Fourth Sunday Of Easter
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle A
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Acts 2:42-47 (C); Acts 2:14, 36-41 (RC)
(See Easter 3)
Lesson 1: Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60 (E)
Aren't we glad church disputes aren't like they used to be? Stephen was chosen along with six friends to assist the apostles in their ministry to the Christian community. Those preachers who have served large, growing churches are aware that the demands of the organization reach a point where specialized ministry is necessary. The local preacher is probably very good at something, pretty good at several other things. But she or he is probably lousy at some things. A specialized ministry enables one to concentrate on what one does best. The apostles were uneducated former fishermen and craftsmen. Organized management was not their thing. So, they found some high-type young fellows who could take charge of ministry to the poor, especially widows with little financial support.
Along came some Greek-speaking Jews and who knows what kind of political dissension lay behind their complaints? That was terribly important then, much less so for us. What is important is that we have displayed before us the worst and the best in human nature. Threatened with death, a form of punishment apparently well recognized since we don't see the police arresting any of the crowd, Stephen, under hostile criticism, holds his ground and indicts the Hellenists for having played a part in the rejection of Jesus. He flays them for repudiating the prophets who were often murdered by these people's very parents, accuses them of disobeying the Holy Spirit, of breaking the law "as ordained by angels."
I suppose we can understand the anger of the Hellenists. Some of them probably weren't bad people individually, but mob violence always involves some basically decent people who lack courage and loyalty to their beliefs. So, they stoned Stephen, but not before his splendid prayer, and not before he saw a vision of Jesus there with him. Presumably it was a vision seen only by Stephen or surely the mob would have backed down. Anyway, Stephen lived out the example of his master, asking not for deliverance, but only that his spirit be received. He also did something most of us would find hard to do: he prayed that God would forgive the members of the crowd. What is important now is the fact that we have not just a Christian martyr, but an example of two facts: one, being a true Christian won't be easy, and two, there are and will be people who have the greatness to be always faithful.
Lesson 2: 1 Peter 2:19-25 (C, E); 1 Peter 2:20-25 (RC)
Peter wasn't always an admirable man in the early going. However, once he began to understand Jesus and once he grasped what was expected of him, he became a heroic example of the Christian life. It's fairly clear that Peter suffered a lot in his life. He found meaning in his suffering by offering it up as a sacrifice to God. In this passage, he commends the same theology to the rest of us. "It is a credit to you," he writes, "if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly." Mainly, Peter is referring to the painful consequences of living faithfully by Christian principles. Peter then veers slightly, extolling Jesus for suffering unjustly, having thereby paid the price for our sins, even though he himself was blameless. The rest of us were wandering "astray," but Jesus called us back.
Recall that Peter was writing during the very early days of Christianity, at a time when there was much persecution of Christians. The Romans still thought it great sport to punish Christians. The arena games featuring wild animals, or armored gladiators, were favorite sports at one time. Peter is encouraging the early converts to be strong in the face of persecution. Those who do will be approved by God.
Gospel: John 10:1-10 (C, RC, E)
Jesus initially refers to himself by the analogy of a shepherd. Sheepherding was a main enterprise of the people of Judea. Shepherds were important and highly regarded people in the social makeup of the time. Sheep were not animals which could be allowed freedom of the range, but required constant oversight. Grass was hard to find and they tended to wander looking for food, only to become lost. They were in danger at night from marauding wolves, and also from thieves. The shepherd was a man of vigorous outdoor hardness, able to remain awake into late hours, able to endure violent weather, and devoted to sheep which were individually known to him by name. At times, the sheep were brought into town and sheltered in a large pen built for that purpose. Sometimes the shepherd would sleep while lying across the opening into the pen, so the sheep could not wander out without waking him. Thus, in a real sense, he was the gate.
Strangely, since even we modern city folks can understand the analogy, Jesus' listeners didn't quite get his point, so he refocused the analogy by referring to himself as the gate. He referred disparagingly to those who had come earlier, not the prophets and other respected leaders, but to the many violent types who sometimes led the people in the wrong way. Jesus, then, states what for many of us is one of his most reassuring promises: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "The Price Of Faith"
Text: Acts 7:60
Theme: Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" (or trespasses, and so forth). We are aware that one of the finest things a Christian can do is forgive another person for wrongs committed. There is no more inspiring incident in the Bible than this grand moment in which Stephen is being executed for something which may seem somewhat trivial to our twentieth century minds, but which, by the standards of his own community, seemed to merit such treatment. There is probably no way we in this country can think ourselves into a mind-set like those of Stephen's tormentors. To me they all seem crazy. If we take this story at face value, it seems inconceivable that someone didn't step in on the poor man's behalf. I assume a lot has been left out in the telling. What does seem clear is that we have recorded here a graphic example of a Christian's response to injustice at his very best.
