FIERY SERMON

A member of the 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 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 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 will
be back in church 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.