A New Strength
Stories
Contents
"A New Strength" by Keith Wagner
"A Prophet Whether You Like it Or Not" by Keith Wagner
"A Solitary Place" by John Fitzgerald
A New Strength
by Keith Wagner
Isaiah 40:21-31
We were driving through the little town of New Knoxville, in central Ohio, one Sunday and we happened to notice the marquis in front of the high school. The sign read, “Congrats, state champs!” For the first time in their history the boys’ basketball team had won the state championship. Those three words will forever change the landscape of the people of New Knoxville. Amazingly, a school with only 59 boys managed to defeat everyone they played during the 2007-08 season. For the residents of New Knoxville, those three words would have a profound effect on them for years to come. The word is out, now the community would never be the same.
Every small community has dreams of better times. When something like a state championship occurs it gives them hope and confidence that “new strength” can come.
Isaiah was giving new strength and hope to the Israelites. His words, “run and not be weary,” and “march on and never grow faint,” are indicative of his coaching efforts. He wanted to keep them from giving up and trust that the Creator was still with them.
In 1928, a 33 year-old man by the name of Paul Galvin found himself staring at failure. His business failed because his competitors forced him to fold his latest venture in the storage-battery business. Galvin was convinced that he still had a marketable idea, so he attended the auction of his own business. He managed to raise $750 and he bought back one small part of the inventory, the battery eliminator. With that he built a new more powerful battery that revolutionized the industry. His company eventually became a household word: Motorola.
Galvin followed through on his commitment to the industry of battery power. It was risky and he gave everything he had. He had hope because he believed in the future. In the process he maintained his integrity as failures of his past did not keep him from moving forward. Perhaps his faith and determination enabled him to succeed.
One time I was having a conversation with an elderly couple who lived only a few blocks from the new middle school that has just opened in Sidney, Ohio. The city school system had just completed a 20 million dollar facility and the old school would soon be torn down. But, these folks didn’t notice the new construction although it happened a few blocks from their front door. When I called their attention to it they seemed bewildered. Perhaps we are not calling attention to what is being created in our midst. Perhaps we should be giving more credit and acknowledge that the hand of God is truly upon us and helping us more than we realize.
* * *
Patience
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
The Lord gives new heart to the humble and brings evildoers down to the dust.
Here the psalmist is reminding his listeners of the mighty power of God. Faith means to “fear him,” as God promises to rebuild our lives and community.
In the film, “Trading Places” Edie Murphy played the part of a street bum whose name was Billy Ray Valentine. Dan Aykroyd played the role of Louis Winthorpe III, who was a rich stock broker working for two Wall Street tycoons, the Duke brothers. They came up with a scheme to have Valentine and Winthorpe switch places. Winthorpe, the rich stock broker ends up penniless while Valentine, the bum, becomes a successful employee for the Duke brothers. Winthrope was humiliated, but in the process it became a wakeup call for him to do something right. It’s a hilarious story but a story with a profound truth. The powerful Duke brothers end up losing everything they had while Valentine teams up with Winthorpe and they become successful and bring down the Duke empire.
I believe the Lord is calling us to be humble. Power and wealth are no match for humility. We are instructed to wait, or be patient, but in the long run the love of God will prevail.
In 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon committed a misdemeanor in the state of Florida. He was charged for stealing a bottle of wine and it was alleged that he took $50 in coins from a juke box. A local resident later testified he saw Clarence leave a tavern with the bottle of wine and his pockets bulging with coins. The judge who heard the case denied him counsel and Gideon was sent to prison for five years. Under Florida law at that time, no one was entitled to counsel.
While in prison, Gideon did some research studying the American legal system and concluded that he had been denied the right to counsel. He appealed his case to the FBI and ultimately the Florida Supreme Court, but they denied any help. In January, 1962 Clarence mailed a five-page petition to the U.S. Supreme Court and they agreed to hear his case.
A lawyer, Abe Fortas, was assigned to represent Clarence Gideon. He argued that “a common man with no training in law cannot go up against a trained lawyer and win and that you cannot have a fair trial without counsel.” The hearing lasted five hours and five minutes. The court ruled in Gideon’s favor, 9-0. As a result, about 2,000 unjustly convicted people in Florida were set free because of the decision.
