If You Could Choose A Crown
Stories
Palms Liturgy
Matthew 21:1-11
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Passion Liturgy
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:14--27:66
Contents
What's Up This Week
Passion Sunday Sermon Starter: "If You Could Choose a Crown" by John Sumwalt
Holy Thursday Story: "Forsaken?" by Judith Brain
Good Friday Scrap Pile: "A Day for Losers" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
I go to the dentist this week to get a new crown for one of my upper molars. I have already had the root canal, so most of the excruciating pain and suffering is over. Still, I may well be humming "Crown Him with Many Crowns" as I make my way down the freeway to meet my fate. Check out the riff on the crowns we long for in "If You Could Choose a Crown," our Sermon Starter for Passion/Palm Sunday. You will also want to look at more Passion /Palm Sunday material in the archives.
Passion/Palm Sunday Sermon Starter
If You Could Choose a Crown
by John Sumwalt
I have been thinking about crowns this week, perhaps because I have an appointment to be crowned tomorrow morning -- right here (point to tooth). My dentist fitted me for this wonderful new crown a couple of weeks ago. It will be silver and I will be paying several hundred dollars for the privilege of wearing it. And it will be nice to have because it means I will be able to eat popcorn again, and Banana Nut Crunch for breakfast, which is how I broke it in the first place.
Did you ever want to wear a crown? Did you want to be homecoming king or queen when you were in high school? And if you got to be king or queen, how did it feel when they placed the crown on your head, and afterwards when you rode in the big parade with everyone cheering and waving at you?
Years ago, there was a television show called Queen for a Day. In every show, they selected one woman from the audience, gave her a beautiful gown, put a crown on her head and showed her a room full of wonderful prizes that she got to take home: a new washing machine, dishes, pots and pans, and sometimes a lifetime supply of a certain laundry detergent. The woman who was selected as queen always cried and millions of viewers watching cried with her.
There is something in all of us that wants to be crowned king or queen, to be acknowledged as special, or as the best at something we do: to have that feeling expressed by Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the movie Titanic, when he is standing high up on the prow of that great ship, looking out over the ocean, and he cries out, "I'm the king of the world!"
I felt badly for the boys from the Bayview High School basketball team last Saturday night. They wanted so badly to be crowned state basketball champions -- and they came this close to beating Racine Case.
When I was in high school I wanted more than anything else to be crowned state wrestling champion. I made it to the state tournament as a sophomore, and in my senior year I had a chance to go again. I was leading by one point in overtime in my final match in the sectional tournament. All I had to do was hang onto this guy from LaCrosse Logan for 18 more seconds and I was in. But it was not to be. He reversed me and scored two points -- and my heart ached for months.
There are many kinds of crowns in this world. One of the children who goes to Lincoln Elementary school over here was just crowned a regional spelling champion. Jacob Dykstra recently won the pinewood derby. That is a kind of crown. Some of you musicians have just earned firsts in solo and ensemble contests. That is a kind of crown.
If you could choose a crown -- any crown -- what would it be?
* NCAA basketball champs
* Three-time NFL MVP, like Brett Favre
* Home run king, like Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire
* Academy Award-winning actress, like Halle Berry
* Elected to public office, like Arnold Schwarzenegger
* Winning a Nobel Prize for literature or medicine or peace
* Being the top sales person in your company
These are all crowning achievements. You may have such a moment in your lifetime when you wear the crown of your dreams, or perhaps a crown beyond your wildest dreams. If such a moment comes to you, be careful that it doesn't go to your head -- and be careful that you don't lose your head. It can be a dangerous thing to wear a crown.
Not many of us would choose the crown that Jesus chose.
The soldiers put a crown on Jesus' head that day. They took him "...into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him" (Matthew 27:27-31).
A little later Jesus looked down from the cross on these tormentors and said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).
"Crown him with many crowns," we sing, "and hail him as thy matchless King through all eternity" (Matthew Bridges, United Methodist Hymnal, #327).
Holy Thursday Story
Forsaken?
by Judith Brain
"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done."
Luke 22:42
I got a panicky phone call from a parishioner. "Kate" was going through a terrible time. Her daughter had been hospitalized after attempting suicide, another manifestation of severe psychological trauma resulting from a childhood rape.
In addition, Kate was in the middle of divorcing her emotionally abusive husband, and her son was acting out because of all the turmoil in their lives. Now, her job was threatened because she'd had to take too much time off to care for her daughter and shepherd her son through his troubles.