1. We are to be peacemakers. As Stephen illustrated, Christians are called to devote part of our time and energies to helping others. We can't dictate how that should be done, since some people do this in volunteer activities, some in their professions. Doctors can care for people who can't afford to pay. One such physician gave this reply to me when I asked what kind of patients he accepts: "Whoever asks for my help." Attorneys can serve needy people with free legal advice. And so forth. Sometimes we'll feel unappreciated, rejected. Fortunately, it's highly unlikely that we'll encounter quite the trouble Stephen did.
2. We are to forgive injustices. This does not mean we quail in the very face of wrongdoing, avoiding further troubles by caving in. It does mean we don't carry grudges. Comedian Buddy Hackett said it well about the holding of a grudge: "We're at home sulking and they're out dancing." The only person I hurt when I carry around hard feelings for another person is myself.
3. We are not to tolerate injustice. The story is familiar, how a young Illinois lawyer, in the middle of the last century, while on a visit to New Orleans, watched a slave market. Grimly, he turned to a friend and said, "If I ever get a chance I'll hit that and I'll hit it hard." His name was Abraham Lincoln. There's a difference between forgiving those things which cause us unpleasantness and failing to change wrongs which cause others unpleasantness.
Title: "The Gospel Of Suffering"
Text: 1 Peter 2:19-25
Theme: Peter's observation that through suffering comes redemption probably does not apply to suffering we bring on ourselves by wrongful actions. It probably does apply to almost every other form of suffering.
1. Suffering makes us stronger. An old Arab proverb holds that "all sunshine makes a desert." Dr. Joseph Sizoo, a well-known preacher in this century's earlier years, told of walking past a neighborhood greenhouse and watching a gardener place a dark screen over some rose plants. He inquired of the gardener the reason for the man's decision to deny the plants the sun's warmth and light. The gardener explained that continuous sunshine is destructive. Healthy growth requires both sunshine and darkness. We all know that trees at the highest elevations are the toughest because they must endure bitter cold winds. So with us. Life's dark and cold experiences develop a toughness that gentle, sunshine hours never can develop.
2. Suffering creates sensitivity. This is a sad fact we would probably wish were otherwise. My young wife died in a car accident. People later said I was a much more effective pastor to my people in their times of suffering from that time forth. Architects know that broken lines, deep depressions, and shadowy lines make for an appearance of strength which smooth surfaces cannot show.
3. Suffering can produce creativity. Rembrandt, living in an unheated room, was literally unable to afford bits of cloth on which to clean his brushes and was reduced to using his own clothes. Dante would walk the streets of his city and people would point to him and say, "That man lives in hell." They only learned later that in his pain he was creating The Divine Comedy. Same with Milton. His wife died, he went nearly blind, his children stole his household possessions to sell for spending money. Yet from his tortured life, even as he suffered, came the incomparable Paradise Lost. It has been said by one contemporary philosopher that today's dearth of truly great music and literature results from the relative comfort in which people live today.
4. Suffering builds character. Paul said this and demonstrated it in his own life. Some time ago I met a man who has quite a reputation for helping alcoholics. He is now an officer in an organization dedicated to this work. He openly explained to me that he was ("is," he would still say) an alcoholic. After losing his family and his livelihood, after being literally dragged from the gutter, he found God. And along with it, he found again, deep down within himself, character. Now he helps many people. He told me that he also found his own life again. He found that out of his sin, and out of his suffering, he has found redemption.
Title: "Jesus Wants Us To Be Happy"
Text: John 10:1-10
Theme: I like the Good News version of this passage: "I have come in order that you might have life -- life in all its fullness." Some people feel there is something basically grim about religion, especially Christianity. I haven't found it that way at all. The idea some people have that we're not to have fun in this life is ridiculous. I have heard people say, "Things are going too well for me. Something bad is sure to happen to balance things out." Nonsense. Jesus doesn't want bad things for us. It's one thing to recognize that we grow through hardships. It's something else to believe God sends such things. But Jesus knew unhappy things could happen. Granted, God created a world in which bad things happen, in which there is crime, and illness, and accidents. Granted, too, that we can indeed become greater, finer people because of these unhappy events and situations. But God surely doesn't want anything bad to happen. It's just that a world in which there is freedom produces them.
