A member of a certain 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 big chair near the
fireplace and waited.
The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the
grave silence, he contemplated the play 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 fascination. As the one lone ember's flame diminished,
there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was
cold and "dead as a doornail."
Not a word had been spoken since the
initial greeting. Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he 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,
"Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I
shall be back in church next Sunday."
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