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The
Quiet Sermon
A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services
regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to
visit him.
It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting
before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastors visit, the
man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and
waited.
The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence,
he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After
some
minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly
burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then
he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in
quiet contemplation.
As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a
momentary
glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor
glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood
up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of
the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and
warmth of the burning coals around it.
As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear
running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially
for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."
We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little.
Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left
unspoken.
This is an amazing picture! The "longer" you look at this picture, the
"more" you see. Look at the lines the artist used to draw this picture
of Christ.. It is one
of the scenes from Christ's life. |
