Achieving Greatness
Stories
Object:
Contents
What's Up This Week
"Achieving Greatness" by Peter Andrew Smith
"If I Don't Pay, You Will" by Terry Cain
"Black Bean Soup" by Frank Ramirez
What's Up This Week
Just like the disciples James and John in this week's gospel reading, we think that while we'll do anything for others, our contributions should be recognized as important and even indispensable. It's natural for us to want to be noticed – but is that feeding our ego and need for attention more than advancing the kingdom? In this week's edition of StoryShare, Peter Andrew Smith and Terry Cain provide food for thought about our impulse to want to be first in line for preferred seating in heaven. Then Frank Ramirez offers a first-person testimony about a humble meal that is an example of the simple instances that are springboards for ministry and service.
* * * * * * * * *
Achieving Greatness
by Peter Andrew Smith
Mark 10:35-45
"So what do you think?" Paul asked, as he gestured at the office. "The finest oak desk, state-of-the-art computers, and not one but two personal secretaries."
"Fancier than my corner office, for sure," Sarah said. "And?"
"And?" Paul said. "Explain to me why someone else was recognized for his Christian service in the community. This company is a huge employer, and I am the one running it."
"It's not about the bottom line," Sarah said. "You know that."
"I know it isn't." Paul waved for her to sit in a leather chair. "But Tom Bernard? I had to make some calls to even find out who he is. He's a mid-level manager with a small company. What could he possibly contribute to the community that I don't? My company alone donates more in a month than his company did all year."
"You still don't get it, do you?"
"Get it?" Paul said. "Of course I get it. The whole thing must be a popularity contest."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Paul, how long have we known each other?"
"Since grade school. You're one of my oldest friends."
"Do you trust my opinion?"
"Of course I do. You and Jean-Marc are the godparents to my girls. Tanya and I asked you because we know you are both good Christians."
"Then listen to me. Tom was recognized by the Christian Service Association because he was the best person. The vote for him was unanimous."
"But I thought you were on the selection committee."
"I am. I voted for Tom."
Paul sat up in his chair. "How could you do that when you know the great work I did getting that school built in Africa? Who did you come to when you needed money raised for disaster relief or for that expansion to the church? Didn't I come through?"
"Paul, you work miracles in getting people to give. All those projects were an overwhelming success. You know that."
"Then how could you, my best friend, think that Tom Bernard deserved the award over me?"
Sarah got up from her chair. "Can you take lunch now?"
"I'm not really hungry."
"Then don't eat. I need to show you something."
Paul spoke to one of his secretaries for a moment and then followed Sarah down the stairs.
"Where are we going?" he asked as they started walking away from the bustling office district into an older area of town with fading paint and cracked sidewalks.
"The outreach mission," Sarah said.
Paul stopped. "I've seen the place. Remember, I was on the board of directors a couple of years ago."
"Ever been inside?"
"Lots of times. I was the one who argued with the contractor about the roof."
Sarah sighed. "Ever been inside at this time of day?"
Paul shrugged and trailed behind her to the familiar sight of the outreach mission. The main room of the mission was a beehive of activity as hungry people were served a hot meal.
"Whatever they are cooking smells good," Paul said.
Sarah smiled. "I figured your stomach would win over your hurt feelings. Grab a seat."
"I wouldn't want to take food from someone who needs it..."
"There is always plenty of spaghetti," Sarah said. She waved at the person closest to the kitchen and held up two fingers. "Besides, the volunteers are always happy when local businesspeople drop by and see how things are going."
Steaming plates of spaghetti and cups of coffee soon appeared at their table.
"Mind if I join you, Sarah?" the server asked.
"Please," Sarah said. "Paul Johnson, this is Tom Bernard."
"A pleasure to meet you," Tom said as he shook Paul's hand. "You're a bit of a legend around here for getting the contractor not only to fix the roof but replacing those leaky windows."
"Thanks," Paul said. "Are you on the board of directors here at the outreach mission?"
"No, I'm just a volunteer."
They made small talk as they ate the hearty meal. A scruffy man in a tattered coat standing off to one side gestured for Tom, and he excused himself from the table.
"Well?" Sarah said.
"Okay. He is a nice fellow," Paul said. "And he certainly does know everyone."
"He should. He helps out here every lunch hour."
