A New Season
Stories
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Contents
"A New Season" by Peter Andrew Smith
"The Magnificence of God" by Keith Wagner
"Grateful and Gracious" by Keith Wagner
A New Season
by Peter Andrew Smith
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Peter dealt out the playing cards and sorted his hand. He waited patiently as his grandfather adjusted his oxygen mask and picked up the cards in front of him.
“Everything okay?” Peter asked.
His grandfather nodded. “The mask is just irritating at times.”
“I can imagine.”
Peter played his first card. His grandfather put a card down and soon they were underway. It didn’t take long for his grandfather to win the game. The next game and the one following had the same result.
“Are you feeling okay?” His grandfather asked as he shuffled the cards.
“Just distracted I guess.”
“You weren’t out that late last night with your friends.” His grandfather tilted his head. “Are you missing that girl of yours?”
“Yeah. I see her in a couple of days though.” Peter smiled. “I’ve got a big night planned when her flight gets in.”
“Good for you.” His grandfather cut the cards a few times and resumed shuffling. “Always best to enjoy the good moments in front of you because things will change before you know it.”
“Yeah.”
His grandfather set the cards down. “So what’s bothering you? You’re off.”
“Off?”
“If I didn’t know any better I’d think that you’re throwing the games.”
Peter frowned. “I’m not.”
“I know you’re not. We’ve played for too many years for you to do something stupid and unnecessary as that. You know that winning and losing are all part of the game. So what’s up?”
Peter shifted in his chair. “I’m worried about next year.”
“The year after this one or the one just started?”
“Both I guess,” Peter said. “I graduate this year and am off to University in the fall.”
“And?”
“I’m terrified.”
“About what in particular?”
“Lots of things. The program I’m enrolled in is difficult. What happens if I can’t hack it? What happens if I don’t get along with the people there? What happens if I can’t get a job when I finish?” Peter sighed. “Not to mention that I don’t know what will happen to Jess and I. Long distance relationships don’t always work.”
“No, they don’t.”
Peter frowned. “You’re not making me feel any better.”
“Me telling you things will be okay isn’t going to make you feel any better.” His grandfather paused to adjust his oxygen mask again. “Sometimes a new year is like a new season in life. It’s full of things we don’t want as well as things that we do.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
His grandfather shrugged. “Then don’t go and stay home.”
“But --” Peter stammered. “This is what I’ve been dreaming about for years.”
“Then go.”
“I’m going to but I wish I knew what was going to happen.”
His grandfather smiled. “You can’t know until you actually go.”
“So I just have to live with this uncertainty and fear?”
His grandfather shook his head. “No, you just have to accept that everything that happens to you and every season you are in take place under heaven. The same as it’s always been.”
“How is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Take a moment before you answer my next question.” His grandfather paused. “What were you worried about this time last year?”
Peter thought for a moment. “I guess I was worried about going into my final year, whether Jess would go out with me, and how I would do when I applied for University.”
“You guess?”
“I honestly don’t remember.”
“Exactly. We spend too much of our time trying to control what’s going to happen in our lives, trying to influence what season we are in, and how long it lasts. What we should be doing is trusting that God will provide for us no matter what happens and remember our calling is to love God and each other.”
Peter stared at his grandfather sitting hunched over the table across from him. He listened to the hum of the oxygen and his grandfather’s laboured breathing. He remembered standing next to his grandfather in church listening to his powerful voice and holding his strong hand. He thought of his grandmother’s funeral and watching his grandfather weep as they prayed together. He looked into the eyes of the man sitting across from him and saw the calm and peace within.
“So I trust God and do my best.”
His grandfather frowned. “That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”
Peter grabbed the deck of cards and began to deal them out. “I think I said it better.”
His grandfather laughed as they began to play another hand, enjoying the day and each other’s company and not worrying about what was going to happen when the seasons changed once more.
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada currently serving 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 and a number of stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
* * *
The Magnificence of God
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 148
In the movie, Santa Claus III, there was a scene where the bad guy in the movie had turned the North Pole into a profit making venture. Christmas has been completely exploited and Tim Allen, who played Santa, was devastated. At one point he said, “Christmas is out of control.”