1. Everyone is entitled to a full life which includes many elements. They aren't necessarily the same for everyone. For me it is a meaningful vocation, a loving family, a circle of good friends, the best possible health, and enough resources to travel and do well for my kids. However, one of my closest friends simply doesn't want kids. He likes other people's kids, who seem to respond well to him. He just doesn't want them, neither does his wife. Each of us is free to pursue the full life as we wish, so long as we live by the moral and spiritual rules.
2. Jesus respects our individuality. Just as the shepherd knows each lamb by name, so our individual identity is of equal value to God. The introvert who lives out in the country and comes to town twice a week, the extrovert who gets lonely after a full day without people, each is equal in God's sight. So also with the outdoor type who loves to work on buildings, and the architect who sits in her office and designs buildings.
3. If we are members of his "fold" Jesus watches over us. That doesn't mean we have some sort of high-level protection. It means there are resources available at all times which are greater than our own. So, as Archbishop Temple put the matter, "We don't pray for lighter burdens, we pray for stronger backs." (Maybe it was Fosdick who said that -- whoever, it was was correct.)
4. Just as the sheep are part of a community, or fold, so with us. The sheep are in this thing together. So with us. So a full life will not be possible unless we are using part of our assortment of gifts to contribute to the full life of other people.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
George Frederick Handel told of the night he struggled home in London through dense fog, his chest heaving painfully against the thick air. One leg dragged in ungainly fashion as a result of a recent stroke. His fame, once widely acclaimed, had waned until his name was all but forgotten in musical circles. As he dragged his weary way toward his lonely apartment where no one waited, he fought an impulse to stop where he was in resignation. Finally, though, he dragged himself up the lonely stairs and found, to his surprise, a portfolio lying on his desk. In his absence his friend Charles Jenner had left the text for a piece of music for which he wanted Handel to compose the score. George Frederick Handel felt something long asleep waken, as he read the words: "And God shall wipe away all tears ... The kingdom of this world shall become the Kingdom of the Lord ... And he shall reign forever and ever." In a sudden frenzy of creativity, he sat down and composed the musical score for The Messiah.
____________
Aldous Huxley's classic novel Brave New World depicts a future society which has eliminated suffering. There's a pill for every affliction. If a loved one dies, an alpha pill will eliminate grief. If a wrong is committed, there's a pill for guilt. Worry, anxiety, envy are now easily eliminated, as are physical ailments. Into that community a twentieth century man is somehow introduced. He discovers that everyone is pleasant enough but there is no real character. Everyone is one-dimensional. Without suffering there is no strength. Eventually, the stranger from our time is unable to adjust and takes his own life.
____________
Quite a number of years ago, a young fellow in his middle teens ran away from his home in Chicago. He had decided that his family didn't understand him and tried to control him too much. In other words, he was a typical teenager. The boy's parents were, of course, desperate to find him. Two days went by during which the kid didn't return and his friends swore they didn't have any idea where he was. Then it was learned that another boy from the high school was also missing. Further questioning of friends revealed that the two boys were together, headed for Denver by hitchhiking.
That boy's father called his boss and arranged to use his sick time. He packed a suitcase and headed west. Mother stayed home by the telephone, and Dad stopped at every filling station, every motel, with a picture of his son. For several days, the dad worked his way toward Denver, calling home often to see if there was any word. Sure enough, two or three days into the trip Mother received word that the boys had been picked up by the Denver police and were being held. Dad immediately drove the few remaining miles and entered the police station where, to the boy's utter amazement, he and his son were reunited. The boy, a man years later, said he was totally flabbergasted to realize what his dad had gone through to find him. That boy entered the ministry and always told the story of his dad's search for him, saying he realized if his own father would make such an expensive search for his son, how much more yet would be the case with his heavenly Father.
____________
One frequent traveler to Palestine wrote this: "On some high moor, across which at night the hyenas howl, when you meet him, sleepless, far-sighted, weather-beaten, leaning on his staff, and looking out over his scattered sheep, every one of them on his heart, you understand why the shepherd of Judea sprang to the front in his people's history; why they gave his name to their king, and made him the symbol of providence; why Christ took him as the type of self-sacrifice."
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 23 (C, E) -- The Lord is my shepherd.
Prayer Of The Day
No longer, O Lord, can we live this lonely life of spiritual retreat. Enable us, we beseech thee, to open ourselves to a newer, deeper experience of your life-giving presence. Fill us with new life and grant us the energy to serve thee in the many ways for which we were created. Amen.
