The Reformer
Stories
Object:
Contents
What's Up This Week
A Story to Live By: "The Reformer" by Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Shining Moments: "Stand Still and See!" by Bonnie Compton Hanson
Sermon Starters: "Restoration, Not Reformation"
"William Tyndale -- Another Reformer" by Victor Shepherd
Scrap Pile: "Leaders Aren't Afraid to Get Their Feet Wet" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
How would you like to have been in Joshua's sandals after Moses died? How do you follow a charismatic, beloved leader who has talked face to face with God? Does this sound like the way some in your congregation viewed your predecessor? John describes how Joshua might have handled this situation in an interactive story in the Scrap Pile. Those preaching on a Reformation theme this week will appreciate Victor Shepherd's masterful portrait of William Tyndale in Sermon Starters, as well as Jo's touching tale about a reformer in A Story to Live By.
Our next book will be an anthology of "best stories" from preachers and Christian educators about experiences of God's presence. All of us who work in the church have powerful personal stories of the ways that God has called, led, guided, cajoled, dragged, knocked upside the head, and healed. If you are willing to share one of your stories or if you know of someone who has a story that is just too good not to share, write to us at jsumwalt@naspa.net.
A Story to Live By
The Reformer
by Jo Perry-Sumwalt
He turns the desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in; they sow fields, plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.
Psalm 107:35-37
There was once a young man who grew up in a small farming community. His father was of the third generation to plow, plant, and harvest the family farm. He milked 40 head of cows, raised pigs and sheep, and tended 150 acres of land with the help of his four sons.
The young man loved the land. He spent his childhood wandering its hills and valleys, swimming and fishing in its creeks, picking its wild nuts, berries, and fruits, and learning from his father all of the techniques of farming that had been passed down and learned and improved upon by three generations. And when he was old enough, Josh Watson decided to go away to college to study agriculture and learn even more ways to improve the family farm.
Josh's father was proud that his son would follow in his footsteps, and those of his grandfather and great-grandfather. His greatest desire in life was to have their family farm continue to be passed down from generation to generation. He went on farming with his three younger sons until the eldest, newly graduated from the university, came home at last to rejoin them.
It was only a matter of weeks after the young man's return, however, before trouble began to erupt. Josh began to share his newly acquired knowledge and ideas and bombard his father and brothers with plans on how to accomplish the farmwork more efficiently, more productively, and more safely. Not only did he openly criticize some of his father's methods, but he began to lecture neighbors and friends as well. Contour plowing, eliminating the use of DDT, stopping run-off of manure and pesticides into creeks and rivers: each thing he suggested opened a new wound. A mid-morning coffee break at the cafe in town or a conversation over the corn grinder at the feed mill often resulted in harsh words and bruised egos.
"Who does he think he is, anyway?" the neighbors asked.
"Yeah, old Ben Watson would turn over in his grave if he could hear the things that young 'un wants to do to 'his' farm."
"The kid's still wet behind the ears. Let him try his new ideas and fall on his face. That'll teach him there's a difference between real farming and book learning."
And when his own father admitted that the young man's ideas were too radical for him as well, Josh Watson became quite depressed and withdrawn. He began to consider his options, and within four months he left home to join the Peace Corps.
The young man traveled to strange, distant lands, where food, water, and hope were scarce. He learned right away that attitudes everywhere were similar to those of his family, friends, and neighbors. But the young man had regained faith in his own ideas. He believed that God had led him to those who needed his knowledge the most. Within four years his careful planning and implementation ended the famine. New sources of fresh water were located and wells dug. Irrigation systems were devised and put to use. New farm animals were introduced for food and to provide eggs, milk, and cheese. Josh applied all of his training, and the farms began to sustain the people.
The folks at home continued to farm in their own familiar, comfortable ways. They read newspaper accounts of the young man's success and were thankful that he had found a place that "needed" his kind of learning. But the people whose lives were changed by Josh Watson's work praised him for his knowledge and skill. They admitted that they owed him their very lives, and thanked God for his presence among them.
Shining Moments
Stand Still and See!
by Bonnie Compton Hanson
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble...
