Those Who Reap What They Sow Are Servants
Stories
Object:
Contents
"Those who Reap what they Sow are Servants" by Keith Wagner
"Never Underestimate an Underdog" by Keith Wagner
Those who Reap what they Sow are Servants
by Keith Wagner
Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16
When I was a student at Otterbein College I met an elderly couple by the name of Henry and Martha. They weren’t teachers, or coaches or school administrators. Henry worked for the college service department and Martha was a cook at the campus dining hall. Henry and Martha opened their home to students who couldn’t afford housing. They sometimes had as many as four students living on the second floor of their little home on Center Street. They included them in meals, helped them get jobs and they became surrogate parents. Henry and Martha were true servants.
Henry and Martha had tremendous impact on my life. They taught me about being a servant. They were popular, not because they were rich or famous but because of the way they shared what they had and how they welcomed people into their lives. They had more influence on me than any teacher, or coach or any famous person. I will never forget their warmth, pragmatism, and their openness to share their gifts.
My college days were decades ago. Since then there have been many servants who I have learned to appreciate. One of my most devoted friends in the Navy was a sailor from the Philippines. He did more than clean my stateroom during my tour of duty on the USS Saratoga. He became like a brother to me while I was overseas. He frequently went out of his way to make my life more comfortable.
During my 35 years as a pastor the person who affected me more than any other was a woman named Alice. Alice was a member of my very first parish in central Ohio. She would sit in the front pew during worship and take notes while I preached. I often wondered what she was writing down.
When I visited her in her home I was utterly astounded. Alice’s home still had an outhouse. There was an old-fashioned hand pump on her kitchen sink. She had lived in the house her entire life. The furnishings were simple and Alice had few possessions. She did not drive nor did she own a car. On her kitchen table was a stack of church bulletins. She informed me that every week she would send the bulletins to shut-ins with notes about my sermons. That was her life’s ministry.
My most enjoyable ministry was not in the church. Rather it was my opportunity to teach at a two-year college. Teaching and helping students was very rewarding. Unfortunately I became hearing impaired and I had to retire from teaching. It was a humbling experience. But thanks to my loving wife, I finally took her advice and got hearing aids.
Most everyone knows that Alexander Graham Bell was the inventor of the telephone. In 1877 at Lyceum Hall in Salem, Massachusetts, he gave a lecture at the Essex Institute. During the lecture Bell demonstrated his device as those gathered heard the voice of Thomas Watson who was 18 miles away in Boston. The Boston Globe later reported that Bell’s invention was "an unqualified success."
But, how many know the rest of the story? Bell’s father, Alexander Melville Bell, worked in the field of speech, especially the treatment of speech impediments. When he married Eliza Symonds, who was partially deaf, he became involved in the field of deaf. Growing up, his son, Alexander Graham Bell, would help translate sermons to his mother by pronouncing words distinctly to her.
He (Alexander Graham Bell) went on to teach at schools for deaf children in Scotland and the United States. He also devoted his studies and research in studying sound and creating devices to aid the deaf. Like his father, Bell married Mabel Hubbard who was also deaf.
Bell may have succeeded in inventing the telephone but his whole life was dedicated to helping the deaf. Like the others I have described, it was Bell’s life as a servant that evolved into greatness.
* * *
Never Underestimate an Underdog
by Keith Wagner
2 Kings 5:1-14
I have always been a person who cheers for the underdog. Unfortunately, the underdog rarely wins. The only ones who come to mind are David against Goliath, the 1969 New York Mets and the US Ice Hockey team in the Winter Olympics of 1980 who won over Russia. Aside from these it always seems like it is the more powerful, the more famous, or the wealthy who always come out on top.
Sometimes underdogs emerge and I believe it is because of the grace of God. In 1999 there was a story emerging in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Gonzaga, a small Jesuit-run university in Spokane, Washington, defeated two powerful schools, Florida and Minnesota. People around the country were asking, “Who the heck is Gonzaga?” Their total enrollment at that time was 4,500 students and their athletic budget was very small in comparison with other schools. Nevertheless, they have since become one of the top teams in the country.