She was distraught when she asked me to come over. Thinking about all the stresses in her life made me wonder how I would be an effective pastor in this overwhelmingly difficult situation. On the drive to her house, I reviewed all of the things I'd learned in counseling and pastoral care courses. "Let her express her fears and anger. Stay with the pain. Don't try to solve anything. Respect her feelings of loss and abandonment."
When I got to the house she pulled me inside, and before I said a word, she looked me straight in the eye and said, "I don't need you to sit here and listen to my pain and give me an opportunity to express my feelings. I've got a shrink for that. I want you to tell me why God is doing this to me!"
Judith Brain is pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Lexington, Massachusetts. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, she loves mysteries, crossword puzzles, gardening, and kayaking.
Good Friday Scrap Pile
Someone has said there are three phases of a ministry:
1) Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
2) By whose authority does he do these things?
3) Crucify him, crucify him!
In the old west, crowds gathered at the foot of the gallows, anxious to see the condemned person hanged. In the modern world, proponents of the death penalty line up on one side of the street outside the prison while opponents stake out the other side. The deathwatch begins. At the appointed hour, witnesses gather outside the electrocution or poisoning chamber. Then, on the signal, the executioner pulls the switch or injects the needle. The condemned shudders for a moment, then dies. (Gary E. Parker, The Guilt Trip, McCracken Press, 1993)
So many stories have come out of the terrorist attack of September 11. One of the most poignant, carried by the Associated Press, was the discovery by rescue workers, in the rubble of the World Trade Center, of a large, perfectly shaped cross, 20 feet tall. The cross was formed as a result of the destruction. It was made up of the steel that had been part of that great structure. Many of the workers cried, and the cross was lifted up and became a kind of rallying point and makeshift memorial. Out of all the destruction and pain of this world rises the cross -- the place where God took a tragedy and transformed it into victory. (J. Michael Shannon, Preaching, Jan./Feb. 2002, p. 66)
A Day for Losers
by John Sumwalt
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
Psalm 116:15
"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.... For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.... But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-25, 27-29)
Paul says the message of the cross is foolishness to most of the world, and that's as true today as it was in the first century.
Ted Turner, founder of CNN and TBS, and former owner of the Atlanta Braves, was quoted as saying that Christianity is a religion for losers. When criticized for his comments, Turner apologized for the wording, but explained, "Christianity is the religion of the down-and-out, because Christianity says give everything to the poor, follow Christ, and wear sackcloth and ashes." (Dale van Atta, "Meet Ted Turner," Reader's Digest, Sept. 1998, p 222) Ted did give a billion dollars to the United Nations, but for the most part he still doesn't get it, and he's not alone.
How many people do you know who would view what you are doing here this noon hour as a loser kind of thing to do? You could have gone out to the Olive Garden for one of those nice $5.95 lunches with all the breadsticks you can eat. You could be on vacation in some warm, sunny place with a cool drink in your hand. Instead, you are here to remember one who, while suffering in the hot sun, said, "I thirst." For him there was a sponge soaked in sour wine (vinegar), served up on a stick. This is a long way from the Olive Garden and all the breadsticks you can eat.
This about capital punishment, something we know much about in this nation. We executed a man -- a convicted murderer -- this week, this Holy Week, in Tennessee. We follow one who died on a cross -- the equivalent of the electric chair, the gas chamber, the firing squad, or the hangman's noose. Paul says, "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God."
We follow one who said, "Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called children of God." This is foolishness to the world. Those who make peace without arms or violence are viewed as losers in popular culture.
A Disney movie tells the unforgettable story of Ruby Bridges, a seven-year-old African-American girl who was scheduled to attend a school in New Orleans. It was in the days of legal segregation, and she was escorted to school by Federal marshals. She had to walk past lines of screaming adults whose eyes were filled with hate and ugliness of character. Before going into the building, Ruby turned and prayed for those who were harassing and taunting her. When she later told her story to a reporter, he shook his head and said, "You were praying for the people who were screaming at you?" She said, "Yes, my mama taught me that when people speak mean of you, pray for them just like Jesus prayed for the people who spoke mean of him." What utter foolishness!
A teacher gives a kidney for one of his students. Every one marvels that anyone would do such a thing. Foolishness.
On 9/11 when the towers were falling in New York City, an Islamic Arab from Palestine was running for his life in the surging crowd when he stumbled and fell. Paralyzed with fear and unable to get up, he was trampled within seconds by hundreds of feet rushing past him. Then the man felt an arm on his shoulder and a voice speaking to him. "Get up, brother! We have to get out of here." Unable to stand because of his injuries, he felt himself being picked up. Again he heard the voice: "Brother, we have to get out of here." Half dragged, half carried down many stories, the man finally emerged from the building leaning heavily on his rescuer. As the injured Palestinian turned to thank the person who had carried him to safety, his eyes widened, for the person who had called him "brother," the man who had saved his life, was a Hasidic Jew. He had risked his life for an enemy. Who would do such a foolish thing? (Tilda Norberg, Ashes Transformed: Healing from Trauma, Upper Room Books, 2002, pp. 54-55)
Jesus, while hanging on the cross, looked out on those who hung him there, the many who were responsible for his hanging there, and said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
What a loser!
