Living Outside The Box
Stories
Object:
Contents
"Living Outside the Box" by Keith Wagner
"Something to Look Forward To" by Keith Wagner
"Where’s He Going?" by C. David McKirachan
Living Outside the Box
by Keith Wagner
John 10:22-30
Here in Acts Peter had some experiences that were clearly out of the ordinary. First he had dinner with some uncircumcised men in Joppa. Next he had a strange vision whereby God told him to kill and eat some animals. Later he was with three men from Caesarea and six brothers in a man’s house in Joppa. As Peter was speaking the men were moved by the Holy Spirit.
It’s a scary thing to move in a different direction, make changes or put our trust in others. Jesus’ disciples weren’t any different than us. They lacked the confidence to break away from familiar territory. They were nervous about sharing their faith. God was aware of Peter’s fears and consequently assured him again and again.
The longest trip I ever made was from Norfolk, Virginia to Subic Bay, Philippines in 1971. I was an Ensign in the Navy and I had received orders to the USS Saratoga. I had four stops on the 10,000 mile journey: Chicago, Treasurer Island, California, Anchorage Alaska and Kyoto Japan. It was my first flight overseas. I was traveling to meet up with my ship which was operating in the Gulf of Tonkin. I had no idea what to expect and to be honest it was scary.
When we finally boarded in Treasure Island, the man sitting next to me was a warrant officer who was also assigned to the Saratoga. He was returning after an emergency leave. He informed me about life on the ship, what being on the “line” was like and mostly what to expect. He was an experienced naval officer who had worked his way up through the ranks. Through our conversations I received assurance and confidence that I would be able to survive not only the trip but my entire tour of duty.
“I am with you always,” Jesus said, “to the end of time.” We are never alone. God is with us when we venture into new places. God is with us when we try new things. God is with us when we find ourselves in times of change and transition, especially during those times when we live outside the box.
When you go beyond familiar territory and enter unchartered waters you are living outside the box. By commissioning the disciples to go to all nations I believe Jesus wanted the disciples to build relationships with other cultures, exposing themselves to other traditions, learning new languages, discovering new frontiers and learning to travel in faith, just like the Israelites from the past.
Life does not exist in a vacuum. By staying in the same circles and maintaining our same routines we deny ourselves the opportunity to grow or to relate our faith to others. There was and there still is a whole world where others need to hear about Jesus and his teachings. Millions of folks are lost, lonely, estranged from the presence of God. God is depending on us to reach out to them.
The book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, is about a seagull who had left the flock because he wanted to fly. Rather than just stay near the docks and search for food to survive, Jonathan wanted to soar to the heavens and be free. Consequently he was banned from the flock because he was not willing to conform. Jonathan went, breaking tradition, defying authority and learned how to fly at great speeds. In the process he discovered new worlds, including seagull heaven, and later became a flight instructor for other seagulls who wanted to spend their days flying instead of just surviving.
I believe that to live outside the box means to use all our talents and energy and explore new territory, thereby making new friends but ultimately teaching others about life. No one owns us. By leaving the flock we are able to discover our authentic selves.
To live outside the box means to try new things, seek new adventures, or doing things we have never done before.
In his book, Something Else to Smile About, Zig Ziglar told the story of the time he was a student at Yazoo City High School in Mississippi. He was a table tennis player and could beat just about anyone. One time a new kid came to town and Ziglar couldn’t beat him. He was using the old three-finger grip so he changed to a newer "handshake grip." The initial results were disastrous. That was also true for Jonathan when he first flew at great speeds. But, after a few weeks Zig’s game improved and he eventually was able to beat the new kid in town. He was convinced that he had to change his grip in order to improve his game.
Sometimes we have to take an honest look at ourselves and change our grip. For what has always worked in the past may not work in the future. We have to keep moving, making adjustments and corrections along our life’s journey in order to be who God intended us to be. It’s the same with discipleship; some movement is necessary in order to be effective witnesses for the faith, in other words, living outside the box.
* * *
Something to Look Forward To
by Keith Wagner
Revelation 21:1-6
In the Revelation to John, the apostle John described “a new heaven and new earth.” “See, I am making all things new,” he said. John was talking about the “new” Jerusalem or heaven. John was speaking to a discouraged church. Since they lived under a repressive, Roman regime, followers of Jesus struggled to keep the faith alive. John’s promise of newness gave them something to look forward too. His vision of a new heaven gave them hope.