Later, Gideon arranged for a retrial and he was acquitted. It turned out that the eye witness was really a lookout for some young men who were stealing beer. Another witness testified that Gideon had nothing in his hands or his pockets. He was set free after serving a sentence for a crime he never committed.
* * *
A Solitary Place
by John Fitzgerald
Mark 1:29-39
From his book, Prayers, Michel Quoist shares this:
I would like to rise very high, Lord
I would like to rise very high, Lord;
Above by city,
Above the world,
Above time,
I would like to purify my glance and
borrow your eyes.
I would then see the universe, humanity,
history as the Father sees them.
I would see the beautiful, eternal thought of
your Father’s love taking form, step by step:
And I would see that today, like yesterday, the
most minute details are part of it.
Every man in his place,
Every group and every object.
Love and hate-Sin and Grace.
I would understand that everything is linked together,
That all is but a single movement of the whole of humanity,
Then, falling on my knees, I would admire, the mystery of this world.
As this prayer indicates, every one of us desires to enter into the height and depth of God’s Kingdom. On this earth we have only glimpses of divine nature. One thing we do know is that prayer helps us obtain details of God’s power and glory.
Our scripture lesson for today is really a lesson about the significance of prayer. A key to understanding what Jesus is trying to convey in this passage is found in verse 35:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
It is in a solitary place, far removed from public demand that Jesus could pray to his Heavenly Father. There were miracles, teachings, and blessings to minister on any given day. It is in the solitude that our Lord received power to carry out divine ministry.
We receive some indication of the tremendous daily burden Jesus faced by early portions of our scripture reading. Verses 33-34 tells us:
The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
It is the midst of these continued pleas for God’s mercy expressed through Jesus that our Savior turned to His Father for strength. In the solitude, early each morning, Christ prayed about people he would encounter that particular day.
The question raised by this text is-do you have a solitary place? Is there somewhere you go to pray each day and receive power from God’s presence? Every one of us has daily challenges. Where will we go for strength? In the words of Michel Quoist:
I would like to rise very high, Lord. . . I would like to purify my glance and borrow your eyes.
*****************************************
StoryShare, February 4, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2017 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"A New Strength" by Keith Wagner
"A Prophet Whether You Like it Or Not" by Keith Wagner
"A Solitary Place" by John Fitzgerald
A New Strength
by Keith Wagner
Isaiah 40:21-31
We were driving through the little town of New Knoxville, in central Ohio, one Sunday and we happened to notice the marquis in front of the high school. The sign read, “Congrats, state champs!” For the first time in their history the boys’ basketball team had won the state championship. Those three words will forever change the landscape of the people of New Knoxville. Amazingly, a school with only 59 boys managed to defeat everyone they played during the 2007-08 season. For the residents of New Knoxville, those three words would have a profound effect on them for years to come. The word is out, now the community would never be the same.
Every small community has dreams of better times. When something like a state championship occurs it gives them hope and confidence that “new strength” can come.
Isaiah was giving new strength and hope to the Israelites. His words, “run and not be weary,” and “march on and never grow faint,” are indicative of his coaching efforts. He wanted to keep them from giving up and trust that the Creator was still with them.
In 1928, a 33 year-old man by the name of Paul Galvin found himself staring at failure. His business failed because his competitors forced him to fold his latest venture in the storage-battery business. Galvin was convinced that he still had a marketable idea, so he attended the auction of his own business. He managed to raise $750 and he bought back one small part of the inventory, the battery eliminator. With that he built a new more powerful battery that revolutionized the industry. His company eventually became a household word: Motorola.
Galvin followed through on his commitment to the industry of battery power. It was risky and he gave everything he had. He had hope because he believed in the future. In the process he maintained his integrity as failures of his past did not keep him from moving forward. Perhaps his faith and determination enabled him to succeed.
One time I was having a conversation with an elderly couple who lived only a few blocks from the new middle school that has just opened in Sidney, Ohio. The city school system had just completed a 20 million dollar facility and the old school would soon be torn down. But, these folks didn’t notice the new construction although it happened a few blocks from their front door. When I called their attention to it they seemed bewildered. Perhaps we are not calling attention to what is being created in our midst. Perhaps we should be giving more credit and acknowledge that the hand of God is truly upon us and helping us more than we realize.
