Presidential Pardon
Stories
Object:
Edited by John Sumwalt and Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Contents
A Story to Live By: "Presidential Pardon"
Sharing Visions: "Caught Up Into Paradise" by Lee Meissner
Good Stories: "The Sleeping Giant" by John Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: "A Prophet's Reward" by John Sumwalt
New Book Released
Dear StoryShare Friends,
I have just returned from the annual meeting of my denomination, what we in United Methodism call "Annual Conference." I am weary from four days of sitting through long meetings and worship services. My body is bone-tired, but my soul is soaring from the movement of the Spirit that often occurs at these kinds of events. This year the Spirit led me to sponsor a proposal that was in opposition to an action item being brought by another group. My proposal was soundly defeated. It was a humbling experience, and probably good for my soul. I know some of what Jesus must have felt when they "took offense" at his words in his own hometown (Mark 6:1-13). It hurts to be rejected by your friends. Faithfulness often elicits rejection. Thomas Merton wrote about this in a letter to James Forest in 1966: "Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truths of the work itself." In this way, Merton says, "you can be more open to the power that will work through you without you knowing it." (See the Scrap Pile below for a sermon on this theme.)
John Sumwalt
A Story to Live By
Presidential Pardon
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had a long political feud, which started when Jefferson defeated Adams' bid for a second term as president.
One the eve of the inauguration, Jefferson went to the White House to tell Adams he hoped their differences during the campaign had not damaged their friendship. Before Jefferson could say a word, Adams began ranting, "You have turned me out!"
For eleven years not another word was exchanged. Then one day, while some of Jefferson's friends were visiting Adams, the old man burst out, "I always loved Jefferson, and I still love him." The friends brought the message to Jefferson. and the two men renewed a wonderful friendship.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day after they had both signed the Declaration of Independence.
Sharing Visions
Caught Up Into Paradise
by Lee Meissner
And I know that such a person - whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows - was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.
2 Corinthians 12:3-4
He was an average-size man with a deep bass voice that reminded you of Harold of the Statler Brothers. He had sung in the church choir and a men's quartet for many years. He was a caring and loving man, and a Christian in the best sense of the word. If asked to give his testimony at a worship service, he would do it only after much arm-twisting. He preferred to live his love for God rather than speak it. He did a good job of influencing many lives by his lifestyle and his actions. I think it was his smile and kind words that were most noticeable.
In his mid-80s, he started to experience a number of health problems. He would get one ailment under control only to have another arise. His deep bass voice was no longer strong and vibrant, and the day finally came when he was admitted to the hospital for the last time. The doctors told his family that he would soon die.
For whatever reason, the children wanted a detailed account of just how their dad's last days would be. They wanted an hour-by-hour account. When would he no longer know them? When would he go into a coma, or would he? The doctors compiled and gave them updates each day of what to expect. His health continued to deteriorate.
I remember visiting him every day of the last week of his life. He was at a point where it was an effort for him to do anything. He could sort of get that smile, but it was an effort. He could say a few words, but only a few.
On the day before he died, I went into his room and was amazed at what I saw. He glowed like one of those fluorescent key chains after the lights go out. His smile was back, his voice strong and deep. As soon as he saw me, he said, "Pastor, it was wonderful. I was there last night. I was in heaven and it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. And I am going there forever tonight." He went on to tell of the beauty of heaven. On that day, he was as excited as a kid with a new toy. Then he thanked me for our friendship through the years and said that he would be leaving that night. The next morning I received word that he had died.
The family heard this story over and over all day as people visited their father. For some reason, he had many more visitors than usual. Each person heard the story of heaven. Each of them saw the glow that encircled him. All of the nurses, and any of the other hospital staff who saw him that day, heard the same story. The doctors said it was just a matter of hallucination.
Before and after the funeral, those who had visited him asked me what I thought of his vision. I told them I believed every word he said. His vision of heaven helped many people accept his death and took some of the fear of death from them... but not the doctors.
The man's name was Burr Hilvers, and he lived in Cuba City, Wisconsin, for most of his life.
Lee Meissner is pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Watertown, Wisconsin, and has served United Methodist churches since 1976. He received his M.Div. and M.A.R. degrees from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.
Good Stories
The Sleeping Giant
by John Sumwalt
And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.
Mark 6:11
Long ago in a distant mountain village there lived a God-fearing people who had fallen on hard times. The village had once been prosperous and full of life, but now the people were very poor and beginning to lose hope. They longed for a miracle, some sign that God had not forgotten them.
