Repentance
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"Repentance" by Peter Andrew Smith
Repentance
by Peter Andrew Smith
Matthew 3:1-12
“Hey Matthew, I made the hockey team at school!”
“Good for you!” Matthew put his trash cans down and gave Ginny a huge grin. “I knew you were going to set that place on fire. What about you Patsy?”
Patsy scowled. “Matthew, you know that I really don’t like hockey.”
Matthew rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. You can play any instrument you want so have you signed up for the band yet?”
“I was thinking about it.” She shuffled her feet. “I don’t know if they would want me.”
“Huh.” He stood up and scratched the top of his head a couple of times. “I wonder how you could find out.”
Patsy let out an exaggerated sigh. “I suppose I could sign up.”
“You could and you should. I hear you practising. You’re great.” Matthew turned to Linda coming out of the door holding a lunch bag. “Someone forget their lunch?”
Ginny blushed and ran back to grab the bag. “Thanks, Mom.”
“You better get moving. The bus waits for no one.” Matthew looked at his watch. “Not even hockey players and band members.”
The girls laughed and took off at a run for the bus stop.
“How are you this morning, Linda?” Matthew picked up the trash cans and started toward the house.
Linda’s face fell. “It’s trash day isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry.” Matthew lifted up the can in his left hand. “I noticed yours was still on the side so I put it out with mine. I hope that’s okay.”
“Thank you.” Linda stepped forward to reclaim it. “Sometimes I wonder what we ever did to get a neighbour like you.”
“I’m the one who feels like you three made my life better when you moved in.” Matthew smiled and looked down the road. “They remind me of mine at that age. Except they are more talented and less moody, of course.”
Linda chuckled and took her trash can. “They are a handful at times but they are good kids.”
“You’ve done a great job raising them.” Matthew nodded toward his front door. “I’ve got some muffins baking for the sale at the church and I put on a fresh pot of coffee. You have time for a cup and a sample?”
“Oh, I wish I did.” Linda shook her head. “Unfortunately, I have to take the car to the garage on my way to work.”
“Okay some other time. Enjoy your day.”
“Thanks.” Linda tilted her head to one side. “You know when we first moved in we really didn’t speak that much. I’m glad that changed.”
“Me too.” Matthew smiled. “Truth is that you three helped me change my life. I had become pretty much a recluse and my world was reduced to doctor’s visits and watching television. That all changed when Ginny asked if I wanted to go to church.”
“I remember that day. I was trying to corral them into the car and you were outside looking at your gutters,” Linda said. “We didn’t really know you that well and I honestly never expected her to ask you to come with us that Sunday morning.”
“I know because you looked shocked when I said yes.” Matthew laughed. “Don’t deny it.”
“I wouldn’t want to tell that big a lie.” Linda chuckled. “I was ready to tell her not to bother the nice old man next door when you asked if we had enough time for you to get your coat.”
“Going in through those doors of the church with her holding my hand made me feel like I was coming home. When I got back to the house, I actually had a good cry.”
“Really?”
“I felt happy and alive like I had before Bernice died,” Matthew said. “It made me realize that the life God intended was still there for me but I needed to change myself in order to embrace it. So I started getting out, kept going back to church, and haven’t been happier.”
“I never knew.”
“You didn’t have to know. All that was important was that you raised those girls to show the love and grace of God- which led Ginny to offer a tired old man a chance to live again. Thank you for that.”
Linda wiped at her eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say thank you to God for your girls. I know I do each day. I always thought that the call to repentance had to come from a fiery preacher. I never knew that it could be delivered by a little girl in pigtails.”
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada currently serving St. James United Church in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is the author of All Things are Ready (CSS) a book of lectionary based communion prayers and a number of stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
*****************************************
StoryShare, December 4, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Repentance" by Peter Andrew Smith
Repentance
by Peter Andrew Smith
Matthew 3:1-12
“Hey Matthew, I made the hockey team at school!”
“Good for you!” Matthew put his trash cans down and gave Ginny a huge grin. “I knew you were going to set that place on fire. What about you Patsy?”
Patsy scowled. “Matthew, you know that I really don’t like hockey.”
Matthew rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. You can play any instrument you want so have you signed up for the band yet?”
“I was thinking about it.” She shuffled her feet. “I don’t know if they would want me.”
“Huh.” He stood up and scratched the top of his head a couple of times. “I wonder how you could find out.”
Patsy let out an exaggerated sigh. “I suppose I could sign up.”
“You could and you should. I hear you practising. You’re great.” Matthew turned to Linda coming out of the door holding a lunch bag. “Someone forget their lunch?”
Ginny blushed and ran back to grab the bag. “Thanks, Mom.”
“You better get moving. The bus waits for no one.” Matthew looked at his watch. “Not even hockey players and band members.”
The girls laughed and took off at a run for the bus stop.
“How are you this morning, Linda?” Matthew picked up the trash cans and started toward the house.
Linda’s face fell. “It’s trash day isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry.” Matthew lifted up the can in his left hand. “I noticed yours was still on the side so I put it out with mine. I hope that’s okay.”
“Thank you.” Linda stepped forward to reclaim it. “Sometimes I wonder what we ever did to get a neighbour like you.”
“I’m the one who feels like you three made my life better when you moved in.” Matthew smiled and looked down the road. “They remind me of mine at that age. Except they are more talented and less moody, of course.”
Linda chuckled and took her trash can. “They are a handful at times but they are good kids.”
“You’ve done a great job raising them.” Matthew nodded toward his front door. “I’ve got some muffins baking for the sale at the church and I put on a fresh pot of coffee. You have time for a cup and a sample?”
“Oh, I wish I did.” Linda shook her head. “Unfortunately, I have to take the car to the garage on my way to work.”
“Okay some other time. Enjoy your day.”
“Thanks.” Linda tilted her head to one side. “You know when we first moved in we really didn’t speak that much. I’m glad that changed.”
“Me too.” Matthew smiled. “Truth is that you three helped me change my life. I had become pretty much a recluse and my world was reduced to doctor’s visits and watching television. That all changed when Ginny asked if I wanted to go to church.”
“I remember that day. I was trying to corral them into the car and you were outside looking at your gutters,” Linda said. “We didn’t really know you that well and I honestly never expected her to ask you to come with us that Sunday morning.”
“I know because you looked shocked when I said yes.” Matthew laughed. “Don’t deny it.”
“I wouldn’t want to tell that big a lie.” Linda chuckled. “I was ready to tell her not to bother the nice old man next door when you asked if we had enough time for you to get your coat.”
“Going in through those doors of the church with her holding my hand made me feel like I was coming home. When I got back to the house, I actually had a good cry.”
“Really?”
“I felt happy and alive like I had before Bernice died,” Matthew said. “It made me realize that the life God intended was still there for me but I needed to change myself in order to embrace it. So I started getting out, kept going back to church, and haven’t been happier.”
“I never knew.”
“You didn’t have to know. All that was important was that you raised those girls to show the love and grace of God- which led Ginny to offer a tired old man a chance to live again. Thank you for that.”
Linda wiped at her eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say thank you to God for your girls. I know I do each day. I always thought that the call to repentance had to come from a fiery preacher. I never knew that it could be delivered by a little girl in pigtails.”
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada currently serving St. James United Church in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is the author of All Things are Ready (CSS) a book of lectionary based communion prayers and a number of stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
*****************************************
StoryShare, December 4, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
