Witness In The Wilderness
Stories
Contents
"Witness in the Wilderness" by Peter Andrew Smith
"Liberating People" by C. David McKirachan
Witness in the Wilderness
by Peter Andrew Smith
Exodus 17:1-7
Norma shivered and put her hands in her pockets to try and warm them up. What was she doing here? Why wasn’t she at home? Why was she stuck outside in the middle of the night looking for a runaway who was probably safely inside one of the city emergency shelters under a different name?
Norma shook her head. She never should have agreed to this search. Kylie was on foot and had no money for a taxi and there weren’t any buses running so it made sense to search the streets in the downtown for her. At least it had made sense two hours ago. Now Norma was convinced that this was hopeless.
The more she thought about it the more she realized this wasn’t just hopeless, it was also a waste of her time and energy. She worked at the downtown mission in order to make a difference -- to share the Bible, to be there for people in need, to show grace and love through the programs the church set up. She wasn’t doing any of that wandering around the streets on a cold night.
Her cell phone dinged and she looked at the message. See anything? Aaron was one street over and obviously getting discouraged too. Nothing but my own breath she typed back. She moved down the street to where they were supposed to meet before heading to another block. She understood why they searched in pairs and was glad he wasn’t too far away but it would be faster if they didn’t have to meet up so often. She yawned and stretched. Tomorrow was going to be rough if this kept up much longer. She jumped at the sound of noise from the alley.
“Hello? Kylie, is that you? It’s Norma from the Mission.”
A figure too tall to be Kylie spoke from the shadows. “Who are you looking for?”
“Girl about five feet goes by the name of Kylie and isn’t dressed for a night like this.”
“Does she have mental problems? No sane person would be out here if they didn’t have to. ”
“No, just problems at her home,” Norma said. “They have it straightened out and she’s not in any trouble.”
The man stayed in the shadows. “Where did you say you were from?”
“We’re from the church mission down on the corner of Main and First -
- the building with the big cross on the side.”
“We? Not just you out here looking?”
Norma gestured down the street where Aaron had just appeared. “There are number of people looking for her.”
The man rubbed his chin. “Why would you make a fuss over some kid that runs?”
“We care about her. She’s out here alone and afraid and thinking she’s going to get kicked out of where she lives.” Norma paused. “She’s not. Have you seen her?”
“Does she have long black hair and wear a red hoodie?”
“That’s her! When did you see her?”
“She came past here a while back crying. She reminded me of my sister so I gave her a gift card to the donut place over on Second.” The man pointed across the street. “You can cut through the street there and get to it over the pedway.”
“Thanks.” Norma tapped out a message on the cell phone to let the others know. “Everyone is worried about her.”
The man stepped into the light and Norma could see him wrapped in an old parka with whiskers sticking out everywhere. “The Mission serve any meals?”
“We have a hot meal tomorrow at lunch. You’re welcome to come.” Norma eyed the holes in his gloves. “We have some gloves and warm socks too if you ask.”
The man nodded. “I might just do that.”
“You have a place to stay tonight? I know the shelter over on Washington has some beds.”
“Naw, never much liked those places.” The man pointed back into the alleyway. “There’s a steam vent and I have a sleeping bag.”
“Okay.” Norma’s phone buzzed as other searchers responded to her news. She ignored her phone and stuck out her hand. “Thanks for the help. I’m Norma.”
“No problem.” The man shook her hand. “I’m Hank. Maybe I’ll see you at the Mission.”
“I hope I do, Hank. I hope I do.”
Hank disappeared into the alley and Norma headed across the street to where Aaron was waiting. The night was cold and they still hadn’t found Kylie, yet Norma was glad that they were out searching for she was now certain that they were doing God’s work.
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada currently serving 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 and a number of stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
* * *
Liberating People
by C. David McKirachan
John 4:5-42
This passage always bothered me. Jesus having a strange conversation with a solitary woman, in a weird place. I like lessons that tell stories, or present issues, or demonstrate the power of the Lord. But the story is disturbing none the less and if it disturbs, it must have some power I haven’t grasped.
Seminary forced me to dig into culture and tradition and issues that pushed people around then. It forced me to see and listen with ears that are contemporary with the issues that were driving people like the woman at the well. It astounded me that the more I learned about this passage, the more disturbing it became.
Jesus was unwilling to abide with social convention, especially when it got in the way of liberating people. He would ask questions that had uncomfortable answers, to tip people out of the games and dances that they played to stay safe, behind the walls of their fears and separation.
This woman was tangled up in a few of these. She was the wrong nationality, she was living in a sketchy relationship, and she had the pleasure to be born a woman in a patriarchal society. The why’s were buried in history, accident, and lousy choices. Sounds a lot like most of us.