Late one Saturday evening, a very sleepy giant stumbled into the village square. And as there was no one about, he simply lay his head down on the church steps and went to sleep.
The next morning when it came time to worship, God's people didn't know what to do. Everyone came to the church at the appointed hour, but no one was able to enter. Just as people began to give up hope and drift away toward their homes, someone said, "Why don't we go in through the back door?" Everyone tiptoed around the giant and went in through the back door of the church.
The service began on time, as usual. The people sang and prayed, the scripture was read, the preacher preached, the offering was brought to the altar, and no mention was made of the giant.
Years passed and every Sunday was the same. The giant continued to sleep on the church steps. God's people came to worship at the appointed hour, always tiptoeing around the giant and entering through the back door of the church. The service always began on time. The people sang and prayed, the scripture was read, the preacher preached, the offering was brought to the altar, and no mention was made of the giant.
One Sunday morning a stranger appeared at the door of the church. She was very old and she walked slowly with the aid of a gnarled cane. When she discovered that the front door was blocked, she walked up to the giant's head, pulled herself up to her full height, and whispered something in the giant's ear. Suddenly the giant snorted in his sleep and shifted his head, leaving a clear path to the door. The old woman climbed up the steps, opened the door, walked into the sanctuary, and sat down on the very last bench in the back.
Everyone else tiptoed around the giant and entered through the back door of the church as usual. The service began on time. The people sang and prayed, the scripture was read, the preacher preached, the offering was brought to the altar, and, as usual, no mention was made of the giant.
Just as the preacher was about to pronounce the benediction, the old woman stood up and said in a loud voice, "Why don't you wake up the giant?"
God's people sat in stunned silence. No one moved or breathed for more than a minute.
The old woman repeated the question, this time in a soft, pleading voice. "Why don't you wake up the giant?"
The silence continued for a long time. At last a small child spoke up. "We must never wake up the giant. He might kill us, and if he didn't kill us, he would surely eat us out of house and home."
The old woman waited. No one else ventured to speak. "Very well," she said, "I shall take the giant with me." She turned and walked out the same door through which she had entered. God's people got up and went out through the back door of the church, as usual, tiptoed around the giant, and watched in amazement as the old woman raised her cane and shouted, "God's will be done!"
The giant woke up with a start, climbed slowly to his feet, stretched his legs, offered his hand to the old woman, and the two of them walked off together. When they reached the edge of the village, they paused and shook the dust from their feet. Then without so much as a single glance at those who were watching, they turned their backs on the village and went deliberately on their way.
The next Sunday morning God's people came to worship at the appointed hour, tiptoed around, and entered through the back door of the church, as usual, except for one small child, the one who spoke up when the old woman asked the question. The child entered through the front door of the church and sat down on the very last bench in the back.
The service began on time. The people sang and prayed, the scripture was read, the preacher preached, the offering was brought to the altar, and, as usual, no mention was made of the giant.
Just as the preacher was about to give the benediction, the small child stood up and said in a sof, pleading voice, "Why don't we wake up the giant?"
Scrap Pile
A Prophet's Reward
by John Sumwalt
Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward" (Matthew 10:41).
What is a prophet's reward? And would you want one if you could get it?
Prophets are usually not welcomed warmly. On the contrary, if they are any good at doing the basic work of prophets, calling attention to injustice and inviting those who are doing injustice to stop it and start making amends for the damage they have caused, they are apt to be reviled, shunned, perhaps jailed, tortured, or killed. Few prophets are treated as heroes, given medals, honorary degrees, or parades, at least not until they are very old or long dead.
Jesus was not welcomed in his own hometown of Nazareth. They knew him too well, or thought that they did. They really did not know him at all, would not permit themselves to know him. "'Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas...?' And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house'" (Mark 6:3-4). At one point his own family tries to restrain him from doing his prophetic work because people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind" (Mark 3:21).
Jesus was also fully aware of what had happened to his prophet cousin, John the Baptist, who was doing very well out in the wilderness, drawing huge crowds with his camel's hair and locusts routine. Everybody loved him when he was breathing fire about the wrath to come and berating the Pharisees for their many hypocrisies. Then he went and lost his head when he dared to tell King Herod that he was in an adulterous relationship with his brother's wife. Prophets who want to keep their heads are well advised not to be too specific when they talk about the evil deeds of people who have power over them.
