A Face In The Crowd
Stories
Contents
"A Face in the Crowd" by Keith Hewitt
"Blessed and Moving Forward" by Keith Wagner
"Children of God" by Keith Wagner
A Face in the Crowd
by Keith Hewitt
Revelation 7:9-17
Grace looked down at the white robe she was wearing and touched the fabric with one hand, held it between her fingers, then smoothed it with her hand, pressing it against herself as her hand traveled down from the opposite shoulder to her stomach. The softness was like nothing she had ever felt before, and although the robe had weight to it -- she could feel it on herself -- to the touch, it felt very nearly as though there was nothing actually there.
As she stood there, it slowly dawned on her that much the same could be said for the world around her, for she was standing in a crowd -- she could see it, plain as day, stretching on in all directions until her eyes just gave up -- but she could hear nothing. Even if there was no talking and no jostling, she realized, she should at least hear that many people breathing.
She was puzzling over that when she became aware of a man -- she thought -- standing beside her. He, too, was wearing a white robe, but there was a difference to it that she could not quite put her finger on. She set that puzzle aside when he spoke, and she could hear it. “That’s normal,” he said, inclining his head toward the silent multitude. “You’re here, but you are not of them, yet -- you’re still in Orientation.” The way he said it, she knew that it would be capitalized -- could practically see it.
“Okay,” she said after taking in what he’d said, “then where is here, and who are they?”
“You are in Heaven -- Paradise, if you prefer, since Heaven has become sort of cliché. Or the afterlife.”
“What do you call it?”
He gave a half-smile and a little shrug. “Home.”
She paused again, to consider this information, then her expression began to change slowly, moving from puzzlement to confusion. “Wait -- if this is Heaven, then I’m…dead?”
It was more of a statement than a question, but her companion nodded anyway.
“But that can’t be! I was only -- ” She hesitated, mentally floundering. “ -- thirty-six years old!”
“It’s perfectly natural to start losing some connection to the unimportant information in your life -- like your age. But you’re right, you were thirty-six. Do you remember what happened?”
“No.” She looked down, concentrating, then raised her head. “There was a man -- an adolescent. He was in line at the clinic. It was children’s vaccination day, and we assumed he was bringing a sibling…all bundled up in his arms…but he never smiled, and the child never made a sound…and when he got up to where we were…” A flash, a vision of some kind of artillery shell wrapped in a blanket, nails packed around it -- then…nothing…”Oh my God,” she breathed, “it was a bomb.”
Her companion nodded. “Yes, exactly. A bomb. He set it off when he got to the head of the line, where you and two nurses were giving vaccinations and doing wellness exams.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand, as if to take in the whole scene around them. “And now, you’re here, among the multitude of those who gave their lives in the service of the Lord, victims of persecution for their beliefs.”
Grace shook her head, then, and said, “There’s been a mistake.”
He smiled again. “Almost everyone says that.”
“No, I mean it. I -- I’m flattered, but I was not a missionary. I was not out proclaiming the Gospel, winning souls for Jesus. I certainly wasn’t killed for that.”
“What were you doing?”
“I’m surprised you don’t know. I was leading a medical mission -- we were focused on saving lives, not souls. Conditions in the refugee camps are terrible, people are dying, and nobody seemed to give enough of a crap to do something about it. So, we were there, helping them.”
“Why did you do that, knowing it would be dangerous -- certainly harsh conditions?”
“As I said, they needed -- they need -- help. They need all the help they can get. And this was just the right thing to do, wasn’t it? Helping people?”
“You mean like when Jesus said, ‘help the least of these, and it’s as though you’re helping me?’”
“It’s the right thing.”
“Are you familiar with Saint Francis, Grace?” She shook her head. He looked around, then pointed to a spot near the horizon. “He’s over there -- you should look him up. But he said something like, ‘Preach the Gospel continuously. Use words if you have to.’ By showing love for those people -- by risking your life for those people -- you were preaching as much -- more -- than any preacher ever did on a Sunday morning in church. And if you died for them, I have it on pretty good authority that it’s like dying for Jesus, even if his name wasn’t on your lips when you were doing what you were doing. The important thing is, it was in your heart.”
Grace looked skeptical. “’Pretty good authority?’”
Her companion raised one eyebrow. “Would you like to meet him?”
“Meet who -- ” she began to say, and then suddenly they were in the presence of someone new -- and with no word spoken, she knew who it was. He stood just a few feet away, looking at her with a welcoming expression, and she stood frozen -- then dropped to her knees. “No,” she said, “I am so not worthy.” She lowered her face, wouldn’t even look at him.