If you’ve ever met a pioneer (not the covered wagon kind), someone who deliberately struck out into territory that had fences around it, walls with barbed wire on top, territory that demanded certain responses and social norms, that the pioneer refused to settle for, then you’ve met a person who asked hard questions and would not settle for the pro forma answers. Answers like, you can’t do that because you’re black, or a woman, or too young. Answers like, we’ve always done it that way before, or we’ve never done it that way before. Answers that if ignored would demand a risk, a price, a price that would be perfectly accepted as understandable from the ones who built and maintained the walls.
Jesus was a pioneer. Instead of being condescending and sympathetic to this Samaritan woman who’d made some bad choices, he treated her like a person, a child of God, who had options. He waded right into the swamp and grabbed the alligators by their tails. And he reminded her that she had the opportunity to do the same thing. She was not a prisoner of her nation or her faith or her sex or her past. She was potentially a free and powerful person who was a child of God and no one, including she herself had the right to treat her any other way.
In other words, she was free.
This isn’t easy or nice or simple stuff. But neither was what Jesus was doing. He was confronting the very human tendency to gloss over, to make nice, to nod and shuffle, to smile when the better response would be to say, “Stop.” To confront the manipulation and abuse that goes on here. We don’t like to get tangled up in those kinds of confrontive transactions because they have consequences. That’s called freedom. We are not free from as much as we’re free to. The free from part is realizing that there are no locks on the cages we sit in. All we have to do is push open the door and step out. That’s when life begins. That’s when we start worshipping for real, with clean hearts and open souls.
It’s hard to confront the craziness around us. It’s frightening. It’s more comfortable to hide. I think that when we get into the presence of God, Hell happens. Then we see clearly all the time and energy we wasted on our excuses, and our whines, and our selfishness, and our small attitudes, and our anger. They won’t work anymore because we’ll see them clearly, for what they have been, worthless and hurtful. “OH!” What is there left to say?
Honesty. What worse Hell could there be?
That stuff is all a lie. Lies don’t live in the presence of God. So, we get a choice. Hold onto them and wander, or leave ’em, lay ’em down and go home. Free at last, free at last, Thank God almighty, we’re free at last.
But the best part of it is we don’t have to wait until they turn the machines off, or the ticker stops on its own. We can be free, or at least take a good shot at it now. I think that’s what they call salvation. And that, my friends, doesn’t happen unless we are willing to be tough enough to face the hard questions without the usual coating of bubble wrap to keep us from hitting hard edges.
So now I know why this passage always gets to me. Time to tell the truth.
Oh, it’s Lent.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
*****************************************
StoryShare, March 19, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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.
"Witness in the Wilderness" by Peter Andrew Smith
"Liberating People" by C. David McKirachan
Witness in the Wilderness
by Peter Andrew Smith
Exodus 17:1-7
Norma shivered and put her hands in her pockets to try and warm them up. What was she doing here? Why wasn’t she at home? Why was she stuck outside in the middle of the night looking for a runaway who was probably safely inside one of the city emergency shelters under a different name?
Norma shook her head. She never should have agreed to this search. Kylie was on foot and had no money for a taxi and there weren’t any buses running so it made sense to search the streets in the downtown for her. At least it had made sense two hours ago. Now Norma was convinced that this was hopeless.
The more she thought about it the more she realized this wasn’t just hopeless, it was also a waste of her time and energy. She worked at the downtown mission in order to make a difference -- to share the Bible, to be there for people in need, to show grace and love through the programs the church set up. She wasn’t doing any of that wandering around the streets on a cold night.
Her cell phone dinged and she looked at the message. See anything? Aaron was one street over and obviously getting discouraged too. Nothing but my own breath she typed back. She moved down the street to where they were supposed to meet before heading to another block. She understood why they searched in pairs and was glad he wasn’t too far away but it would be faster if they didn’t have to meet up so often. She yawned and stretched. Tomorrow was going to be rough if this kept up much longer. She jumped at the sound of noise from the alley.
“Hello? Kylie, is that you? It’s Norma from the Mission.”
A figure too tall to be Kylie spoke from the shadows. “Who are you looking for?”
“Girl about five feet goes by the name of Kylie and isn’t dressed for a night like this.”
“Does she have mental problems? No sane person would be out here if they didn’t have to. ”
“No, just problems at her home,” Norma said. “They have it straightened out and she’s not in any trouble.”
The man stayed in the shadows. “Where did you say you were from?”
“We’re from the church mission down on the corner of Main and First -
- the building with the big cross on the side.”
“We? Not just you out here looking?”
Norma gestured down the street where Aaron had just appeared. “There are number of people looking for her.”
The man rubbed his chin. “Why would you make a fuss over some kid that runs?”
“We care about her. She’s out here alone and afraid and thinking she’s going to get kicked out of where she lives.” Norma paused. “She’s not. Have you seen her?”
“Does she have long black hair and wear a red hoodie?”
“That’s her! When did you see her?”
“She came past here a while back crying. She reminded me of my sister so I gave her a gift card to the donut place over on Second.” The man pointed across the street. “You can cut through the street there and get to it over the pedway.”
