The Unexpected Tomorrow
Stories
Object:
Contents
What's Up This Week
"The Unexpected Tomorrow" by Peter Andrew Smith
"Clean Desks" by C. David McKirachan
"Little Lola Marie's Baptism" by Constance Berg
"Simple Truth" by Peter Andrew Smith
What's Up This Week
John the Baptist played an important role -- but as he constantly told everyone, he was merely preparing the way for someone else who would play a much more important part in humanity's unfolding story. In this edition of StoryShare, Peter Andrew Smith offers an interesting analogy for that relationship. In "The Unexpected Tomorrow," a pastor stuns his congregational leadership by informing them that he will be leaving, just as the board thinks they are finally "turning the corner." But as the pastor reminds them, he has fulfilled his role -- and the one who is coming will be tasked by God with the vital work of leading them forward. David McKirachan shares some thoughts on the opening verses of Genesis. After musing on God's seeming obsession with creating order out of chaos, he reflects on his own predilection for messiness, and concludes that even God allows for wonderful messiness as part of his creation. Constance Berg tells about a touching baptism celebration, and Peter Andrew Smith offers a brief vignette on the simple truth that the future depends on the Lord's will.
* * * * * * * * *
The Unexpected Tomorrow
by Peter Andrew Smith
Mark 1:4-11
"I'm not staying on as your minister," Ralph said firmly.
"Pastor," the Chair of the Board said, "I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but for the good of the congregation I'd be willing to make things work."
Ralph smiled. "My leaving has nothing to do with you disagreeing with me. You're a good man who loves God and his church. We just have different ways of doing things."
The Chair of the Board shook his head. "Then I don't understand -- if it's not me, then why won't you stay? There is a good feeling in the congregation after years of us fighting with each other. There is a growing crowd on Sunday morning, and our finances mean we can consider hiring that youth pastor we've always wanted. Our congregation is poised to explode with new people and new programs. We just have to make sure we have the right man leading us to keep things going this way."
"And that is exactly why I am leaving," Ralph said. "You need the right person to lead you, and I am not that person."
"How could you not be that person? You were the lone voice who came and took the broken parts of this church and called us back to God. You refused to let us continue hurting each other and demanded that we be Christians in more than just name. We've done those things and are enjoying the renewed prosperity of this church."
"Yes, you have done all those things -- which is why I am leaving. Because God brought me here to prepare the way, and that's what I have done. And now the next person will be coming."
"Next person?"
"The one God is sending to set this place on fire with the Holy Spirit. You're ready spiritually, emotionally, and financially for the next great thing God has planned for you. When the person arrives to lead you, then things will happen which I cannot even imagine."
The Chair of the Board looked shocked. "But you know us. You've brought us so far -- how can you not know where we are headed?"
Ralph put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Because I'm not the person God wants to do that work with you. That is for the next pastor who will preach and serve among you."
The Chair shrugged. "I still think you're the man to lead us, but I know better than to argue with you when your mind is made up. Do you suppose the next pastor will be a man like you?"
Ralph shrugged. "I have no idea. She might be younger or she might be older."
The Chair of the Board's mouth hung open as he walked away. Ralph felt a wave of satisfaction in having planted the last seed he needed to in order to finish the work God had called him to do with the congregation.
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada who currently serves at 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, as well as many stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
Clean Desks
by C. David McKirachan
Genesis 1:1-5
I've taken the Myers-Briggs personality preference profile a few times. Some of the insights it reveals about my personality are no-brainers. I'm an extrovert out the wazoo. And then there's the way I keep order. I don't -- I have a tendency to not worry too much about how my desk looks at any time of day, week, month, or year. True, I'm infamous for losing things. But then there's always the epiphanous moment when I rediscover them.
I was at a continuing education event once where we were sorted by personality type. We'd all taken the test and sent them in before we got there. So I was in a group of six other extroverted, disorganized ministers. Fifteen minutes into the exercise we were laughing at our shared normality. One guy put a trash can at the end of his desk every six months and emptied whatever was piled on it into the gaping maw of oblivion. I asked him, "Did you ever miss anything?" His simple answer was "Not unless you count all the anxiety I dump with the trash on my desk." In another fifteen minutes we were trying to figure out where to go for beer after the class, and I noticed the other groups. One of them had found an easel and markers -- they were making a list. Another one was sitting quietly. I bet they all had clean desks.