And then her companion reached down and gently touched her face, raised her head so she could see the other figure, and whispered to her, “Nobody is -- but he loves you just the same. And I know he’d really like to say hello to someone who did so much for others, because he was in her heart.”
She was still trying to frame an answer, when the other man reached down and took her hand, raised her up and said, “Welcome, Grace…”
* * *
Blessed and Moving Forward
by Keith Wagner
Matthew 5:1-12
Jesus was speaking to a discouraged people, folks who were facing great odds. They were sad and distraught, people who had little hope. Consequently he helped them to look to the future instead of the past. He was totally focused on that particular moment, portraying an attitude of optimism. He assured them that peace, above all else, would prevail. In other words I believe he was saying, "It can get better, you all have a future."
That’s not easy to hear when you are struggling to make ends meet or getting older and your body begins to wear out and break down. By today’s standards our happiness is measured by our health and mobility, how much money we have, and our safety and security. But, none of these can be found in this text which is historically called the Beatitudes. The blessings Jesus talked about were quite different. Jesus blessed those with a big heart. He blessed those who were humble and gentle. He blessed those who were open to the power of God. He blessed those who endured in spite of adversity. And, he blessed those who looked to the future and not to the past.
I believe Jesus was saying that greatness is defined, not by wealth and prominence, but by humility. Jesus said, "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted."
Erma Bombeck once told the story of Ralph Corlis. He was the coach who played to lose. He was an enigma in little league baseball. Ralph went to ball games and invited the kids who always sat on the bench to be on his team. He had one rule, "Everyone plays." One season Ralph managed to muster together enough underdog little leaguers to create five teams. They played in a farm yard with car seat cushions as bases.
Ralph’s games had no spectators and he didn’t care about winning. But, one thing became evident to the other coaches in the town. All the young boys were having fun. A few coaches approached Ralph to find out what his game was. He responded by telling them that they played to have fun and didn’t care about winning or having spectators. "Besides," Ralph told them, "no one ever teaches kids how to lose. It’s important to know how to lose because you do a lot of it when you grow up."
The other coaches invited Ralph’s teams to compete in their league. His team lost 81 straight games. And they did it without uniforms, parents, lighted scoreboards and press coverage. In spite of all their losses, Ralph Corlis became the most loved coach in little league baseball.
One season, Ralph’s team acquired a boy who had fairly good pitching skills. Then the impossible happened. After years of losing his team won. After the game the boys were strangely quiet and Ralph sat in his car for the longest time thinking about what had just happened. "See you next week coach," one of his players said as he passed by the car. But, Ralph had to retire. He couldn’t stand the pressure.
Ralph Corlis was a humble man. He was content with his inner self. He didn’t need to accumulate trophies or praise about what he had accomplished. Unfortunately our obsession with winning and keeping score takes all the fun out of life.
We are also blessed when we can accept our limitations but realize we still have the potential to take another step thereby letting go of the past, embracing the moment and living with excitement about the days yet to come.
In 1928, a thirty-three-old man by the name of Paul Galvin found himself staring at failure. His business failed because his competitors forced him to fold his latest venture in the storage-battery business. Galvin was convinced that he still had a marketable idea, so he attended the auction of his own business. He managed to raise $750 and he bought back one small part of the inventory, the battery eliminator. With that he built a new, more powerful battery that revolutionized the industry. His company eventually became a household word: Motorola.
Galvin followed through on his commitment to the industry of battery power. It was risky and he gave everything he had. He had hope because he believed in the future. In the process he maintained his integrity as failures of his past did not keep him from moving forward.
The people who Jesus taught that day on the hillside by the Sea of Galilee weren’t as powerless as they had believed. They were given hope because Jesus replaced their traditional value system with attributes that would help them prevail. His fresh understandings of the value of grace and humility affirmed them as people of worth.
* * *
Children of God
by Keith Wagner
1 John 3:1-3
The letter of 1 John was written to the church which was struggling with the issues of their day. They needed direction, so the author of First John gave them basic instructions. Basically he wrote that it was not their task to figure out the precise and exact position on political or moral issues. Their task was to be “children of God.”
In the early church life had become complex and people’s identity had become skewed. The faith community had forgotten who they were and what they were about. They needed to be reminded that to be believers in Jesus Christ had a direct connection with their actions and deeds.