Psalm 107:2
A few nights ago, I let our cat out as usual, but I didn't see her come back in. "Don," I called, "have you seen Calico?"
You see, our cat loves playing her nightly watch-the-great-lioness-in-action game. Crouched behind a pot of flowers, she stalks her prey -- then, POW! Of course, her prey's never anything more than a moth or cricket!
Soon, though, she usually tires of the game and is ready to leave her "wild side" for our warm, secure, cat-dish-furnished house! We're just as happy to have her as she is to have us. All my life I have loved animals of every description. Well, not snakes maybe, but everything else -- especially dogs and cats.
My husband glanced up from his books and said, "Didn't know she'd gone out."
"That's okay; I'll go bring her in."
Outside, a golden moon shimmered against the night sky. Crickets and tree frogs chirped. Somewhere in the distance, dogs barked. "Okay, girl," I called, "game's over. Come on out of your hiding place and get ready for bed."
Just then, two huge dogs came bounding down our street. Obviously they'd slipped off their leashes or broken out of their yards. Still calling Calico, I walked out to the end of our driveway.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, those two dogs hurled right up to our yard, stopping inches from me. One was a chow; the other, an ugly mixed breed with powerful, rippling muscles.
I expected them to wag their tails and whine to be petted. Instead, their eyes were glazed, their fangs bared. Both snarled as if ready to leap on top of me and finish me off right then.
I froze. The house was too far away for me to turn and run to it. "God, please help me!" I prayed silently.
Right at that moment, I distinctly heard a voice inside me say, "Stare at them! Don't lose control! Stand still and see the deliverance of the Lord!"
I was shaking so badly I could hardly stand up -- but I did stand, and I stared as hard as I could. Snarling and snapping, the two dogs stared back. Then they turned as one and headed on down the street.
I let my breath out. Safe! But instantly they both whirled around and charged right back -- leaping right up into the air in front of my face!
"Stand still!" commanded the voice. I was absolutely terrified, but somehow I kept standing and staring. And those dogs stopped right where they were -- right in mid-air! Again they lunged -- this time close enough for their spit to spray my face. But again, an unseen hand held them up in mid-air and kept them from touching me.
They ran off, frustrated. But again, before I could even take a step back toward the house and safety, back galloped those same two howling monsters. This time, with a long, running leap, they hurled themselves at me with all their might. Again they were stopped right there in mid-air. Finally, snapping and growling with disgust, they headed on down the street -- and this time they didn't return.
No wonder poor Calico had been hiding! In fact, it took me a full hour of coaxing before the frantic cat finally streaked in through our front door. It took that long for my own shakes to subside as well -- but not my praise to my Heavenly Father. For He had not only told me what to do when I was too panic-stricken to think for myself, but also had given me abundant power to do it. I did stand still. And I did see the deliverance of the Lord.
Bonnie Compton Hanson, a former editor of Scripture Press and curriculum writer and product designer with five other educational publishers, has served on the editorial staff of several Christian periodicals. Among the 23 books she has authored or co-authored is a finalist for a Gold Medallion Award and a popular new five-book "Ponytail Girls" Christian series for girls. Hundreds of her articles, poems, and other writings have been published in dozens of magazines and anthologies, including four Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Bonnie has also been a teacher, pastor's wife, missionary in Australia, and communications specialist for an international investment firm. She and her husband, Dr. Don J. Hanson, have three sons, four grandchildren, and a house and yard full of pets. Bonnie enjoys ministering through speaking, mentoring new writers, and serving in her local church.
Sermon Starters
Restoration, Not Reformation
It is a familiar story -- that moment some 485 years ago on Oct. 31, 1517, the eve of All Saints or All Hallows Eve (Halloween as we know it), when a young Roman Catholic priest by the name of Martin Luther posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, a list of 95 theses or statements, and requested a meeting of the church leaders to discuss and debate the substance of these 95 theses. But the words of those 95 theses did not stay on the Castle Church door -- thanks to Gutenberg's press they were reprinted and circulated among the people. Thus began the Reformation: a call to freedom in the faith alone -- by God's grace alone....
