This morning I talked to a few students from Alaska Bible Seminary about stories and illustrations for preaching. I shared several tidbits of advice and ideas from my life and ministry. After the class I was thinking of my favorite stories. Today I want to share one of them. I also used this story for One Lord Sunday in Homer in 2011. It is from preacher Fred Craddock. Fred Craddock is one of my favorite preachers in the world. He shares this story from his life in a sermon and it can also be found in the book “Craddock Stories.”
I hope you enjoy:
My mother took us to church and Sunday school; my father didn’t go. He complained about Sunday dinner being late when she came home. Sometimes the preacher would call, and my father would say, “I know what the church wants. Church doesn’t care about me. Church wants another name, another pledge, another name, another pledge, right? Isn’t that the name of it? Another name, another pledge.” That’s what he always said. Sometimes we’d have a revival. Pastor would bring the evangelist and say to the evangelist, “There’s one now, sic him, get him, get him,” and my father would say the same thing. Every time, my mother in the kitchen, always nervous, in fear of flaring tempers, of somebody being hurt. And always my father said, “The church doesn’t care about me. The church wants another name and another pledge.” I guess I heard it a thousand times. One time he didn’t say it. He was in the veteran’s hospital, and he was down to seventy-three pounds. They’d taken out his throat, and said, “It’s too late.” They put in a metal tube, and X-rays burned him to pieces. I flew in to see him. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t eat. I looked around the room, potted plants and cut flowers on all the windowsills, a stack of cards twenty inches deep beside his bed. And even that tray where they put food, if you can eat, on that was a flower. And all the flowers beside the bed, every card, every blossom, were from persons or groups from the church. He saw me read a card. He could not speak, so he took a Kleenex box and wrote on the side of it a line from Shakespeare. If he had not written this line, I would not tell you this story. He wrote: “in this harsh world, draw your breath in pain to tell my story.” I said, “What is your story, Daddy?” And he wrote, “I was wrong.”
Month: March 2013
Faith
While I was in college one of my professors urged the students to read the books of Eugene Peterson. In those early days of ministry I read several of his books, but it was not until I became an older Pastor that much of what he had written began to make sense to me. For those of you who do not know about Peterson, he is the guy who translated/paraphrased the Bible in his work called “The Message.” He is the author of numerous books and I have read many of them. One of my favorite books is a collection of pieces of his writings called “Living the Message.” It is a series of daily reflections on faith, the scripture and pastoral life in little half page or more segments. It is designed to be read every day of the week as an encouragement to your faith. I admit to you that I am now re-reading through it for the 4th or 5th time.
One of my favorite thoughts in the book is a passage in which he talks about how he is not very religious. He states something that I find really profound.
He says that he only believes in one God and that is it. He does not believe in fate or destiny or karma. He does not believe in magic or illusion. He does not believe in crystal balls, tea leaves, or the lines on the palm of your hand. He does not believe in luck or superstitions or even simple coincidence.
Most of the world rejects the idea of one God and instead buys into every mystical notion that they are told to to true. Christians are people who have simply decided to worship one God and one God alone.
Standing for Marriage
I have been reading a book about Church growth in the rural setting. I was surprised to find that one of his first principles for growth is to have a great marriage. I suppose that has me thinking about my marriage more this week. As a result I decided to print something I found years ago. I am not sure who wrote it originally. I was once told it came from Bob Moorhead but I cannot find any information to confirm or deny that as fact. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
A Prayer Commitment To Marriage
I am standing for the healing of my marriage! I won’t give up, give in, give out or give over till that healing takes place, I made a vow, I said the works, I gave the pledge, I gave a ring, I took a ring, I gave myself, I trusted God, and said the words, and meant the words…in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in good times and in bad, so I’m standing now, and won’t sit down, let down, slow down, calm down, fall down, look down, or be down till the breakdown is torn down.
I refuse to put my eyes on outward circumstances, or listen to prophets of doom, or buy into what’s trendy, worldly, popular, convenient, easy, quick, thrifty, or advantageous…nor will I settle for a cheap imitation of God’s real thing, nor will I seek to lower God’s standard, twist God’s will, rewrite God’s Word, violate God’s covenant, or accept what God hates, namely divorce.
In a world of filth, I will stay pure, surrounded by lies, I will speak the truth, where hopelessness abound, I will hope in God, where revenge is easier, I will bless instead of curse, and where the odds are stacked against me, I’ll trust in God’s faithfulness.
I’m a stander, and I won’t acquiesce, compromise, quarrel or quit…I have made the choice, set my face, entered the race, believed the Word, and trusted God for all the outcome.
I will allow neither the reaction of my spouse, nor the urging of my friends, nor the advice of my loved ones, not the economic hardship, nor the prompting of the devil to make me let up, slow up, blow up, or give up till my marriage is healed up.
Amen.
Second Chance Pastor 