Whenever we get discouraged and have feelings of hopelessness, new things stimulate us and make us excited. Moving into a new home, purchasing a new car, or buying a new suit always gives us a sense of excitement. Newness brings joy and consequently our lives have new meaning. Newness is something to look forward to.
Two years ago in March, my wife, Lin, suggested we visit Gibb’s Gardens in Northern, Georgia. She found an article in Southern Living Magazine that described a new garden that was open to the public. Jim Gibbs traveled for 15 years covering the nation and the world viewing gardens of every style and decided that he wanted to design and build a world class garden. He spent six years looking for a suitable site with a strong source of water and beautiful mature trees covering a rolling topography. It was truly "a dream come true" when he found the most beautiful site in the nation to construct the garden. The property is 292 acres and the house and gardens include 220 acres, making it one of the nation's largest residential estate gardens.
There is a beautiful stream flowing through the middle of the valley, with hundreds of springs intersecting the stream. The springs are surrounded by millions of naturalized ferns making it one of the largest ferneries in the nation. Native azaleas, dogwoods, and mountain laurels provide additional seasonal interest. In March the gardens are filled with over one million daffodils. After experiencing winter here in Ohio we looked forward to walking through the colorful fields of daffodils.
When John described the new heaven I vividly remember our journey to Gibb’s Gardens. Being there gives you a real sense of the wonder and the beauty of God. Like the new city, the gardens also include flowing water.
When John reported about the new heaven he said that “the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” The sea was a means of economic and military expansion for Rome. The Romans used the Mediterranean Sea to exploit the people and nations around it. The sea was a threatening place. Unlike Paul, who used the sea to spread the gospel and build the church, the Romans used the sea for their own benefit.
In John’s new city there is no sea. That threat is now removed. Instead there is a “river of the water of life.” When our faith is transparent, the love of God flows through us like a river. Just as there are trees along the river of life that produce fruit, God expects us to be fruitful as well.
In Chicken Soup for the Soul; Living Your Dreams, there is a marvelous story about two women who go on a trip to Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino National Forest, California.
On a rainy day Jeroldeen Edwards had no desire to make the drive from the beach to the cold mountain at Lake Arrowhead where her daughter Carolyn lived. A week earlier, she had called and insisted that her mother come to see the daffodils some woman had planted at the top of the mountain. Reluctantly she made the two-hour journey. On the way she encountered dense fog. She drove very slowly, finally making it to her daughter’s house.
When she arrived she was upset and wanted to return home as soon as the fog lifted. Carolyn asked her mother to drive her to the garage to pick up her car that had been repaired. As they were driving down the mountain Carolyn suggested a detour.
They turned down a narrow road by a little stone church. The fog was beginning to lift and the sun was beginning to come out. At one point Carolyn told her mother to park the car. She wanted to show her something. They followed a path that was thick with old pine needles and dark evergreens.
At one point along the path they turned a corner and Jeroldeen gasped with amazement. From the top of the mountain to the valleys below there were rivers of daffodils in radiant bloom. They appeared in all sorts of vivid colors. In the middle of the daffodils there was a cascade of purple hyacinths.
Jeroldeen wondered who created such a wonderful garden in the middle of nowhere. Then Carolyn pointed to a sign. It read: “One Woman-Two Hands, Two Feet, and a Very Little Brain. A second sign read; “One at a Time,” and a third read; “Started in 1958.”
Had they found John’s new city? It was absolutely beautiful, a sea of flowers unlike they had ever seen. On their return trip Jeroldeen was very quiet and finally she broke the silence by saying, “She changed the world, one bulb at a time.”
A little bit of heaven is waiting for all of us when we are willing to make the journey. I believe that we too can be participants in the creation of the new city. John goes on to say that the names of the apostles are inscribed in the foundation of the city’s walls. In other words as we allow the grace of God to flow through us we are contributing to the building of the kingdom.
Just as John gave hope to the saints of the past, I hope that we too may we live our lives with flowing grace for God’s eternal kingdom is something to look forward too.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
* * *
Where’s He Going?
by C. David McKirachan
John 13:31-35
I was told by a single parent once that if I believed in Purgatory I wouldn’t have to go since I was a single parent and I’d already been. I had two boys, four years apart, three and seven when I entered the blessed state. My older boy was already in school and I found a great person to ride herd on the young one, but there were exceptions to the coverage. Thankfully the tike was easy. I’d go into the office with him. His favorite place to play was under my desk. Sometimes people would come in to see me not knowing he was there. As I said he was easy.