"Wow," Paul sipped at his coffee. "That is dedication."
"That's not the half of it. When we started asking around we found out he has been here at every lunch hour for the last five years."
"Five years?" Paul looked at Tom carrying dishes toward the kitchen. "Really?"
"Every day from eleven to one he helps out. When there aren't enough volunteers he comes back after work to wash dishes." Sarah finished the last of her spaghetti. "That's why we chose to recognize his service."
"I think you made the right choice." Paul closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them he looked at his watch. "You in a rush to get back to the office?"
"Why?"
"I'm free for another half hour, and I can imagine there are lots of dirty dishes piling up in the kitchen. Do you suppose Tom could use some help cleaning up?"
Sarah smiled, and two more servants of Christ began to clear away the tables.
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.
If I Don't Pay, You Will by Terry Cain
Mark 10:35-45
This scripture passage is about what it means to be a disciple or follower of Jesus. It is also about special privilege, something we find distasteful when others are the beneficiaries but sometimes consider ourselves entitled to when the lot falls to us.
* * *
The outlying community had recently held a community-wide meeting to discuss the possibility of building a skateboard park for the youth. Instead of making it a part of the community budget, the residents decided to raise the money by assessing each family equally and sharing the cost, even though some families didn't have any children who would use the park. It would be a community project where all shared alike as they did for the school system. It would be "state of the art," with every possible ramp and jump combination to make it top of the line. Each donor family would have its name on a support block built into the foundations.
A week following the meeting Vic met his friend Fred coming out of the post office, and they found themselves discussing the new skateboard park. "Fred, did you see where the committee just finished calculating the cost per family? It comes to $734 for each household: steep, but worth it. We'll just have to tighten the old belt for three or four months."
"Look, Vic, if I tell you something confidentially, you won't let it go any farther, will you?"
"No," Vic responded, a little hesitantly.
Fred looked around surreptitiously, and lowered his voice. "I got a deal going on the assessment, Vic. You know my father-in-law is handling the financial end of the project, and he was able to juggle the cost per family so that we won't have to pay our share. Along with some help from the extra special fund set up to help with the assessment for a few families who have current hardships, plus the fact that no one besides Ernie is counting the actual number of houses, he can spread my assessment over all the other shares. The community will take care of my share. Nice deal, eh? It pays to know someone! I would like to get you the same deal, but you know how it is. When you go adding other pieces to the pie, it increases the chances of getting caught."
Vic paused and then said, "Aren't you uncomfortable knowing everyone else will be paying your share?"
"Are you kidding? Everyone does that sort of thing when they get a chance. Besides, it is spread over enough families that no one takes a big hit."
"You know, Fred, somehow that brings to mind a T-shirt I saw just the other day. Written across the front were the words, 'God loves you, but God loves me better.' "
"That's clever, Vic. Very funny. But... uh... I don't see the connection."
"I gotta run, Fred -- catch you later."
Terry Cain is a retired United Methodist pastor who served his entire ministry in eastern Nebraska, including 25 years in Lincoln. He is the author of the CSS titles Shaking Wolves Out of Cherry Trees and Lions and Cows Dining Together. Cain is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University (B.A.), St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City (M.Div.), and San Francisco Theological Seminary (D.Min.).
Black Bean Soup
by Frank Ramirez
Hebrews 5:1-10
You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
-- Hebrews 5:6
Some years ago I traveled as part of a church delegation from the United States to Guatemala, in part to see the result of two projects that we (along with churches around the world) were funding as partners with the Guatemalans.
In a country still recovering from a 36-year civil war, many indigenous Mayan women walked one to two hours, twice a day, down the steep mountainsides to rivers far below, with their youngest children in tow. This is time taken away from other activities more fruitful to the family.
Now, in Guatemala many denominations are working together in partnership with the Pastoral Social offices of the Roman Catholic Church Department of Huehuetenango to help Guatemalan families install cisterns. Groups like our Sunday school pay for half of the cisterns, and the Guatemalans pay the other half as partners. These cisterns channel the waters of the brief rainy season into a year's supply of potable water. The technology is simple and effective, and now indigenous Guatemalans administer the program. In those remote areas of the country where it is thriving one sees fewer women -- and men -- toting jars of water on their head. Not only did we save the women from walking hours down steep mountainous roads to collect water for the family, we made it possible for water to be used for things of beauty, such as a small flower garden.