There is a temptation to see the Reformation as an attempt to fix something that was wrong. Martin Luther would be among the first to declare that he did not intend to create a new church. The goal was to reform -- to take what existed but had gone astray and restore it to what it was intended to be. In a world filled with terrible struggles and the uncertainties of disease, want, and war -- what Luther wanted to reform was a church, an institution, that had become enslaved to words and rituals and laws that were no longer pointing to God or proclaiming the Gospel of Christ but had instead become ends unto themselves -- idols and little gods. What Luther did in the Reformation was to remind us of the importance of being open to the power of God's grace -- a gift from God that takes all our best efforts at being good or doing the right thing and says, "Nice try, but it won't be enough, but that's all right." St. Paul said it like this in his letter to the Romans: "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (3:23-24). Grace is a free gift -- nothing we do earns us any points with God -- it is a matter of accepting God's gift of grace.
Excerpt from a Reformation Sunday sermon (October 27, 2002) by Douglas L. Meyer, Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, Lincolnshire, Illinois. For the full text of the sermon, click on http://www.holyspirit-elca.org/SERMONS/2002/102702.html.
William Tyndale -- Another Reformer
by Victor Shepherd
William Tyndale wasn't someone who made trouble for the sake of making trouble. Neither did he have a personality as prickly as a porcupine. Neither did he relish controversy, confrontation, and strife. As much as he wanted to avoid hostility and live at peace, he couldn't. At some point he became embroiled with many of England's "Who's Who" of the 16th century. Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's many wives, flaunted her promiscuity -- and Tyndale called her on it. Thomas Wolsey, a cardinal of the church and sworn to celibacy, fathered at least two illegitimate children -- and drew Tyndale's fire. Thomas More, known to us through the play about him, A Man for All Seasons, advanced arguments that Tyndale believed to contradict the kingdom of God and imperil the salvation of men and women -- and Tyndale rebutted him.
William Tyndale graduated from Oxford University in 1515, and then moved over to Cambridge to pursue graduate studies, Cambridge at that time being a hotbed of Lutheran theology and Reformation ferment. As he was seized by the truth and power of that gospel which scripture uniquely attests, Tyndale became aware of his vocation: God was calling him to be a translator. He was to put into common English a translation of the Bible that the public could read readily and profit from profoundly. Such a translation was needed desperately, for England was sunk in the most abysmal ignorance of scripture, and deprived therefore of the faith and obedience and comfort that the gospel alone supplies. The clergy were ignorant too. Worse, the clergy didn't care. Tyndale vowed that if his life were spared he would see that a farmhand knew more scripture than did a contemptuous clergyman.
The church, however, didn't agree with him. The church's hierarchy had banned any translation of scripture into the English tongue, in hope of prolonging the ignorance of the people and thereby prolonging the church's tyranny over them. Tyndale wanted only a quiet, safe corner of England where he could begin his work. There was no such corner. He would have to leave the country. In 1524 he sailed for Germany. He would never see England again.
Soon Tyndale's translation of the New Testament was underway in Hamburg. A sympathetic printer in Cologne printed the pages as fast as he could decipher Tyndale's handwriting. Ecclesiastical spies were everywhere, however, and in no time the printing press was raided. Tipped off ahead of time, Tyndale escaped with what he could carry.
His next stop was Worms, the German city where Luther had debated vigorously only four years earlier and where the German reformer had confessed, "Here I stand, I can do nothing else. God help me." In Worms Tyndale managed to complete his New Testament translation. Six thousand copies were printed. Only two have survived, since English bishops confiscated them as fast as copies were ferreted back into England. In 1526 the bishop of London piled up the copies he had accumulated and burnt them all, the bonfire adding point to the bishop's sermon in which he had slandered Tyndale.
Worms was too dangerous a place in which to work, and in 1534 Tyndale moved to Antwerp, where English merchants living in the Belgian city told him they would protect him. (By now he had virtually completed his translation of the entire Bible.) Then in May 1535, a young Englishman in Antwerp who needed large sums of money to pay off huge gambling debts betrayed Tyndale to Belgian authorities. Immediately Tyndale was jailed in a prison modeled after the infamous Bastille of Paris. The cell remained damp, dark, and cold throughout the Belgian winter. Tyndale had been in prison for 18 months already when his trial began.