Who would follow a loser like that?
I would.
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
**************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), is now available from CSS Publishing Company. (Click on the title for information about how to order.) Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Anne Sunday, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music. The stories follow the lectionary for Cycle A.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
You can order any of our books on the CSS website; they are also available from www.amazon.com and at many Christian bookstores. Or simply e-mail your order to orders@csspub.com or phone 1-800-241-4056. (If you live outside the U.S., phone 419-227-1818.)
**************
About the Editors
John E. Sumwalt is the pastor of Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee, and is the author of eight books for CSS. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), John received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for Parish Ministry from UDTS in 1997. John is known in the Milwaukee area for his one-minute radio spots which always include a brief story. He concludes each spot by saying, "I'm John Sumwalt with 'A Story to Live By' from Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church."
John has done numerous storytelling events for civic, school, and church groups, as well as on radio and television. He has performed at a number of fundraisers for the homeless, the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, and women's shelters. Since the fall of 1999, when he began working on the Vision Stories series, he has led seminars and retreats around the themes "A Safe Place to Tell Visions," "Vision Stories in the Bible and Today," and coming this spring: "Soul Growth: Discovering Lost Spiritual Dimensions." To schedule a seminar or a retreat, write to jsumwalt@naspa.net or phone 414-257-1228.
Joanne Perry-Sumwalt is director of Christian Education at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with a degree in English and writing. She has co-authored two books with John, Life Stories: A Study In Christian Decision Making and Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit: 62 Stories For Cycle B. Jo writes original curriculum for church classes. She also serves as the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF), and is a member of the National CEF.
Jo and John have been married since 1975. They have two grown children, Kathryn and Orrin. They both love reading, movies, long walks with Chloe (their West Highland Terrier), and working on their old farmhouse in southwest Wisconsin.
**********************************************
StoryShare, March 20-25, 2005, issue.
Copyright 2005 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., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
Matthew 21:1-11
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Passion Liturgy
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:14--27:66
Contents
What's Up This Week
Passion Sunday Sermon Starter: "If You Could Choose a Crown" by John Sumwalt
Holy Thursday Story: "Forsaken?" by Judith Brain
Good Friday Scrap Pile: "A Day for Losers" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
I go to the dentist this week to get a new crown for one of my upper molars. I have already had the root canal, so most of the excruciating pain and suffering is over. Still, I may well be humming "Crown Him with Many Crowns" as I make my way down the freeway to meet my fate. Check out the riff on the crowns we long for in "If You Could Choose a Crown," our Sermon Starter for Passion/Palm Sunday. You will also want to look at more Passion /Palm Sunday material in the archives.
Passion/Palm Sunday Sermon Starter
If You Could Choose a Crown
by John Sumwalt
I have been thinking about crowns this week, perhaps because I have an appointment to be crowned tomorrow morning -- right here (point to tooth). My dentist fitted me for this wonderful new crown a couple of weeks ago. It will be silver and I will be paying several hundred dollars for the privilege of wearing it. And it will be nice to have because it means I will be able to eat popcorn again, and Banana Nut Crunch for breakfast, which is how I broke it in the first place.
Did you ever want to wear a crown? Did you want to be homecoming king or queen when you were in high school? And if you got to be king or queen, how did it feel when they placed the crown on your head, and afterwards when you rode in the big parade with everyone cheering and waving at you?
Years ago, there was a television show called Queen for a Day. In every show, they selected one woman from the audience, gave her a beautiful gown, put a crown on her head and showed her a room full of wonderful prizes that she got to take home: a new washing machine, dishes, pots and pans, and sometimes a lifetime supply of a certain laundry detergent. The woman who was selected as queen always cried and millions of viewers watching cried with her.
There is something in all of us that wants to be crowned king or queen, to be acknowledged as special, or as the best at something we do: to have that feeling expressed by Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the movie Titanic, when he is standing high up on the prow of that great ship, looking out over the ocean, and he cries out, "I'm the king of the world!"
I felt badly for the boys from the Bayview High School basketball team last Saturday night. They wanted so badly to be crowned state basketball champions -- and they came this close to beating Racine Case.
