September 22 - Ringing the Chimes
September 22
Ringing the Chimes
Bible Reading: Exodus 1:8-21
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. 15Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?” 19And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.” 20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion. (NIV)
ONCE UPON A time in a land far away, the people of a certain town would bring gifts and offerings for the Christ child to their church every Christmas Eve.
Now this particular church had a tall bell tower. The old people in the town said that when the most precious gift of all was laid on the church altar, the chimes would ring a beautiful tune. Some said God himself rang the chimes. Some said the angels stooped toward earth to set them ringing. Nevertheless, the chimes had not rung for many years, so some said the story was just an old fable.
It so happened that one year a boy and his little brother were walking together to the colorful Christmas Eve pageant. As they walked, they talked about the pageant. Everyone in the town would be there, dressed in their finest clothes.
But as they came near to the church, the boy spied an old woman huddled in the snow outside the city gates. She had fallen and had been too sick and too weak to get back up or even cry for help. The boy stooped beside her to help and laid her gray head in his lap. Then he dug into his pocket and drew out a silver coin.
"Take this and place it on the altar for the Christ child for me."
"But you'll miss the celebration!" his brother protested. "You'll miss the choir and the singing and ... and ..."
The boy shook his head. "If I don't help her, this poor woman may die out here in the cold. You go." He tried to smile. "I will not miss it so much."
The younger boy hesitated, then left his brother alone with the sick woman. He arrived at the church just as the villagers finished bringing their gifts to the Christ child. Many brought rings of gold and chains of silver. Several gave fine jewels. One woman presented a robe embroidered with the finest stitching. And a great man of the town laid his shining silver sword on the altar. The little brother snuck into the midst of the throng and shyly placed his single silver coin amid the other gifts.
Suddenly the chimes in the bell tower began to ring! A more heavenly sound had never been heard. The minister raised his arms and the congregation stared at the altar to see what gift had made the chimes ring. But all they saw was the little brother of the boy who had stopped to save an old woman's life and the single silver coin he had laid on the altar.
REFLECT: Do you think the boy and his brother's offering pleased God? If so, why? How do you think you would have felt if you had been that little boy? In today's Bible reading, did God reward the Hebrew midwives for their compassion toward the Israelite babies in Egypt? If so, how?
PRAY: "Father, help me to see the many rewards of being compassionate, even when they are invisible."