8-25-19 Worship and Preaching JESUS AT THE CENTER

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16–4:5

LET MY PEOPLE GO

A visiting minister was very long-winded. Worse, every time he would make a good point during his sermon and a member of the congregation responded with "Amen" or "That’s right, preacher" he would get wound up even more and launch into another lengthy discourse.

Finally, the host pastor started responding to every few sentences with "Amen, Pharaoh!" The guest minister wasn’t sure what that meant, but after several more "Amen, Pharaohs" he finally concluded his very lengthy sermon.

After the service concluded and the congregation had left, the visiting minister turned to his host and asked, "What exactly did you mean when you said "Amen, Pharaoh?"

His host replied, "I was telling you to let my people go!"

2 Tim 3:16a All Scripture is God-breathed

Gen 2:7   God-breathed into his nostrils the breath of life

Gen 25:8   And Abraham breathed his last breath and was gathered to his people.

Ezek 37:9-10   Then he said to me, "Prophecy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'" So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army.

Mark 15:37-39  With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

John 20:21-22   Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."  And with that, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

2 Tim 3:16b and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  

Teaching = here is what we are going to learn today.

Rebuking = Shaking your finger when someone is about to touch a hot stove of sin.

Correcting = Just a second, instead of going that way let’s go this way.

training in righteousness = Remember what I taught you, now let’s practice it in real life.

2 Tim 3:17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We come to worship to hear the God-breathed, teaching, rebuking, correcting, training scriptures preached so that we will be well equipped for good works.

CAN’T REMEMBER ANY SERMONS or MEALS

Several years ago “The British Weekly” published this provocative letter:

Dear Sir: It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending church quite regularly for thirty years, and I have probably heard 3,000 of them. To my consternation, I discovered I cannot remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else?

For weeks a storm of editorial responses ensued, finally ended by this letter:

Dear Sir: I have been married for thirty years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals – mostly my wife’s cooking. Suddenly I have discovered I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death long ago.

2 Tim 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.

Preach the Word

be prepared in season and out of season;

correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.

2 Tim 4:3-4  3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

People turn aside to myths: A very common myth that many Christians believe is, “If I do everything right, life will work smoothly.” We seem to be immersed in an attitude of entitlement, believing that God owes us an easy and comfortable life if we serve Him. We expect to be able to avoid all pain, and we look for formulas to make life work. Frankly, many of us are addicted to our own comfort zones, and when anything disturbs our comfort zone, we feel betrayed and abandoned by God.

2 Tim 4:5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

                  But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Basically, no matter what…keep faithfully doing the work you are called to do - including preaching.

          Is preaching what is done after worship or is it also an aspect of worship? Let me suggest the answer to that is different for me than it is for you. Every sermon I preach is and must be worship for me but not necessarily for you. For me, when I preach, I dare not open my mouth unless I have invited the Holy Spirit to be in the preparation as well as the moment of proclamation. As I preach, I am absolutely worshipping the one who has given the message - God’s Holy Spirit. My hope would be that during the message you have an encounter with God that allows you to know him and give Him glory. My guess is that, this does not happen for you every Sunday. I am not talking about “feeling close to God” because worship has very little to do with feelings though we sometimes experience them during worship. Worship is attributing worth to God which you sometimes do during a message - other times your heart or mind may be so distracted that it is not an experience of worship for you. I have had times where I have listened to a sermon and it has not been a time of worship for me - but that was my doing not the preachers.

          If we establish that preaching is worship, what is most important in the preaching event. I have several thoughts but only two matter in the end. Besides those two - it is important that I first experience the text - that it lives in me; it is important that I understand the text and the congregation who receives the message as best as I can. It is important how I deliver the message - the bible is not all poetry, or narrative, or history, or parable, or eschatological, or chronological, or, or, or…there are many different genres of how it is written and therefore are many different ways it can and should be presented. As important as all of those are, they mean nothing if the other two are not met - those are that every message must be biblically based and Christ centered.

If it does not come for scripture it is the preacher's thoughts - if it is not Christ-centered, it has no life or power so what’s the point. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon illustrates it well with this story:                       SPURGEON QUOTE: NO JESUS CHRIST IN IT!

A Welshman heard a young man preach a very fine sermon-a grand sermon, a highfaluting, spread-eagle sermon; and when he had done, he asked the Welshman what he thought of it. The man replied that he did not think anything of it.

• "And why not?"

"Because there was no Jesus Christ in it."

• "Well," said he, "but my text did not seem to run that way."

"Never mind," said the Welshman, "your sermon ought to run that way."