So it surprised me when one day he asked me where I went when I worked. He was there. He played with my shoe laces. He knew where I was. But he meant something else.
Children see and understand the world differently than adults do. We who are supposedly more understanding of the universe forget this. I read an amazing book called, Teacher the Geranium on the Window Sill Just Died and You Went Right On Talking. It was written and illustrated from a child’s point of view. It was enlightening. My kid’s question fit right into what I’d learned from that book and other more enlightened people. I realized he wasn’t asking about anything as prosaic as physical location. The babe in the dashboard of my car could do that (though her calm directions have been known to send me around in circles and lead me to dead ends). He was wondering where his father went, where his attention was when he was studying, or sermonizing, or descending into the waste land of administrative work.
Though we add years and power to run about on our own, though we make money and pay bills and amass degrees and titles, we seem to become limited in our sense of dimensions of being. Kids travel to other worlds. Up in the tree house with maple seeds clipped to their ears they are in a universe of magic as the wind fills the tree and blows them far from the back yard.
My son was wondering where I went, dimensionally, spiritually if you will. I wasn’t there with him as he drove his trucks over the mountains of my shoes. I wasn’t in the dimension of music as when I sang, or in the dimension of driving, or reading to him, or walking with him. I was working. Where was that?
Jesus told his disciples he was going where they could not follow. I’m sure that bothered them. But he also told them to love one another as he had loved them. In some ways that was an assurance that no matter what dimension he went to, no matter what ‘where’ he was, in the love that bound them he would always be with them. And that’s what every child wants. They want us to be with them.
My lord is a lot more than words coming out of a machine that shows us where to go. Those kinds of words are of little use most of the time. Remember the dead ends? My lord is with me, when things are great and even when I’m lost or hurt or scared. My kids grew up. I think they know I love them, I hope so. And I hope they remember the magic of the tree house. That was a wonderful place.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
*****************************************
StoryShare, April 24, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 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.
"Living Outside the Box" by Keith Wagner
"Something to Look Forward To" by Keith Wagner
"Where’s He Going?" by C. David McKirachan
Living Outside the Box
by Keith Wagner
John 10:22-30
Here in Acts Peter had some experiences that were clearly out of the ordinary. First he had dinner with some uncircumcised men in Joppa. Next he had a strange vision whereby God told him to kill and eat some animals. Later he was with three men from Caesarea and six brothers in a man’s house in Joppa. As Peter was speaking the men were moved by the Holy Spirit.
It’s a scary thing to move in a different direction, make changes or put our trust in others. Jesus’ disciples weren’t any different than us. They lacked the confidence to break away from familiar territory. They were nervous about sharing their faith. God was aware of Peter’s fears and consequently assured him again and again.
The longest trip I ever made was from Norfolk, Virginia to Subic Bay, Philippines in 1971. I was an Ensign in the Navy and I had received orders to the USS Saratoga. I had four stops on the 10,000 mile journey: Chicago, Treasurer Island, California, Anchorage Alaska and Kyoto Japan. It was my first flight overseas. I was traveling to meet up with my ship which was operating in the Gulf of Tonkin. I had no idea what to expect and to be honest it was scary.
When we finally boarded in Treasure Island, the man sitting next to me was a warrant officer who was also assigned to the Saratoga. He was returning after an emergency leave. He informed me about life on the ship, what being on the “line” was like and mostly what to expect. He was an experienced naval officer who had worked his way up through the ranks. Through our conversations I received assurance and confidence that I would be able to survive not only the trip but my entire tour of duty.
“I am with you always,” Jesus said, “to the end of time.” We are never alone. God is with us when we venture into new places. God is with us when we try new things. God is with us when we find ourselves in times of change and transition, especially during those times when we live outside the box.
When you go beyond familiar territory and enter unchartered waters you are living outside the box. By commissioning the disciples to go to all nations I believe Jesus wanted the disciples to build relationships with other cultures, exposing themselves to other traditions, learning new languages, discovering new frontiers and learning to travel in faith, just like the Israelites from the past.
