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A member of a
certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly,
suddenly stopped coming to church. After a few weeks, the Pastor decided
to visit.
The Pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.
Guessing the reason for his Pastor's 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 lifeless. 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.
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