• "I do not see that, however," said the young man.

"No," said the other, "you do not see how to preach yet. This is the way to preach. From every little village in England - it does not matter where it is - there is sure to be a road to London. Now, from every text in the Bible, there is a road to Jesus Christ, and the way to preach is just to say, `How can I get from this text to Jesus Christ?’ and then go preaching all the way along it."

• "Well," said the young man, "suppose I find a text that does not have a road to Jesus."

"I have preached for forty years," said the old man, "and I have never found such a Scripture, but if I ever do find one I will go over hedge and ditch but what I will get to him, for I will never finish without bringing in my Master and Savior Jesus Christ."

2 Cor 4:5-6     For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

1 Cor 1:22-24     Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1 Cor 2:1-2     When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

CONCLUSION

2 Tim 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word!

8-18-19 WORSHIP AND THE BIBLE Is it more like a Mirror or a Window?

Is the Bible like a mirror or more like a window to you? EXPLAIN

It is possible to make the bible say what you want it to say - you can even use the bible to prove that God does not exist. Take as an example the words from the bible: “there is no God.” Yes, those four words are found in the Bible — but what the Bible really says is that only a fool would believe them. The actual quotation is this: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, and their ways are vile” Psalm 53:1. Instead of saying God doesn’t exist, the Bible says the exact opposite! Allowing the Bible to be a window, during our worship we see this:

THE GLORY OF THE BIBLE

HOLD BIBLE UP:  This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.

Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity.

How easy is it to access a bible today in the United States? GIVE EXAMPLES

Imagine a foreign power strong enough to destroy our buildings, phone system, and internet and take many of us out of the US to foreign soil to serve the people of another country. That is what happened to the Jews - they were in exile. They lost ALL access to the scriptures for many years. Eventually many were able to return and the first thing they did under the leadership of Nehemiah was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem to be protected against foreign invaders. But building the walls only took care of rebuilding and renewing their external life. They needed to renew and rebuild their inner life with God.

Nehemiah 8:1-6

          …all the people assembled as one man (unity) in the square before the Water Gate (water was brought into the temple - spacious area in front of it). They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. (They had a hunger for the word)

2 So on the first day of the seventh month (Yom Teruah (or the Day of Shouting/Shofar Blasts) is the biblical name for the traditional Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah) is on the first day of the seventh month (Lev 23:23–25). This is a high holy sabbath day.) Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. (The people were “attentive - “all the people stood up”, - responsive “Amen, Amen”, and demonstrative “lifting up their hands … bowed their heads”)

4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. (They took time to build a platform so the reading could be seen and heard - sound system, lighting, etc. are important in that they remove distractions and help us hear God’s word better.) Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam. (The ministry of God’s Word has the greatest effect when people can see others who stand with the pastor in support of it and in obedience to it.)

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, "Amen! Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. (There are times in worship and in response to the word of God that we ought to raise our hands in elation and other times we ought to bow our heads to the ground in reverence and awe.)

SHARE SOME OF MY BIBLES

A MIRROR OR A WINDOW?

Suppose a young couple woke up in the morning after a good night sleep and the husband looked in the mirror on the dresser and became very angry at the reflection because of what he saw... his hair was disheveled and he had a sleep wrinkle that ran down the one side of his face, so he took his wife's hairbrush and began to beat the mirror above the dresser in fierce anger, the wife in great astonishment ask her husband "why are you doing this" and he told her that he could not stand the reflection in the mirror. Now this would be quite ridiculous to judge the mirror because of what it had revealed, but no more ridiculous than people attacking the mirror of God's word because they don't like the reflection it gave them about their character.

James 1:23-25

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

8-11-19 Worship and Giving: MY TIME, MY TREASURE, MY TALENT

Malachi 3:1-18

WORSHIP FOR JESUS IS COMING

    "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the Lord  Almighty.

2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord  will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord , as in days gone by, as in former years.

5 "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the Lord  Almighty.

TIME

6 "I the Lord  do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord  Almighty.

TREASURE

"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'

8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.”

"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'

"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord  Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the Lord  Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the Lord  Almighty.

TALENT

13 "You have said harsh things against me," says the Lord .

"Yet you ask, 'What have we said against you?'

14 "You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord  Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.'"

16 Then those who feared the Lord  talked with each other, and the Lord  listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord  and honored his name.