Sometimes the slightest obstacle can separate people. It may be something as simple as a lack of information. On the other hand it could be stubbornness, selfishness or revenge. For me, to be children of God means to have common sense.
One time Martin Luther King was riding with his brother. In his sermon, A Knock at Midnight, he told this story: "My brother and I were driving one evening to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Atlanta. He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. Many of them didn’t dim their lights. I remember very vividly, my brother A. D., looked over and in a tone of anger said: ‘I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power.’ I looked at him right quick and said: ‘Oh no, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway.’”
Somewhere somebody must have some sense. People must see that force begets force and hate begets hate. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. The only way is to practice real love.
Brotherly love begins with our own brothers and sisters. However, Jesus’ love goes beyond family. By resisting retaliation, having the courage to break the cycle of violence and loving everyone is to be children of God.
In Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul, Rich Kornoelje tells the story about one of his students. Rich was the assistant principal at a very large public high school. One of his duties was to supervise the lunch room making sure students were diligent in picking up their lunch trays and not leaving any messes.
One day, prior to vacation, the students were fairly wound up. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that a student had spilled his milk. What a mess. It was all down the front of him, on the table and the floor. He watched to see what he would do. He was sure he would escape the cafeteria without cleaning up the mess. He vowed to punish him by making him clean up everyone else’s mess for the day.
To his surprise the student returned to the snack bar and gathered up several napkins. He then returned to his table and cleaned up the mess. He even got on his hands and knees and cleaned the milk from the floor. After regaining his composure, Rich followed the young man out of the cafeteria. He caught up with him and thanked him for his cooperation. “No problem,” the young man said.
Later Rich discovered who the student was and decided to contact the young man’s parents. Normally his calls to parents were about their misdeeds. The boy’s mother answered and he said, “Your son showed me something today that really demonstrated some good upbringing.” He then went on to relay the rest of the story. At the other end of the phone line Rich heard sobbing and sniffling. Finally his mother replied, “You will never in your entire lifetime realize what your phone call has meant to me. My husband left me several years ago and I have tried to raise my son alone. He behaves at home but I never know how he does in public. Your phone call has meant everything to me.”
Rich also used common sense. His single phone call became a life-changing experience for him. From then on he tried to make more positive calls to parents. Ironically Rich had learned what it meant to be a child of God by observing one of his student’s good behavior.
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 1, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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.
"A Face in the Crowd" by Keith Hewitt
"Blessed and Moving Forward" by Keith Wagner
"Children of God" by Keith Wagner
A Face in the Crowd
by Keith Hewitt
Revelation 7:9-17
Grace looked down at the white robe she was wearing and touched the fabric with one hand, held it between her fingers, then smoothed it with her hand, pressing it against herself as her hand traveled down from the opposite shoulder to her stomach. The softness was like nothing she had ever felt before, and although the robe had weight to it -- she could feel it on herself -- to the touch, it felt very nearly as though there was nothing actually there.
As she stood there, it slowly dawned on her that much the same could be said for the world around her, for she was standing in a crowd -- she could see it, plain as day, stretching on in all directions until her eyes just gave up -- but she could hear nothing. Even if there was no talking and no jostling, she realized, she should at least hear that many people breathing.
She was puzzling over that when she became aware of a man -- she thought -- standing beside her. He, too, was wearing a white robe, but there was a difference to it that she could not quite put her finger on. She set that puzzle aside when he spoke, and she could hear it. “That’s normal,” he said, inclining his head toward the silent multitude. “You’re here, but you are not of them, yet -- you’re still in Orientation.” The way he said it, she knew that it would be capitalized -- could practically see it.
“Okay,” she said after taking in what he’d said, “then where is here, and who are they?”
“You are in Heaven -- Paradise, if you prefer, since Heaven has become sort of cliché. Or the afterlife.”
“What do you call it?”
He gave a half-smile and a little shrug. “Home.”
She paused again, to consider this information, then her expression began to change slowly, moving from puzzlement to confusion. “Wait -- if this is Heaven, then I’m…dead?”
It was more of a statement than a question, but her companion nodded anyway.
“But that can’t be! I was only -- ” She hesitated, mentally floundering. “ -- thirty-six years old!”
“It’s perfectly natural to start losing some connection to the unimportant information in your life -- like your age. But you’re right, you were thirty-six. Do you remember what happened?”
“No.” She looked down, concentrating, then raised her head. “There was a man -- an adolescent. He was in line at the clinic. It was children’s vaccination day, and we assumed he was bringing a sibling…all bundled up in his arms…but he never smiled, and the child never made a sound…and when he got up to where we were…” A flash, a vision of some kind of artillery shell wrapped in a blanket, nails packed around it -- then…nothing…”Oh my God,” she breathed, “it was a bomb.”
