Bringing God Into Perspective
Stories
Joan cleared her throat. “I went to church this Christmas when I was home,”
Sylvia looked up from chopping vegetables. “Did your parents make you?”
“No but they went of course.”
Sylvia frowned. “So why did you go?”
“Leo dropped by for a few days before going home and he wanted to go so we all went together.”
“Wow. You must really be serious about this guy to go to church with him.”
“I do like him.” Joan reached into the cupboard and selected some spices. “But you know what? I found myself enjoying the service.”
Sylvia smiled. “The music is great this time of year. I love singing the familiar carols and seeing all the decorations. There is nothing better than lights in the dark and gloomy time of year.”
“The tree at the church was beautiful and the choir was spectacular but that isn’t the only reason I enjoyed the service,” Joan said. “I found myself thinking and considering God.”
“Really?” Sylvia emptied the vegetables into the frying pan. “I thought you were over believing in God and all of that.”
“I was but you know what?” Joan added some spices to the sauce and stirred. “Maybe the whole church thing deserves a second look.”
Sylvia narrowed her eyes. “Because you like Leo?”
“No, because I think I’m starting to understand it.”
“You’re going to have to explain that to me.” Sylvia washed her hands and sat down. “I thought the whole idea of God was something that you found too farfetched.”
“I did.” Joan poured the sauce onto the vegetables and lowered the temperature. “But the story of Jesus interests me.”
“Well I will grant you that he said some pretty good things. I mean the world would be a better place if we just looked after each other like he told us to do.”
“No argument from me.” Joan took out the meat and chopped it into strips. “What I heard over Christmas though go me thinking about something else about Jesus.”
“What’s that?”
“That Jesus shows us God.” Joan put the meat into the frying pan and everything started to sizzle. “That his life wasn’t just about telling us good things to know but showing us the face of God.”
“I can see that when he was an adult being kind to everyone and all that.” Sylvia tilted her head “But I have trouble getting my head around God as a baby.”
Joan nodded. “It does make you think, doesn’t it?”
“Do they even teach that in church or is this something you were thinking of?”
“It’s in lots of the Christmas carols actually. The one that really got me thinking was O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
“Why? That’s just about people coming to see the manger and the baby Jesus. There’s nothing about him being God in that song.”
“After the first verse there is.”
Sylvia pulled out her phone and typed a bit. “Huh. ‘God of God, Light of Light....’ I never paid attention to that before.”
“Yeah, I was singing along and the words just leapt out at me.” Joan stirred some more. “And it’s not just in the hymns.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, the first chapter of John’s gospel talks about us being able to know God through Jesus.”
Sylvia got the plates out of the cupboard and spooned the rice onto each one of them. “Do you suppose that’s why the great changes in our world tend to come through people who are part of the church?”
Joan dived the stir fry between them and put the empty pan in the sink. “I never really thought about it,”
“Well, I know that my parent’s church has been feeding the poor and helping immigrants for as long as they have been there.”
Joan sat down at the table. “Come to think of it my parent’s church has always been on about equal rights and about social justice causes.”
“I remember after church having a speaker from the civil rights movement talk about all the terrible things that they had to endure to bring about change.” Sylvia tapped her chin with her finger. “I always wondered why they would put themselves in harm’s way and do all the things they did.”
“I guess because they believed that is what God showed them in the life of Jesus.” Joan paused. “Wow. I never thought about it that way before,”
“It kind of makes me want to go back to church. Isn’t there a chapel on campus? You want to check it out?”
Joan considered her room mate for a moment and then nodded. “I think I would.”
*****************************************
StoryShare, January 5, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Sylvia looked up from chopping vegetables. “Did your parents make you?”
“No but they went of course.”
Sylvia frowned. “So why did you go?”
“Leo dropped by for a few days before going home and he wanted to go so we all went together.”
“Wow. You must really be serious about this guy to go to church with him.”
“I do like him.” Joan reached into the cupboard and selected some spices. “But you know what? I found myself enjoying the service.”
Sylvia smiled. “The music is great this time of year. I love singing the familiar carols and seeing all the decorations. There is nothing better than lights in the dark and gloomy time of year.”
“The tree at the church was beautiful and the choir was spectacular but that isn’t the only reason I enjoyed the service,” Joan said. “I found myself thinking and considering God.”
“Really?” Sylvia emptied the vegetables into the frying pan. “I thought you were over believing in God and all of that.”
“I was but you know what?” Joan added some spices to the sauce and stirred. “Maybe the whole church thing deserves a second look.”
Sylvia narrowed her eyes. “Because you like Leo?”
“No, because I think I’m starting to understand it.”
“You’re going to have to explain that to me.” Sylvia washed her hands and sat down. “I thought the whole idea of God was something that you found too farfetched.”
“I did.” Joan poured the sauce onto the vegetables and lowered the temperature. “But the story of Jesus interests me.”
“Well I will grant you that he said some pretty good things. I mean the world would be a better place if we just looked after each other like he told us to do.”
“No argument from me.” Joan took out the meat and chopped it into strips. “What I heard over Christmas though go me thinking about something else about Jesus.”
“What’s that?”
“That Jesus shows us God.” Joan put the meat into the frying pan and everything started to sizzle. “That his life wasn’t just about telling us good things to know but showing us the face of God.”
“I can see that when he was an adult being kind to everyone and all that.” Sylvia tilted her head “But I have trouble getting my head around God as a baby.”
Joan nodded. “It does make you think, doesn’t it?”
“Do they even teach that in church or is this something you were thinking of?”
“It’s in lots of the Christmas carols actually. The one that really got me thinking was O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
“Why? That’s just about people coming to see the manger and the baby Jesus. There’s nothing about him being God in that song.”
“After the first verse there is.”
Sylvia pulled out her phone and typed a bit. “Huh. ‘God of God, Light of Light....’ I never paid attention to that before.”
“Yeah, I was singing along and the words just leapt out at me.” Joan stirred some more. “And it’s not just in the hymns.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, the first chapter of John’s gospel talks about us being able to know God through Jesus.”
Sylvia got the plates out of the cupboard and spooned the rice onto each one of them. “Do you suppose that’s why the great changes in our world tend to come through people who are part of the church?”
Joan dived the stir fry between them and put the empty pan in the sink. “I never really thought about it,”
“Well, I know that my parent’s church has been feeding the poor and helping immigrants for as long as they have been there.”
Joan sat down at the table. “Come to think of it my parent’s church has always been on about equal rights and about social justice causes.”
“I remember after church having a speaker from the civil rights movement talk about all the terrible things that they had to endure to bring about change.” Sylvia tapped her chin with her finger. “I always wondered why they would put themselves in harm’s way and do all the things they did.”
“I guess because they believed that is what God showed them in the life of Jesus.” Joan paused. “Wow. I never thought about it that way before,”
“It kind of makes me want to go back to church. Isn’t there a chapel on campus? You want to check it out?”
Joan considered her room mate for a moment and then nodded. “I think I would.”
*****************************************
StoryShare, January 5, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
