If you’re paying attention, you may find something old, something new, everyday in the Kingdom of God.
Today as I sat in a 600-year-old church I heard a fresh, quite timely message about what is happening in the world right now.
Early on in this gathering of the Faithful, Reverend Symington began his message with an anecdote, which I will relate to you.
He said that he had recently taken a trip to the USA. While there, he attended an Atlanta Braves baseball game.
Reminding his Scottish congregants of the basic procedures of that all-American game, he explained that the pitcher pitches the ball across a plate, to be swung at by a batter for the opposing team.
The batter, if successful in his swing, will hit the ball into the field, where it is retrieved (or not) by a fielder.
But sometimes, the reverend continued, the batter swings at the pitched ball and hits the ball only partly. If the ball glances off the upper edge of the bat, the ball will be hit foul while continuing its thrust, but glancing skyward. Sometimes it is thusly misdirected into the stands where fans are sitting.
On this particular day in Atlanta, the storyteller and his two daughters, or granddaughters, were sitting in those seats behind home plate. It just so happened that the ball came directly at them. And, lo and behold and I say unto thee, his daughter caught that foul ball!
On the next pitch, the same thing happened. Except this time the ball went higher, over their heads and past them. Then it was caught by a boy; but he bobbled it and a man sitting near him grabbed the ball and managed to take it away.
The boy protested, but the man insisted on keeping the ball.
While this was happening, another man nearby issued a command:
“Give the boy the ball!”
But the insensitive ball-robber refused to yield.
The other man continued to protest, but louder now:
“Give the boy the ball!”
And again, more insistently: “Give the boy the ball!”
Other fans who were nearby began adding volume to his command:
“Give the boy the ball!”
After awhile, the commanding chorus rose louder and louder as more people joined in. After awhile it became an almost stadium-wide chorus: “Give the boy the ball!”
And guess what happened.
That ball-snatcher gave the boy his ball back!
Now the story-telling preacher, having spoken his parable, lifted the lesson up to a higher level.
To whit: the cry of the Ukrainians ought to be taken up by all freedom-loving people everywhere and proclaimed loudly as an overwhelming chorus directed at ball-robber Vladimir Putin:
“Give the Ukrainians their nation back!”
Perhaps, miracle of miracles, it could happen. A little faith proclaimed in a loud voice could go a long way. What say ye?
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