17 "They will be mine," says the Lord  Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

2 Corinthians 9:1-15

    There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints. 2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. 3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we — not to say anything about you — would be ashamed of having been so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

SCROOGE BECAME A CHEERFUL GIVER

At the end of Charles Dickens’ book “A Christmas Carol”, Scrooge has realized the error of his stingy, miserly ways. Scrooge gets converted! At the end of the story Dickens wrote this: “Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he became a second father.”

ZACCHAEUS BECAME A CHEERFUL GIVER

Luke 19:8-9    But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

          See, we can change and become cheerful givers and look what happens…

VIDEO: The Offering Plate

2 Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:

"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (WORSHIP)

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. (WORSHIP) 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (WORSHIP)

BUT WHAT I GIVE WILL NEVER BE MISSED

A Stewardship Parable

          There is a story in the folklore of a village in France in which all the families had their own vineyards. Each year, as the families gathered their grapes, one-tenth of all their wine was placed in a large vat inside the church. It would become a common store of wine for the communion, and for village celebrations.

          One year, as the harvest was smaller than usual, one farmer decided to keep all of his wine. When the time came to empty his family’s share into the common vat, he poured in pure water. After all, with the many offerings from all the vineyards, a little water would make little difference.

          Later, the pastor and all the villagers gathered for the first testing of the vat. The mayor opened the spigot to begin the celebration. As he did so…….clear water poured into his glass. As it happened, all the vineyard growers had thought their offering to be of little importance. Each one had held back their tithe; and there was no wine in the common vat for the village festivities, or for the church’s communion.  How important is it for you to give of your TIME your TREASURE your TALENT?    (EX. Mike Manny)

I AM BLESSED

So, if I give of my TIME, TREASURE, and TALENT, I will be blessed? Yes and no. The bible does not make any guarantee that because you make a deposit into the bank of heaven you can make a withdrawal in the bank of earth. (Health and Prosperity Gospel)

          I have been a person who has tithed since I was 15 years old - for almost 45 years I have given a minimum of 10% of all I have ever earned to Jesus through his church. Yet, I still carry debt that I can only hope will be paid off by the time I retire someday. Think about the widow who gave all she had. Was she blessed? She was poorer than dirt…all she had to give was a couple of pennies, but she gave them anyway. The truth, I am more blessed than anyone I know and that widow was more blessed than anyone who came with gold to put into the church offering that day.

          You see, the blessing the bible talks about is not ‘give and you will receive a blessing’, it is instead ‘give because you know you have already been blessed’. I give of my time - always in worship - I give of my treasure - always tithe / I give of my talent - I became a preacher and use my talents in other ways for the glory of Christ. I do many things wrong/or not well, those three things I do as an act of worship not so I will be blessed - rather because I have been blessed. How blessed are you? The true answer to how much you are blessed is in how well you worship God by giving your TIME, TREASURE and TALENT.

WORSHIP FOR JESUS IS COMING

Mal 3:1        "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the Lord  Almighty.

8-4-19 Worship as Prayer - Moving beyond just ‘Information’

Matthew 6:9-13

On this date in 1790 the US Coast Guard was founded.

On this date in 1830 Plans were laid out for the city of Chicago.

On this date in 1929 the Cleveland Indians, trailing 6-5 in the 9^th with 2 outs score a record 9runs beating the NY Yankees 14-6.

On this date in 1956 Elvis Presley released “You ain’t nothin but a hound dog”

On this date in 1928 my father, Richard Cooper was born.

On this date in 1963 my mother and father were divorced.

On this date in 2005 my father, Richard Cooper passed away.

On this date, Aug 4^th, 2019 Ashland Church learned about Prayer as Worship.

Some dates are significant, some are never remembered. Aug 4^th 2019 should be remembered as the day you understood how prayer is an act of worship.

I might go so far as to say, our time in corporate worship is more of a prayer service than anything else.

When does prayer first enter the Sunday worship service?

Pastor Jeff & Becky pray about the message and the music and the flow of our time together.

We pray for the people who will be here in worship…we pray for you!

There are people (should be everyone) who pray for me, Becky and others as we prepare to lead worship. We should all pray for ourselves prior to coming to worship that we will come in a way worthy of the Christ who gave his life for us.

Our singing is one of 3 things - Us speaking to God, God speaking to us…PRAYER - or instruction about God.

Communion is about prayer. The sermon is the Holy Spirit communicating with you about His word…PRAYER. There is very little that takes place in worship that is not some aspect about prayer.

Our prayers tend to fall into one of two categories - prayers for the sick or prayers of forgiveness. Philippians 4:6  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving (worship), present your requests to God.