Life does not exist in a vacuum. By staying in the same circles and maintaining our same routines we deny ourselves the opportunity to grow or to relate our faith to others. There was and there still is a whole world where others need to hear about Jesus and his teachings. Millions of folks are lost, lonely, estranged from the presence of God. God is depending on us to reach out to them.
The book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, is about a seagull who had left the flock because he wanted to fly. Rather than just stay near the docks and search for food to survive, Jonathan wanted to soar to the heavens and be free. Consequently he was banned from the flock because he was not willing to conform. Jonathan went, breaking tradition, defying authority and learned how to fly at great speeds. In the process he discovered new worlds, including seagull heaven, and later became a flight instructor for other seagulls who wanted to spend their days flying instead of just surviving.
I believe that to live outside the box means to use all our talents and energy and explore new territory, thereby making new friends but ultimately teaching others about life. No one owns us. By leaving the flock we are able to discover our authentic selves.
To live outside the box means to try new things, seek new adventures, or doing things we have never done before.
In his book, Something Else to Smile About, Zig Ziglar told the story of the time he was a student at Yazoo City High School in Mississippi. He was a table tennis player and could beat just about anyone. One time a new kid came to town and Ziglar couldn’t beat him. He was using the old three-finger grip so he changed to a newer "handshake grip." The initial results were disastrous. That was also true for Jonathan when he first flew at great speeds. But, after a few weeks Zig’s game improved and he eventually was able to beat the new kid in town. He was convinced that he had to change his grip in order to improve his game.
Sometimes we have to take an honest look at ourselves and change our grip. For what has always worked in the past may not work in the future. We have to keep moving, making adjustments and corrections along our life’s journey in order to be who God intended us to be. It’s the same with discipleship; some movement is necessary in order to be effective witnesses for the faith, in other words, living outside the box.
* * *
Something to Look Forward To
by Keith Wagner
Revelation 21:1-6
In the Revelation to John, the apostle John described “a new heaven and new earth.” “See, I am making all things new,” he said. John was talking about the “new” Jerusalem or heaven. John was speaking to a discouraged church. Since they lived under a repressive, Roman regime, followers of Jesus struggled to keep the faith alive. John’s promise of newness gave them something to look forward too. His vision of a new heaven gave them hope.
Whenever we get discouraged and have feelings of hopelessness, new things stimulate us and make us excited. Moving into a new home, purchasing a new car, or buying a new suit always gives us a sense of excitement. Newness brings joy and consequently our lives have new meaning. Newness is something to look forward to.
Two years ago in March, my wife, Lin, suggested we visit Gibb’s Gardens in Northern, Georgia. She found an article in Southern Living Magazine that described a new garden that was open to the public. Jim Gibbs traveled for 15 years covering the nation and the world viewing gardens of every style and decided that he wanted to design and build a world class garden. He spent six years looking for a suitable site with a strong source of water and beautiful mature trees covering a rolling topography. It was truly "a dream come true" when he found the most beautiful site in the nation to construct the garden. The property is 292 acres and the house and gardens include 220 acres, making it one of the nation's largest residential estate gardens.
There is a beautiful stream flowing through the middle of the valley, with hundreds of springs intersecting the stream. The springs are surrounded by millions of naturalized ferns making it one of the largest ferneries in the nation. Native azaleas, dogwoods, and mountain laurels provide additional seasonal interest. In March the gardens are filled with over one million daffodils. After experiencing winter here in Ohio we looked forward to walking through the colorful fields of daffodils.
When John described the new heaven I vividly remember our journey to Gibb’s Gardens. Being there gives you a real sense of the wonder and the beauty of God. Like the new city, the gardens also include flowing water.
When John reported about the new heaven he said that “the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” The sea was a means of economic and military expansion for Rome. The Romans used the Mediterranean Sea to exploit the people and nations around it. The sea was a threatening place. Unlike Paul, who used the sea to spread the gospel and build the church, the Romans used the sea for their own benefit.
In John’s new city there is no sea. That threat is now removed. Instead there is a “river of the water of life.” When our faith is transparent, the love of God flows through us like a river. Just as there are trees along the river of life that produce fruit, God expects us to be fruitful as well.
In Chicken Soup for the Soul; Living Your Dreams, there is a marvelous story about two women who go on a trip to Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino National Forest, California.