The long list of charges was read out. The first two charges -- one, he had maintained that sinners are justified or set right with God by faith; and two, to embrace in faith the mercy offered in the gospel was sufficient for salvation -- these two charges alone indicate how blind and bitter his anti-gospel enemies were.
In August 1536 he was found guilty and condemned as a heretic. Labeling him "heretic" was an attempt at humiliating him publicly and breaking him psychologically. But he didn't break -- whereupon he was assigned another two months in prison. Then he was taken to a public square and asked to recant. Far from recanting, Tyndale cried out, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." Immediately the executioner strangled him and ignited the firewood at his feet.
Tyndale's work, however, couldn't be choked off and burnt up. His work thrived. Eventually the King of England approved Tyndale's translation, and by 1539 every parish church in England was required to have a copy on hand for parishioners to read.
Tyndale's translation underlies the King James version of the Bible. Its importance in English-speaking lands can't be exaggerated. A gospel outlook came to permeate the British nation, its people, its policies, and its literature. Indeed, the King James version is precisely what Northrop Frye labeled "The Great Code," the great code being the key to unlocking the treasures of English literature. Without a knowledge of the Bible, Frye insisted, the would-be student of English literature doesn't even begin. More importantly, however, the translation of the Bible into the English tongue became the means whereby the gospel took hold of millions.
Tyndale's promise -- "If I am spared I shall see that the common person knows more of God's Word, God's Truth, and God's Way than a contemptuous clergy" -- was fulfilled. In the history of the English-speaking peoples, Tyndale's work is without peer.
Excerpt from "A Note Concerning William Tyndale: 1494-1536," a Reformation Sunday 2004 sermon by Victor Shepherd, Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Tyndale Seminary, and Adjunct Professor of Theology at the University of Toronto. (Used with permission of Victor Shepherd.) For the full text, click on http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/reformation_sunday.htm.
Scrap Pile
Leaders Aren't Afraid to Get Their Feet Wet
by John Sumwalt
I want to invite you to get inside this story for a few moments.
Here we are at the Jordan River. It is overflowing its banks on both sides, as it always does this time of year. The current is swift: tree limbs and other debris sweep by us, are visible for a while, and are then sucked beneath the churning, dark, muddy flowage. Our eyes are held by the rushing waters. There is a kind of hypnotic pull. We feel the river drawing us in as it pours on relentlessly before us. But then we realize we are not here to watch... we are here to cross over. We pull back, trembling with fear and dread.
If only Moses was here. But Moses is dead. Our leader of 40 years, who brought our parents and grandparents out of Egypt and kept us safe all of our lives in the wilderness, is gone. His bones are buried in the shadow of Mt. Nebo behind us. Suddenly a voice is heard over the murmurings of the throng around us: "We can do it!"
Then another voice, much louder than the first, responds, "No, we can't!" Soon there are two large groups shouting at each other: "We can do it!" "No, we can't!"
This goes on for a minute or two, and then suddenly another group begins to shout very loudly, "GOD IS WITH US! GOD IS WITH US!" Soon the whole nation joins them, shouting, "GOD IS WITH US! GOD IS WITH US!"
This new guy, Joshua, has just made a speech. He says that God is with us and that God will drive our enemies out of the promised land. He says 12 priests, one from each of the tribes, are going to carry the ark of the covenant into the river -- and as soon as the soles of their feet touch the water the river will be stopped. He's over there now trying to find 12 volunteers to carry the ark. I hope he doesn't ask me. I know Moses raised his rod and God parted the waters of the Red Sea. But Moses has experience with these kinds of things, and that was a long time ago. Oh no, here comes Joshua. What am I going to tell him?
Here is where you get into the story. You are standing on the bank of the Jordan. Joshua comes to you and asks you to help carry the ark. What are you going to say?
[When I tell this story I have the left side of the congregation shout "We can do it!" Then I invite the right side to respond "No, we can't!" I let this go on for a few moments, then I cue the choir (who has practiced their part in advance), and they begin to shout "GOD IS WITH US! GOD IS WITH US!" This works very well as a children's moment with the whole congregation and the choir joining in.]
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How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
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StoryShare, October 30, 2005, issue.