I used to worry about the creation story that most people are familiar with. There's an awful lot of ordering and separating and judging going on there. I worried that God was the ultimate bean counter. This god liked things neat. And the chaos that was conquered by all the ordering and separating and judging was more similar to my "fly by the seat of my pants" reality. So did that make me on the outside of God's orderliness?
You might scoff, but I've been told point-blank and almost diplomatically over the years that my lack of order was paramount to a failure in my moral system and a good reason why my spiritual leadership was questionable. The budget types wield powerful influence over the hearts and minds and pocketbooks of the church. And they are faithful workers in the vineyard.
It was pretty easy for me to get the idea that God's image we were made in didn't include a nose. Creativity and separating and seeing that stuff was good were more in line with the family resemblance we'd received. Well, wait a minute... wasn't that ordering in its own way? Sure God ordered things. But the order included pretty intricate things like snowflakes and downright messy stuff like birth. And just because something's messy doesn't mean it's wrong. And when the One decides it time to step outside the nice, neat order of things and make something happen, we don't call that wrong -- we call that a miracle.
So in this convoluted manner, using whatever kinky form of logic my messy brain would allow, I decided that even if the writer of Genesis would disapprove of my lack of a coherent filing system, the Holy Spirit allowed for all kinds of loopholes -- even for people with messy desks.
Whew, what a relief. Now, where did I put that sermon I was working on?
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. He is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder (Westminster John Knox).
Little Lola Marie's Baptism
by Constance Berg
Acts 19:1-7
... they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them...
Acts 19:5-6
Lola was a young doctor: an obstetrician who loved what she did. She had recently moved to a small town, about 50 miles east of her parents. Oh, it was so good to be able to drive to their house every once in a while to get away from the pressure of the hospital! She had found a little house on the end of a quiet street, and she felt like she had hit the jackpot when she saw it. It had a big room out back where she promised herself she would set up a little art studio. Her first love was medicine, but painting was a close second.
She was going to practice general medicine, since usually only a few dozen babies were born in the town. Lola would appreciate all the babies she could deliver. But she wasn't prepared for her first emergency delivery on a cold, lonely highway.
It was about noon that day when she finished her rounds at the hospital. She was on her way to Thanksgiving dinner with her parents when she came upon an accident outside of town. It had snowed that morning and the roads were still slippery. A car had slid off the highway and landed in the ditch. Inside, Lola found a very pregnant young woman named Elizabeth. She was conscious. Elizabeth explained that although she wasn't due for another thirteen weeks, she thought perhaps her water had broken upon impact. And she was pinned in the car.
Lola checked Elizabeth and they started to talk -- at first about nothing in particular. Elizabeth lived in a town about 40 miles away to the north. She was a teacher who was going to be a stay-at-home mom once the baby arrived -- which was supposed to be in early March! Lola shared that she was new to the rural community but the people had captured her heart and the landscape had captured her artistic side. She couldn't wait to start painting the landscapes as the seasons changed! They each shared their love of their families and their close ties to their church. Together, they bowed their head in prayer as they waited for help to arrive.
Volunteer fire and rescue personnel came and they were able to free Elizabeth. While on the way to the hospital, Lola got busy and a tiny baby girl was delivered in the ambulance. Lola was overwhelmed with emotion and joked to Elizabeth that she never wanted to deliver another baby like this! The baby, whom Elizabeth named Lola Marie, looked so little next to Elizabeth. Both mother and daughter were whisked away as soon as the ambulance arrived at the hospital.
Lola sat in the family conference room, waiting for someone to bring her back to her car on the highway, when she heard "code blue, NICU, code blue, NICU." She knew in her heart that it was Lola Marie, and she ran through the double doors. Lola offered to help, praying that the baby would be saved for Elizabeth's sake. She heard the nurse say the chaplain was on the way. The doctors were able to revive little Lola Marie, and after a few hours the baby stabilized. Lola decided she could finally leave. She went to say good-bye to Elizabeth.
Three months later, Lola received an invitation to Lola Marie's dedication. Elizabeth had enclosed pictures of Lola Marie, and although she looked tiny, she looked beautiful! Elizabeth wanted Lola to sit with the family.
