing and other senses start kicking in.
BO isn't the only thing that sheep carry with them. They are about as smart as fence posts and respond to most stimuli with wariness begotten of a predators' habit of using them as fast food. Thus their need for a shepherd.
But consider for a moment; what if these stinky, needy dummies were self-aware? What if they, those of them that had enough wisdom not to assume that the universe revolved around themselves. What if they knew they were stinky, needy dummies? They would look at the shepherd as some amazing being who had no good reason for being so good to them. They might ask: Why should this being of intelligence and grace (he doesn't even need four legs to walk on!) condescend to protect us from the ones with claws and teeth, find us green pastures after we've destroyed our present environment, and still waters that we won't drown in if we try to drink? Consider us! We stink!
Some among them would poo poo the whole conversation. After all, we're fluffy and cute, they would assert. Or perhaps, they'd blame the whole problem on those other sheep, the black ones, or maybe the goats (you know how goats are). But the wise ones would begin to see that there is no good reason for the shepherd to be so good to them, let alone lay down such a wondrous two legged life for them. And these few, though often drowned out by the baaa sayers, would know the truth. That crazy shepherd must do this because that is who he is.
But isn't this just a waste of time? Sheep aren't self-aware, are they? And what does all that have to do with our lives, after all? We're not needy the way they are. We're smart. Sounds like a lot of baaaaa to me.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. McKirachan is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder (Westminster John Knox).
*****************************************
StoryShare, April 3, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 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.
