The Deserving Recipient
Stories
Object:
Contents
What's Up This Week
"The Deserving Recipient" by Peter Andrew Smith
"Naaman Is Cured" by Larry Winebrenner
"Training to Win the Race" by Wayne Brouwer
What's Up This Week
In these times, it often seems like there's an extremely fine line between reaching out and helping those who are less fortunate and simply being taken advantage of. Both points of view compete for our hearts -- and in the feature story of this week's edition of StoryShare, Peter Andrew Smith portrays a conversation between two friends thrust into this situation. We need to ask ourselves, in those familiar words, "What would Jesus do?" Larry Winebrenner gives some insight into what must have been going through the proud warrior Naaman's mind as he sought healing for his body and reputation, and Wayne Brouwer points to the inspiring story of Paavo Nurmi, "The Flying Finn," as an example of the discipline and training that Paul exhorts us to follow in our faith.
* * * * * * * * *
The Deserving Recipient
by Peter Andrew Smith
Mark 1:40-45
"Can you spare a quarter?" the disheveled man said with his hand outstretched.
Janine looked away and walked a little faster down the sidewalk. Sally stopped in front of him.
"Why do you need change?" she asked.
"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten in two days," he answered, running a hand through his unkempt beard.
She tilted her head to one side. "A quarter won't buy you much."
The man shrugged and wiped some dried mud off his tattered jacket. "If I ask for more people don't give me anything."
"No one has stopped to help you yet today?" Sally asked, looking around at the people passing by them. Most had their eyes averted from the man. A few stared at him as they quickly walked past.
The man shook his head. "Not today. I'm awfully hungry. You have a quarter I could have?"
"Where do you live?" Sally asked.
"In the shelter most nights now. When it's warmer I sleep in the park."
"Sally," Janine said sharply from a distance down the sidewalk.
"I'll be right back," Sally said to the man.
"Sure," he replied. "You have a good day anyway, ma'am." He turned his back on her and went back to asking people for spare change.
"You shouldn't be talking to him," Janine whispered when Sally was close enough to hear. "That's crazy Steve Leroy."
"You know him?"
"Everyone knows about him in this town. He's a disappointment to his family and a blight on this community. He'll drink anything you give him."
"He said he is hungry," Sally said.
"Thirsty is more like it. Come on, I want to go to get a good seat at the movies." Janine took Sally's arm and started forward.
Sally shook herself free from Janine. "We've got lots of time. I've got to pick something up in the donut shop. I'll be back in a minute."
"Oh come on, Sally, we're going to be late," Janine protested, but Sally was already heading inside the nearby store.
Janine tapped her foot and stared at the sidewalk until Sally reappeared empty-handed.
"I thought you were getting something."
"I did," Sally said, walking past her to where Steve was still begging for change.
"Here," she said reaching into her pocket to pull something out. "This should get you something to eat."
"Thank you, ma'am," he said as he shook her hand. "God bless you, ma'am."
"God bless you too," Sally said as he headed off into the donut shop.
"You gave him money?" Janine said. "That was stupid. He's just going to spend it on booze or drugs."
Sally shook her head. "That was a gift card to the donut shop. He'll get himself a meal."
"Sally, you are such a sap. You can't help people like Steve Leroy. He had so much potential in his life and he wasted it. He doesn't deserve your kindness or your mercy."
"Everyone deserves kindness and mercy," Sally said.
Janine shook her head again. "You know what an attitude like that makes you?"
"Yes I do," Sally said. "A follower of Jesus."
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada who currently serves at St. James United Church in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is the author of All Things Are Ready (CSS), a book of lectionary-based communion prayers, as well as many stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
Naaman Is Cured
by Larry Winebrenner
2 Kings 5:1-14
Naaman was no longer a perky youth. He had weathered the battles. He'd risen in the ranks. He was commander of the army, a friend of the king. I picture him perhaps as someone like Norman Schwarzkopf or Colin Powell. Service in the Syrian Desert and mountain landscape of Israel left his leathery skin marked with scars.
Then a terrible thing happened. A little blister popped up on the skin. It became infected and oozed pus. Then another. And another. Soon the skin around the sores turned white. It was obvious. Leprosy had set in.