It was late February and crocuses were peaking through the snow. There was hope that the snow would finally go away after all! The church service was lovely, and when it came time for the dedication, the pastor explained why this was not a "baptism." Tiny Lola Marie had already been baptized in the hospital by the chaplain while the doctors were frantically trying to revive her.
The pastor symbolically poured water from the baptismal font into a shell. "The baptismal waters have already been poured on Lola Marie when she was less than an hour old, but this water symbolizes what happened at her true baptism that first day of her life. Today we are reminded what happens at baptism. The words 'you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever' have already been uttered over Lola Marie. The Holy Spirit has already come upon Lola Marie."
Lola smiled -- there was not a dry eye in the congregation. Lola Marie indeed was baptized: Lola Marie was a child of God, and as tiny as she was, she was a fighter. God bless little Lola Marie!
Constance Berg is a former missionary to Chiapas, Mexico. She is currently based in Bakersfield, California, where she serves as the director of 18 nursing homes for handicapped individuals. Berg holds degrees from California State University and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, and she has done graduate work at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is the author of three volumes of the CSS series Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit.
Simple Truth
by Peter Andrew Smith
Psalm 29
"Lord willing, I'll be back in church next Sunday," Lucy said as she shook hands with her pastor.
He looked at the tubes and machines hooked up to her frail body. "You just do what the doctors tell you, and if you can't make it to church then I'll make sure the church comes to you."
"Thank you, Pastor," she said as she laid back in the bed. "I am hoping that my stay in this hospital is a short one, and Lord willing, I'll be home soon."
"And if the Lord isn't willing?" he said.
Lucy sighed. "Then I'll accept it the same as I've accepted the things I've enjoyed in my life."
"You're a strong woman," he said, holding her hand firmly.
She shook her head. "No, I'm really not. But the Lord is strong enough to get me through this and anything else I have to face. I know that."
"You have an incredible faith." He smiled at her. "Lord willing, I'll never have to find out if my faith is as strong as yours."
She smiled back. "Saying 'Lord willing' means you already know where to find the strength when you need it. There is nothing more important for your faith than that."
**********************************************
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 e-mail the story to us at storyshare@sermonsuite.com.
**************
StoryShare, January 11, 2009, issue.
Copyright 2009 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., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
What's Up This Week
"The Unexpected Tomorrow" by Peter Andrew Smith
"Clean Desks" by C. David McKirachan
"Little Lola Marie's Baptism" by Constance Berg
"Simple Truth" by Peter Andrew Smith
What's Up This Week
John the Baptist played an important role -- but as he constantly told everyone, he was merely preparing the way for someone else who would play a much more important part in humanity's unfolding story. In this edition of StoryShare, Peter Andrew Smith offers an interesting analogy for that relationship. In "The Unexpected Tomorrow," a pastor stuns his congregational leadership by informing them that he will be leaving, just as the board thinks they are finally "turning the corner." But as the pastor reminds them, he has fulfilled his role -- and the one who is coming will be tasked by God with the vital work of leading them forward. David McKirachan shares some thoughts on the opening verses of Genesis. After musing on God's seeming obsession with creating order out of chaos, he reflects on his own predilection for messiness, and concludes that even God allows for wonderful messiness as part of his creation. Constance Berg tells about a touching baptism celebration, and Peter Andrew Smith offers a brief vignette on the simple truth that the future depends on the Lord's will.
* * * * * * * * *
The Unexpected Tomorrow
by Peter Andrew Smith
Mark 1:4-11
"I'm not staying on as your minister," Ralph said firmly.
"Pastor," the Chair of the Board said, "I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but for the good of the congregation I'd be willing to make things work."
Ralph smiled. "My leaving has nothing to do with you disagreeing with me. You're a good man who loves God and his church. We just have different ways of doing things."
The Chair of the Board shook his head. "Then I don't understand -- if it's not me, then why won't you stay? There is a good feeling in the congregation after years of us fighting with each other. There is a growing crowd on Sunday morning, and our finances mean we can consider hiring that youth pastor we've always wanted. Our congregation is poised to explode with new people and new programs. We just have to make sure we have the right man leading us to keep things going this way."
"And that is exactly why I am leaving," Ralph said. "You need the right person to lead you, and I am not that person."
"How could you not be that person? You were the lone voice who came and took the broken parts of this church and called us back to God. You refused to let us continue hurting each other and demanded that we be Christians in more than just name. We've done those things and are enjoying the renewed prosperity of this church."