 Biblical prayers tend to fall into one of two categories as well. Prayers of Praise or prayers of forgiveness. Most prayers in the Bible are quite brief. A typical prayer group will list what they want prayer for (majority for the sick) and then they will ‘pray’. What if instead of doing that, we spent time in praise - in communion with God - in God’s presence, then prayed for needs instead of listing them, just pray them.

    

Matt 6:7-8

          And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

THE LORD’S PRAYER - THE DISCIPLE’S PRAYER

Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

          “This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'”

   

Matthew 6:9-13 The MESSAGE

          “With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best — as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.’”

THE WISE MEN - 3 Kings

Matt 2:10-11

          When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

          When we come to worship we don’t seek the treasures of this world, we bow down and seek to give God our treasures. In prayer we give God our Heart, Soul and Strength.

THE WISE WOMAN - Mary

Luke 10:38-42

          As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

See how worship is a time to listen to the voice of God - that is prayer. Worship is prayer - not so much us talking but us listening. How many of you remember calling information before Google existed? What was the number ? 411 Sometimes we called it directory assistance but usually just said…call information. We called it to have the person listen to us then give us the information we requested - it still exists today (call 411 and put on speaker). We used that voice, that service to meet our needs without thought as to who that person was. That is how we often approach worship as prayer. What if, just what if the one with all the information - the wisdom of the ages, wanted to do more than give us information or assistance - what if that person just enjoyed spending time with us. If we see the 411 operator as God, maybe we should see how God is ready to do more than answer our requests…that God instead enjoys just being with us. Somehow - instead of being like Martha and using “Information” to get what we think we need because we are too distracted to take the time to develop a relationship with someone who seems out of reach, we can, in worship, give that relationship all the time it needs, if we will only listen.

INFORMATION PLEASE

A man tells the story about a special friend he made while just a boy. When quite young, Paul’s father had one of the first telephones in their neighborhood. Paul was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when his mother talked to it.

Then Paul discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person – her name was “Information, Please” and there was nothing she did not know.

“Information, Please” could supply anybody’s number and the correct time. Paul’s first personal experience with this genie-in the-bottle came one day while his mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing himself at the tool bench in the basement, Paul hit his finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn’t seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. He walked around the house sucking his throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway.

The telephone!

Quickly, Paul ran for the foot stool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, he unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to his ear. “Information, Please,” he said into the mouthpiece just above his head.

A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into Paul’s ear.

“Information.”

“I hurt my finger,” Paul wailed into the phone.

“Isn’t your mother home?” came the question.

“Nobody’s home but me” Paul blubbered.

“Are you bleeding?” the voice asked.

“No,” he replied. “I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.”

“Can you open your icebox?” she asked. He said he could. “Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger,” said the voice.

After that, Paul called “Information, Please” for everything. He asked her for help with his geography and she told him where Philadelphia was. She helped him with his math. She told Paul that his pet chipmunk, which he had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, the pet canary died. Paul called and told her the sad story.

She listened, then said the usual things grown-ups say to soothe a child, but Paul was inconsolable. He asked her, “Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?” She must have sensed his deep concern, for she said quietly, “Paul, always remember that there is another world to sing in.” Somehow he felt better.

When Paul was nine years old, his family moved across the country to Boston. Paul missed his friend very much. “Information, Please” belonged in that old wooden box back home, and he somehow never thought of trying the tall, shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall.

As he grew into his teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left him. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity Paul would recall the serene sense of security he had then. He appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on his way west to college, Paul’s plane put down in Seattle. He had about half an hour or so between planes. He spent 15 minutes on the phone with his sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what he was doing, Paul dialed his hometown operator and said, “Information, Please.”

Miraculously, he heard the small, clear voice he knew so well, “Information.”

He hadn’t planned this but he heard himself saying, “Could you please tell me how to spell fix?” There was a long pause. Then came the soft-spoken answer, “I guess your finger must have healed by now.” Paul laughed. “So it’s really still you,” he said. “I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time.”

“I wonder,” she said, “if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls.” Paul told her how often he had thought of her over the years and asked if he could call her again when he came back to visit his sister.

“Please do,” she said. “Just ask for Sally.”

Three months later Paul was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, “Information.” He asked for Sally. “Are you a friend?” She asked.

“Yes, a very old friend,” Paul answered.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” she said. “Sally has been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago.”

Before he could hang up she said, “Wait a minute. Is this Paul?”

“Yes,” Paul replied.

“Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you.” The note said, “Tell him I still say there’s another world to sing in. He’ll know what I mean.”

Worship as Prayer

Moving beyond just ‘Information’ to ‘formation’ of a relationship

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