Thursday, August 30, 2007

The story we should have heard, the truth we should have learned.

Words were spoken, tempers flared; hearts were broken, no one cared. I don’t know what the argument was over, I don’t much care to know. But, there was internal division at my church over something that will eventually seem silly. The couple in charge of the kid’s program left in tears a few minutes before the kids program was scheduled to start. The rest of the workers scrambled to pull something together. I didn’t know the situation at the time. I only knew that we had decided to let the kids play on the playground instead of doing the usual programming.

If I had known what had happened I could have helped. Before leaving, the couple had given me the skit to be performed as the Bible lesson. Before leaving, they told me I wouldn’t be doing it. If I had known the situation, I’m not sure if I could have done the drama. Our Bible story was one I had never heard before. The story of Nabal and his wife’s kindness taught the lesson that we must treat others with respect and kindness to have harmony in our own lives. Let’s play a game of “Spot the Irony.”

… and it is irony; so we laugh. But the laughter burns, burns like the tears did.

1 comment:

Pastor Bill said...

Ooo - ooo - I'll play "spot the irony."

First...who the heck is Nabal? (flip...flip...Strong's ...flip...flip... 1 Samuel?... David... Nabal... Abigail...yadda...)

Okay - I get it. Abagail was the peacemaker.

Actually, it's a pretty amazing story. Thanks for pointing to it.

Here's the thing that really hit me:

"In the morning, when teh wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him; he became like a stone."

That's too often the case, isn't it? Is that what happened at church? Dunno, I wasn't there. But I see it too many times around me...