When I was in high school I wanted more than anything else to be crowned state wrestling champion. I made it to the state tournament as a sophomore, and in my senior year I had a chance to go again. I was leading by one point in overtime in my final match in the sectional tournament. All I had to do was hang onto this guy from LaCrosse Logan for 18 more seconds and I was in. But it was not to be. He reversed me and scored two points -- and my heart ached for months.
There are many kinds of crowns in this world. One of the children who goes to Lincoln Elementary school over here was just crowned a regional spelling champion. Jacob Dykstra recently won the pinewood derby. That is a kind of crown. Some of you musicians have just earned firsts in solo and ensemble contests. That is a kind of crown.
If you could choose a crown -- any crown -- what would it be?
* NCAA basketball champs
* Three-time NFL MVP, like Brett Favre
* Home run king, like Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire
* Academy Award-winning actress, like Halle Berry
* Elected to public office, like Arnold Schwarzenegger
* Winning a Nobel Prize for literature or medicine or peace
* Being the top sales person in your company
These are all crowning achievements. You may have such a moment in your lifetime when you wear the crown of your dreams, or perhaps a crown beyond your wildest dreams. If such a moment comes to you, be careful that it doesn't go to your head -- and be careful that you don't lose your head. It can be a dangerous thing to wear a crown.
Not many of us would choose the crown that Jesus chose.
The soldiers put a crown on Jesus' head that day. They took him "...into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him" (Matthew 27:27-31).
A little later Jesus looked down from the cross on these tormentors and said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).
"Crown him with many crowns," we sing, "and hail him as thy matchless King through all eternity" (Matthew Bridges, United Methodist Hymnal, #327).
Holy Thursday Story
Forsaken?
by Judith Brain
"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done."
Luke 22:42
I got a panicky phone call from a parishioner. "Kate" was going through a terrible time. Her daughter had been hospitalized after attempting suicide, another manifestation of severe psychological trauma resulting from a childhood rape.
In addition, Kate was in the middle of divorcing her emotionally abusive husband, and her son was acting out because of all the turmoil in their lives. Now, her job was threatened because she'd had to take too much time off to care for her daughter and shepherd her son through his troubles.
She was distraught when she asked me to come over. Thinking about all the stresses in her life made me wonder how I would be an effective pastor in this overwhelmingly difficult situation. On the drive to her house, I reviewed all of the things I'd learned in counseling and pastoral care courses. "Let her express her fears and anger. Stay with the pain. Don't try to solve anything. Respect her feelings of loss and abandonment."
When I got to the house she pulled me inside, and before I said a word, she looked me straight in the eye and said, "I don't need you to sit here and listen to my pain and give me an opportunity to express my feelings. I've got a shrink for that. I want you to tell me why God is doing this to me!"
Judith Brain is pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Lexington, Massachusetts. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, she loves mysteries, crossword puzzles, gardening, and kayaking.
Good Friday Scrap Pile
Someone has said there are three phases of a ministry:
1) Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
2) By whose authority does he do these things?
3) Crucify him, crucify him!
In the old west, crowds gathered at the foot of the gallows, anxious to see the condemned person hanged. In the modern world, proponents of the death penalty line up on one side of the street outside the prison while opponents stake out the other side. The deathwatch begins. At the appointed hour, witnesses gather outside the electrocution or poisoning chamber. Then, on the signal, the executioner pulls the switch or injects the needle. The condemned shudders for a moment, then dies. (Gary E. Parker, The Guilt Trip, McCracken Press, 1993)
So many stories have come out of the terrorist attack of September 11. One of the most poignant, carried by the Associated Press, was the discovery by rescue workers, in the rubble of the World Trade Center, of a large, perfectly shaped cross, 20 feet tall. The cross was formed as a result of the destruction. It was made up of the steel that had been part of that great structure. Many of the workers cried, and the cross was lifted up and became a kind of rallying point and makeshift memorial. Out of all the destruction and pain of this world rises the cross -- the place where God took a tragedy and transformed it into victory. (J. Michael Shannon, Preaching, Jan./Feb. 2002, p. 66)
A Day for Losers
by John Sumwalt
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
Psalm 116:15
"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.... For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.... But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-25, 27-29)
Paul says the message of the cross is foolishness to most of the world, and that's as true today as it was in the first century.
Ted Turner, founder of CNN and TBS, and former owner of the Atlanta Braves, was quoted as saying that Christianity is a religion for losers. When criticized for his comments, Turner apologized for the wording, but explained, "Christianity is the religion of the down-and-out, because Christianity says give everything to the poor, follow Christ, and wear sackcloth and ashes." (Dale van Atta, "Meet Ted Turner," Reader's Digest, Sept. 1998, p 222) Ted did give a billion dollars to the United Nations, but for the most part he still doesn't get it, and he's not alone.
