House Guests
Stories
Object:
Contents
"House Guests" by C. David McKirachan
"Security System" by C. David McKirachan
"Praying for Peace" by Peter Andrew Smith
* * * * * * * *
House Guests
by C. David McKirachan
Acts 16:9-15
When I was a kid I remember all kinds of people coming to stay with us. We lived in the manse, a 23-room mansion. We had about seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, so there was plenty of space and places to hang out. My mother was known for the table she set. She could make a gourmet meal out of leftovers and a walk after lunch. My memories are of missionaries and relatives and big wigs in the church and college professors and college students and people from former churches and once in a while someone who was between accommodations. That was code for had no other place to go. All were treated the same. All were respected. All sat at the dining room table and ate off the second best china, except on Sunday's. That's when the good stuff came out. And all were fair game to be grilled by me. Boy, did I hear some stories. A lot of them came back. I'm pretty sure it was because they had a good time the first go 'round.
The art of hospitality was held in high esteem by my mother and father. My mother used to quote Hebrews regularly, "Never refrain from entertaining strangers, for by so doing many have received angels." It was a rule paraphrased from scripture, the best kind.
The early church sprouted in the soil of hospitality. There was little liturgy and a lot of pot luck suppers. Recently, I heard the story of "Stone Soup" described as a scam. I always thought it was an example of God's grace discovered through community. That kind of dichotomy, scam over and against community, demonstrates how far Christian hospitality and the world's idea of entertaining are from each other.
Our modern world is full of pressures that keep us from practicing the art that Lydia and my mother used to further the kingdom. When we're all working and running for most of our days, it's hard to find the time or the energy to entertain friends or strangers. Few of our homes are blessed by a plethora of bedrooms, let alone bathrooms. And even if we have a few extra beds, many of them are taken up by our children, minor and adult.
But logistics aside, we don't claim such hospitality as a spiritual discipline on par with prayer, fasting, and tithing. Perhaps we ought to reconsider this omission. Perhaps this discipline is one reason the church exploded across the world. Christians embraced the world and created enclaves of hospitality that excluded no one. Their generosity and willingness to offer the blessings of the Lord to all proclaimed the presence of the risen Lord more articulately than any sermon, program, donation, or theology.
Perhaps our aversion to consider hospitality important is because we want to protect ourselves from the issues and needs of our fellow human beings. We want to keep them at arms' length, which is exactly what Jesus constantly taught us not to do. There's that pesky word "Love" that keeps drawing us toward each other.
About time we started partying again, don't you think? Pass the potatoes, please.
Security System
by C. David McKirachan
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
In the midst of all the debates over war and guns and protecting our borders and protecting our piles of money and every other issue that separates us is this simple phrase, "...and its gates shall never be shut by day -- and there shall be no night there...." Just imagine living with no armies, no nations, no flags, no locks, and no fear. Just imagine how that would change our agendas and our political sacred cows. What would we do with all the passion we invest in fighting with each other? We don't know how to do without competition, without fortifying our positions, without making sure the "right" things get done. "Right" according to us, of course. So we need gates to make sure the people we don't like stay out. Have we ever considered that our walls and gates are more about our unwillingness to consider an option other than tightly controlled savagery, than they are about the realities we are seeking to protect ourselves from?
That kind of thinking is what has kept us from being citizens of the kingdom of God since the crowd yelled "Crucify him!" If that was the only thing Revelation was about then it wouldn't have done much good to the Christians who were getting pushed around and threatened. And it wouldn't have allowed Christianity to explode on the world the way it did. It would have been wishful thinking for the martyrs. But Christianity was not and is not wishful thinking. It is an agenda for changing the way we live, the way we think, and the way we insist on competing. If we're willing to stick to it, it will change the world. "And he said to me these words are trustworthy and true."
I'd just like to add a codicil. Go Yankees!
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).