Perhaps ointments eased discomfort. Maybe creams hid the leprous spots. But unless the disease was abated, the victim would lose status... then social acceptance... then limbs and life.
No wonder Naaman wanted healing. No wonder he sought a cure. No wonder he eventually swallowed his pride and tried the procedure detailed by the man of God.
And the consequence?
He was expecting the spots to go away. He thought he would be able to get the priest's bill of good health. But that's not what happened.
He dipped himself into the Jordan once and came up -- no change yet. Then a second time -- no change. A third time... a fourth... a fifth. He dipped himself six times. It wasn't working. Nothing was happening. Was this a farce? Was this old bald-headed prophet having a joke at his expense?
He forced himself under the water one more time. Should he come up? Why not breathe in the water and let the Jordan sweep him on down to the salt sea -- the Dead Sea. No. Finish the task. He was not a quitter.
When he arose, "his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean." Not just cured. Not just no longer leprous. But new -- flesh like that of a young boy.
Larry Winebrenner is now retired and living in Miami Gardens, Florida. He taught for 33 years at Miami-Dade Community College, and served as pastor of churches in Georgia, Florida, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Larry is currently active in First United Methodist Church in downtown Miami, where he leads discussion in an adult fellowship group on Sunday mornings and preaches occasionally. He has authored two college textbooks, written four novels, served as an editor for three newspapers and an academic journal, and contributed articles to several magazines.
Training to Win the Race
by Wayne Brouwer
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.
-- 1 Corinthians 9:24
Good athletes make it all seem so easy: precision, coordination, grace, and strength. Yet it isn't really like that. Four good minutes out on the track requires at least four thousand good hours of practice, practice, and more practice.
One of the great Olympic runners of the past was Paavo Nurmi. They called him the "Flying Finn." During the 1924 Paris Olympics Nurmi ran seven races in just six days! On one of those days Nurmi took the gold in both the 1,500-meter event and in the 5,000-meter race, and he did it in the space of less than an hour and a half! Can you imagine it?
The story gets better. That night, when many of the athletes took the ten-kilometer bus ride from the Olympic village at Colombes into Paris for a time of celebration, they saw Paavo Nurmi on the road, training for his next event! That's what made the Flying Finn a legend. He knew what it took to make his body strong, what it took to make his feet swift, what it took to make his legs reach, and he aimed for the gold in hours and days and months of steady practice. People saw him from the stands and marveled at what he could do in a few minutes on the cinder track. They weren't with him, however, on the hillsides of Finland where he truly won the race.
It takes discipline and training to win the race. That's what Paul says about the Christian life as well. It requires effort and practice. In fact, great leaders in the church have spelled out, over the ages, what the disciplines of the church are all about. The classic "spiritual disciplines" come in three varieties. There are the "inward" disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study that help us connect spiritually with God and keep an eye on the barometer of our souls. The "outward" disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service put us in a proper attitude toward others and toward the things of life around us. And in the "corporate" disciplines (confession, worship, guidance, and celebration) we learn to be and become the Body of Christ.
Of course, all of these things sound great when I list them -- yet they are not easy to accomplish. In fact, no one ever "accomplishes" them. They are goals toward which we reach, and exercises that require our constant attention. Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 9 is all about that. Exercise is tough. Running a race requires effort. Staying in shape takes a great deal of discipline. Keep in mind, strong faith and deep traits of character don't happen overnight -- they come through training. But when they come, they don't slip away quickly. As Charles Reade put it more than a century ago:
Sow an act and you reap a habit.
Sow a habit and you reap a character.
Sow a character and you reap a destiny.
Wayne Brouwer has been a pastor in the Christian Reformed denomination for nearly three decades, serving congregations in both Canada and the United States (most recently Harderwyk Ministries in Holland, Michigan). He has also taught at several colleges and seminaries, and is currently a member of the religion department faculty at Hope College. Brouwer is the author of more than a dozen books, including Humming Till the Music Returns (CSS), and more than 600 articles for various publications. He is also a contributing writer for the preaching journal Emphasis. Brouwer holds degrees from Dordt College (B.A.), Calvin Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.), and McMaster University (M.A., Ph.D.).
**************
StoryShare, February 15, 2009, issue.