Are the holidays out of control? It’s no secret that it has become a commercial enterprise as the financial success of many department stores depends on holiday sales to keep them in the black. Then there’s all the glitter, decorations, activities, etc. We hear the song, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” But is it really?
I was in a store one holiday season and I noticed that they had put a nativity display on a bench. My first thought was that baby Jesus had been benched. Perhaps Jesus is no longer a player. Christ has become sidelined. Christmas is so out of control one wonders if it is possible to rescue it. Perhaps the true meaning of Christmas is so overshadowed by commercialism that it will never recover. What can we do to take back control of God’s most sacred event?
I believe one thing we can do to reclaim the true meaning of the holiday season is to point to the greatness of God. The psalmist declared that God can to extraordinary things.
About ten years ago I received an email from a man in Taiwan. He was the editor of a Christian devotional publication. He wanted my permission to include one of my Christmas sermons that was on line, in his publication. He went on to say that the sermon would be translated into Chinese and distributed to millions of people in China. I have never written a book, and I am certainly not a famous theologian. I have never thought of myself as a missionary, but to have one of my messages circulated in a country with millions of people was beyond my wildest imagination.
Too often, we are quick to criticize others, because they are different or because they are less important than we are. However, God wants us to see God in others.
Consider the famous masterpiece, City Lights, by Charlie Chaplain in 1931, which was produced during the Great Depression. Chaplin played the tramp, the outcaste of society, the vagabond with "nowhere to lay his head." He became the strange vehicle of salvation for a poor blind girl and for a rich man bent on drowning himself. The reward for his "heroism" was that he was befriended by the rich man. Unfortunately the little tramp was accused of the theft of money of which the rich man, in his drunken generosity, had given him. Fleeing the police, he managed to get the money to the blind girl for an operation to restore her sight, but was later apprehended and imprisoned.
After serving his sentence he emerged from prison, shabbier and lonelier than ever. And the girl, who all along had imagined the little tramp to be a handsome young man of means, did not even recognize him. As he happened to trudge forlornly by the window of her new floral shop, he was ridiculed by the very one whose sight the "stolen" money had restored, and for whom he had gone to prison. Only in the final scene did she discover that this pitiful, disheveled tramp was her benefactor. When she touched his arm and face once again she had a moment of revelation. Then she whispered to Chaplain and said, "You!" Chaplain responded to her newly opened eyes and asked, "You can see now?" She replied, sobbing, "Yes, I can see now." Then the Tramp smiled shyly at the girl as the film ended.
I also believe that the psalmist is saying that we can trust that God is still in control even though it appears that the holidays are out of control. A key moment in the movie, Santa Claus III, was when the little girl, who played Tim Allen’s niece, had to put her trust in him. And, it was because she trusted that goodness prevailed over evil.
God wants us all to have faith like that little girl, reaching deep within ourselves and praising God from the heart. Just as God has done extraordinary things in the past we can trust that God will continue in the future.
* * *
Grateful and Gracious
by Keith Wagner
Matthew 25:31-46
This New Year’s Day many families will gather together and take turns at the family dinner, stating what they are thankful for. It’s that one time of year when we focus on what we have rather than what we don’t have. Let’s be honest, we are not always grateful to God for what we have. We spend most of our time complaining about the problems in our lives. We lament over the good old days, we moan about our current economy, we are filled with self pity over our health problems and we grieve over our misfortunes.
In the last few chapters in Matthew, Jesus has been describing what it means to be in the kingdom of heaven. He has provided us with a series of “benchmarks” or indicators that enable us to reach the Pearly Gates. At some point we will be held accountable for out attitudes. Just as a shepherd separates the goats from the sheep, God will separate those who are grateful with those who are not.
Why sheep and goats? Both are domestic animals which provide clothing and food for us. Goats however are difficult to manage. They like to wander. They are impulsive and whimsical. Sadly, goats will stay with their own breed and not mix with other animals. In other words, they are unto themselves, not willing to mingle with those who are different.
The primary benchmark which describes the sheep, or true follower of Jesus are those who feed the hungry, provide clothing for those who have none, give shelter to the homeless, attend to the sick and visit prisoners.