Lesson 1: Acts 2:42-47 (C); Acts 2:14, 36-41 (RC)
(See Easter 3)
Lesson 1: Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60 (E)
Aren't we glad church disputes aren't like they used to be? Stephen was chosen along with six friends to assist the apostles in their ministry to the Christian community. Those preachers who have served large, growing churches are aware that the demands of the organization reach a point where specialized ministry is necessary. The local preacher is probably very good at something, pretty good at several other things. But she or he is probably lousy at some things. A specialized ministry enables one to concentrate on what one does best. The apostles were uneducated former fishermen and craftsmen. Organized management was not their thing. So, they found some high-type young fellows who could take charge of ministry to the poor, especially widows with little financial support.
Along came some Greek-speaking Jews and who knows what kind of political dissension lay behind their complaints? That was terribly important then, much less so for us. What is important is that we have displayed before us the worst and the best in human nature. Threatened with death, a form of punishment apparently well recognized since we don't see the police arresting any of the crowd, Stephen, under hostile criticism, holds his ground and indicts the Hellenists for having played a part in the rejection of Jesus. He flays them for repudiating the prophets who were often murdered by these people's very parents, accuses them of disobeying the Holy Spirit, of breaking the law "as ordained by angels."
I suppose we can understand the anger of the Hellenists. Some of them probably weren't bad people individually, but mob violence always involves some basically decent people who lack courage and loyalty to their beliefs. So, they stoned Stephen, but not before his splendid prayer, and not before he saw a vision of Jesus there with him. Presumably it was a vision seen only by Stephen or surely the mob would have backed down. Anyway, Stephen lived out the example of his master, asking not for deliverance, but only that his spirit be received. He also did something most of us would find hard to do: he prayed that God would forgive the members of the crowd. What is important now is the fact that we have not just a Christian martyr, but an example of two facts: one, being a true Christian won't be easy, and two, there are and will be people who have the greatness to be always faithful.
Lesson 2: 1 Peter 2:19-25 (C, E); 1 Peter 2:20-25 (RC)
Peter wasn't always an admirable man in the early going. However, once he began to understand Jesus and once he grasped what was expected of him, he became a heroic example of the Christian life. It's fairly clear that Peter suffered a lot in his life. He found meaning in his suffering by offering it up as a sacrifice to God. In this passage, he commends the same theology to the rest of us. "It is a credit to you," he writes, "if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly." Mainly, Peter is referring to the painful consequences of living faithfully by Christian principles. Peter then veers slightly, extolling Jesus for suffering unjustly, having thereby paid the price for our sins, even though he himself was blameless. The rest of us were wandering "astray," but Jesus called us back.
Recall that Peter was writing during the very early days of Christianity, at a time when there was much persecution of Christians. The Romans still thought it great sport to punish Christians. The arena games featuring wild animals, or armored gladiators, were favorite sports at one time. Peter is encouraging the early converts to be strong in the face of persecution. Those who do will be approved by God.
Gospel: John 10:1-10 (C, RC, E)
Jesus initially refers to himself by the analogy of a shepherd. Sheepherding was a main enterprise of the people of Judea. Shepherds were important and highly regarded people in the social makeup of the time. Sheep were not animals which could be allowed freedom of the range, but required constant oversight. Grass was hard to find and they tended to wander looking for food, only to become lost. They were in danger at night from marauding wolves, and also from thieves. The shepherd was a man of vigorous outdoor hardness, able to remain awake into late hours, able to endure violent weather, and devoted to sheep which were individually known to him by name. At times, the sheep were brought into town and sheltered in a large pen built for that purpose. Sometimes the shepherd would sleep while lying across the opening into the pen, so the sheep could not wander out without waking him. Thus, in a real sense, he was the gate.
Strangely, since even we modern city folks can understand the analogy, Jesus' listeners didn't quite get his point, so he refocused the analogy by referring to himself as the gate. He referred disparagingly to those who had come earlier, not the prophets and other respected leaders, but to the many violent types who sometimes led the people in the wrong way. Jesus, then, states what for many of us is one of his most reassuring promises: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "The Price Of Faith"
Text: Acts 7:60
Theme: Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" (or trespasses, and so forth). We are aware that one of the finest things a Christian can do is forgive another person for wrongs committed. There is no more inspiring incident in the Bible than this grand moment in which Stephen is being executed for something which may seem somewhat trivial to our twentieth century minds, but which, by the standards of his own community, seemed to merit such treatment. There is probably no way we in this country can think ourselves into a mind-set like those of Stephen's tormentors. To me they all seem crazy. If we take this story at face value, it seems inconceivable that someone didn't step in on the poor man's behalf. I assume a lot has been left out in the telling. What does seem clear is that we have recorded here a graphic example of a Christian's response to injustice at his very best.