In addition we help with a stove project. Guatemalan women cook on tripods over dangerous open fires. Burns and smoke inhalation are two of the leading causes of death for the women. In addition, this inefficient way of cooking requires a lot of wood. Much of Guatemala's forests have disappeared.
Once again, partnering with the Guatemalans meant sharing the cost -- and the results of these stoves was amazing. They require only a fraction of the wood used in open fires, and the stoves also cut down drastically the numbers of deaths from smoke inhalation and burns. We saw the projects we helped fund -- and we felt good about ourselves.
Not everything we saw made us feel good. We also saw the small coffee patches that provided the only cash crop for these subsistence farmers, and learned that economic pressure lowered the value to about an eighth of what it brought before. Our desire for inexpensive coffee was harming these people. We were unintentional sinners.
Our driver, a native Guatemalan, was surprised that we avoided the tourist traps and traveled to stay among the poor. The highlight was when we rode the van as far as it would go, took a truck as far as it would go, and then walked until we came to the home of a special family. The couple were survivors of a civil war that had lasted three and a half decades, and they had both lost spouses in the course of the conflict. Their children clustered around them.
The highlight of our stay (if you don't count the ants that visited our sleeping bags at night) was a meal of black beans, rice, and corn tortillas, shared in a cramped, smoke-stained kitchen. They had made the dinner special by slicing in a few carrots.
A few remarks seemed in order, and so through the translator (my Spanish is rudimentary) I called to mind the story of Melchizedek, who is both king and priest. He comes out of nowhere to honor Abraham, and in turn receives honor as well. The encounter is brief, taking up only a few verses, yet the impact was lasting, reverberating through the centuries in Jewish theology and thought, and prefiguring as well the perfect king and priest named Jesus.
In the same way (I said), though we were spending less than 24 hours with the family, it was clear that the experience would last a lifetime. Real life is like that. A brief encounter can make a lasting impression and sharpen the desire for ministry and service to the world in the name of Jesus -- and prefigure the common meal we will all share at the heavenly banquet table.
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly thirty years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, and three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids.
**************
StoryShare, October 18, 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
"Achieving Greatness" by Peter Andrew Smith
"If I Don't Pay, You Will" by Terry Cain
"Black Bean Soup" by Frank Ramirez
What's Up This Week
Just like the disciples James and John in this week's gospel reading, we think that while we'll do anything for others, our contributions should be recognized as important and even indispensable. It's natural for us to want to be noticed – but is that feeding our ego and need for attention more than advancing the kingdom? In this week's edition of StoryShare, Peter Andrew Smith and Terry Cain provide food for thought about our impulse to want to be first in line for preferred seating in heaven. Then Frank Ramirez offers a first-person testimony about a humble meal that is an example of the simple instances that are springboards for ministry and service.
* * * * * * * * *
Achieving Greatness
by Peter Andrew Smith
Mark 10:35-45
"So what do you think?" Paul asked, as he gestured at the office. "The finest oak desk, state-of-the-art computers, and not one but two personal secretaries."
"Fancier than my corner office, for sure," Sarah said. "And?"
"And?" Paul said. "Explain to me why someone else was recognized for his Christian service in the community. This company is a huge employer, and I am the one running it."
"It's not about the bottom line," Sarah said. "You know that."
"I know it isn't." Paul waved for her to sit in a leather chair. "But Tom Bernard? I had to make some calls to even find out who he is. He's a mid-level manager with a small company. What could he possibly contribute to the community that I don't? My company alone donates more in a month than his company did all year."
"You still don't get it, do you?"
"Get it?" Paul said. "Of course I get it. The whole thing must be a popularity contest."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Paul, how long have we known each other?"
"Since grade school. You're one of my oldest friends."
"Do you trust my opinion?"
"Of course I do. You and Jean-Marc are the godparents to my girls. Tanya and I asked you because we know you are both good Christians."
"Then listen to me. Tom was recognized by the Christian Service Association because he was the best person. The vote for him was unanimous."
"But I thought you were on the selection committee."
"I am. I voted for Tom."
Paul sat up in his chair. "How could you do that when you know the great work I did getting that school built in Africa? Who did you come to when you needed money raised for disaster relief or for that expansion to the church? Didn't I come through?"