Sometimes we make judgments about those who are unfortunate. When that happens we are acting like goats. One time I was helping a family who had no food. I found some resources but the family did not own a car. I offered to drive them there but they had children. I said I couldn’t let children ride in my van without a seatbelt. To be honest, I really didn’t want to be responsible for some poor kids riding in my van. Their mother said she would ask her sister to watch the children while she went with me to get food. When I arrived at the house, the woman was waiting in the front yard with a car seat in her hand.
That incident reminded me that this woman had a sense of responsibility. What’s more, she respected me for making sure that her children riding with me would abide by my standards. The goat in me said, “I’d rather not have to deal with transporting poor kids.” But, the sheep in me said, “This family is hungry and I can give them something to eat.”
For me, this was a reality check. After spending some time with those kids, seeing their poor living conditions and their mother’s desperation, I was grateful for what I had. But while she had to walk to work, walk to the grocery store and walk her children to school, I was free to drive anywhere I pleased.
Gratefulness requires humility. It means we have to be willing to reach beyond our familiar, safe and traditional circles to people who have need.
Several years ago I had a colleague who traveled to Brazil. His church was working with a sister church in a community where they had constructed a clinic. All the medical aid was free to the villagers. The project now includes a hostel, so folks who travel a great distance can stay with members of their families.
They don’t have churches like ours. Instead they worship in homes, make-shift sanctuaries and even garages. My friend had the opportunity to worship in a garage that a family had renovated. He also had an opportunity to visit their home. Their home was very plain. Part of the floor was dirt. The walls needed painting and they had little furniture. On the other hand, the garage was beautifully decorated. The garage floor had new tile and the walls were freshly painted. This particular family had made sacrifices in their living quarters so the village would have a beautiful place to worship.
When we are grateful we have been humbled. When we are grateful we are gracious toward others. As Jesus said, “Those who are gracious will inherit eternal life.” Sheep follow the great shepherd. Sheep attend to the least while the goats keep to themselves.
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.
*****************************************
StoryShare, January 1, 2017, 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.
"A New Season" by Peter Andrew Smith
"The Magnificence of God" by Keith Wagner
"Grateful and Gracious" by Keith Wagner
A New Season
by Peter Andrew Smith
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Peter dealt out the playing cards and sorted his hand. He waited patiently as his grandfather adjusted his oxygen mask and picked up the cards in front of him.
“Everything okay?” Peter asked.
His grandfather nodded. “The mask is just irritating at times.”
“I can imagine.”
Peter played his first card. His grandfather put a card down and soon they were underway. It didn’t take long for his grandfather to win the game. The next game and the one following had the same result.
“Are you feeling okay?” His grandfather asked as he shuffled the cards.
“Just distracted I guess.”
“You weren’t out that late last night with your friends.” His grandfather tilted his head. “Are you missing that girl of yours?”
“Yeah. I see her in a couple of days though.” Peter smiled. “I’ve got a big night planned when her flight gets in.”
“Good for you.” His grandfather cut the cards a few times and resumed shuffling. “Always best to enjoy the good moments in front of you because things will change before you know it.”
“Yeah.”
His grandfather set the cards down. “So what’s bothering you? You’re off.”
“Off?”
“If I didn’t know any better I’d think that you’re throwing the games.”
Peter frowned. “I’m not.”
“I know you’re not. We’ve played for too many years for you to do something stupid and unnecessary as that. You know that winning and losing are all part of the game. So what’s up?”
Peter shifted in his chair. “I’m worried about next year.”
“The year after this one or the one just started?”
“Both I guess,” Peter said. “I graduate this year and am off to University in the fall.”
“And?”
“I’m terrified.”
“About what in particular?”
“Lots of things. The program I’m enrolled in is difficult. What happens if I can’t hack it? What happens if I don’t get along with the people there? What happens if I can’t get a job when I finish?” Peter sighed. “Not to mention that I don’t know what will happen to Jess and I. Long distance relationships don’t always work.”
“No, they don’t.”
Peter frowned. “You’re not making me feel any better.”