1. We are to be peacemakers. As Stephen illustrated, Christians are called to devote part of our time and energies to helping others. We can't dictate how that should be done, since some people do this in volunteer activities, some in their professions. Doctors can care for people who can't afford to pay. One such physician gave this reply to me when I asked what kind of patients he accepts: "Whoever asks for my help." Attorneys can serve needy people with free legal advice. And so forth. Sometimes we'll feel unappreciated, rejected. Fortunately, it's highly unlikely that we'll encounter quite the trouble Stephen did.
2. We are to forgive injustices. This does not mean we quail in the very face of wrongdoing, avoiding further troubles by caving in. It does mean we don't carry grudges. Comedian Buddy Hackett said it well about the holding of a grudge: "We're at home sulking and they're out dancing." The only person I hurt when I carry around hard feelings for another person is myself.
3. We are not to tolerate injustice. The story is familiar, how a young Illinois lawyer, in the middle of the last century, while on a visit to New Orleans, watched a slave market. Grimly, he turned to a friend and said, "If I ever get a chance I'll hit that and I'll hit it hard." His name was Abraham Lincoln. There's a difference between forgiving those things which cause us unpleasantness and failing to change wrongs which cause others unpleasantness.
Title: "The Gospel Of Suffering"
Text: 1 Peter 2:19-25
Theme: Peter's observation that through suffering comes redemption probably does not apply to suffering we bring on ourselves by wrongful actions. It probably does apply to almost every other form of suffering.
1. Suffering makes us stronger. An old Arab proverb holds that "all sunshine makes a desert." Dr. Joseph Sizoo, a well-known preacher in this century's earlier years, told of walking past a neighborhood greenhouse and watching a gardener place a dark screen over some rose plants. He inquired of the gardener the reason for the man's decision to deny the plants the sun's warmth and light. The gardener explained that continuous sunshine is destructive. Healthy growth requires both sunshine and darkness. We all know that trees at the highest elevations are the toughest because they must endure bitter cold winds. So with us. Life's dark and cold experiences develop a toughness that gentle, sunshine hours never can develop.
2. Suffering creates sensitivity. This is a sad fact we would probably wish were otherwise. My young wife died in a car accident. People later said I was a much more effective pastor to my people in their times of suffering from that time forth. Architects know that broken lines, deep depressions, and shadowy lines make for an appearance of strength which smooth surfaces cannot show.
3. Suffering can produce creativity. Rembrandt, living in an unheated room, was literally unable to afford bits of cloth on which to clean his brushes and was reduced to using his own clothes. Dante would walk the streets of his city and people would point to him and say, "That man lives in hell." They only learned later that in his pain he was creating The Divine Comedy. Same with Milton. His wife died, he went nearly blind, his children stole his household possessions to sell for spending money. Yet from his tortured life, even as he suffered, came the incomparable Paradise Lost. It has been said by one contemporary philosopher that today's dearth of truly great music and literature results from the relative comfort in which people live today.
4. Suffering builds character. Paul said this and demonstrated it in his own life. Some time ago I met a man who has quite a reputation for helping alcoholics. He is now an officer in an organization dedicated to this work. He openly explained to me that he was ("is," he would still say) an alcoholic. After losing his family and his livelihood, after being literally dragged from the gutter, he found God. And along with it, he found again, deep down within himself, character. Now he helps many people. He told me that he also found his own life again. He found that out of his sin, and out of his suffering, he has found redemption.
Title: "Jesus Wants Us To Be Happy"
Text: John 10:1-10
Theme: I like the Good News version of this passage: "I have come in order that you might have life -- life in all its fullness." Some people feel there is something basically grim about religion, especially Christianity. I haven't found it that way at all. The idea some people have that we're not to have fun in this life is ridiculous. I have heard people say, "Things are going too well for me. Something bad is sure to happen to balance things out." Nonsense. Jesus doesn't want bad things for us. It's one thing to recognize that we grow through hardships. It's something else to believe God sends such things. But Jesus knew unhappy things could happen. Granted, God created a world in which bad things happen, in which there is crime, and illness, and accidents. Granted, too, that we can indeed become greater, finer people because of these unhappy events and situations. But God surely doesn't want anything bad to happen. It's just that a world in which there is freedom produces them.