Her companion nodded. “Yes, exactly. A bomb. He set it off when he got to the head of the line, where you and two nurses were giving vaccinations and doing wellness exams.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand, as if to take in the whole scene around them. “And now, you’re here, among the multitude of those who gave their lives in the service of the Lord, victims of persecution for their beliefs.”
Grace shook her head, then, and said, “There’s been a mistake.”
He smiled again. “Almost everyone says that.”
“No, I mean it. I -- I’m flattered, but I was not a missionary. I was not out proclaiming the Gospel, winning souls for Jesus. I certainly wasn’t killed for that.”
“What were you doing?”
“I’m surprised you don’t know. I was leading a medical mission -- we were focused on saving lives, not souls. Conditions in the refugee camps are terrible, people are dying, and nobody seemed to give enough of a crap to do something about it. So, we were there, helping them.”
“Why did you do that, knowing it would be dangerous -- certainly harsh conditions?”
“As I said, they needed -- they need -- help. They need all the help they can get. And this was just the right thing to do, wasn’t it? Helping people?”
“You mean like when Jesus said, ‘help the least of these, and it’s as though you’re helping me?’”
“It’s the right thing.”
“Are you familiar with Saint Francis, Grace?” She shook her head. He looked around, then pointed to a spot near the horizon. “He’s over there -- you should look him up. But he said something like, ‘Preach the Gospel continuously. Use words if you have to.’ By showing love for those people -- by risking your life for those people -- you were preaching as much -- more -- than any preacher ever did on a Sunday morning in church. And if you died for them, I have it on pretty good authority that it’s like dying for Jesus, even if his name wasn’t on your lips when you were doing what you were doing. The important thing is, it was in your heart.”
Grace looked skeptical. “’Pretty good authority?’”
Her companion raised one eyebrow. “Would you like to meet him?”
“Meet who -- ” she began to say, and then suddenly they were in the presence of someone new -- and with no word spoken, she knew who it was. He stood just a few feet away, looking at her with a welcoming expression, and she stood frozen -- then dropped to her knees. “No,” she said, “I am so not worthy.” She lowered her face, wouldn’t even look at him.
And then her companion reached down and gently touched her face, raised her head so she could see the other figure, and whispered to her, “Nobody is -- but he loves you just the same. And I know he’d really like to say hello to someone who did so much for others, because he was in her heart.”
She was still trying to frame an answer, when the other man reached down and took her hand, raised her up and said, “Welcome, Grace…”
* * *
Blessed and Moving Forward
by Keith Wagner
Matthew 5:1-12
Jesus was speaking to a discouraged people, folks who were facing great odds. They were sad and distraught, people who had little hope. Consequently he helped them to look to the future instead of the past. He was totally focused on that particular moment, portraying an attitude of optimism. He assured them that peace, above all else, would prevail. In other words I believe he was saying, "It can get better, you all have a future."
That’s not easy to hear when you are struggling to make ends meet or getting older and your body begins to wear out and break down. By today’s standards our happiness is measured by our health and mobility, how much money we have, and our safety and security. But, none of these can be found in this text which is historically called the Beatitudes. The blessings Jesus talked about were quite different. Jesus blessed those with a big heart. He blessed those who were humble and gentle. He blessed those who were open to the power of God. He blessed those who endured in spite of adversity. And, he blessed those who looked to the future and not to the past.
I believe Jesus was saying that greatness is defined, not by wealth and prominence, but by humility. Jesus said, "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted."
Erma Bombeck once told the story of Ralph Corlis. He was the coach who played to lose. He was an enigma in little league baseball. Ralph went to ball games and invited the kids who always sat on the bench to be on his team. He had one rule, "Everyone plays." One season Ralph managed to muster together enough underdog little leaguers to create five teams. They played in a farm yard with car seat cushions as bases.
Ralph’s games had no spectators and he didn’t care about winning. But, one thing became evident to the other coaches in the town. All the young boys were having fun. A few coaches approached Ralph to find out what his game was. He responded by telling them that they played to have fun and didn’t care about winning or having spectators. "Besides," Ralph told them, "no one ever teaches kids how to lose. It’s important to know how to lose because you do a lot of it when you grow up."