“Me telling you things will be okay isn’t going to make you feel any better.” His grandfather paused to adjust his oxygen mask again. “Sometimes a new year is like a new season in life. It’s full of things we don’t want as well as things that we do.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
His grandfather shrugged. “Then don’t go and stay home.”
“But --” Peter stammered. “This is what I’ve been dreaming about for years.”
“Then go.”
“I’m going to but I wish I knew what was going to happen.”
His grandfather smiled. “You can’t know until you actually go.”
“So I just have to live with this uncertainty and fear?”
His grandfather shook his head. “No, you just have to accept that everything that happens to you and every season you are in take place under heaven. The same as it’s always been.”
“How is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Take a moment before you answer my next question.” His grandfather paused. “What were you worried about this time last year?”
Peter thought for a moment. “I guess I was worried about going into my final year, whether Jess would go out with me, and how I would do when I applied for University.”
“You guess?”
“I honestly don’t remember.”
“Exactly. We spend too much of our time trying to control what’s going to happen in our lives, trying to influence what season we are in, and how long it lasts. What we should be doing is trusting that God will provide for us no matter what happens and remember our calling is to love God and each other.”
Peter stared at his grandfather sitting hunched over the table across from him. He listened to the hum of the oxygen and his grandfather’s laboured breathing. He remembered standing next to his grandfather in church listening to his powerful voice and holding his strong hand. He thought of his grandmother’s funeral and watching his grandfather weep as they prayed together. He looked into the eyes of the man sitting across from him and saw the calm and peace within.
“So I trust God and do my best.”
His grandfather frowned. “That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”
Peter grabbed the deck of cards and began to deal them out. “I think I said it better.”
His grandfather laughed as they began to play another hand, enjoying the day and each other’s company and not worrying about what was going to happen when the seasons changed once more.
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada currently serving 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 and a number of stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
* * *
The Magnificence of God
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 148
In the movie, Santa Claus III, there was a scene where the bad guy in the movie had turned the North Pole into a profit making venture. Christmas has been completely exploited and Tim Allen, who played Santa, was devastated. At one point he said, “Christmas is out of control.”
Are the holidays out of control? It’s no secret that it has become a commercial enterprise as the financial success of many department stores depends on holiday sales to keep them in the black. Then there’s all the glitter, decorations, activities, etc. We hear the song, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” But is it really?
I was in a store one holiday season and I noticed that they had put a nativity display on a bench. My first thought was that baby Jesus had been benched. Perhaps Jesus is no longer a player. Christ has become sidelined. Christmas is so out of control one wonders if it is possible to rescue it. Perhaps the true meaning of Christmas is so overshadowed by commercialism that it will never recover. What can we do to take back control of God’s most sacred event?
I believe one thing we can do to reclaim the true meaning of the holiday season is to point to the greatness of God. The psalmist declared that God can to extraordinary things.
About ten years ago I received an email from a man in Taiwan. He was the editor of a Christian devotional publication. He wanted my permission to include one of my Christmas sermons that was on line, in his publication. He went on to say that the sermon would be translated into Chinese and distributed to millions of people in China. I have never written a book, and I am certainly not a famous theologian. I have never thought of myself as a missionary, but to have one of my messages circulated in a country with millions of people was beyond my wildest imagination.
Too often, we are quick to criticize others, because they are different or because they are less important than we are. However, God wants us to see God in others.
Consider the famous masterpiece, City Lights, by Charlie Chaplain in 1931, which was produced during the Great Depression. Chaplin played the tramp, the outcaste of society, the vagabond with "nowhere to lay his head." He became the strange vehicle of salvation for a poor blind girl and for a rich man bent on drowning himself. The reward for his "heroism" was that he was befriended by the rich man. Unfortunately the little tramp was accused of the theft of money of which the rich man, in his drunken generosity, had given him. Fleeing the police, he managed to get the money to the blind girl for an operation to restore her sight, but was later apprehended and imprisoned.