Copyright 2005 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
What's Up This Week
A Story to Live By: "The Reformer" by Jo Perry-Sumwalt
Shining Moments: "Stand Still and See!" by Bonnie Compton Hanson
Sermon Starters: "Restoration, Not Reformation"
"William Tyndale -- Another Reformer" by Victor Shepherd
Scrap Pile: "Leaders Aren't Afraid to Get Their Feet Wet" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
How would you like to have been in Joshua's sandals after Moses died? How do you follow a charismatic, beloved leader who has talked face to face with God? Does this sound like the way some in your congregation viewed your predecessor? John describes how Joshua might have handled this situation in an interactive story in the Scrap Pile. Those preaching on a Reformation theme this week will appreciate Victor Shepherd's masterful portrait of William Tyndale in Sermon Starters, as well as Jo's touching tale about a reformer in A Story to Live By.
Our next book will be an anthology of "best stories" from preachers and Christian educators about experiences of God's presence. All of us who work in the church have powerful personal stories of the ways that God has called, led, guided, cajoled, dragged, knocked upside the head, and healed. If you are willing to share one of your stories or if you know of someone who has a story that is just too good not to share, write to us at jsumwalt@naspa.net.
A Story to Live By
The Reformer
by Jo Perry-Sumwalt
He turns the desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in; they sow fields, plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.
Psalm 107:35-37
There was once a young man who grew up in a small farming community. His father was of the third generation to plow, plant, and harvest the family farm. He milked 40 head of cows, raised pigs and sheep, and tended 150 acres of land with the help of his four sons.
The young man loved the land. He spent his childhood wandering its hills and valleys, swimming and fishing in its creeks, picking its wild nuts, berries, and fruits, and learning from his father all of the techniques of farming that had been passed down and learned and improved upon by three generations. And when he was old enough, Josh Watson decided to go away to college to study agriculture and learn even more ways to improve the family farm.
Josh's father was proud that his son would follow in his footsteps, and those of his grandfather and great-grandfather. His greatest desire in life was to have their family farm continue to be passed down from generation to generation. He went on farming with his three younger sons until the eldest, newly graduated from the university, came home at last to rejoin them.
It was only a matter of weeks after the young man's return, however, before trouble began to erupt. Josh began to share his newly acquired knowledge and ideas and bombard his father and brothers with plans on how to accomplish the farmwork more efficiently, more productively, and more safely. Not only did he openly criticize some of his father's methods, but he began to lecture neighbors and friends as well. Contour plowing, eliminating the use of DDT, stopping run-off of manure and pesticides into creeks and rivers: each thing he suggested opened a new wound. A mid-morning coffee break at the cafe in town or a conversation over the corn grinder at the feed mill often resulted in harsh words and bruised egos.
"Who does he think he is, anyway?" the neighbors asked.
"Yeah, old Ben Watson would turn over in his grave if he could hear the things that young 'un wants to do to 'his' farm."
"The kid's still wet behind the ears. Let him try his new ideas and fall on his face. That'll teach him there's a difference between real farming and book learning."
And when his own father admitted that the young man's ideas were too radical for him as well, Josh Watson became quite depressed and withdrawn. He began to consider his options, and within four months he left home to join the Peace Corps.
The young man traveled to strange, distant lands, where food, water, and hope were scarce. He learned right away that attitudes everywhere were similar to those of his family, friends, and neighbors. But the young man had regained faith in his own ideas. He believed that God had led him to those who needed his knowledge the most. Within four years his careful planning and implementation ended the famine. New sources of fresh water were located and wells dug. Irrigation systems were devised and put to use. New farm animals were introduced for food and to provide eggs, milk, and cheese. Josh applied all of his training, and the farms began to sustain the people.
The folks at home continued to farm in their own familiar, comfortable ways. They read newspaper accounts of the young man's success and were thankful that he had found a place that "needed" his kind of learning. But the people whose lives were changed by Josh Watson's work praised him for his knowledge and skill. They admitted that they owed him their very lives, and thanked God for his presence among them.
Shining Moments
Stand Still and See!
by Bonnie Compton Hanson
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble...