Praying for Peace
by Peter Andrew Smith
John 14:23-29
Joanne stood quietly in the doorway and watched Ashley sleep. Her daughter looked so calm and peaceful that it was hard to imagine that only last month she had been near death in the hospital. Joanne hugged herself as she remembered how helpless she felt as the doctors ran tests and Ashley kept getting worse.
They still weren't exactly sure what had been wrong with her but the various medications they tried gradually started to work and her condition stabilized. Her recovery was slow but steady after that. Now she was home and eager to go back to school and see her friends again. Joanne watched her for a few more minutes and then crept toward the soft glow coming from the kitchen.
"Everything okay?" Mary asked as Joanne pulled out a chair.
"Your granddaughter is sleeping like an angel."
"She has been through a lot." Mary took the milk from the fridge and poured some into a saucepan. "Something to help you sleep?"
"I don't think it will help but I am willing to try anything at this point," Joanne yawned. "You can't sleep either?"
Mary turned the burner on low. "I heard you get up and figured you might want some company."
"I'm okay. You can go back to bed."
Mary stirred the milk slowly. "I will after you have some of this."
"Thanks," Joanne yawned again. "I guess I was up so much at the hospital my body hasn't adjusted to us being home."
"Your body seems plenty tired," Mary said. "I think this has more to do with your mind."
"Maybe." Joanne folded and unfolded her hands as she sat at the table. "Every time I close my eyes I think about the hospital and those terrible weeks. My mind can't stop racing and the only thing that helps is checking on Ashley."
Mary poured the warm milk into two mugs and passed one to her daughter-in-law. "Those were difficult days. I don't think I ever prayed so hard in my life."
"I remember. You were a rock for both of us. I don't know how you did it."
Mary warmed her hands on the mug. "The same way you did... by putting one foot in front of the other and taking each day as it came."
Joanne sipped at her drink. "I didn't think it would still be difficult now that she is better. Why can't I just accept things are okay and sleep?"
The two women drank their warm milk in the silence of the unanswered question.
"Can I ask you something?" Joanne said.
"You can ask me anything."
"How did you know Ashley would be okay?"
"I didn't." Mary sat her mug on the table. "I worried that we might lose her a couple of times."
"You did? You always seemed so calm and peaceful even when things were at their worst."
"I prayed for her to get better but I know that sometimes people don't recover." Mary took a deep breath. "I didn't want that to happen but if it did I know God would look after her."
"So you just hoped for the best?"
"I asked in prayer for the best. I understood that if what I wanted wasn't going to happen, God would still be there loving Ashley like we love her."
"So that made you so calm?"
Mary laughed softly. "No, I had to pray for peace as well."
"I don't understand."
"Jesus said he would give us the Holy Spirit and peace in a way the world doesn't give. So I asked for help and strength for us as well as healing for Ashley."
"I'm glad your prayers were answered," Joanne said.
"For the most part they were." Mary reached out and took Joanne's hand. "I'm still praying for you. I'm worried about you and these restless nights."
"Me? I wasn't the one who was sick."
"No, you are the one who is still walking the floor at night even though Ashley is better. I know this isn't the first time you have been unable to sleep."
"I thought I was being quiet."
"You were," Mary said. "I'm a light sleeper."
Joanne held her mother-in-law's hand for a few minutes and then squeezed it lightly. "I guess I should go back to bed."
Mary took the mugs and put them in the sink. "Think you can get some sleep?"
Joanne smiled. "After our talk if I find myself lying there I will do something other than worry."
"What's that?" Mary asked.
"I think I'll pray. I've got plenty to be thankful for and maybe I can ask for some of that peace you were talking about at the same time."
Mary gave her a quick hug. "I'll make breakfast tomorrow morning so don't be in a rush to get up."
Joanne said her good nights and headed off toward her room. As she walked she experienced a sense of calm. She lay in bed for a few minutes praying her thanks and then drifted off to sleep.
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.
*****************************************
StoryShare, May 5, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 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.