Copyright 2009 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., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
What's Up This Week
"The Deserving Recipient" by Peter Andrew Smith
"Naaman Is Cured" by Larry Winebrenner
"Training to Win the Race" by Wayne Brouwer
What's Up This Week
In these times, it often seems like there's an extremely fine line between reaching out and helping those who are less fortunate and simply being taken advantage of. Both points of view compete for our hearts -- and in the feature story of this week's edition of StoryShare, Peter Andrew Smith portrays a conversation between two friends thrust into this situation. We need to ask ourselves, in those familiar words, "What would Jesus do?" Larry Winebrenner gives some insight into what must have been going through the proud warrior Naaman's mind as he sought healing for his body and reputation, and Wayne Brouwer points to the inspiring story of Paavo Nurmi, "The Flying Finn," as an example of the discipline and training that Paul exhorts us to follow in our faith.
* * * * * * * * *
The Deserving Recipient
by Peter Andrew Smith
Mark 1:40-45
"Can you spare a quarter?" the disheveled man said with his hand outstretched.
Janine looked away and walked a little faster down the sidewalk. Sally stopped in front of him.
"Why do you need change?" she asked.
"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten in two days," he answered, running a hand through his unkempt beard.
She tilted her head to one side. "A quarter won't buy you much."
The man shrugged and wiped some dried mud off his tattered jacket. "If I ask for more people don't give me anything."
"No one has stopped to help you yet today?" Sally asked, looking around at the people passing by them. Most had their eyes averted from the man. A few stared at him as they quickly walked past.
The man shook his head. "Not today. I'm awfully hungry. You have a quarter I could have?"
"Where do you live?" Sally asked.
"In the shelter most nights now. When it's warmer I sleep in the park."
"Sally," Janine said sharply from a distance down the sidewalk.
"I'll be right back," Sally said to the man.
"Sure," he replied. "You have a good day anyway, ma'am." He turned his back on her and went back to asking people for spare change.
"You shouldn't be talking to him," Janine whispered when Sally was close enough to hear. "That's crazy Steve Leroy."
"You know him?"
"Everyone knows about him in this town. He's a disappointment to his family and a blight on this community. He'll drink anything you give him."
"He said he is hungry," Sally said.
"Thirsty is more like it. Come on, I want to go to get a good seat at the movies." Janine took Sally's arm and started forward.
Sally shook herself free from Janine. "We've got lots of time. I've got to pick something up in the donut shop. I'll be back in a minute."
"Oh come on, Sally, we're going to be late," Janine protested, but Sally was already heading inside the nearby store.
Janine tapped her foot and stared at the sidewalk until Sally reappeared empty-handed.
"I thought you were getting something."
"I did," Sally said, walking past her to where Steve was still begging for change.
"Here," she said reaching into her pocket to pull something out. "This should get you something to eat."
"Thank you, ma'am," he said as he shook her hand. "God bless you, ma'am."
"God bless you too," Sally said as he headed off into the donut shop.
"You gave him money?" Janine said. "That was stupid. He's just going to spend it on booze or drugs."
Sally shook her head. "That was a gift card to the donut shop. He'll get himself a meal."
"Sally, you are such a sap. You can't help people like Steve Leroy. He had so much potential in his life and he wasted it. He doesn't deserve your kindness or your mercy."
"Everyone deserves kindness and mercy," Sally said.
Janine shook her head again. "You know what an attitude like that makes you?"
"Yes I do," Sally said. "A follower of Jesus."
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada who currently serves at St. James United Church in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is the author of All Things Are Ready (CSS), a book of lectionary-based communion prayers, as well as many stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
Naaman Is Cured
by Larry Winebrenner
2 Kings 5:1-14
Naaman was no longer a perky youth. He had weathered the battles. He'd risen in the ranks. He was commander of the army, a friend of the king. I picture him perhaps as someone like Norman Schwarzkopf or Colin Powell. Service in the Syrian Desert and mountain landscape of Israel left his leathery skin marked with scars.
Then a terrible thing happened. A little blister popped up on the skin. It became infected and oozed pus. Then another. And another. Soon the skin around the sores turned white. It was obvious. Leprosy had set in.