"Yes, you have done all those things -- which is why I am leaving. Because God brought me here to prepare the way, and that's what I have done. And now the next person will be coming."
"Next person?"
"The one God is sending to set this place on fire with the Holy Spirit. You're ready spiritually, emotionally, and financially for the next great thing God has planned for you. When the person arrives to lead you, then things will happen which I cannot even imagine."
The Chair of the Board looked shocked. "But you know us. You've brought us so far -- how can you not know where we are headed?"
Ralph put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Because I'm not the person God wants to do that work with you. That is for the next pastor who will preach and serve among you."
The Chair shrugged. "I still think you're the man to lead us, but I know better than to argue with you when your mind is made up. Do you suppose the next pastor will be a man like you?"
Ralph shrugged. "I have no idea. She might be younger or she might be older."
The Chair of the Board's mouth hung open as he walked away. Ralph felt a wave of satisfaction in having planted the last seed he needed to in order to finish the work God had called him to do with the congregation.
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada who currently serves at 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, as well as many stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
Clean Desks
by C. David McKirachan
Genesis 1:1-5
I've taken the Myers-Briggs personality preference profile a few times. Some of the insights it reveals about my personality are no-brainers. I'm an extrovert out the wazoo. And then there's the way I keep order. I don't -- I have a tendency to not worry too much about how my desk looks at any time of day, week, month, or year. True, I'm infamous for losing things. But then there's always the epiphanous moment when I rediscover them.
I was at a continuing education event once where we were sorted by personality type. We'd all taken the test and sent them in before we got there. So I was in a group of six other extroverted, disorganized ministers. Fifteen minutes into the exercise we were laughing at our shared normality. One guy put a trash can at the end of his desk every six months and emptied whatever was piled on it into the gaping maw of oblivion. I asked him, "Did you ever miss anything?" His simple answer was "Not unless you count all the anxiety I dump with the trash on my desk." In another fifteen minutes we were trying to figure out where to go for beer after the class, and I noticed the other groups. One of them had found an easel and markers -- they were making a list. Another one was sitting quietly. I bet they all had clean desks.
I used to worry about the creation story that most people are familiar with. There's an awful lot of ordering and separating and judging going on there. I worried that God was the ultimate bean counter. This god liked things neat. And the chaos that was conquered by all the ordering and separating and judging was more similar to my "fly by the seat of my pants" reality. So did that make me on the outside of God's orderliness?
You might scoff, but I've been told point-blank and almost diplomatically over the years that my lack of order was paramount to a failure in my moral system and a good reason why my spiritual leadership was questionable. The budget types wield powerful influence over the hearts and minds and pocketbooks of the church. And they are faithful workers in the vineyard.
It was pretty easy for me to get the idea that God's image we were made in didn't include a nose. Creativity and separating and seeing that stuff was good were more in line with the family resemblance we'd received. Well, wait a minute... wasn't that ordering in its own way? Sure God ordered things. But the order included pretty intricate things like snowflakes and downright messy stuff like birth. And just because something's messy doesn't mean it's wrong. And when the One decides it time to step outside the nice, neat order of things and make something happen, we don't call that wrong -- we call that a miracle.
So in this convoluted manner, using whatever kinky form of logic my messy brain would allow, I decided that even if the writer of Genesis would disapprove of my lack of a coherent filing system, the Holy Spirit allowed for all kinds of loopholes -- even for people with messy desks.
Whew, what a relief. Now, where did I put that sermon I was working on?
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. He is the author of I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder (Westminster John Knox).
Little Lola Marie's Baptism
by Constance Berg
Acts 19:1-7
... they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them...
Acts 19:5-6
Lola was a young doctor: an obstetrician who loved what she did. She had recently moved to a small town, about 50 miles east of her parents. Oh, it was so good to be able to drive to their house every once in a while to get away from the pressure of the hospital! She had found a little house on the end of a quiet street, and she felt like she had hit the jackpot when she saw it. It had a big room out back where she promised herself she would set up a little art studio. Her first love was medicine, but painting was a close second.
She was going to practice general medicine, since usually only a few dozen babies were born in the town. Lola would appreciate all the babies she could deliver. But she wasn't prepared for her first emergency delivery on a cold, lonely highway.