How many people do you know who would view what you are doing here this noon hour as a loser kind of thing to do? You could have gone out to the Olive Garden for one of those nice $5.95 lunches with all the breadsticks you can eat. You could be on vacation in some warm, sunny place with a cool drink in your hand. Instead, you are here to remember one who, while suffering in the hot sun, said, "I thirst." For him there was a sponge soaked in sour wine (vinegar), served up on a stick. This is a long way from the Olive Garden and all the breadsticks you can eat.
This about capital punishment, something we know much about in this nation. We executed a man -- a convicted murderer -- this week, this Holy Week, in Tennessee. We follow one who died on a cross -- the equivalent of the electric chair, the gas chamber, the firing squad, or the hangman's noose. Paul says, "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God."
We follow one who said, "Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called children of God." This is foolishness to the world. Those who make peace without arms or violence are viewed as losers in popular culture.
A Disney movie tells the unforgettable story of Ruby Bridges, a seven-year-old African-American girl who was scheduled to attend a school in New Orleans. It was in the days of legal segregation, and she was escorted to school by Federal marshals. She had to walk past lines of screaming adults whose eyes were filled with hate and ugliness of character. Before going into the building, Ruby turned and prayed for those who were harassing and taunting her. When she later told her story to a reporter, he shook his head and said, "You were praying for the people who were screaming at you?" She said, "Yes, my mama taught me that when people speak mean of you, pray for them just like Jesus prayed for the people who spoke mean of him." What utter foolishness!
A teacher gives a kidney for one of his students. Every one marvels that anyone would do such a thing. Foolishness.
On 9/11 when the towers were falling in New York City, an Islamic Arab from Palestine was running for his life in the surging crowd when he stumbled and fell. Paralyzed with fear and unable to get up, he was trampled within seconds by hundreds of feet rushing past him. Then the man felt an arm on his shoulder and a voice speaking to him. "Get up, brother! We have to get out of here." Unable to stand because of his injuries, he felt himself being picked up. Again he heard the voice: "Brother, we have to get out of here." Half dragged, half carried down many stories, the man finally emerged from the building leaning heavily on his rescuer. As the injured Palestinian turned to thank the person who had carried him to safety, his eyes widened, for the person who had called him "brother," the man who had saved his life, was a Hasidic Jew. He had risked his life for an enemy. Who would do such a foolish thing? (Tilda Norberg, Ashes Transformed: Healing from Trauma, Upper Room Books, 2002, pp. 54-55)
Jesus, while hanging on the cross, looked out on those who hung him there, the many who were responsible for his hanging there, and said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
What a loser!
Who would follow a loser like that?
I would.
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
**************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), is now available from CSS Publishing Company. (Click on the title for information about how to order.) Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Anne Sunday, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music. The stories follow the lectionary for Cycle A.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
You can order any of our books on the CSS website; they are also available from www.amazon.com and at many Christian bookstores. Or simply e-mail your order to orders@csspub.com or phone 1-800-241-4056. (If you live outside the U.S., phone 419-227-1818.)
**************
About the Editors
John E. Sumwalt is the pastor of Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee, and is the author of eight books for CSS. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), John received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for Parish Ministry from UDTS in 1997. John is known in the Milwaukee area for his one-minute radio spots which always include a brief story. He concludes each spot by saying, "I'm John Sumwalt with 'A Story to Live By' from Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church."
John has done numerous storytelling events for civic, school, and church groups, as well as on radio and television. He has performed at a number of fundraisers for the homeless, the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, and women's shelters. Since the fall of 1999, when he began working on the Vision Stories series, he has led seminars and retreats around the themes "A Safe Place to Tell Visions," "Vision Stories in the Bible and Today," and coming this spring: "Soul Growth: Discovering Lost Spiritual Dimensions." To schedule a seminar or a retreat, write to jsumwalt@naspa.net or phone 414-257-1228.
Joanne Perry-Sumwalt is director of Christian Education at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with a degree in English and writing. She has co-authored two books with John, Life Stories: A Study In Christian Decision Making and Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit: 62 Stories For Cycle B. Jo writes original curriculum for church classes. She also serves as the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF), and is a member of the National CEF.
Jo and John have been married since 1975. They have two grown children, Kathryn and Orrin. They both love reading, movies, long walks with Chloe (their West Highland Terrier), and working on their old farmhouse in southwest Wisconsin.
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StoryShare, March 20-25, 2005, issue.
Copyright 2005 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., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
