God’s Guest List from Chad Herring on Vimeo.
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church of Prairie Village, Kansas. July 29, 2012. The last of a seven week sermon series on the Parables of Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
and Luke 14:12-24
Watch this sermon at vimeo.com/49804230
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One of the most oft used books in my office
is a little work by United Church of Christ pastor Glen E Rainsley
entitled Thanks Be To God: Prayers and Parables for Public Worship.
Its mainly a liturgical resource, meaning that it offers
opening prayers and prayers of confession and that sort of thing.
We’ve used his words occasionally when I’ve prepared the bulletin.
But its that parables section that intrigues me.
Rainsley has drafted some stories,
not on par with Jesus’ parables, of course,
but moving nevertheless for our day and for our age.
Here’s the one I just happened upon this week, while pondering this text from Luke:[i]
On a crisp fall day, Cheryl decided to take a walk
through a small city park near her apartment.
There were the usual joggers,
several newspaper readers, a few picnickers.
Around one park bench inhabited by a thin grayish man,
there was an undulating feather carpet—
HUNDREDS of bobbing birds.
The fellow had a large garbage bag beside him,
and from it he withdrew piece after piece of bread.
These he reduced to crumbs and tossed gently to the ground.
Without asking permission to enter this scene,
Cheryl slowly walked around the birds
and sat on the opposite end of the bench from the feeder.
“You must like birds,” he said.
“Yes, I do,” Cheryl replied.
“Me, too”
“Where’d you get all that bread?” she inquired.