Stranger
Stories
Object:
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2
One day a minister went to visit a family that had just moved into the neighborhood. As he rang the doorbell, a dog jumped up on the porch and nearly knocked him over. When the woman came to the door, the dog nearly knocked both of them down as he raced into the living room. The woman invited the minister to sit, but it was hard for them to have a conversation because the dog kept jumping on everyone, licking them, barking, and wanting to play. The minister finally became exasperated because no one in the family made any attempt to control the dog. As he walked out onto the porch to leave, he said, "I don't mean to be rude, but how in the world do you stand it with your dog jumping on everyone and licking them and barking so much?" The woman was dumbfounded. She said, "Our dog? We thought it was your dog."
Shining Moments
Singapore Angel
by Mary DeMuth
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?"
Hebrews 13:5-6
"Miss, you need to step here." The woman's voice came from behind me. I was alone in Singapore, recently de-trained from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I had finished a six-week short-term mission. It had been an adventure of faith; I had gone to assist a vibrant Christian church in a Muslim country with its youth and vocal programs, and I went alone. I was 22, wide-eyed, and full of zeal, but that night at the train station I was tired and afraid. Just a week prior, my new Malaysian friends had taken me to the closest emergency room, where the doctor gave me spoiled medicine for a severe case of bronchitis. My body heaved until the medicine was out of my system, so I was still a bit green on the long train ride.
Earlier, the Lord had sent two Taiwanese men, whom I befriended on the train, to help me unload my heavy luggage onto the deserted Singapore platform. Friends greeted them after they de-trained; they shyly waved to me as they laughed with their friends and sped away. A few families met the other remaining passengers, and I was left alone.
Taxis did not run after midnight, and my only connection to where I would be staying that evening was a scribbled address that I clutched in my right hand. My pastor from home had told me a harrowing tale of his handing this same address to a taxi driver and getting a grand tour of Singapore. A few taxicabs later, my pastor had finally arrived at the compound. Other mission teams that filtered through Singapore told similar stories of trying unsuccessfully to find this out-of-the-way place.
Stressed, I sat on my barely luggable luggage, put my face in my hands, and prayed, "Oh Lord, help me!" That's when the woman's voice interrupted my pity party.
"Miss, you need to step here."
I turned around to find a short Chinese woman, probably in her sixties. She was small-boned and seemed frail, but her voice exuded confidence. Before I could explain my predicament and my need for the non-existent taxi, she motioned for me to follow her to the street to the left of the platform. Awkwardly, I dragged my two suitcases off the platform to where she now stood, beckoning.
"Follow me, Miss. Don't worry. I will take care of you." I showed her the compound's address. She smiled and told me to wait. I stood on the dark street feeling vulnerable. Maybe this is a plot. Maybe she's going to rob me. In minutes she returned and a taxi followed her, backing down the road toward me. Again she said, "Don't worry. I will take care of you."
Before I could get to my luggage, this woman -- who probably weighed 90 pounds -- grabbed my bags and effortlessly hurled them into the taxi's already open trunk. She opened the back door for me and then spoke to the taxi driver in Chinese. Her voice raised as she motioned erratically with her arms. The taxi driver nodded. She turned to me and repeated, "Don't worry. I will take care of you." With that, she shut my door and the car lurched forward. I tried to blurt out a thank you as the door slammed, but its impact absorbed my words.
Desperately wanting to thank her, I turned to look out the taxi's back window where she stood. At least I could wave and smile. But when I looked, she was gone. The street, deserted, showed no signs of any life; only the hazy yellow glow of streetlights remained. The taxi driver took me directly to the compound via palm tree-lined streets, and took my luggage from the trunk. He waited until I found someone inside and then sped off.
Only once in my life have I possibly encountered an angel. The Bible speaks of wildly masculine angels whose strength and form cause people to quake. My "angel" was cleverly disguised as an aging Chinese woman who helped me find a taxi one quiet Singapore night.