Psalm 107:2
A few nights ago, I let our cat out as usual, but I didn't see her come back in. "Don," I called, "have you seen Calico?"
You see, our cat loves playing her nightly watch-the-great-lioness-in-action game. Crouched behind a pot of flowers, she stalks her prey -- then, POW! Of course, her prey's never anything more than a moth or cricket!
Soon, though, she usually tires of the game and is ready to leave her "wild side" for our warm, secure, cat-dish-furnished house! We're just as happy to have her as she is to have us. All my life I have loved animals of every description. Well, not snakes maybe, but everything else -- especially dogs and cats.
My husband glanced up from his books and said, "Didn't know she'd gone out."
"That's okay; I'll go bring her in."
Outside, a golden moon shimmered against the night sky. Crickets and tree frogs chirped. Somewhere in the distance, dogs barked. "Okay, girl," I called, "game's over. Come on out of your hiding place and get ready for bed."
Just then, two huge dogs came bounding down our street. Obviously they'd slipped off their leashes or broken out of their yards. Still calling Calico, I walked out to the end of our driveway.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, those two dogs hurled right up to our yard, stopping inches from me. One was a chow; the other, an ugly mixed breed with powerful, rippling muscles.
I expected them to wag their tails and whine to be petted. Instead, their eyes were glazed, their fangs bared. Both snarled as if ready to leap on top of me and finish me off right then.
I froze. The house was too far away for me to turn and run to it. "God, please help me!" I prayed silently.
Right at that moment, I distinctly heard a voice inside me say, "Stare at them! Don't lose control! Stand still and see the deliverance of the Lord!"
I was shaking so badly I could hardly stand up -- but I did stand, and I stared as hard as I could. Snarling and snapping, the two dogs stared back. Then they turned as one and headed on down the street.
I let my breath out. Safe! But instantly they both whirled around and charged right back -- leaping right up into the air in front of my face!
"Stand still!" commanded the voice. I was absolutely terrified, but somehow I kept standing and staring. And those dogs stopped right where they were -- right in mid-air! Again they lunged -- this time close enough for their spit to spray my face. But again, an unseen hand held them up in mid-air and kept them from touching me.
They ran off, frustrated. But again, before I could even take a step back toward the house and safety, back galloped those same two howling monsters. This time, with a long, running leap, they hurled themselves at me with all their might. Again they were stopped right there in mid-air. Finally, snapping and growling with disgust, they headed on down the street -- and this time they didn't return.
No wonder poor Calico had been hiding! In fact, it took me a full hour of coaxing before the frantic cat finally streaked in through our front door. It took that long for my own shakes to subside as well -- but not my praise to my Heavenly Father. For He had not only told me what to do when I was too panic-stricken to think for myself, but also had given me abundant power to do it. I did stand still. And I did see the deliverance of the Lord.
Bonnie Compton Hanson, a former editor of Scripture Press and curriculum writer and product designer with five other educational publishers, has served on the editorial staff of several Christian periodicals. Among the 23 books she has authored or co-authored is a finalist for a Gold Medallion Award and a popular new five-book "Ponytail Girls" Christian series for girls. Hundreds of her articles, poems, and other writings have been published in dozens of magazines and anthologies, including four Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Bonnie has also been a teacher, pastor's wife, missionary in Australia, and communications specialist for an international investment firm. She and her husband, Dr. Don J. Hanson, have three sons, four grandchildren, and a house and yard full of pets. Bonnie enjoys ministering through speaking, mentoring new writers, and serving in her local church.
Sermon Starters
Restoration, Not Reformation
It is a familiar story -- that moment some 485 years ago on Oct. 31, 1517, the eve of All Saints or All Hallows Eve (Halloween as we know it), when a young Roman Catholic priest by the name of Martin Luther posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, a list of 95 theses or statements, and requested a meeting of the church leaders to discuss and debate the substance of these 95 theses. But the words of those 95 theses did not stay on the Castle Church door -- thanks to Gutenberg's press they were reprinted and circulated among the people. Thus began the Reformation: a call to freedom in the faith alone -- by God's grace alone....