"House Guests" by C. David McKirachan
"Security System" by C. David McKirachan
"Praying for Peace" by Peter Andrew Smith
* * * * * * * *
House Guests
by C. David McKirachan
Acts 16:9-15
When I was a kid I remember all kinds of people coming to stay with us. We lived in the manse, a 23-room mansion. We had about seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, so there was plenty of space and places to hang out. My mother was known for the table she set. She could make a gourmet meal out of leftovers and a walk after lunch. My memories are of missionaries and relatives and big wigs in the church and college professors and college students and people from former churches and once in a while someone who was between accommodations. That was code for had no other place to go. All were treated the same. All were respected. All sat at the dining room table and ate off the second best china, except on Sunday's. That's when the good stuff came out. And all were fair game to be grilled by me. Boy, did I hear some stories. A lot of them came back. I'm pretty sure it was because they had a good time the first go 'round.
The art of hospitality was held in high esteem by my mother and father. My mother used to quote Hebrews regularly, "Never refrain from entertaining strangers, for by so doing many have received angels." It was a rule paraphrased from scripture, the best kind.
The early church sprouted in the soil of hospitality. There was little liturgy and a lot of pot luck suppers. Recently, I heard the story of "Stone Soup" described as a scam. I always thought it was an example of God's grace discovered through community. That kind of dichotomy, scam over and against community, demonstrates how far Christian hospitality and the world's idea of entertaining are from each other.
Our modern world is full of pressures that keep us from practicing the art that Lydia and my mother used to further the kingdom. When we're all working and running for most of our days, it's hard to find the time or the energy to entertain friends or strangers. Few of our homes are blessed by a plethora of bedrooms, let alone bathrooms. And even if we have a few extra beds, many of them are taken up by our children, minor and adult.
But logistics aside, we don't claim such hospitality as a spiritual discipline on par with prayer, fasting, and tithing. Perhaps we ought to reconsider this omission. Perhaps this discipline is one reason the church exploded across the world. Christians embraced the world and created enclaves of hospitality that excluded no one. Their generosity and willingness to offer the blessings of the Lord to all proclaimed the presence of the risen Lord more articulately than any sermon, program, donation, or theology.
Perhaps our aversion to consider hospitality important is because we want to protect ourselves from the issues and needs of our fellow human beings. We want to keep them at arms' length, which is exactly what Jesus constantly taught us not to do. There's that pesky word "Love" that keeps drawing us toward each other.
About time we started partying again, don't you think? Pass the potatoes, please.
Security System
by C. David McKirachan
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
In the midst of all the debates over war and guns and protecting our borders and protecting our piles of money and every other issue that separates us is this simple phrase, "...and its gates shall never be shut by day -- and there shall be no night there...." Just imagine living with no armies, no nations, no flags, no locks, and no fear. Just imagine how that would change our agendas and our political sacred cows. What would we do with all the passion we invest in fighting with each other? We don't know how to do without competition, without fortifying our positions, without making sure the "right" things get done. "Right" according to us, of course. So we need gates to make sure the people we don't like stay out. Have we ever considered that our walls and gates are more about our unwillingness to consider an option other than tightly controlled savagery, than they are about the realities we are seeking to protect ourselves from?
That kind of thinking is what has kept us from being citizens of the kingdom of God since the crowd yelled "Crucify him!" If that was the only thing Revelation was about then it wouldn't have done much good to the Christians who were getting pushed around and threatened. And it wouldn't have allowed Christianity to explode on the world the way it did. It would have been wishful thinking for the martyrs. But Christianity was not and is not wishful thinking. It is an agenda for changing the way we live, the way we think, and the way we insist on competing. If we're willing to stick to it, it will change the world. "And he said to me these words are trustworthy and true."
I'd just like to add a codicil. Go Yankees!
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).