Mary DeMuth grew up in the Pacific Northwest and now lives in Texas with her husband and three young children. She has designed and produced four non-profit newsletters and has been published in Marriage Partnership and Discipleship Journal. She writes a weekly column for her local suburban newspaper and is working on her first novel.
Good Stories
The Love of Money
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have...
Hebrews 13:5
A mean and miserly man of great wealth, as he approached death, decided to take his wealth with him. It did not bother him that it would mean that his wife would be left virtually penniless. And so he turned all of his wealth into cash, except for his house, which he needed for his plan to take his money with him. Besides, he grudgingly admitted, he owed his wife of 65 years the house.
And so he began to put his plan into motion. He bought a trunk large enough to hold all his money, filled it with the cash, and placed it in the attic over his bed so that, when he finally passed away, he could grab it on his way to heaven.
After he passed away, his wife, suspecting that not even he would be able to take anything with him, went up to the attic and, sure enough, found the trunk still full of all her deceased husband's money. As she sat on the attic floor running her fingers through all that money, she thought to herself, "Maybe he should have put it in the basement under his bed."
Scrap Pile
Open Doors?
by John Sumwalt
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2
We have a message on our signboard out front which reads: "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors." It is there to complement the commercials for the United Methodist Church which have been running for the past three weeks on national television and radio networks. Each one ends with the tag line: "We are the people of The United Methodist Church. Our Hearts, Our Minds, and Our Doors are always open."
This is not true in most United Methodist Churches. It is not true here. Our doors are locked most of the time. We have found that when we leave them open people come and steal things: televisions, VCRs, microwaves, anything that is not nailed down.
Our front doors are locked at noon to keep staff and volunteers safe from strangers who come in off the street.
Last Tuesday afternoon two of us were working in the office area when we heard a loud knocking on the courtyard door. I looked out and there was a stranger who appeared to be a street person. This happens two or three times a month. People come into this building looking for a meal, a place to stay, for bus money or money for gasoline. Some of them are clearly gentle souls who have come to the church because they love God and know that this is a safe place. Some are pushy, ill-mannered, angry, perhaps mentally ill or drug-dependent. They have come because they are desperate.
Whenever someone like this comes we have to make a decision. Will we let them in? Will we listen to their stories? Will we give them aid?
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it," we are reminded in today's epistle reading.
"Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors," we have proclaimed. "We are the people of The United Methodist Church."
How can we say this, how can we worship the one who lived this, if we lock our doors to strangers?
In the Jewish tradition the story is told of a rabbi who had so many people come to him with problems and needs that he did not have enough time for his study of the scriptures or for prayer. The only solution he could think of was that people must stop bringing their problems to him -- and his prayer was granted.
On the eve of the Feast of Tabernacles he asked some wayfarers to dine with him, as he did every year, but he was so thoroughly hated far and wide that no one would accept his invitation and he had to go home alone. When he had said the words bidding the holy guests, the patriarchs, to enter the booth that evening, he saw our Father Abraham standing outside like someone who has come to a house he is accustomed to visit, and only just sees that it is not the house he thought, and pauses in surprise. "What wrong have I done?" the rabbi cried out.
"It is not my custom to enter the house where no wayfarers have come as guests," our Father Abraham replied. From then on the rabbi prayed he might find favor in the eyes of his fellow men, and again his prayer was granted.
**********************************************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), will be released this month by CSS Publishing Company. Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Jodie Felton, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
You can order any of our books on the CSS website (http://www.csspub.com); they are also available from www.amazon.com and at many Christian bookstores. Or 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.)
**************
Looking for just the right story for this Sunday's sermon or Sunday School class? There is a large selection of stories on the StoryShare website (http://www.csspub.com/story.lasso). Click on "samples" to see two of our weekly editions.
New subscribers receive a year of StoryShare plus full access to the StoryShare archives for just $19.95. Subscribing online is convenient using our secure server -- or you can all CSS toll-free at (800) 537-1030 Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (Eastern Time) or send an e-mail to orders@csspub.com, and our customer service team will be happy to assist you.
We invite you to forward this offer to all of your friends who are looking for good stories.
**************
StoryShare, August 29, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 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.