* * *
Patience
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
The Lord gives new heart to the humble and brings evildoers down to the dust.
Here the psalmist is reminding his listeners of the mighty power of God. Faith means to “fear him,” as God promises to rebuild our lives and community.
In the film, “Trading Places” Edie Murphy played the part of a street bum whose name was Billy Ray Valentine. Dan Aykroyd played the role of Louis Winthorpe III, who was a rich stock broker working for two Wall Street tycoons, the Duke brothers. They came up with a scheme to have Valentine and Winthorpe switch places. Winthorpe, the rich stock broker ends up penniless while Valentine, the bum, becomes a successful employee for the Duke brothers. Winthrope was humiliated, but in the process it became a wakeup call for him to do something right. It’s a hilarious story but a story with a profound truth. The powerful Duke brothers end up losing everything they had while Valentine teams up with Winthorpe and they become successful and bring down the Duke empire.
I believe the Lord is calling us to be humble. Power and wealth are no match for humility. We are instructed to wait, or be patient, but in the long run the love of God will prevail.
In 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon committed a misdemeanor in the state of Florida. He was charged for stealing a bottle of wine and it was alleged that he took $50 in coins from a juke box. A local resident later testified he saw Clarence leave a tavern with the bottle of wine and his pockets bulging with coins. The judge who heard the case denied him counsel and Gideon was sent to prison for five years. Under Florida law at that time, no one was entitled to counsel.
While in prison, Gideon did some research studying the American legal system and concluded that he had been denied the right to counsel. He appealed his case to the FBI and ultimately the Florida Supreme Court, but they denied any help. In January, 1962 Clarence mailed a five-page petition to the U.S. Supreme Court and they agreed to hear his case.
A lawyer, Abe Fortas, was assigned to represent Clarence Gideon. He argued that “a common man with no training in law cannot go up against a trained lawyer and win and that you cannot have a fair trial without counsel.” The hearing lasted five hours and five minutes. The court ruled in Gideon’s favor, 9-0. As a result, about 2,000 unjustly convicted people in Florida were set free because of the decision.
Later, Gideon arranged for a retrial and he was acquitted. It turned out that the eye witness was really a lookout for some young men who were stealing beer. Another witness testified that Gideon had nothing in his hands or his pockets. He was set free after serving a sentence for a crime he never committed.
* * *
A Solitary Place
by John Fitzgerald
Mark 1:29-39
From his book, Prayers, Michel Quoist shares this:
I would like to rise very high, Lord
I would like to rise very high, Lord;
Above by city,
Above the world,
Above time,
I would like to purify my glance and
borrow your eyes.
I would then see the universe, humanity,
history as the Father sees them.
I would see the beautiful, eternal thought of
your Father’s love taking form, step by step:
And I would see that today, like yesterday, the
most minute details are part of it.
Every man in his place,
Every group and every object.
Love and hate-Sin and Grace.
I would understand that everything is linked together,
That all is but a single movement of the whole of humanity,
Then, falling on my knees, I would admire, the mystery of this world.
As this prayer indicates, every one of us desires to enter into the height and depth of God’s Kingdom. On this earth we have only glimpses of divine nature. One thing we do know is that prayer helps us obtain details of God’s power and glory.
Our scripture lesson for today is really a lesson about the significance of prayer. A key to understanding what Jesus is trying to convey in this passage is found in verse 35:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
It is in a solitary place, far removed from public demand that Jesus could pray to his Heavenly Father. There were miracles, teachings, and blessings to minister on any given day. It is in the solitude that our Lord received power to carry out divine ministry.
We receive some indication of the tremendous daily burden Jesus faced by early portions of our scripture reading. Verses 33-34 tells us:
The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
It is the midst of these continued pleas for God’s mercy expressed through Jesus that our Savior turned to His Father for strength. In the solitude, early each morning, Christ prayed about people he would encounter that particular day.
The question raised by this text is-do you have a solitary place? Is there somewhere you go to pray each day and receive power from God’s presence? Every one of us has daily challenges. Where will we go for strength? In the words of Michel Quoist:
I would like to rise very high, Lord. . . I would like to purify my glance and borrow your eyes.
*****************************************
StoryShare, February 4, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2017 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