The other coaches invited Ralph’s teams to compete in their league. His team lost 81 straight games. And they did it without uniforms, parents, lighted scoreboards and press coverage. In spite of all their losses, Ralph Corlis became the most loved coach in little league baseball.
One season, Ralph’s team acquired a boy who had fairly good pitching skills. Then the impossible happened. After years of losing his team won. After the game the boys were strangely quiet and Ralph sat in his car for the longest time thinking about what had just happened. "See you next week coach," one of his players said as he passed by the car. But, Ralph had to retire. He couldn’t stand the pressure.
Ralph Corlis was a humble man. He was content with his inner self. He didn’t need to accumulate trophies or praise about what he had accomplished. Unfortunately our obsession with winning and keeping score takes all the fun out of life.
We are also blessed when we can accept our limitations but realize we still have the potential to take another step thereby letting go of the past, embracing the moment and living with excitement about the days yet to come.
In 1928, a thirty-three-old man by the name of Paul Galvin found himself staring at failure. His business failed because his competitors forced him to fold his latest venture in the storage-battery business. Galvin was convinced that he still had a marketable idea, so he attended the auction of his own business. He managed to raise $750 and he bought back one small part of the inventory, the battery eliminator. With that he built a new, more powerful battery that revolutionized the industry. His company eventually became a household word: Motorola.
Galvin followed through on his commitment to the industry of battery power. It was risky and he gave everything he had. He had hope because he believed in the future. In the process he maintained his integrity as failures of his past did not keep him from moving forward.
The people who Jesus taught that day on the hillside by the Sea of Galilee weren’t as powerless as they had believed. They were given hope because Jesus replaced their traditional value system with attributes that would help them prevail. His fresh understandings of the value of grace and humility affirmed them as people of worth.
* * *
Children of God
by Keith Wagner
1 John 3:1-3
The letter of 1 John was written to the church which was struggling with the issues of their day. They needed direction, so the author of First John gave them basic instructions. Basically he wrote that it was not their task to figure out the precise and exact position on political or moral issues. Their task was to be “children of God.”
In the early church life had become complex and people’s identity had become skewed. The faith community had forgotten who they were and what they were about. They needed to be reminded that to be believers in Jesus Christ had a direct connection with their actions and deeds.
Sometimes the slightest obstacle can separate people. It may be something as simple as a lack of information. On the other hand it could be stubbornness, selfishness or revenge. For me, to be children of God means to have common sense.
One time Martin Luther King was riding with his brother. In his sermon, A Knock at Midnight, he told this story: "My brother and I were driving one evening to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Atlanta. He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. Many of them didn’t dim their lights. I remember very vividly, my brother A. D., looked over and in a tone of anger said: ‘I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power.’ I looked at him right quick and said: ‘Oh no, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway.’”
Somewhere somebody must have some sense. People must see that force begets force and hate begets hate. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. The only way is to practice real love.
Brotherly love begins with our own brothers and sisters. However, Jesus’ love goes beyond family. By resisting retaliation, having the courage to break the cycle of violence and loving everyone is to be children of God.
In Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul, Rich Kornoelje tells the story about one of his students. Rich was the assistant principal at a very large public high school. One of his duties was to supervise the lunch room making sure students were diligent in picking up their lunch trays and not leaving any messes.
One day, prior to vacation, the students were fairly wound up. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that a student had spilled his milk. What a mess. It was all down the front of him, on the table and the floor. He watched to see what he would do. He was sure he would escape the cafeteria without cleaning up the mess. He vowed to punish him by making him clean up everyone else’s mess for the day.
To his surprise the student returned to the snack bar and gathered up several napkins. He then returned to his table and cleaned up the mess. He even got on his hands and knees and cleaned the milk from the floor. After regaining his composure, Rich followed the young man out of the cafeteria. He caught up with him and thanked him for his cooperation. “No problem,” the young man said.
Later Rich discovered who the student was and decided to contact the young man’s parents. Normally his calls to parents were about their misdeeds. The boy’s mother answered and he said, “Your son showed me something today that really demonstrated some good upbringing.” He then went on to relay the rest of the story. At the other end of the phone line Rich heard sobbing and sniffling. Finally his mother replied, “You will never in your entire lifetime realize what your phone call has meant to me. My husband left me several years ago and I have tried to raise my son alone. He behaves at home but I never know how he does in public. Your phone call has meant everything to me.”
Rich also used common sense. His single phone call became a life-changing experience for him. From then on he tried to make more positive calls to parents. Ironically Rich had learned what it meant to be a child of God by observing one of his student’s good behavior.
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 1, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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.