Perhaps ointments eased discomfort. Maybe creams hid the leprous spots. But unless the disease was abated, the victim would lose status... then social acceptance... then limbs and life.
No wonder Naaman wanted healing. No wonder he sought a cure. No wonder he eventually swallowed his pride and tried the procedure detailed by the man of God.
And the consequence?
He was expecting the spots to go away. He thought he would be able to get the priest's bill of good health. But that's not what happened.
He dipped himself into the Jordan once and came up -- no change yet. Then a second time -- no change. A third time... a fourth... a fifth. He dipped himself six times. It wasn't working. Nothing was happening. Was this a farce? Was this old bald-headed prophet having a joke at his expense?
He forced himself under the water one more time. Should he come up? Why not breathe in the water and let the Jordan sweep him on down to the salt sea -- the Dead Sea. No. Finish the task. He was not a quitter.
When he arose, "his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean." Not just cured. Not just no longer leprous. But new -- flesh like that of a young boy.
Larry Winebrenner is now retired and living in Miami Gardens, Florida. He taught for 33 years at Miami-Dade Community College, and served as pastor of churches in Georgia, Florida, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Larry is currently active in First United Methodist Church in downtown Miami, where he leads discussion in an adult fellowship group on Sunday mornings and preaches occasionally. He has authored two college textbooks, written four novels, served as an editor for three newspapers and an academic journal, and contributed articles to several magazines.
Training to Win the Race
by Wayne Brouwer
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.
-- 1 Corinthians 9:24
Good athletes make it all seem so easy: precision, coordination, grace, and strength. Yet it isn't really like that. Four good minutes out on the track requires at least four thousand good hours of practice, practice, and more practice.
One of the great Olympic runners of the past was Paavo Nurmi. They called him the "Flying Finn." During the 1924 Paris Olympics Nurmi ran seven races in just six days! On one of those days Nurmi took the gold in both the 1,500-meter event and in the 5,000-meter race, and he did it in the space of less than an hour and a half! Can you imagine it?
The story gets better. That night, when many of the athletes took the ten-kilometer bus ride from the Olympic village at Colombes into Paris for a time of celebration, they saw Paavo Nurmi on the road, training for his next event! That's what made the Flying Finn a legend. He knew what it took to make his body strong, what it took to make his feet swift, what it took to make his legs reach, and he aimed for the gold in hours and days and months of steady practice. People saw him from the stands and marveled at what he could do in a few minutes on the cinder track. They weren't with him, however, on the hillsides of Finland where he truly won the race.
It takes discipline and training to win the race. That's what Paul says about the Christian life as well. It requires effort and practice. In fact, great leaders in the church have spelled out, over the ages, what the disciplines of the church are all about. The classic "spiritual disciplines" come in three varieties. There are the "inward" disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study that help us connect spiritually with God and keep an eye on the barometer of our souls. The "outward" disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service put us in a proper attitude toward others and toward the things of life around us. And in the "corporate" disciplines (confession, worship, guidance, and celebration) we learn to be and become the Body of Christ.
Of course, all of these things sound great when I list them -- yet they are not easy to accomplish. In fact, no one ever "accomplishes" them. They are goals toward which we reach, and exercises that require our constant attention. Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 9 is all about that. Exercise is tough. Running a race requires effort. Staying in shape takes a great deal of discipline. Keep in mind, strong faith and deep traits of character don't happen overnight -- they come through training. But when they come, they don't slip away quickly. As Charles Reade put it more than a century ago:
Sow an act and you reap a habit.
Sow a habit and you reap a character.
Sow a character and you reap a destiny.
Wayne Brouwer has been a pastor in the Christian Reformed denomination for nearly three decades, serving congregations in both Canada and the United States (most recently Harderwyk Ministries in Holland, Michigan). He has also taught at several colleges and seminaries, and is currently a member of the religion department faculty at Hope College. Brouwer is the author of more than a dozen books, including Humming Till the Music Returns (CSS), and more than 600 articles for various publications. He is also a contributing writer for the preaching journal Emphasis. Brouwer holds degrees from Dordt College (B.A.), Calvin Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.), and McMaster University (M.A., Ph.D.).
**************
StoryShare, February 15, 2009, issue.
Copyright 2009 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., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