Rev. Grace Imathiu, of Kenya, has been the interim pastor of First United Methodist Church in Green Bay the past two years. Our bishop, Sharon Rader, invited her to lead the morning Bible study for a bunch of us Pharisees who gathered over in Madison for the Wisconsin annual conference of the United Methodist Church a few weeks ago. She told us funny African stories that made us laugh until we cried, and then she told us something that left all of us white people squirming in our seats. Grace said, "Our very souls are in danger. The sin of racism can send you to hell and does and will. Why don't white people talk about what it means to white persons? How do you speak nicely about something so terribly evil? Racism is essentially a white problem. What will it take for you to be angry about racism, to be angry about sin?"
Grace said all of this sweetly with the warmest smile you ever saw, with no anger in her voice. We knew we were in the presence of a woman of God. Will she get a prophet's reward?
My friend Patricia Marchant has been interviewed several times by newspaper, radio, and television reporters during the recent clergy sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic church. She is a family therapist, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, and an activist in survivors groups. Speaking to the authorities in her church who have the audacity to speak of these unspeakable evils in measured, reassuring, pastoral tones, she said, "Where is the outrage? Where is the outrage?" Do you think the new archbishop will invite Patricia over to the Cousins Center for dinner?
"Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward"?
Was Jesus being sarcastic or was he just being realistic? He had already warned the twelve that he was sending them "...out like sheep in the midst of wolves; so (they should) be wise as serpents and as innocent as doves." He said to them, "Beware... for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me..." (Matthew 10:16-18a).
Is this the prophet's reward? Is this the best we can hope for?
If you have ever raised an ethical question in your office when everyone else was willing to close an eye to a business deal that was less than honest, you know why Jesus was trying to prepare his disciples for the worst. Whistleblowers are not welcome, and certainly not rewarded, in most organizations, even in the church. Perhaps, in light of recent events, we should even say especially in the church. There is often little or no thanks for doing what is right and just and good. Most of the Erin Brockovichs of this world are never going to have Julia Roberts portray them in a feature-length movie.
First of all, you can expect that someone will raise questions about your legitimacy. By whose authority are you doing this? What right do you have to come in here and say these things? Who do you think you are?
The chief priests and scribes and the elders put this question to Jesus as he was teaching in the temple. "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus simply said, "I will ask you one question; Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" They were afraid to answer the question either way. "If we say from heaven, he will say to us, 'why then did you not believe him?' But if we say of human origin; we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." So they got their publicist, the guy who was in charge of spin control, to say, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things" (Matthew 21:23-27).
It is best to have a snappy comeback like this prepared just in case somebody wants to know what right you have raising questions about something that is obviously evil.
If they don't question your authority you may be sure they will question your timing, or both.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his letter from the Birmingham City jail, "I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of 'outsiders coming in.'... I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.... Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
When they suggested that his action was not well timed, he wrote, "Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was 'well timed,' according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word 'wait'! It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This 'wait' has always meant 'never.'"
If you think living a prophetic lifestyle might make a saving difference in the world, you may be right, but you may not live to see it. Although Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton devoted fifty years to the women's suffrage movement in the United States, neither lived to see women gain the right to vote. A good many of our great-great grandmothers who marched with them didn't live to see the ultimate passage of the 19th amendment in 1920.
Thomas Merton wrote about this in a letter to James Forest in 1966: "Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truths of the work itself." In this way, Merton says, "you can be more open to the power that will work through you without you knowing it."
Still, it is difficult to give one's all to any holy prophetic work and not be discouraged by apparent failure. In her recent book The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance, Dorothee Soelle describes how deeply moved she was when she discovered that Dorothy Day, the great Roman Catholic prophet and mystic of the twentieth century, often "...experienced phases of utter exhaustion, sadness, and grief. The word despair seems inappropriate, but it cannot be far removed from what she went through. In such times, I was told she would withdraw and cry. For long hours, days at a time, she would not eat but just sit and weep. She never withdrew from the active, struggling life for the poorest of the poor and never ceased to look upon war and preparation for war as a crime against the poor. But she wept. When I heard this, I understood a bit better what prayer can mean in the midst of defeat, how the Spirit consoles humans and leads them into truth, how one thing is not at the expense of another, and where consolation is purchased with the renunciation of truth. That Dorothy Day cried for days means both consolation and inconsolability at one and the same time. She knew why she liked to repeat Teresa of Avila's words, "The whole way to heaven is heaven itself" (p.252).
Is this the prophet's reward?
Larry Winebrenner posted this story on the PRCL-Listserve line on June 4, 2002. (It also appears in Sharing Visions, just released by CSS.) He wrote: "The names and places in the following account have been changed to protect the guilty."