Hebrews 13:2
One day a minister went to visit a family that had just moved into the neighborhood. As he rang the doorbell, a dog jumped up on the porch and nearly knocked him over. When the woman came to the door, the dog nearly knocked both of them down as he raced into the living room. The woman invited the minister to sit, but it was hard for them to have a conversation because the dog kept jumping on everyone, licking them, barking, and wanting to play. The minister finally became exasperated because no one in the family made any attempt to control the dog. As he walked out onto the porch to leave, he said, "I don't mean to be rude, but how in the world do you stand it with your dog jumping on everyone and licking them and barking so much?" The woman was dumbfounded. She said, "Our dog? We thought it was your dog."
Shining Moments
Singapore Angel
by Mary DeMuth
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?"
Hebrews 13:5-6
"Miss, you need to step here." The woman's voice came from behind me. I was alone in Singapore, recently de-trained from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I had finished a six-week short-term mission. It had been an adventure of faith; I had gone to assist a vibrant Christian church in a Muslim country with its youth and vocal programs, and I went alone. I was 22, wide-eyed, and full of zeal, but that night at the train station I was tired and afraid. Just a week prior, my new Malaysian friends had taken me to the closest emergency room, where the doctor gave me spoiled medicine for a severe case of bronchitis. My body heaved until the medicine was out of my system, so I was still a bit green on the long train ride.
Earlier, the Lord had sent two Taiwanese men, whom I befriended on the train, to help me unload my heavy luggage onto the deserted Singapore platform. Friends greeted them after they de-trained; they shyly waved to me as they laughed with their friends and sped away. A few families met the other remaining passengers, and I was left alone.
Taxis did not run after midnight, and my only connection to where I would be staying that evening was a scribbled address that I clutched in my right hand. My pastor from home had told me a harrowing tale of his handing this same address to a taxi driver and getting a grand tour of Singapore. A few taxicabs later, my pastor had finally arrived at the compound. Other mission teams that filtered through Singapore told similar stories of trying unsuccessfully to find this out-of-the-way place.
Stressed, I sat on my barely luggable luggage, put my face in my hands, and prayed, "Oh Lord, help me!" That's when the woman's voice interrupted my pity party.
"Miss, you need to step here."
I turned around to find a short Chinese woman, probably in her sixties. She was small-boned and seemed frail, but her voice exuded confidence. Before I could explain my predicament and my need for the non-existent taxi, she motioned for me to follow her to the street to the left of the platform. Awkwardly, I dragged my two suitcases off the platform to where she now stood, beckoning.
"Follow me, Miss. Don't worry. I will take care of you." I showed her the compound's address. She smiled and told me to wait. I stood on the dark street feeling vulnerable. Maybe this is a plot. Maybe she's going to rob me. In minutes she returned and a taxi followed her, backing down the road toward me. Again she said, "Don't worry. I will take care of you."
Before I could get to my luggage, this woman -- who probably weighed 90 pounds -- grabbed my bags and effortlessly hurled them into the taxi's already open trunk. She opened the back door for me and then spoke to the taxi driver in Chinese. Her voice raised as she motioned erratically with her arms. The taxi driver nodded. She turned to me and repeated, "Don't worry. I will take care of you." With that, she shut my door and the car lurched forward. I tried to blurt out a thank you as the door slammed, but its impact absorbed my words.
Desperately wanting to thank her, I turned to look out the taxi's back window where she stood. At least I could wave and smile. But when I looked, she was gone. The street, deserted, showed no signs of any life; only the hazy yellow glow of streetlights remained. The taxi driver took me directly to the compound via palm tree-lined streets, and took my luggage from the trunk. He waited until I found someone inside and then sped off.
Only once in my life have I possibly encountered an angel. The Bible speaks of wildly masculine angels whose strength and form cause people to quake. My "angel" was cleverly disguised as an aging Chinese woman who helped me find a taxi one quiet Singapore night.
