On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow?

By Wendell E. Mettey

Reverend Wendell E. Mettey,Founder and President of Matthew 25: Ministries, tells the story of his many years of pastoring an endearingly imperfect inner-city church in On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow? On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow? is a collection of gentle, loving, humorous, often touching portrayals of the unique and colorful individuals who comprised Reverend Mettey’s congregation during his early years of ministering.

As he shares the stories of his diverse and sometimes wayward flock, Reverend Mettey reveals that these individuals, as blemished and broken
as they may have been, were used by God to bring much beauty into the world. Through Reverend Mettey’s eyes, the reader sees that these ordinary people, whose lives were filled with trials, were yet infused with an awareness of God's real and abundant grace. With infinite compassion and delicate humor, Reverend Mettey takes readers on a delightful journey of discovery and redemption. These lovingly written tales will be a blessing to all who read them, evoking both laughter and tears as they offer reassurance that no matter how bad life seems, there is good to be found.

This 146 page book told in 16 simple, compelling story-chapters, takes the reader on a captivating series of fascinating narratives that impel the reader to re-evaluate their pre-conceptions and expand their acceptance of those around them who are scarred with the chips, dings, cracks and imperfections of life. The book, with its short story format, makes an excellent text for small group discussion, book or bible study groups. Through Reverend Mettey’s eyes the reader learns the priceless life lesson that everyone has something to give and to teach.

“The Rev. Wendell Mettey has compiled a collection of stories of redemption, love and faith, drawn from his personal experience as an inner-city pastor. Savor each heartwarming story and consider the mysterious ways in which God directs and transforms our lives.” Chris Saunders founder and president, emeritus Miami Valley Episcopal Russian Network, Dayton, Ohio

Now available in audiobook format!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wendell E. Mettey
• Release date: Jul 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9780985834043

Wendell E. Mettey

Wendell Mettey grew up in Cincinnati, OH and has a Master’s Degree in Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Reverend Mettey has served as Pastor for several churches in the Cincinnati area. In 1991, after visiting war-torn Nicaragua and witnessing the poverty and devastation, he felt called by God to resign from his church and begin Matthew 25: Ministries. Reverend Mettey and his wife Mickey (Michelle) have three children; Tim, Clare and Aaron. Wendell and Mickey are also the proud grandparents of Ethan, Sydney, Olivia, Cora, Noel and Ashlyn. Reverend Mettey is the author of numerous devotional & inspirational publications. These include “Are Not My People Worthy? The Story of Matthew 25: Ministries” (released in 2004); “What God Desires The Story of the Center for Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief” (released in the 2008); “On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow?” (released in 2009), “Meet Those Who Met the Master” (released in 2012), and “Lost and Found, Stories of Christmas” (released in 2013). In addition to these books, Reverend Mettey has published several compilations of stories, sermons and reflections. All books now available in audiobook format! Download your copies from Amazon today! All books

Book preview

On Which Side of the Road

Do The Flowers Grow?

Wendell E. Mettey

On Which Side of the Road Do The Flowers Grow?

by Wendell E. Mettey

Copyright 2009 by Wendell E. Mettey

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008937562

ISBN: 978-1-57736-414-6

Cover and interior illustrations by Larry Keller

Cover design by LeAnna Massingille

Page design by Joey McNair

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge, 1796.

Sweet Beulah Land by Squire Parsons. ©1979 Kingsmen Publishing/BMI. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The Gathering by Ken Medema. ©1977 Word Music LLC. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

PROVIDENCE HOUSE PUBLISHERS

238 Seaboard Lane, Franklin, Tennessee 37067

www.providencehouse.com

800-321-5692

Other books by Wendell E. Mettey

ARE NOT MY PEOPLE WORTHY?