Sadie was a school teacher in Smalltown, Wisconsin about fifty years ago. She taught in Smalltown and attended Smalltown Methodist Church. Her home sat just outside the town limits. In the county were a dozen or so one-room schools and several more that had multiple classes meeting together. It was Sadie's dream to consolidate the schools in the county to provide better resources for the educational process.
Most of her neighbors, however, loved their little local one-room schools and were not very helpful in her drive to consolidate. Sadie was indefatigable, and worked with county school boards and anyone who would listen to her dream. Eventually, she was successful. A nice, large, well-equipped consolidated school was built in Smalltown, much to the chagrin of those who opposed it.
One night Sadie's house caught fire. She tried to douse the flames, but the fire got out of control. The Smalltown Fire Department responded to the call made by one of Sadie's neighbors. The firetruck drove right up to the Smalltown limits and stopped some twenty feet away from the house. Instead of going to work extinguishing the fire, these good volunteer fire department church people sat on the hood of their truck and watched the house burn. Sadie went from person to person in the crowd, pleading, "Everything I own is in that house. Please help me save it. At least help me get some of my things out
of the house."
The good church people watching the fire said things like, "Why don't you ask the School Board to help you?" and "Neighbors help neighbors, but you didn't think about that when you were bent and determined on consolidating our schools." They watched her house burn to the ground, then left her standing beside the smoking ruins in her nightgown as they returned to their homes.
But there is more to the story. Sadie did not move away. She was in church the following Sunday in her regular place. She continued to attend church there and taught school in Smalltown. She retired from teaching when she was seventy years old, and the school had a great celebration, honoring her as the founder of the school.
When she was 75 years old, the church gave her a testimonial as one of the church pillars. She was still active at the age of 86 when I served the church there. She told me this story (confirmed by several church members) and said, "You don't depend on people in life. You simply seek God's help, and God will provide."
Is this a prophet's reward?
- excerpted from a sermon preached July 14, 2002, at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee.
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New Book Released
I am happy to report that the second volume in the vision series, Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences, is now available from CSS Publishing Company. You can see what the book looks like by going to the home page of the CSS website (http://www.csspub.com/). Then click on the cover of the book to get more information.
Contributors of Note
The 85 contributing authors include the Canadian writer Ralph Milton, author of Julian's Cell; singers Kerri Sherwood, Cheryl Kirking, and Lee Domann; professor Linda J. Vogel of Garrett-Evangelical Seminary; and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the movie The Sound of Music. Rosmarie also has a wonderful story in Vision Stories.
Book Signing in Chicago
I did a book signing last month for CSS at the annual Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit in suburban Chicago. There were bookstore owners there from all over the United States and Canada. Many people were excited about the book and glad to see that there was a second volume. I heard several wonderful vision stories from booksellers as I walked around and talked to people before the signing. Those stories will be in the third volume, which will be released next May.
Special Pricing for StoryShare Subscribers
Sharing Visions is a little longer than Vision Stories, and retails for $19.95. I am entitled to a 40% discount, and CSS has graciously agreed to pass along this special price to StoryShare subscribers. Your cost will be $11.97 (plus shipping & handling). To take advantage of this special pricing, you must use the special code SS40SV. 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.
Practical Ministry Tool
I found the first volume of Vision Stories to be a great tool for ministry. I give a copy to each family after a funeral, and to each couple after a wedding. I give copies to people who come in for counseling and are searching for God's presence, seeking comfort or assurance. And I have given the book to many people who have visions and have wondered if they dared to tell anyone. The money for the books comes out of a special pastor's fund provided by the church. I make the books available to the congregation at my cost.
We will be having a gathering of authors who can come to Milwaukee at a date to be announced later this summer. We will do a signing together, hopefully at a major bookstore. Pray for a door to open. I look forward to meeting some of our StoryShare subscribers at events like this.
I am willing to come to your community to do a book signing, tell vision stories, or do a vision seminar if you will take a free will offering to cover my expenses. This especially includes those of you who live in Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa. I'm game if you are.
Collecting Personal Stories of "Holy Moments"
We are collecting personal stories for a third volume in the vision series, to be released in 2004. The working title is Holy Moments: Life-Changing Visions and Other Signs of God's Presence. If you have any stories to share of your personal experience of the holy, please send them to jsumwalt@naspa.net.
Praise For Sharing Visions
Bishop Richard Wilke, creator of the Disciple Bible Study series, writes: "I am rejoicing as I read the testimonies in Sharing Visions. What an inspiration! I recall my father, an unemotional man, telling me that his mother (who had died some years before) appeared to him in a dream and gave him counsel on a difficult decision he was wrestling with."