It was about noon that day when she finished her rounds at the hospital. She was on her way to Thanksgiving dinner with her parents when she came upon an accident outside of town. It had snowed that morning and the roads were still slippery. A car had slid off the highway and landed in the ditch. Inside, Lola found a very pregnant young woman named Elizabeth. She was conscious. Elizabeth explained that although she wasn't due for another thirteen weeks, she thought perhaps her water had broken upon impact. And she was pinned in the car.
Lola checked Elizabeth and they started to talk -- at first about nothing in particular. Elizabeth lived in a town about 40 miles away to the north. She was a teacher who was going to be a stay-at-home mom once the baby arrived -- which was supposed to be in early March! Lola shared that she was new to the rural community but the people had captured her heart and the landscape had captured her artistic side. She couldn't wait to start painting the landscapes as the seasons changed! They each shared their love of their families and their close ties to their church. Together, they bowed their head in prayer as they waited for help to arrive.
Volunteer fire and rescue personnel came and they were able to free Elizabeth. While on the way to the hospital, Lola got busy and a tiny baby girl was delivered in the ambulance. Lola was overwhelmed with emotion and joked to Elizabeth that she never wanted to deliver another baby like this! The baby, whom Elizabeth named Lola Marie, looked so little next to Elizabeth. Both mother and daughter were whisked away as soon as the ambulance arrived at the hospital.
Lola sat in the family conference room, waiting for someone to bring her back to her car on the highway, when she heard "code blue, NICU, code blue, NICU." She knew in her heart that it was Lola Marie, and she ran through the double doors. Lola offered to help, praying that the baby would be saved for Elizabeth's sake. She heard the nurse say the chaplain was on the way. The doctors were able to revive little Lola Marie, and after a few hours the baby stabilized. Lola decided she could finally leave. She went to say good-bye to Elizabeth.
Three months later, Lola received an invitation to Lola Marie's dedication. Elizabeth had enclosed pictures of Lola Marie, and although she looked tiny, she looked beautiful! Elizabeth wanted Lola to sit with the family.
It was late February and crocuses were peaking through the snow. There was hope that the snow would finally go away after all! The church service was lovely, and when it came time for the dedication, the pastor explained why this was not a "baptism." Tiny Lola Marie had already been baptized in the hospital by the chaplain while the doctors were frantically trying to revive her.
The pastor symbolically poured water from the baptismal font into a shell. "The baptismal waters have already been poured on Lola Marie when she was less than an hour old, but this water symbolizes what happened at her true baptism that first day of her life. Today we are reminded what happens at baptism. The words 'you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever' have already been uttered over Lola Marie. The Holy Spirit has already come upon Lola Marie."
Lola smiled -- there was not a dry eye in the congregation. Lola Marie indeed was baptized: Lola Marie was a child of God, and as tiny as she was, she was a fighter. God bless little Lola Marie!
Constance Berg is a former missionary to Chiapas, Mexico. She is currently based in Bakersfield, California, where she serves as the director of 18 nursing homes for handicapped individuals. Berg holds degrees from California State University and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, and she has done graduate work at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is the author of three volumes of the CSS series Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit.
Simple Truth
by Peter Andrew Smith
Psalm 29
"Lord willing, I'll be back in church next Sunday," Lucy said as she shook hands with her pastor.
He looked at the tubes and machines hooked up to her frail body. "You just do what the doctors tell you, and if you can't make it to church then I'll make sure the church comes to you."
"Thank you, Pastor," she said as she laid back in the bed. "I am hoping that my stay in this hospital is a short one, and Lord willing, I'll be home soon."
"And if the Lord isn't willing?" he said.
Lucy sighed. "Then I'll accept it the same as I've accepted the things I've enjoyed in my life."
"You're a strong woman," he said, holding her hand firmly.
She shook her head. "No, I'm really not. But the Lord is strong enough to get me through this and anything else I have to face. I know that."
"You have an incredible faith." He smiled at her. "Lord willing, I'll never have to find out if my faith is as strong as yours."
She smiled back. "Saying 'Lord willing' means you already know where to find the strength when you need it. There is nothing more important for your faith than that."
**********************************************
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 e-mail the story to us at storyshare@sermonsuite.com.
**************
StoryShare, January 11, 2009, issue.
Copyright 2009 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., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