This story in 2 Kings is a story about a powerful man, Naaman. He was a great military leader and a mighty warrior who had favor with the king. He was a man of wealth and prominence, but he had a serious problem. He suffered from leprosy. Because of his stature he felt he deserved better and desperately wanted to be healed. But, in spite of his power and might he was helpless to find a cure.
Fortunately for Naaman, God intervened. God frequently helped underdogs to overcome an opponent, in this case the leprosy of a mighty leader. Naaman discovered that there was a God more powerful than himself and a God who extended grace to someone outside the faith. For that to happen Elisha had to come to his rescue. Although Naaman was impatient he eventually realized he had to wait and follow Elisha’s instructions. In other words, he had to be humbled.
The most humble cartoon character I know is Charlie Brown. Time after time he believed Lucy would let him kick the football but she always pulled it away at the last moment. For Charlie Brown, humility never seemed to help. But none the less he was the most revered character in Peanuts.
One time in a cartoon Lucy was playing her role as psychiatrist. She sat in her booth with a sign that read: "Psychiatric Help -- 5 cents." The sign below said, "The Doctor Is In." Lucy said to Charlie Brown, "Your life is like a house."
In the next frame, she said reflectively, "You want your house to have a solid foundation, don't you?" Charlie Brown had a kind of blank look on his face. Then Lucy said, "Of course you do."
Charlie Brown was still silent -- saying nothing. Then in the fourth frame, psychiatrist Lucy said, "So don't build your house on the sand, Charlie Brown." About that time, a huge wind came up and blew the booth down. Lucy, who was sitting in the rubble said, "Or use cheap nails."
To experience humility can be embarrassing. No one likes to appear less than they really are. Our egos force us to put up a good front but we learn overtime that humility is necessary.
Ironically it was the most powerless people in Naaman’s life story who made a difference. There was the slave girl, his wife’s servant, who gave him hope. It was Elisha’s messenger who greeted him and instructed him to wash in the Jordan River. And, it was his own servants who encouraged him to obey the prophet Elisha. Just because a person appears insignificant does not mean they don’t participate in the healing ways of God. God uses everyone, especially the lowliest of servants or "underdogs" to be instruments of God’s grace.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, July 3, 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.
"Those who Reap what they Sow are Servants" by Keith Wagner
"Never Underestimate an Underdog" by Keith Wagner
Those who Reap what they Sow are Servants
by Keith Wagner
Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16
When I was a student at Otterbein College I met an elderly couple by the name of Henry and Martha. They weren’t teachers, or coaches or school administrators. Henry worked for the college service department and Martha was a cook at the campus dining hall. Henry and Martha opened their home to students who couldn’t afford housing. They sometimes had as many as four students living on the second floor of their little home on Center Street. They included them in meals, helped them get jobs and they became surrogate parents. Henry and Martha were true servants.
Henry and Martha had tremendous impact on my life. They taught me about being a servant. They were popular, not because they were rich or famous but because of the way they shared what they had and how they welcomed people into their lives. They had more influence on me than any teacher, or coach or any famous person. I will never forget their warmth, pragmatism, and their openness to share their gifts.
My college days were decades ago. Since then there have been many servants who I have learned to appreciate. One of my most devoted friends in the Navy was a sailor from the Philippines. He did more than clean my stateroom during my tour of duty on the USS Saratoga. He became like a brother to me while I was overseas. He frequently went out of his way to make my life more comfortable.
During my 35 years as a pastor the person who affected me more than any other was a woman named Alice. Alice was a member of my very first parish in central Ohio. She would sit in the front pew during worship and take notes while I preached. I often wondered what she was writing down.
When I visited her in her home I was utterly astounded. Alice’s home still had an outhouse. There was an old-fashioned hand pump on her kitchen sink. She had lived in the house her entire life. The furnishings were simple and Alice had few possessions. She did not drive nor did she own a car. On her kitchen table was a stack of church bulletins. She informed me that every week she would send the bulletins to shut-ins with notes about my sermons. That was her life’s ministry.
My most enjoyable ministry was not in the church. Rather it was my opportunity to teach at a two-year college. Teaching and helping students was very rewarding. Unfortunately I became hearing impaired and I had to retire from teaching. It was a humbling experience. But thanks to my loving wife, I finally took her advice and got hearing aids.