StoryShare, July 6, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 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.
Contents
A Story to Live By: "Presidential Pardon"
Sharing Visions: "Caught Up Into Paradise" by Lee Meissner
Good Stories: "The Sleeping Giant" by John Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: "A Prophet's Reward" by John Sumwalt
New Book Released
Dear StoryShare Friends,
I have just returned from the annual meeting of my denomination, what we in United Methodism call "Annual Conference." I am weary from four days of sitting through long meetings and worship services. My body is bone-tired, but my soul is soaring from the movement of the Spirit that often occurs at these kinds of events. This year the Spirit led me to sponsor a proposal that was in opposition to an action item being brought by another group. My proposal was soundly defeated. It was a humbling experience, and probably good for my soul. I know some of what Jesus must have felt when they "took offense" at his words in his own hometown (Mark 6:1-13). It hurts to be rejected by your friends. Faithfulness often elicits rejection. Thomas Merton wrote about this in a letter to James Forest in 1966: "Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truths of the work itself." In this way, Merton says, "you can be more open to the power that will work through you without you knowing it." (See the Scrap Pile below for a sermon on this theme.)
John Sumwalt
A Story to Live By
Presidential Pardon
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had a long political feud, which started when Jefferson defeated Adams' bid for a second term as president.
One the eve of the inauguration, Jefferson went to the White House to tell Adams he hoped their differences during the campaign had not damaged their friendship. Before Jefferson could say a word, Adams began ranting, "You have turned me out!"
For eleven years not another word was exchanged. Then one day, while some of Jefferson's friends were visiting Adams, the old man burst out, "I always loved Jefferson, and I still love him." The friends brought the message to Jefferson. and the two men renewed a wonderful friendship.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day after they had both signed the Declaration of Independence.
Sharing Visions
Caught Up Into Paradise
by Lee Meissner
And I know that such a person - whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows - was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.
2 Corinthians 12:3-4
He was an average-size man with a deep bass voice that reminded you of Harold of the Statler Brothers. He had sung in the church choir and a men's quartet for many years. He was a caring and loving man, and a Christian in the best sense of the word. If asked to give his testimony at a worship service, he would do it only after much arm-twisting. He preferred to live his love for God rather than speak it. He did a good job of influencing many lives by his lifestyle and his actions. I think it was his smile and kind words that were most noticeable.
In his mid-80s, he started to experience a number of health problems. He would get one ailment under control only to have another arise. His deep bass voice was no longer strong and vibrant, and the day finally came when he was admitted to the hospital for the last time. The doctors told his family that he would soon die.
For whatever reason, the children wanted a detailed account of just how their dad's last days would be. They wanted an hour-by-hour account. When would he no longer know them? When would he go into a coma, or would he? The doctors compiled and gave them updates each day of what to expect. His health continued to deteriorate.
I remember visiting him every day of the last week of his life. He was at a point where it was an effort for him to do anything. He could sort of get that smile, but it was an effort. He could say a few words, but only a few.
On the day before he died, I went into his room and was amazed at what I saw. He glowed like one of those fluorescent key chains after the lights go out. His smile was back, his voice strong and deep. As soon as he saw me, he said, "Pastor, it was wonderful. I was there last night. I was in heaven and it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. And I am going there forever tonight." He went on to tell of the beauty of heaven. On that day, he was as excited as a kid with a new toy. Then he thanked me for our friendship through the years and said that he would be leaving that night. The next morning I received word that he had died.
The family heard this story over and over all day as people visited their father. For some reason, he had many more visitors than usual. Each person heard the story of heaven. Each of them saw the glow that encircled him. All of the nurses, and any of the other hospital staff who saw him that day, heard the same story. The doctors said it was just a matter of hallucination.
Before and after the funeral, those who had visited him asked me what I thought of his vision. I told them I believed every word he said. His vision of heaven helped many people accept his death and took some of the fear of death from them... but not the doctors.
The man's name was Burr Hilvers, and he lived in Cuba City, Wisconsin, for most of his life.
Lee Meissner is pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Watertown, Wisconsin, and has served United Methodist churches since 1976. He received his M.Div. and M.A.R. degrees from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.
Good Stories
The Sleeping Giant
by John Sumwalt
And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.
Mark 6:11
Long ago in a distant mountain village there lived a God-fearing people who had fallen on hard times. The village had once been prosperous and full of life, but now the people were very poor and beginning to lose hope. They longed for a miracle, some sign that God had not forgotten them.
Late one Saturday evening, a very sleepy giant stumbled into the village square. And as there was no one about, he simply lay his head down on the church steps and went to sleep.