On a rainy day Jeroldeen Edwards had no desire to make the drive from the beach to the cold mountain at Lake Arrowhead where her daughter Carolyn lived. A week earlier, she had called and insisted that her mother come to see the daffodils some woman had planted at the top of the mountain. Reluctantly she made the two-hour journey. On the way she encountered dense fog. She drove very slowly, finally making it to her daughter’s house.
When she arrived she was upset and wanted to return home as soon as the fog lifted. Carolyn asked her mother to drive her to the garage to pick up her car that had been repaired. As they were driving down the mountain Carolyn suggested a detour.
They turned down a narrow road by a little stone church. The fog was beginning to lift and the sun was beginning to come out. At one point Carolyn told her mother to park the car. She wanted to show her something. They followed a path that was thick with old pine needles and dark evergreens.
At one point along the path they turned a corner and Jeroldeen gasped with amazement. From the top of the mountain to the valleys below there were rivers of daffodils in radiant bloom. They appeared in all sorts of vivid colors. In the middle of the daffodils there was a cascade of purple hyacinths.
Jeroldeen wondered who created such a wonderful garden in the middle of nowhere. Then Carolyn pointed to a sign. It read: “One Woman-Two Hands, Two Feet, and a Very Little Brain. A second sign read; “One at a Time,” and a third read; “Started in 1958.”
Had they found John’s new city? It was absolutely beautiful, a sea of flowers unlike they had ever seen. On their return trip Jeroldeen was very quiet and finally she broke the silence by saying, “She changed the world, one bulb at a time.”
A little bit of heaven is waiting for all of us when we are willing to make the journey. I believe that we too can be participants in the creation of the new city. John goes on to say that the names of the apostles are inscribed in the foundation of the city’s walls. In other words as we allow the grace of God to flow through us we are contributing to the building of the kingdom.
Just as John gave hope to the saints of the past, I hope that we too may we live our lives with flowing grace for God’s eternal kingdom is something to look forward too.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
* * *
Where’s He Going?
by C. David McKirachan
John 13:31-35
I was told by a single parent once that if I believed in Purgatory I wouldn’t have to go since I was a single parent and I’d already been. I had two boys, four years apart, three and seven when I entered the blessed state. My older boy was already in school and I found a great person to ride herd on the young one, but there were exceptions to the coverage. Thankfully the tike was easy. I’d go into the office with him. His favorite place to play was under my desk. Sometimes people would come in to see me not knowing he was there. As I said he was easy.
So it surprised me when one day he asked me where I went when I worked. He was there. He played with my shoe laces. He knew where I was. But he meant something else.
Children see and understand the world differently than adults do. We who are supposedly more understanding of the universe forget this. I read an amazing book called, Teacher the Geranium on the Window Sill Just Died and You Went Right On Talking. It was written and illustrated from a child’s point of view. It was enlightening. My kid’s question fit right into what I’d learned from that book and other more enlightened people. I realized he wasn’t asking about anything as prosaic as physical location. The babe in the dashboard of my car could do that (though her calm directions have been known to send me around in circles and lead me to dead ends). He was wondering where his father went, where his attention was when he was studying, or sermonizing, or descending into the waste land of administrative work.
Though we add years and power to run about on our own, though we make money and pay bills and amass degrees and titles, we seem to become limited in our sense of dimensions of being. Kids travel to other worlds. Up in the tree house with maple seeds clipped to their ears they are in a universe of magic as the wind fills the tree and blows them far from the back yard.
My son was wondering where I went, dimensionally, spiritually if you will. I wasn’t there with him as he drove his trucks over the mountains of my shoes. I wasn’t in the dimension of music as when I sang, or in the dimension of driving, or reading to him, or walking with him. I was working. Where was that?
Jesus told his disciples he was going where they could not follow. I’m sure that bothered them. But he also told them to love one another as he had loved them. In some ways that was an assurance that no matter what dimension he went to, no matter what ‘where’ he was, in the love that bound them he would always be with them. And that’s what every child wants. They want us to be with them.
My lord is a lot more than words coming out of a machine that shows us where to go. Those kinds of words are of little use most of the time. Remember the dead ends? My lord is with me, when things are great and even when I’m lost or hurt or scared. My kids grew up. I think they know I love them, I hope so. And I hope they remember the magic of the tree house. That was a wonderful place.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
*****************************************
StoryShare, April 24, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 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.
