Contributing Writer

A reader copied

the following from a friend's church newsletter and e-mailed it to me

with a note that she thought you might enjoy it:

"A churchgoer

wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made

no sense to go to church every Sunday. 'I've gone for 30 years now,' he

wrote, 'and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But

for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think

I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons

at all. Signed: Missing the Message.'

"This

started a real controversy in the Letters to the Editor column, much to

the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this

clincher: 'I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has

cooked some 32,000 meals for me. But for the life of me, I cannot recall

the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: At

the time, they all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do

my work every day. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be

physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment

every week, I would be spiritually dead today.'"

I did enjoy

the e-mail and the many layers of truth contained therein. It set me to

thinking about a lot of things, among which are several scripture passages

I thought I'd mention today.

First, I recalled

from Proverbs, chapter 25: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of

gold in settings of silver."

Then I remembered

an exchange between Peter and Jesus as recorded in in John, chapter 21:

"Jesus said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love

me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you

love me?' And he said to Him, 'Lord you know all things; you know that

I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Tend my sheep.'"

Then I considered

the story of Joseph in the Old Testament book of Genesis. Recall with

me how Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, how he was

taken to Egypt, falsely accused and imprisoned, and how he eventually

found himself in a place of honor and service under the pharoh. In that

position, after many years of tribulation which were a direct result of

his brothers' actions, Joseph then found himself in a position to feed

his brothers in time of famine.

So where am

I going with all this? Could it be that everything which happens to us,

whether we consider it just or unjust, works together to better equip

us for meeting the needs of our fellow man?

In other words,

all things work together to make us better able to tend or feed the sheep

to which Jesus referred.

Certainly,

regular worship and an ongoing study of God's Word can and does help us

to grow spiritually stonger and wiser. But don't think for a minute that

God limits the ways in which He teaches us, or expects us to share what

we have learned with others. No setting and no experience is beyond the

teaching hand of God. We cannot escape the lessons He would have us learn.

And as we learn, we would do well to share what we have learned with others

at the proper time.

I say at the

proper time because there is that issue of throwing pearls before swine,

as noted in the passage found in the seventh chapter of Matthew. This

of course follows a warning from Jesus not to judge, lest we be judged.

Now I figure

what Jesus was saying to us was this: Be real careful about judging your

fellow man because what goes around comes around; and if you do feel like

you should offer advice to another fellow earth traveler, be aware that

if he or she is not receptive, it could be like throwing precious jewels

out for dirty animals to stomp all over them.

And then I

go back once more to the fact that a word fitly spoken is like apples

of gold in settings of silver. Yep, that e-mail got me to jumping all

around.

Perhaps you

think by now that I have no real point to make today. Maybe I don't. Maybe

I just want you to join me in thinking about what has been said and done

to you over the years, and what you say and do to others... and the timing

of such. Timing makes a difference, you know.

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