WHAT GOD DESIRES

Rev. Wendell E. Mettey has a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He pastored the Walnut Hills Baptist Church and Montgomery Community Baptist Church in the Cincinnati area before founding Matthew 25: Ministries, a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding the poor and suffering throughout the world. He also founded and pastored the Church of Matthew 25, and is the author of numerous devotional and inspirational publications. He and his wife, Mickey, have three children and six grandchildren.

This book is dedicated to my parents, Mary and Joe Mettey, and my wife’s parents, Katherine and Harry Keller. Without their love and encouragement, I would never have found the side of the road where the flowers grow.

They [the Israelites] continued, Let them [Gibeonites] live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community. . .  Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, Why did you deceive us . .  ? You are now under a curse: You will never cease to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.

(Josh. 9:21–23 NIV)

The Hebrew word for a carrier of water is shaab-mayim. There is no job in all the Old Testament lower in status than a shaab-mayim.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Prologue:

The Carrier of Water

Irene and Jean:

Caustic Spirit Meets Human Whisperer

Dorothy and Thelma:

Beyond Capacity

Oscar:

From the Kitchen Stool to Sanctuary Pew

Charles, Bert, and Bill

Welcome, Pardon, Cleanse, Relieve

Carl and Ed

The Little Flowers

Mary:

The Tourist

Beulah:

Got Me a Church and a Big, Yellow Bus

Walter:

All-Pro Human Being

Dr. Arthur E. Cowley:

Large Shoes to Fill

Zell and Douglas:

Saved by a Fall, Loved by All

Maxine, George, Garland, and Ray:

The Gathering 95

Maybelle, India, and Velma

Hard on the Outside, Soft in the Middle

Esaf:

Divinely Possessed

Elwin:

The Blemished Painter

Wilma:

Wondering Where God Is

Mary and Joe:

The Lord’s Been Good to Me

Epilogue:

The Miracle of the Jars

Additional Works by Rev. Wendell E. Mettey

Preface

About the Church

On August 15, 1872, the Walnut Hills Baptist Church was formally organized with twenty-nine charter members. By 1925, the church entered into a major expansion program to accommodate its growth. Manufacturer and businessman Dr. C. M. Peters and his wife kicked off the capital campaign with a generous gift of twenty-five thousand dollars. The plans called for a new educational wing, an expanded sanctuary, and a new façade to the existing stone edifice.

As the educational wing neared completion, excavation began on a larger furnace room. Sometime before dawn on Tuesday, June 23, 1925, the shoring gave way, causing the sanctuary and the new education building to collapse into a pile of rubble. Only the front wall of the sanctuary and the large tower at the front of the building remained standing.

Needless to say, this was a tragedy of monumental proportion for the church. The membership had given sacrificially to the building fund, and now they faced the seemingly insurmountable task of rebuilding what was destroyed, including a new sanctuary. Many wondered if the church would be able to survive such a blow.

The next day, the church stretched a twenty-five-foot sign across the rubble with this message on it:

ARE WE DISCOURAGED? NO!

WE WILL BUILD A BIGGER

AND BETTER WALNUT HILLS

BAPTIST CHURCH.

And that is what they did! The Sunday following the disaster, a congregational meeting was called. After much discussion and numerous inspirational speeches, the membership pledged thirty-eight thousand dollars toward a new sanctuary. More resolute than ever, the membership went on to build a bigger and better church.

Twenty-five years later, the church faced another challenge, but this time it wasn’t caused by brick and mortar. During the late 1950s and ’60s, members of inner-city churches (sometimes entire congregations) moved to the suburbs. The Walnut Hills Baptist Church suffered the same fate when members moved to outlying communities and joined congregations closer to their homes. Again the church faced the real possibility of closing its doors. Against all odds, the remaining members made a courageous commitment to stay and serve the community.

While they did not erect a sign as did the 1925 Walnut Hills Baptist Church, the sentiment of the 1972 congregation was the same:

ARE WE DISCOURAGED? NO!