Mary DeMuth grew up in the Pacific Northwest and now lives in Texas with her husband and three young children. She has designed and produced four non-profit newsletters and has been published in Marriage Partnership and Discipleship Journal. She writes a weekly column for her local suburban newspaper and is working on her first novel.
Good Stories
The Love of Money
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have...
Hebrews 13:5
A mean and miserly man of great wealth, as he approached death, decided to take his wealth with him. It did not bother him that it would mean that his wife would be left virtually penniless. And so he turned all of his wealth into cash, except for his house, which he needed for his plan to take his money with him. Besides, he grudgingly admitted, he owed his wife of 65 years the house.
And so he began to put his plan into motion. He bought a trunk large enough to hold all his money, filled it with the cash, and placed it in the attic over his bed so that, when he finally passed away, he could grab it on his way to heaven.
After he passed away, his wife, suspecting that not even he would be able to take anything with him, went up to the attic and, sure enough, found the trunk still full of all her deceased husband's money. As she sat on the attic floor running her fingers through all that money, she thought to herself, "Maybe he should have put it in the basement under his bed."
Scrap Pile
Open Doors?
by John Sumwalt
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2
We have a message on our signboard out front which reads: "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors." It is there to complement the commercials for the United Methodist Church which have been running for the past three weeks on national television and radio networks. Each one ends with the tag line: "We are the people of The United Methodist Church. Our Hearts, Our Minds, and Our Doors are always open."
This is not true in most United Methodist Churches. It is not true here. Our doors are locked most of the time. We have found that when we leave them open people come and steal things: televisions, VCRs, microwaves, anything that is not nailed down.
Our front doors are locked at noon to keep staff and volunteers safe from strangers who come in off the street.
Last Tuesday afternoon two of us were working in the office area when we heard a loud knocking on the courtyard door. I looked out and there was a stranger who appeared to be a street person. This happens two or three times a month. People come into this building looking for a meal, a place to stay, for bus money or money for gasoline. Some of them are clearly gentle souls who have come to the church because they love God and know that this is a safe place. Some are pushy, ill-mannered, angry, perhaps mentally ill or drug-dependent. They have come because they are desperate.
Whenever someone like this comes we have to make a decision. Will we let them in? Will we listen to their stories? Will we give them aid?
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it," we are reminded in today's epistle reading.
"Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors," we have proclaimed. "We are the people of The United Methodist Church."
How can we say this, how can we worship the one who lived this, if we lock our doors to strangers?
In the Jewish tradition the story is told of a rabbi who had so many people come to him with problems and needs that he did not have enough time for his study of the scriptures or for prayer. The only solution he could think of was that people must stop bringing their problems to him -- and his prayer was granted.
On the eve of the Feast of Tabernacles he asked some wayfarers to dine with him, as he did every year, but he was so thoroughly hated far and wide that no one would accept his invitation and he had to go home alone. When he had said the words bidding the holy guests, the patriarchs, to enter the booth that evening, he saw our Father Abraham standing outside like someone who has come to a house he is accustomed to visit, and only just sees that it is not the house he thought, and pauses in surprise. "What wrong have I done?" the rabbi cried out.
"It is not my custom to enter the house where no wayfarers have come as guests," our Father Abraham replied. From then on the rabbi prayed he might find favor in the eyes of his fellow men, and again his prayer was granted.
**********************************************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), will be released this month by CSS Publishing Company. Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Jodie Felton, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
You can order any of our books on the CSS website (http://www.csspub.com); they are also available from www.amazon.com and at many Christian bookstores. Or 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.)
**************
Looking for just the right story for this Sunday's sermon or Sunday School class? There is a large selection of stories on the StoryShare website (http://www.csspub.com/story.lasso). Click on "samples" to see two of our weekly editions.
New subscribers receive a year of StoryShare plus full access to the StoryShare archives for just $19.95. Subscribing online is convenient using our secure server -- or you can all CSS toll-free at (800) 537-1030 Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (Eastern Time) or send an e-mail to orders@csspub.com, and our customer service team will be happy to assist you.
We invite you to forward this offer to all of your friends who are looking for good stories.
**************
StoryShare, August 29, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 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.