“Thanks.” Norma tapped out a message on the cell phone to let the others know. “Everyone is worried about her.”
The man stepped into the light and Norma could see him wrapped in an old parka with whiskers sticking out everywhere. “The Mission serve any meals?”
“We have a hot meal tomorrow at lunch. You’re welcome to come.” Norma eyed the holes in his gloves. “We have some gloves and warm socks too if you ask.”
The man nodded. “I might just do that.”
“You have a place to stay tonight? I know the shelter over on Washington has some beds.”
“Naw, never much liked those places.” The man pointed back into the alleyway. “There’s a steam vent and I have a sleeping bag.”
“Okay.” Norma’s phone buzzed as other searchers responded to her news. She ignored her phone and stuck out her hand. “Thanks for the help. I’m Norma.”
“No problem.” The man shook her hand. “I’m Hank. Maybe I’ll see you at the Mission.”
“I hope I do, Hank. I hope I do.”
Hank disappeared into the alley and Norma headed across the street to where Aaron was waiting. The night was cold and they still hadn’t found Kylie, yet Norma was glad that they were out searching for she was now certain that they were doing God’s work.
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada currently serving 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 and a number of stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
* * *
Liberating People
by C. David McKirachan
John 4:5-42
This passage always bothered me. Jesus having a strange conversation with a solitary woman, in a weird place. I like lessons that tell stories, or present issues, or demonstrate the power of the Lord. But the story is disturbing none the less and if it disturbs, it must have some power I haven’t grasped.
Seminary forced me to dig into culture and tradition and issues that pushed people around then. It forced me to see and listen with ears that are contemporary with the issues that were driving people like the woman at the well. It astounded me that the more I learned about this passage, the more disturbing it became.
Jesus was unwilling to abide with social convention, especially when it got in the way of liberating people. He would ask questions that had uncomfortable answers, to tip people out of the games and dances that they played to stay safe, behind the walls of their fears and separation.
This woman was tangled up in a few of these. She was the wrong nationality, she was living in a sketchy relationship, and she had the pleasure to be born a woman in a patriarchal society. The why’s were buried in history, accident, and lousy choices. Sounds a lot like most of us.
If you’ve ever met a pioneer (not the covered wagon kind), someone who deliberately struck out into territory that had fences around it, walls with barbed wire on top, territory that demanded certain responses and social norms, that the pioneer refused to settle for, then you’ve met a person who asked hard questions and would not settle for the pro forma answers. Answers like, you can’t do that because you’re black, or a woman, or too young. Answers like, we’ve always done it that way before, or we’ve never done it that way before. Answers that if ignored would demand a risk, a price, a price that would be perfectly accepted as understandable from the ones who built and maintained the walls.
Jesus was a pioneer. Instead of being condescending and sympathetic to this Samaritan woman who’d made some bad choices, he treated her like a person, a child of God, who had options. He waded right into the swamp and grabbed the alligators by their tails. And he reminded her that she had the opportunity to do the same thing. She was not a prisoner of her nation or her faith or her sex or her past. She was potentially a free and powerful person who was a child of God and no one, including she herself had the right to treat her any other way.
In other words, she was free.
This isn’t easy or nice or simple stuff. But neither was what Jesus was doing. He was confronting the very human tendency to gloss over, to make nice, to nod and shuffle, to smile when the better response would be to say, “Stop.” To confront the manipulation and abuse that goes on here. We don’t like to get tangled up in those kinds of confrontive transactions because they have consequences. That’s called freedom. We are not free from as much as we’re free to. The free from part is realizing that there are no locks on the cages we sit in. All we have to do is push open the door and step out. That’s when life begins. That’s when we start worshipping for real, with clean hearts and open souls.
It’s hard to confront the craziness around us. It’s frightening. It’s more comfortable to hide. I think that when we get into the presence of God, Hell happens. Then we see clearly all the time and energy we wasted on our excuses, and our whines, and our selfishness, and our small attitudes, and our anger. They won’t work anymore because we’ll see them clearly, for what they have been, worthless and hurtful. “OH!” What is there left to say?
Honesty. What worse Hell could there be?
That stuff is all a lie. Lies don’t live in the presence of God. So, we get a choice. Hold onto them and wander, or leave ’em, lay ’em down and go home. Free at last, free at last, Thank God almighty, we’re free at last.
But the best part of it is we don’t have to wait until they turn the machines off, or the ticker stops on its own. We can be free, or at least take a good shot at it now. I think that’s what they call salvation. And that, my friends, doesn’t happen unless we are willing to be tough enough to face the hard questions without the usual coating of bubble wrap to keep us from hitting hard edges.
So now I know why this passage always gets to me. Time to tell the truth.
Oh, it’s Lent.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
*****************************************
StoryShare, March 19, 2017, issue.
Copyright 2017 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.