There is a temptation to see the Reformation as an attempt to fix something that was wrong. Martin Luther would be among the first to declare that he did not intend to create a new church. The goal was to reform -- to take what existed but had gone astray and restore it to what it was intended to be. In a world filled with terrible struggles and the uncertainties of disease, want, and war -- what Luther wanted to reform was a church, an institution, that had become enslaved to words and rituals and laws that were no longer pointing to God or proclaiming the Gospel of Christ but had instead become ends unto themselves -- idols and little gods. What Luther did in the Reformation was to remind us of the importance of being open to the power of God's grace -- a gift from God that takes all our best efforts at being good or doing the right thing and says, "Nice try, but it won't be enough, but that's all right." St. Paul said it like this in his letter to the Romans: "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (3:23-24). Grace is a free gift -- nothing we do earns us any points with God -- it is a matter of accepting God's gift of grace.
Excerpt from a Reformation Sunday sermon (October 27, 2002) by Douglas L. Meyer, Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, Lincolnshire, Illinois. For the full text of the sermon, click on http://www.holyspirit-elca.org/SERMONS/2002/102702.html.
William Tyndale -- Another Reformer
by Victor Shepherd
William Tyndale wasn't someone who made trouble for the sake of making trouble. Neither did he have a personality as prickly as a porcupine. Neither did he relish controversy, confrontation, and strife. As much as he wanted to avoid hostility and live at peace, he couldn't. At some point he became embroiled with many of England's "Who's Who" of the 16th century. Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's many wives, flaunted her promiscuity -- and Tyndale called her on it. Thomas Wolsey, a cardinal of the church and sworn to celibacy, fathered at least two illegitimate children -- and drew Tyndale's fire. Thomas More, known to us through the play about him, A Man for All Seasons, advanced arguments that Tyndale believed to contradict the kingdom of God and imperil the salvation of men and women -- and Tyndale rebutted him.
William Tyndale graduated from Oxford University in 1515, and then moved over to Cambridge to pursue graduate studies, Cambridge at that time being a hotbed of Lutheran theology and Reformation ferment. As he was seized by the truth and power of that gospel which scripture uniquely attests, Tyndale became aware of his vocation: God was calling him to be a translator. He was to put into common English a translation of the Bible that the public could read readily and profit from profoundly. Such a translation was needed desperately, for England was sunk in the most abysmal ignorance of scripture, and deprived therefore of the faith and obedience and comfort that the gospel alone supplies. The clergy were ignorant too. Worse, the clergy didn't care. Tyndale vowed that if his life were spared he would see that a farmhand knew more scripture than did a contemptuous clergyman.
The church, however, didn't agree with him. The church's hierarchy had banned any translation of scripture into the English tongue, in hope of prolonging the ignorance of the people and thereby prolonging the church's tyranny over them. Tyndale wanted only a quiet, safe corner of England where he could begin his work. There was no such corner. He would have to leave the country. In 1524 he sailed for Germany. He would never see England again.
Soon Tyndale's translation of the New Testament was underway in Hamburg. A sympathetic printer in Cologne printed the pages as fast as he could decipher Tyndale's handwriting. Ecclesiastical spies were everywhere, however, and in no time the printing press was raided. Tipped off ahead of time, Tyndale escaped with what he could carry.
His next stop was Worms, the German city where Luther had debated vigorously only four years earlier and where the German reformer had confessed, "Here I stand, I can do nothing else. God help me." In Worms Tyndale managed to complete his New Testament translation. Six thousand copies were printed. Only two have survived, since English bishops confiscated them as fast as copies were ferreted back into England. In 1526 the bishop of London piled up the copies he had accumulated and burnt them all, the bonfire adding point to the bishop's sermon in which he had slandered Tyndale.
Worms was too dangerous a place in which to work, and in 1534 Tyndale moved to Antwerp, where English merchants living in the Belgian city told him they would protect him. (By now he had virtually completed his translation of the entire Bible.) Then in May 1535, a young Englishman in Antwerp who needed large sums of money to pay off huge gambling debts betrayed Tyndale to Belgian authorities. Immediately Tyndale was jailed in a prison modeled after the infamous Bastille of Paris. The cell remained damp, dark, and cold throughout the Belgian winter. Tyndale had been in prison for 18 months already when his trial began.