1. Everyone is entitled to a full life which includes many elements. They aren't necessarily the same for everyone. For me it is a meaningful vocation, a loving family, a circle of good friends, the best possible health, and enough resources to travel and do well for my kids. However, one of my closest friends simply doesn't want kids. He likes other people's kids, who seem to respond well to him. He just doesn't want them, neither does his wife. Each of us is free to pursue the full life as we wish, so long as we live by the moral and spiritual rules.
2. Jesus respects our individuality. Just as the shepherd knows each lamb by name, so our individual identity is of equal value to God. The introvert who lives out in the country and comes to town twice a week, the extrovert who gets lonely after a full day without people, each is equal in God's sight. So also with the outdoor type who loves to work on buildings, and the architect who sits in her office and designs buildings.
3. If we are members of his "fold" Jesus watches over us. That doesn't mean we have some sort of high-level protection. It means there are resources available at all times which are greater than our own. So, as Archbishop Temple put the matter, "We don't pray for lighter burdens, we pray for stronger backs." (Maybe it was Fosdick who said that -- whoever, it was was correct.)
4. Just as the sheep are part of a community, or fold, so with us. The sheep are in this thing together. So with us. So a full life will not be possible unless we are using part of our assortment of gifts to contribute to the full life of other people.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
George Frederick Handel told of the night he struggled home in London through dense fog, his chest heaving painfully against the thick air. One leg dragged in ungainly fashion as a result of a recent stroke. His fame, once widely acclaimed, had waned until his name was all but forgotten in musical circles. As he dragged his weary way toward his lonely apartment where no one waited, he fought an impulse to stop where he was in resignation. Finally, though, he dragged himself up the lonely stairs and found, to his surprise, a portfolio lying on his desk. In his absence his friend Charles Jenner had left the text for a piece of music for which he wanted Handel to compose the score. George Frederick Handel felt something long asleep waken, as he read the words: "And God shall wipe away all tears ... The kingdom of this world shall become the Kingdom of the Lord ... And he shall reign forever and ever." In a sudden frenzy of creativity, he sat down and composed the musical score for The Messiah.
____________
Aldous Huxley's classic novel Brave New World depicts a future society which has eliminated suffering. There's a pill for every affliction. If a loved one dies, an alpha pill will eliminate grief. If a wrong is committed, there's a pill for guilt. Worry, anxiety, envy are now easily eliminated, as are physical ailments. Into that community a twentieth century man is somehow introduced. He discovers that everyone is pleasant enough but there is no real character. Everyone is one-dimensional. Without suffering there is no strength. Eventually, the stranger from our time is unable to adjust and takes his own life.
____________
Quite a number of years ago, a young fellow in his middle teens ran away from his home in Chicago. He had decided that his family didn't understand him and tried to control him too much. In other words, he was a typical teenager. The boy's parents were, of course, desperate to find him. Two days went by during which the kid didn't return and his friends swore they didn't have any idea where he was. Then it was learned that another boy from the high school was also missing. Further questioning of friends revealed that the two boys were together, headed for Denver by hitchhiking.
That boy's father called his boss and arranged to use his sick time. He packed a suitcase and headed west. Mother stayed home by the telephone, and Dad stopped at every filling station, every motel, with a picture of his son. For several days, the dad worked his way toward Denver, calling home often to see if there was any word. Sure enough, two or three days into the trip Mother received word that the boys had been picked up by the Denver police and were being held. Dad immediately drove the few remaining miles and entered the police station where, to the boy's utter amazement, he and his son were reunited. The boy, a man years later, said he was totally flabbergasted to realize what his dad had gone through to find him. That boy entered the ministry and always told the story of his dad's search for him, saying he realized if his own father would make such an expensive search for his son, how much more yet would be the case with his heavenly Father.
____________
One frequent traveler to Palestine wrote this: "On some high moor, across which at night the hyenas howl, when you meet him, sleepless, far-sighted, weather-beaten, leaning on his staff, and looking out over his scattered sheep, every one of them on his heart, you understand why the shepherd of Judea sprang to the front in his people's history; why they gave his name to their king, and made him the symbol of providence; why Christ took him as the type of self-sacrifice."
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 23 (C, E) -- The Lord is my shepherd.
Prayer Of The Day
No longer, O Lord, can we live this lonely life of spiritual retreat. Enable us, we beseech thee, to open ourselves to a newer, deeper experience of your life-giving presence. Fill us with new life and grant us the energy to serve thee in the many ways for which we were created. Amen.