The next morning when it came time to worship, God's people didn't know what to do. Everyone came to the church at the appointed hour, but no one was able to enter. Just as people began to give up hope and drift away toward their homes, someone said, "Why don't we go in through the back door?" Everyone tiptoed around the giant and went in through the back door of the church.
The service began on time, as usual. The people sang and prayed, the scripture was read, the preacher preached, the offering was brought to the altar, and no mention was made of the giant.
Years passed and every Sunday was the same. The giant continued to sleep on the church steps. God's people came to worship at the appointed hour, always tiptoeing around the giant and entering through the back door of the church. The service always began on time. The people sang and prayed, the scripture was read, the preacher preached, the offering was brought to the altar, and no mention was made of the giant.
One Sunday morning a stranger appeared at the door of the church. She was very old and she walked slowly with the aid of a gnarled cane. When she discovered that the front door was blocked, she walked up to the giant's head, pulled herself up to her full height, and whispered something in the giant's ear. Suddenly the giant snorted in his sleep and shifted his head, leaving a clear path to the door. The old woman climbed up the steps, opened the door, walked into the sanctuary, and sat down on the very last bench in the back.
Everyone else tiptoed around the giant and entered through the back door of the church as usual. The service began on time. The people sang and prayed, the scripture was read, the preacher preached, the offering was brought to the altar, and, as usual, no mention was made of the giant.
Just as the preacher was about to pronounce the benediction, the old woman stood up and said in a loud voice, "Why don't you wake up the giant?"
God's people sat in stunned silence. No one moved or breathed for more than a minute.
The old woman repeated the question, this time in a soft, pleading voice. "Why don't you wake up the giant?"
The silence continued for a long time. At last a small child spoke up. "We must never wake up the giant. He might kill us, and if he didn't kill us, he would surely eat us out of house and home."
The old woman waited. No one else ventured to speak. "Very well," she said, "I shall take the giant with me." She turned and walked out the same door through which she had entered. God's people got up and went out through the back door of the church, as usual, tiptoed around the giant, and watched in amazement as the old woman raised her cane and shouted, "God's will be done!"
The giant woke up with a start, climbed slowly to his feet, stretched his legs, offered his hand to the old woman, and the two of them walked off together. When they reached the edge of the village, they paused and shook the dust from their feet. Then without so much as a single glance at those who were watching, they turned their backs on the village and went deliberately on their way.
The next Sunday morning God's people came to worship at the appointed hour, tiptoed around, and entered through the back door of the church, as usual, except for one small child, the one who spoke up when the old woman asked the question. The child entered through the front door of the church and sat down on the very last bench in the back.
The service began on time. The people sang and prayed, the scripture was read, the preacher preached, the offering was brought to the altar, and, as usual, no mention was made of the giant.
Just as the preacher was about to give the benediction, the small child stood up and said in a sof, pleading voice, "Why don't we wake up the giant?"
Scrap Pile
A Prophet's Reward
by John Sumwalt
Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward" (Matthew 10:41).
What is a prophet's reward? And would you want one if you could get it?
Prophets are usually not welcomed warmly. On the contrary, if they are any good at doing the basic work of prophets, calling attention to injustice and inviting those who are doing injustice to stop it and start making amends for the damage they have caused, they are apt to be reviled, shunned, perhaps jailed, tortured, or killed. Few prophets are treated as heroes, given medals, honorary degrees, or parades, at least not until they are very old or long dead.
Jesus was not welcomed in his own hometown of Nazareth. They knew him too well, or thought that they did. They really did not know him at all, would not permit themselves to know him. "'Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas...?' And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house'" (Mark 6:3-4). At one point his own family tries to restrain him from doing his prophetic work because people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind" (Mark 3:21).
Jesus was also fully aware of what had happened to his prophet cousin, John the Baptist, who was doing very well out in the wilderness, drawing huge crowds with his camel's hair and locusts routine. Everybody loved him when he was breathing fire about the wrath to come and berating the Pharisees for their many hypocrisies. Then he went and lost his head when he dared to tell King Herod that he was in an adulterous relationship with his brother's wife. Prophets who want to keep their heads are well advised not to be too specific when they talk about the evil deeds of people who have power over them.
