“That Printer of Udell’s”, by Harold Bell Wright…
The Scripture is from Matthew 25: 31-46, and was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on November 24, 2002
In 1907 Harold Bell Wright published a story titled ‘Shepherd of the Hills’. I’m sure that most of you here have heard of it, and many of you may have even read it or seen the play as it has been performed for almost fifty years at the amphitheatre outside of Branson, MO. Eleanor and I had an opportunity this September to do just that.
We have been there before, but it was many years ago, so after we bought our tickets on-line a few days before we left, we were looking forward to the included dinner, Inspiration Point, and tour of the site. On that tour we stopped in the bookstore, which was also a Harold Bell Wright Museum. While there we learned some very interesting facts about Mr. Wright. It is true that he was a minister, himself, and had come to that area for several summers in the late1800’s, where he met and befriended many of the people that he used as models for the characters in his book. But what I learned that I didn’t know before was that ‘The Shepherd of the Hills’ was not his first book…indeed it was his 5th or 6th! In fact, his first book started out to be a series of sermons that he intended to present in story form and wound up combining under one cover. It was titled ‘That Printer of Udell’s’. When it became a best seller, he realized that he could probably reach more people with his writing than he could with his sermons, and began writing in earnest.
I bought a copy of ‘That Printer of Udell’s’ and read it. And if I could, I would buy a copy for every person that I know and see that they read it, as well. The book was published in 1902…one hundred years ago! And yet, except for the ‘time sensitive’ things such as locations, names and technologies, it could have been written last week!
To condense it very briefly, the main point of the story is how the ‘Christians’ in their fine church buildings and society functions would not even acknowledge the less fortunate around them. Even when one progressive preacher tries to point out that Christ had told them that they were, indeed, their brother’s keeper, the members’ opinions were that he should “preach to us sermons that we want to hear! That, or find out just who is paying your salary!” In the story, there were many ‘good’ men who refused to become ‘Christians’ because the only ‘Christians’ that they knew were the hypocrites who attended each service but considered the church as being only for them…no outsiders wanted or allowed…and especially those who were not ‘society’ friendly!
By the end of the book, the ‘good men’ of the story had all come to see what Christ had intended Christianity to be and had accepted Him and His church…and were working to make the changes in it that were needed, much to the chagrin of those who just didn’t understand why things couldn’t stay the way they always had been.
Since the book was such a huge seller at the turn of the century, I’m sure that all of the problems that were addressed in it were straightened out, right?
Let’s move forward sixty years and see what we find. In the mid 1960’s the singing duo of ‘Simon and Garfunkel’ began hitting the charts with a number of songs. Paul Simon wrote most of the words for their music and has been acknowledged as one of the most gifted lyricists of that time. Indeed, my sophomore English class studied some of his songs as poetry! Let me read you the words from a song on their album, ‘Sounds of Silence’. It’s entitled ‘A Most Peculiar Man’.
He was a most peculiar man
That’s what Mrs. Reardon said and she should know
She lived upstairs from him
She said he was a most peculiar man
He was a most peculiar man
He lived all alone within a house
Within a room within himself
A most peculiar man
He had no friends he seldom spoke
And no one in turn ever spoke to him
‘Cause he wasn’t friendly and he didn’t care
And he wasn’t like them
Oh no he was a most peculiar man
He died last Saturday
He turned on the gas and he went to sleep
With the windows closed so he’d never wake up
To his silent world and his tiny room
And Mrs. Reardon says he has a brother somewhere
Who should be notified soon
And all the people said “What a shame that he’s dead
But wasn’t he a most peculiar man?”
Well, it would seem that sixty years didn’t bring much change in the world if this was the way people were still thinking about one another! Let’s move forward another thirty years and try a different writer. In 1989 Phil Collins wrote and released a song called ‘Another Day In Paradise’. Let me read the main words from that song to you.
She calls out to the man on the street
“Sir can you help me?
It’s cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep.
Is there somewhere you can tell me?”
He walks on, doesn’t look back
He pretends he can’t hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there.
Oh, think twice, cause it’s another day for you and me in Paradise
Just think about it.
She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she’s been crying
She’s got blisters on the soles of her feet
She can’t walk but she’s trying.
Oh think twice, cause it’s another day for you, you and me in Paradise
Just think about it
Oh Lord is there nothing more anybody can do? Oh Lord, there must be something you can say
You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that she’s been there
Probably been moved on from everyplace
Cause she didn’t fit in there
Oh think twice, it’s just another day for you, you and me in Paradise
Just think about it.
To me, the message that Jesus gives us in these verses today is among the most important in the whole Bible…indeed, I have quoted them on a number of occasions to help make a point about other lessons. Their meaning and intent are as clear as a star-filled night, and yet, if we listen to these other words that have been written over the last century, it would seem that no one has ever paid any attention to them!
C. S. Lewis once wrote, “The rule for all of us is simple: do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did.” Since the beginning of time people have cussed and discussed the fate of those less fortunate than themselves. But sadly, that’s usually as far as it goes. And I would say that, while we may have made progress in accepting our fellow travelers down this road of life as equals, we still have a long ways to go in acting upon their needs!
Throughout the Bible God’s people have been instructed on how to help and deal with the poor. In the 22nd chapter of Exodus we are told not to take advantage of the needy. The 25th chapter of Leviticus says that we are not to charge interest or make a profit on food sold to them. Deut 14 teaches that every third year the tithe was to be given to poor people, while Deut 15 and the 6th chapter of Matthew instruct us to give generously to the poor. And Jesus tells us many times, including here, to show concern for the needy.
So the fact of the matter is that we DO know what to do. And in the fourth chapter of the book of James we’re told that, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”, while 2nd Corinthians reminds us that, “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” It is just that simple.
This week our country takes one special day to thank God for all that He has done in our lives. And we all have so very much to be thankful for! If we take the time to truly reflect on our lives and all that we have, it becomes so apparent that EVERYTHING that we have we have through the grace of God! So I would like for each of you, sometime between now and sitting down with your families for your Thanksgiving feast, to take just FIVE MINUTES to spend quietly with God and think about what your life and how much God has been a part of it! The clothes that you wear, the food that you eat, the roof over your head…all come as the result of God’s blessing you with the ability to provide for yourself and your family. The freedoms and privileges that we have living in this country were all brought about by men and women who have tried to make the world more like how they think God wants it to be. And even the very air that we breath…the warmth from the sun…the life-bringing rain…all of the elements that come together on this planet in such a manner so as to sustain us and give us life…are all part of God’s plan for humankind.
We are blessed! We are blessed many times over! And it is entirely fitting and proper to thank and praise God for those blessings. But as we sit and enjoy some of those blessings this Thursday…feast and family…let us not forget all of those who may not be able to be quite so joyous. For, even though we may not ever actually see Jesus hungry and be able to give Him something to eat…we may not ever see Him thirsty and give Him something to drink…we may never see Jesus in need of clothes or sick or in prison…but… whenever we help any of those who are suffering from any of these things, or any of the other countless ways to suffer that our world seems to have come up with, we ARE helping Him! That is what He is telling us in these verses! Are we listening?
scluebbert 