The Sermon

It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home
alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his
preachers visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable
chair near the fireplace and waited.

The preacher 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 preacher 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
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
preacher 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 preacher 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 week .”

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.