Rev. Grace Imathiu, of Kenya, has been the interim pastor of First United Methodist Church in Green Bay the past two years. Our bishop, Sharon Rader, invited her to lead the morning Bible study for a bunch of us Pharisees who gathered over in Madison for the Wisconsin annual conference of the United Methodist Church a few weeks ago. She told us funny African stories that made us laugh until we cried, and then she told us something that left all of us white people squirming in our seats. Grace said, "Our very souls are in danger. The sin of racism can send you to hell and does and will. Why don't white people talk about what it means to white persons? How do you speak nicely about something so terribly evil? Racism is essentially a white problem. What will it take for you to be angry about racism, to be angry about sin?"
Grace said all of this sweetly with the warmest smile you ever saw, with no anger in her voice. We knew we were in the presence of a woman of God. Will she get a prophet's reward?
My friend Patricia Marchant has been interviewed several times by newspaper, radio, and television reporters during the recent clergy sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic church. She is a family therapist, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, and an activist in survivors groups. Speaking to the authorities in her church who have the audacity to speak of these unspeakable evils in measured, reassuring, pastoral tones, she said, "Where is the outrage? Where is the outrage?" Do you think the new archbishop will invite Patricia over to the Cousins Center for dinner?
"Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward"?
Was Jesus being sarcastic or was he just being realistic? He had already warned the twelve that he was sending them "...out like sheep in the midst of wolves; so (they should) be wise as serpents and as innocent as doves." He said to them, "Beware... for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me..." (Matthew 10:16-18a).
Is this the prophet's reward? Is this the best we can hope for?
If you have ever raised an ethical question in your office when everyone else was willing to close an eye to a business deal that was less than honest, you know why Jesus was trying to prepare his disciples for the worst. Whistleblowers are not welcome, and certainly not rewarded, in most organizations, even in the church. Perhaps, in light of recent events, we should even say especially in the church. There is often little or no thanks for doing what is right and just and good. Most of the Erin Brockovichs of this world are never going to have Julia Roberts portray them in a feature-length movie.
First of all, you can expect that someone will raise questions about your legitimacy. By whose authority are you doing this? What right do you have to come in here and say these things? Who do you think you are?
The chief priests and scribes and the elders put this question to Jesus as he was teaching in the temple. "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus simply said, "I will ask you one question; Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" They were afraid to answer the question either way. "If we say from heaven, he will say to us, 'why then did you not believe him?' But if we say of human origin; we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." So they got their publicist, the guy who was in charge of spin control, to say, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things" (Matthew 21:23-27).
It is best to have a snappy comeback like this prepared just in case somebody wants to know what right you have raising questions about something that is obviously evil.
If they don't question your authority you may be sure they will question your timing, or both.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his letter from the Birmingham City jail, "I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of 'outsiders coming in.'... I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.... Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
When they suggested that his action was not well timed, he wrote, "Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was 'well timed,' according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word 'wait'! It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This 'wait' has always meant 'never.'"
If you think living a prophetic lifestyle might make a saving difference in the world, you may be right, but you may not live to see it. Although Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton devoted fifty years to the women's suffrage movement in the United States, neither lived to see women gain the right to vote. A good many of our great-great grandmothers who marched with them didn't live to see the ultimate passage of the 19th amendment in 1920.
Thomas Merton wrote about this in a letter to James Forest in 1966: "Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on, essentially an apostolic work, you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truths of the work itself." In this way, Merton says, "you can be more open to the power that will work through you without you knowing it."
Still, it is difficult to give one's all to any holy prophetic work and not be discouraged by apparent failure. In her recent book The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance, Dorothee Soelle describes how deeply moved she was when she discovered that Dorothy Day, the great Roman Catholic prophet and mystic of the twentieth century, often "...experienced phases of utter exhaustion, sadness, and grief. The word despair seems inappropriate, but it cannot be far removed from what she went through. In such times, I was told she would withdraw and cry. For long hours, days at a time, she would not eat but just sit and weep. She never withdrew from the active, struggling life for the poorest of the poor and never ceased to look upon war and preparation for war as a crime against the poor. But she wept. When I heard this, I understood a bit better what prayer can mean in the midst of defeat, how the Spirit consoles humans and leads them into truth, how one thing is not at the expense of another, and where consolation is purchased with the renunciation of truth. That Dorothy Day cried for days means both consolation and inconsolability at one and the same time. She knew why she liked to repeat Teresa of Avila's words, "The whole way to heaven is heaven itself" (p.252).
Is this the prophet's reward?
Larry Winebrenner posted this story on the PRCL-Listserve line on June 4, 2002. (It also appears in Sharing Visions, just released by CSS.) He wrote: "The names and places in the following account have been changed to protect the guilty."