After serving his sentence he emerged from prison, shabbier and lonelier than ever. And the girl, who all along had imagined the little tramp to be a handsome young man of means, did not even recognize him. As he happened to trudge forlornly by the window of her new floral shop, he was ridiculed by the very one whose sight the "stolen" money had restored, and for whom he had gone to prison. Only in the final scene did she discover that this pitiful, disheveled tramp was her benefactor. When she touched his arm and face once again she had a moment of revelation. Then she whispered to Chaplain and said, "You!" Chaplain responded to her newly opened eyes and asked, "You can see now?" She replied, sobbing, "Yes, I can see now." Then the Tramp smiled shyly at the girl as the film ended.
I also believe that the psalmist is saying that we can trust that God is still in control even though it appears that the holidays are out of control. A key moment in the movie, Santa Claus III, was when the little girl, who played Tim Allen’s niece, had to put her trust in him. And, it was because she trusted that goodness prevailed over evil.
God wants us all to have faith like that little girl, reaching deep within ourselves and praising God from the heart. Just as God has done extraordinary things in the past we can trust that God will continue in the future.
* * *
Grateful and Gracious
by Keith Wagner
Matthew 25:31-46
This New Year’s Day many families will gather together and take turns at the family dinner, stating what they are thankful for. It’s that one time of year when we focus on what we have rather than what we don’t have. Let’s be honest, we are not always grateful to God for what we have. We spend most of our time complaining about the problems in our lives. We lament over the good old days, we moan about our current economy, we are filled with self pity over our health problems and we grieve over our misfortunes.
In the last few chapters in Matthew, Jesus has been describing what it means to be in the kingdom of heaven. He has provided us with a series of “benchmarks” or indicators that enable us to reach the Pearly Gates. At some point we will be held accountable for out attitudes. Just as a shepherd separates the goats from the sheep, God will separate those who are grateful with those who are not.
Why sheep and goats? Both are domestic animals which provide clothing and food for us. Goats however are difficult to manage. They like to wander. They are impulsive and whimsical. Sadly, goats will stay with their own breed and not mix with other animals. In other words, they are unto themselves, not willing to mingle with those who are different.
The primary benchmark which describes the sheep, or true follower of Jesus are those who feed the hungry, provide clothing for those who have none, give shelter to the homeless, attend to the sick and visit prisoners.
Sometimes we make judgments about those who are unfortunate. When that happens we are acting like goats. One time I was helping a family who had no food. I found some resources but the family did not own a car. I offered to drive them there but they had children. I said I couldn’t let children ride in my van without a seatbelt. To be honest, I really didn’t want to be responsible for some poor kids riding in my van. Their mother said she would ask her sister to watch the children while she went with me to get food. When I arrived at the house, the woman was waiting in the front yard with a car seat in her hand.
That incident reminded me that this woman had a sense of responsibility. What’s more, she respected me for making sure that her children riding with me would abide by my standards. The goat in me said, “I’d rather not have to deal with transporting poor kids.” But, the sheep in me said, “This family is hungry and I can give them something to eat.”
For me, this was a reality check. After spending some time with those kids, seeing their poor living conditions and their mother’s desperation, I was grateful for what I had. But while she had to walk to work, walk to the grocery store and walk her children to school, I was free to drive anywhere I pleased.
Gratefulness requires humility. It means we have to be willing to reach beyond our familiar, safe and traditional circles to people who have need.
Several years ago I had a colleague who traveled to Brazil. His church was working with a sister church in a community where they had constructed a clinic. All the medical aid was free to the villagers. The project now includes a hostel, so folks who travel a great distance can stay with members of their families.
They don’t have churches like ours. Instead they worship in homes, make-shift sanctuaries and even garages. My friend had the opportunity to worship in a garage that a family had renovated. He also had an opportunity to visit their home. Their home was very plain. Part of the floor was dirt. The walls needed painting and they had little furniture. On the other hand, the garage was beautifully decorated. The garage floor had new tile and the walls were freshly painted. This particular family had made sacrifices in their living quarters so the village would have a beautiful place to worship.
When we are grateful we have been humbled. When we are grateful we are gracious toward others. As Jesus said, “Those who are gracious will inherit eternal life.” Sheep follow the great shepherd. Sheep attend to the least while the goats keep to themselves.
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.
*****************************************
StoryShare, January 1, 2017, 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.