"Paul, you work miracles in getting people to give. All those projects were an overwhelming success. You know that."
"Then how could you, my best friend, think that Tom Bernard deserved the award over me?"
Sarah got up from her chair. "Can you take lunch now?"
"I'm not really hungry."
"Then don't eat. I need to show you something."
Paul spoke to one of his secretaries for a moment and then followed Sarah down the stairs.
"Where are we going?" he asked as they started walking away from the bustling office district into an older area of town with fading paint and cracked sidewalks.
"The outreach mission," Sarah said.
Paul stopped. "I've seen the place. Remember, I was on the board of directors a couple of years ago."
"Ever been inside?"
"Lots of times. I was the one who argued with the contractor about the roof."
Sarah sighed. "Ever been inside at this time of day?"
Paul shrugged and trailed behind her to the familiar sight of the outreach mission. The main room of the mission was a beehive of activity as hungry people were served a hot meal.
"Whatever they are cooking smells good," Paul said.
Sarah smiled. "I figured your stomach would win over your hurt feelings. Grab a seat."
"I wouldn't want to take food from someone who needs it..."
"There is always plenty of spaghetti," Sarah said. She waved at the person closest to the kitchen and held up two fingers. "Besides, the volunteers are always happy when local businesspeople drop by and see how things are going."
Steaming plates of spaghetti and cups of coffee soon appeared at their table.
"Mind if I join you, Sarah?" the server asked.
"Please," Sarah said. "Paul Johnson, this is Tom Bernard."
"A pleasure to meet you," Tom said as he shook Paul's hand. "You're a bit of a legend around here for getting the contractor not only to fix the roof but replacing those leaky windows."
"Thanks," Paul said. "Are you on the board of directors here at the outreach mission?"
"No, I'm just a volunteer."
They made small talk as they ate the hearty meal. A scruffy man in a tattered coat standing off to one side gestured for Tom, and he excused himself from the table.
"Well?" Sarah said.
"Okay. He is a nice fellow," Paul said. "And he certainly does know everyone."
"He should. He helps out here every lunch hour."
"Wow," Paul sipped at his coffee. "That is dedication."
"That's not the half of it. When we started asking around we found out he has been here at every lunch hour for the last five years."
"Five years?" Paul looked at Tom carrying dishes toward the kitchen. "Really?"
"Every day from eleven to one he helps out. When there aren't enough volunteers he comes back after work to wash dishes." Sarah finished the last of her spaghetti. "That's why we chose to recognize his service."
"I think you made the right choice." Paul closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them he looked at his watch. "You in a rush to get back to the office?"
"Why?"
"I'm free for another half hour, and I can imagine there are lots of dirty dishes piling up in the kitchen. Do you suppose Tom could use some help cleaning up?"
Sarah smiled, and two more servants of Christ began to clear away the tables.
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.
If I Don't Pay, You Will by Terry Cain
Mark 10:35-45
This scripture passage is about what it means to be a disciple or follower of Jesus. It is also about special privilege, something we find distasteful when others are the beneficiaries but sometimes consider ourselves entitled to when the lot falls to us.
* * *
The outlying community had recently held a community-wide meeting to discuss the possibility of building a skateboard park for the youth. Instead of making it a part of the community budget, the residents decided to raise the money by assessing each family equally and sharing the cost, even though some families didn't have any children who would use the park. It would be a community project where all shared alike as they did for the school system. It would be "state of the art," with every possible ramp and jump combination to make it top of the line. Each donor family would have its name on a support block built into the foundations.
A week following the meeting Vic met his friend Fred coming out of the post office, and they found themselves discussing the new skateboard park. "Fred, did you see where the committee just finished calculating the cost per family? It comes to $734 for each household: steep, but worth it. We'll just have to tighten the old belt for three or four months."
"Look, Vic, if I tell you something confidentially, you won't let it go any farther, will you?"
"No," Vic responded, a little hesitantly.
Fred looked around surreptitiously, and lowered his voice. "I got a deal going on the assessment, Vic. You know my father-in-law is handling the financial end of the project, and he was able to juggle the cost per family so that we won't have to pay our share. Along with some help from the extra special fund set up to help with the assessment for a few families who have current hardships, plus the fact that no one besides Ernie is counting the actual number of houses, he can spread my assessment over all the other shares. The community will take care of my share. Nice deal, eh? It pays to know someone! I would like to get you the same deal, but you know how it is. When you go adding other pieces to the pie, it increases the chances of getting caught."