Most everyone knows that Alexander Graham Bell was the inventor of the telephone. In 1877 at Lyceum Hall in Salem, Massachusetts, he gave a lecture at the Essex Institute. During the lecture Bell demonstrated his device as those gathered heard the voice of Thomas Watson who was 18 miles away in Boston. The Boston Globe later reported that Bell’s invention was "an unqualified success."
But, how many know the rest of the story? Bell’s father, Alexander Melville Bell, worked in the field of speech, especially the treatment of speech impediments. When he married Eliza Symonds, who was partially deaf, he became involved in the field of deaf. Growing up, his son, Alexander Graham Bell, would help translate sermons to his mother by pronouncing words distinctly to her.
He (Alexander Graham Bell) went on to teach at schools for deaf children in Scotland and the United States. He also devoted his studies and research in studying sound and creating devices to aid the deaf. Like his father, Bell married Mabel Hubbard who was also deaf.
Bell may have succeeded in inventing the telephone but his whole life was dedicated to helping the deaf. Like the others I have described, it was Bell’s life as a servant that evolved into greatness.
* * *
Never Underestimate an Underdog
by Keith Wagner
2 Kings 5:1-14
I have always been a person who cheers for the underdog. Unfortunately, the underdog rarely wins. The only ones who come to mind are David against Goliath, the 1969 New York Mets and the US Ice Hockey team in the Winter Olympics of 1980 who won over Russia. Aside from these it always seems like it is the more powerful, the more famous, or the wealthy who always come out on top.
Sometimes underdogs emerge and I believe it is because of the grace of God. In 1999 there was a story emerging in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Gonzaga, a small Jesuit-run university in Spokane, Washington, defeated two powerful schools, Florida and Minnesota. People around the country were asking, “Who the heck is Gonzaga?” Their total enrollment at that time was 4,500 students and their athletic budget was very small in comparison with other schools. Nevertheless, they have since become one of the top teams in the country.
This story in 2 Kings is a story about a powerful man, Naaman. He was a great military leader and a mighty warrior who had favor with the king. He was a man of wealth and prominence, but he had a serious problem. He suffered from leprosy. Because of his stature he felt he deserved better and desperately wanted to be healed. But, in spite of his power and might he was helpless to find a cure.
Fortunately for Naaman, God intervened. God frequently helped underdogs to overcome an opponent, in this case the leprosy of a mighty leader. Naaman discovered that there was a God more powerful than himself and a God who extended grace to someone outside the faith. For that to happen Elisha had to come to his rescue. Although Naaman was impatient he eventually realized he had to wait and follow Elisha’s instructions. In other words, he had to be humbled.
The most humble cartoon character I know is Charlie Brown. Time after time he believed Lucy would let him kick the football but she always pulled it away at the last moment. For Charlie Brown, humility never seemed to help. But none the less he was the most revered character in Peanuts.
One time in a cartoon Lucy was playing her role as psychiatrist. She sat in her booth with a sign that read: "Psychiatric Help -- 5 cents." The sign below said, "The Doctor Is In." Lucy said to Charlie Brown, "Your life is like a house."
In the next frame, she said reflectively, "You want your house to have a solid foundation, don't you?" Charlie Brown had a kind of blank look on his face. Then Lucy said, "Of course you do."
Charlie Brown was still silent -- saying nothing. Then in the fourth frame, psychiatrist Lucy said, "So don't build your house on the sand, Charlie Brown." About that time, a huge wind came up and blew the booth down. Lucy, who was sitting in the rubble said, "Or use cheap nails."
To experience humility can be embarrassing. No one likes to appear less than they really are. Our egos force us to put up a good front but we learn overtime that humility is necessary.
Ironically it was the most powerless people in Naaman’s life story who made a difference. There was the slave girl, his wife’s servant, who gave him hope. It was Elisha’s messenger who greeted him and instructed him to wash in the Jordan River. And, it was his own servants who encouraged him to obey the prophet Elisha. Just because a person appears insignificant does not mean they don’t participate in the healing ways of God. God uses everyone, especially the lowliest of servants or "underdogs" to be instruments of God’s grace.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, July 3, 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.