The long list of charges was read out. The first two charges -- one, he had maintained that sinners are justified or set right with God by faith; and two, to embrace in faith the mercy offered in the gospel was sufficient for salvation -- these two charges alone indicate how blind and bitter his anti-gospel enemies were.
In August 1536 he was found guilty and condemned as a heretic. Labeling him "heretic" was an attempt at humiliating him publicly and breaking him psychologically. But he didn't break -- whereupon he was assigned another two months in prison. Then he was taken to a public square and asked to recant. Far from recanting, Tyndale cried out, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." Immediately the executioner strangled him and ignited the firewood at his feet.
Tyndale's work, however, couldn't be choked off and burnt up. His work thrived. Eventually the King of England approved Tyndale's translation, and by 1539 every parish church in England was required to have a copy on hand for parishioners to read.
Tyndale's translation underlies the King James version of the Bible. Its importance in English-speaking lands can't be exaggerated. A gospel outlook came to permeate the British nation, its people, its policies, and its literature. Indeed, the King James version is precisely what Northrop Frye labeled "The Great Code," the great code being the key to unlocking the treasures of English literature. Without a knowledge of the Bible, Frye insisted, the would-be student of English literature doesn't even begin. More importantly, however, the translation of the Bible into the English tongue became the means whereby the gospel took hold of millions.
Tyndale's promise -- "If I am spared I shall see that the common person knows more of God's Word, God's Truth, and God's Way than a contemptuous clergy" -- was fulfilled. In the history of the English-speaking peoples, Tyndale's work is without peer.
Excerpt from "A Note Concerning William Tyndale: 1494-1536," a Reformation Sunday 2004 sermon by Victor Shepherd, Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Tyndale Seminary, and Adjunct Professor of Theology at the University of Toronto. (Used with permission of Victor Shepherd.) For the full text, click on http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/reformation_sunday.htm.
Scrap Pile
Leaders Aren't Afraid to Get Their Feet Wet
by John Sumwalt
I want to invite you to get inside this story for a few moments.
Here we are at the Jordan River. It is overflowing its banks on both sides, as it always does this time of year. The current is swift: tree limbs and other debris sweep by us, are visible for a while, and are then sucked beneath the churning, dark, muddy flowage. Our eyes are held by the rushing waters. There is a kind of hypnotic pull. We feel the river drawing us in as it pours on relentlessly before us. But then we realize we are not here to watch... we are here to cross over. We pull back, trembling with fear and dread.
If only Moses was here. But Moses is dead. Our leader of 40 years, who brought our parents and grandparents out of Egypt and kept us safe all of our lives in the wilderness, is gone. His bones are buried in the shadow of Mt. Nebo behind us. Suddenly a voice is heard over the murmurings of the throng around us: "We can do it!"
Then another voice, much louder than the first, responds, "No, we can't!" Soon there are two large groups shouting at each other: "We can do it!" "No, we can't!"
This goes on for a minute or two, and then suddenly another group begins to shout very loudly, "GOD IS WITH US! GOD IS WITH US!" Soon the whole nation joins them, shouting, "GOD IS WITH US! GOD IS WITH US!"
This new guy, Joshua, has just made a speech. He says that God is with us and that God will drive our enemies out of the promised land. He says 12 priests, one from each of the tribes, are going to carry the ark of the covenant into the river -- and as soon as the soles of their feet touch the water the river will be stopped. He's over there now trying to find 12 volunteers to carry the ark. I hope he doesn't ask me. I know Moses raised his rod and God parted the waters of the Red Sea. But Moses has experience with these kinds of things, and that was a long time ago. Oh no, here comes Joshua. What am I going to tell him?
Here is where you get into the story. You are standing on the bank of the Jordan. Joshua comes to you and asks you to help carry the ark. What are you going to say?
[When I tell this story I have the left side of the congregation shout "We can do it!" Then I invite the right side to respond "No, we can't!" I let this go on for a few moments, then I cue the choir (who has practiced their part in advance), and they begin to shout "GOD IS WITH US! GOD IS WITH US!" This works very well as a children's moment with the whole congregation and the choir joining in.]
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StoryShare, October 30, 2005, issue.
Copyright 2005 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
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