Vic paused and then said, "Aren't you uncomfortable knowing everyone else will be paying your share?"
"Are you kidding? Everyone does that sort of thing when they get a chance. Besides, it is spread over enough families that no one takes a big hit."
"You know, Fred, somehow that brings to mind a T-shirt I saw just the other day. Written across the front were the words, 'God loves you, but God loves me better.' "
"That's clever, Vic. Very funny. But... uh... I don't see the connection."
"I gotta run, Fred -- catch you later."
Terry Cain is a retired United Methodist pastor who served his entire ministry in eastern Nebraska, including 25 years in Lincoln. He is the author of the CSS titles Shaking Wolves Out of Cherry Trees and Lions and Cows Dining Together. Cain is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University (B.A.), St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City (M.Div.), and San Francisco Theological Seminary (D.Min.).
Black Bean Soup
by Frank Ramirez
Hebrews 5:1-10
You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
-- Hebrews 5:6
Some years ago I traveled as part of a church delegation from the United States to Guatemala, in part to see the result of two projects that we (along with churches around the world) were funding as partners with the Guatemalans.
In a country still recovering from a 36-year civil war, many indigenous Mayan women walked one to two hours, twice a day, down the steep mountainsides to rivers far below, with their youngest children in tow. This is time taken away from other activities more fruitful to the family.
Now, in Guatemala many denominations are working together in partnership with the Pastoral Social offices of the Roman Catholic Church Department of Huehuetenango to help Guatemalan families install cisterns. Groups like our Sunday school pay for half of the cisterns, and the Guatemalans pay the other half as partners. These cisterns channel the waters of the brief rainy season into a year's supply of potable water. The technology is simple and effective, and now indigenous Guatemalans administer the program. In those remote areas of the country where it is thriving one sees fewer women -- and men -- toting jars of water on their head. Not only did we save the women from walking hours down steep mountainous roads to collect water for the family, we made it possible for water to be used for things of beauty, such as a small flower garden.
In addition we help with a stove project. Guatemalan women cook on tripods over dangerous open fires. Burns and smoke inhalation are two of the leading causes of death for the women. In addition, this inefficient way of cooking requires a lot of wood. Much of Guatemala's forests have disappeared.
Once again, partnering with the Guatemalans meant sharing the cost -- and the results of these stoves was amazing. They require only a fraction of the wood used in open fires, and the stoves also cut down drastically the numbers of deaths from smoke inhalation and burns. We saw the projects we helped fund -- and we felt good about ourselves.
Not everything we saw made us feel good. We also saw the small coffee patches that provided the only cash crop for these subsistence farmers, and learned that economic pressure lowered the value to about an eighth of what it brought before. Our desire for inexpensive coffee was harming these people. We were unintentional sinners.
Our driver, a native Guatemalan, was surprised that we avoided the tourist traps and traveled to stay among the poor. The highlight was when we rode the van as far as it would go, took a truck as far as it would go, and then walked until we came to the home of a special family. The couple were survivors of a civil war that had lasted three and a half decades, and they had both lost spouses in the course of the conflict. Their children clustered around them.
The highlight of our stay (if you don't count the ants that visited our sleeping bags at night) was a meal of black beans, rice, and corn tortillas, shared in a cramped, smoke-stained kitchen. They had made the dinner special by slicing in a few carrots.
A few remarks seemed in order, and so through the translator (my Spanish is rudimentary) I called to mind the story of Melchizedek, who is both king and priest. He comes out of nowhere to honor Abraham, and in turn receives honor as well. The encounter is brief, taking up only a few verses, yet the impact was lasting, reverberating through the centuries in Jewish theology and thought, and prefiguring as well the perfect king and priest named Jesus.
In the same way (I said), though we were spending less than 24 hours with the family, it was clear that the experience would last a lifetime. Real life is like that. A brief encounter can make a lasting impression and sharpen the desire for ministry and service to the world in the name of Jesus -- and prefigure the common meal we will all share at the heavenly banquet table.
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly thirty years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, and three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids.
**************
StoryShare, October 18, 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.