Praying for Peace
by Peter Andrew Smith
John 14:23-29
Joanne stood quietly in the doorway and watched Ashley sleep. Her daughter looked so calm and peaceful that it was hard to imagine that only last month she had been near death in the hospital. Joanne hugged herself as she remembered how helpless she felt as the doctors ran tests and Ashley kept getting worse.
They still weren't exactly sure what had been wrong with her but the various medications they tried gradually started to work and her condition stabilized. Her recovery was slow but steady after that. Now she was home and eager to go back to school and see her friends again. Joanne watched her for a few more minutes and then crept toward the soft glow coming from the kitchen.
"Everything okay?" Mary asked as Joanne pulled out a chair.
"Your granddaughter is sleeping like an angel."
"She has been through a lot." Mary took the milk from the fridge and poured some into a saucepan. "Something to help you sleep?"
"I don't think it will help but I am willing to try anything at this point," Joanne yawned. "You can't sleep either?"
Mary turned the burner on low. "I heard you get up and figured you might want some company."
"I'm okay. You can go back to bed."
Mary stirred the milk slowly. "I will after you have some of this."
"Thanks," Joanne yawned again. "I guess I was up so much at the hospital my body hasn't adjusted to us being home."
"Your body seems plenty tired," Mary said. "I think this has more to do with your mind."
"Maybe." Joanne folded and unfolded her hands as she sat at the table. "Every time I close my eyes I think about the hospital and those terrible weeks. My mind can't stop racing and the only thing that helps is checking on Ashley."
Mary poured the warm milk into two mugs and passed one to her daughter-in-law. "Those were difficult days. I don't think I ever prayed so hard in my life."
"I remember. You were a rock for both of us. I don't know how you did it."
Mary warmed her hands on the mug. "The same way you did... by putting one foot in front of the other and taking each day as it came."
Joanne sipped at her drink. "I didn't think it would still be difficult now that she is better. Why can't I just accept things are okay and sleep?"
The two women drank their warm milk in the silence of the unanswered question.
"Can I ask you something?" Joanne said.
"You can ask me anything."
"How did you know Ashley would be okay?"
"I didn't." Mary sat her mug on the table. "I worried that we might lose her a couple of times."
"You did? You always seemed so calm and peaceful even when things were at their worst."
"I prayed for her to get better but I know that sometimes people don't recover." Mary took a deep breath. "I didn't want that to happen but if it did I know God would look after her."
"So you just hoped for the best?"
"I asked in prayer for the best. I understood that if what I wanted wasn't going to happen, God would still be there loving Ashley like we love her."
"So that made you so calm?"
Mary laughed softly. "No, I had to pray for peace as well."
"I don't understand."
"Jesus said he would give us the Holy Spirit and peace in a way the world doesn't give. So I asked for help and strength for us as well as healing for Ashley."
"I'm glad your prayers were answered," Joanne said.
"For the most part they were." Mary reached out and took Joanne's hand. "I'm still praying for you. I'm worried about you and these restless nights."
"Me? I wasn't the one who was sick."
"No, you are the one who is still walking the floor at night even though Ashley is better. I know this isn't the first time you have been unable to sleep."
"I thought I was being quiet."
"You were," Mary said. "I'm a light sleeper."
Joanne held her mother-in-law's hand for a few minutes and then squeezed it lightly. "I guess I should go back to bed."
Mary took the mugs and put them in the sink. "Think you can get some sleep?"
Joanne smiled. "After our talk if I find myself lying there I will do something other than worry."
"What's that?" Mary asked.
"I think I'll pray. I've got plenty to be thankful for and maybe I can ask for some of that peace you were talking about at the same time."
Mary gave her a quick hug. "I'll make breakfast tomorrow morning so don't be in a rush to get up."
Joanne said her good nights and headed off toward her room. As she walked she experienced a sense of calm. She lay in bed for a few minutes praying her thanks and then drifted off to sleep.
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.
*****************************************
StoryShare, May 5, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 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.
