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."