Sadie was a school teacher in Smalltown, Wisconsin about fifty years ago. She taught in Smalltown and attended Smalltown Methodist Church. Her home sat just outside the town limits. In the county were a dozen or so one-room schools and several more that had multiple classes meeting together. It was Sadie's dream to consolidate the schools in the county to provide better resources for the educational process.
Most of her neighbors, however, loved their little local one-room schools and were not very helpful in her drive to consolidate. Sadie was indefatigable, and worked with county school boards and anyone who would listen to her dream. Eventually, she was successful. A nice, large, well-equipped consolidated school was built in Smalltown, much to the chagrin of those who opposed it.
One night Sadie's house caught fire. She tried to douse the flames, but the fire got out of control. The Smalltown Fire Department responded to the call made by one of Sadie's neighbors. The firetruck drove right up to the Smalltown limits and stopped some twenty feet away from the house. Instead of going to work extinguishing the fire, these good volunteer fire department church people sat on the hood of their truck and watched the house burn. Sadie went from person to person in the crowd, pleading, "Everything I own is in that house. Please help me save it. At least help me get some of my things out
of the house."
The good church people watching the fire said things like, "Why don't you ask the School Board to help you?" and "Neighbors help neighbors, but you didn't think about that when you were bent and determined on consolidating our schools." They watched her house burn to the ground, then left her standing beside the smoking ruins in her nightgown as they returned to their homes.
But there is more to the story. Sadie did not move away. She was in church the following Sunday in her regular place. She continued to attend church there and taught school in Smalltown. She retired from teaching when she was seventy years old, and the school had a great celebration, honoring her as the founder of the school.
When she was 75 years old, the church gave her a testimonial as one of the church pillars. She was still active at the age of 86 when I served the church there. She told me this story (confirmed by several church members) and said, "You don't depend on people in life. You simply seek God's help, and God will provide."
Is this a prophet's reward?
- excerpted from a sermon preached July 14, 2002, at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee.
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New Book Released
I am happy to report that the second volume in the vision series, Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences, is now available from CSS Publishing Company. You can see what the book looks like by going to the home page of the CSS website (http://www.csspub.com/). Then click on the cover of the book to get more information.
Contributors of Note
The 85 contributing authors include the Canadian writer Ralph Milton, author of Julian's Cell; singers Kerri Sherwood, Cheryl Kirking, and Lee Domann; professor Linda J. Vogel of Garrett-Evangelical Seminary; and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the movie The Sound of Music. Rosmarie also has a wonderful story in Vision Stories.
Book Signing in Chicago
I did a book signing last month for CSS at the annual Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit in suburban Chicago. There were bookstore owners there from all over the United States and Canada. Many people were excited about the book and glad to see that there was a second volume. I heard several wonderful vision stories from booksellers as I walked around and talked to people before the signing. Those stories will be in the third volume, which will be released next May.
Special Pricing for StoryShare Subscribers
Sharing Visions is a little longer than Vision Stories, and retails for $19.95. I am entitled to a 40% discount, and CSS has graciously agreed to pass along this special price to StoryShare subscribers. Your cost will be $11.97 (plus shipping & handling). To take advantage of this special pricing, you must use the special code SS40SV. 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.
Practical Ministry Tool
I found the first volume of Vision Stories to be a great tool for ministry. I give a copy to each family after a funeral, and to each couple after a wedding. I give copies to people who come in for counseling and are searching for God's presence, seeking comfort or assurance. And I have given the book to many people who have visions and have wondered if they dared to tell anyone. The money for the books comes out of a special pastor's fund provided by the church. I make the books available to the congregation at my cost.
We will be having a gathering of authors who can come to Milwaukee at a date to be announced later this summer. We will do a signing together, hopefully at a major bookstore. Pray for a door to open. I look forward to meeting some of our StoryShare subscribers at events like this.
I am willing to come to your community to do a book signing, tell vision stories, or do a vision seminar if you will take a free will offering to cover my expenses. This especially includes those of you who live in Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa. I'm game if you are.
Collecting Personal Stories of "Holy Moments"
We are collecting personal stories for a third volume in the vision series, to be released in 2004. The working title is Holy Moments: Life-Changing Visions and Other Signs of God's Presence. If you have any stories to share of your personal experience of the holy, please send them to jsumwalt@naspa.net.
Praise For Sharing Visions
Bishop Richard Wilke, creator of the Disciple Bible Study series, writes: "I am rejoicing as I read the testimonies in Sharing Visions. What an inspiration! I recall my father, an unemotional man, telling me that his mother (who had died some years before) appeared to him in a dream and gave him counsel on a difficult decision he was wrestling with."
StoryShare, July 6, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 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.