WE WILL BUILD A BIGGER

AND BETTER WALNUT HILLS

BAPTIST CHURCH

About the People

The people you are about to meet are real. Their stories actually happened. While most have died, they live on in my memory and represent a small handful of the fascinating people I had the privilege of serving when I was pastor of Walnut Hills Baptist Church. To me, they reflect the diversity of God’s creation, the power of the human spirit, and the depth of God’s amazing grace.

To say that they were traditional churchgoers would be like calling the Mighty Mississippi a muddy creek. Likewise, their stories would not make the evening news or appear in the briefest footnote. Some believed they were cursed; I thought they were just human. They were your common, everyday variety of people who had more than their share of warts, blemishes, dings, chips, cracks, and imperfections. Yet they taught me more about being a Christian than all of my degrees and training. I discovered how much God loved them and how He used them (warts and all) to touch my life and the lives of others. God loved them, not in spite of their imperfections, but because of them.

When Jesus called Nathaniel to be His disciple, He said Nathaniel had no guile in him (John 1:47 KJV). In other words, he was not a deceitful person. He didn’t play games. What you saw is what you got. And so it was with these whom God loved. They were not pretentious, nor did they know how to be. Their imperfections were there for all to see. They did not have the means or desire to conceal them. They were simply, as the apostle Paul would say, working out their salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12).

When Jesus said, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . .  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matt. 9:12–13), they had only one question, Is the doctor seeing patients today?

From 1972–80 and 1992–97, I traveled the dusty path with the people you are about to meet. Walking with them, I discovered that no matter how flawed we are, God does not throw us away. If we allow Him, He can work through our weaknesses to glorify Himself and bring beauty into our lives and the lives of others. I saw for myself on which side of the road the flowers grew.

And God said to me [Paul], My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

(2 Cor. 12:9)

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge, with deep appreciation, the I following people who helped me tell the stories of some of the most fascinating people you will ever meet—Larry Keller, whose artistry brought to life the road where the flowers grow just how I imagined it; Karen Otto, Matthew 25: Ministries staff, for typing and editing the stories of the people who walked that road; Kelly Bainbridge, for encouraging me to tell their stories and her co-worker Elaine Wilson and the staff at Providence House Publishers for tidying up the road; Joodi Archer, Matthew 25: Ministries staff, for all her technical assistance; Mickey Mettey, for being such a wonderful stay-at-home mom and helpmate while I was gone a lot walking that road; the people you will meet and the many others whose stories remain unwritten but who will always live in my memory; and our Great God who loved them and us, cracks and all.

On Which Side of the Road

Do The Flowers Grow?

Prologue

The Carrier of Water

There once lived a very unhappy man who was a carrier of water. He hated carrying water and despised his master for giving him such a lowly job. Carrying water is a job for women, he complained. It certainly is not a job for a strong and capable servant.

To escape the giggling and whispers of the women who gathered at the well each morning, he would arrive at first light, draw his water and be on his way. To lessen the number of trips to the well, he tied a large clay jar to each end of a long, sturdy pole. After lifting the pole over his head, he would rest it on his shoulders. He could now carry twice as much water. The extra weight, however, made the journey twice as strenuous. Regardless of the ancient curse Joshua placed on his ancestors, the Gibeonites, the water carrier remained hopeful that one day the curse would be broken and the master would recognize his many talents.

When the days grew hot and the jars heavy, he’d say, Someday I’m going to be my master’s wine steward, or perhaps . .  yes, the treasurer of his vast estate. I’m going to have an important job, and then I’ll be an important person.

Unfortunately, that day never came. He would never be able to break the curse. He would always be a carrier of water. His master, who he knew to be a wise and just man, for whatever reason, chose not to give him a job of greater importance. The man’s constant complaining made it most evident to his master and to the entire household that he did not want to be a carrier of water. They all heard him say countless times how overqualified he was for the job and that other servants with half his abilities were promoted past him. Greatly discouraged, his performance began slipping. His lowly job was completely draining his last ounce of self-worth.

Then one day it happened. It had been there all along, but he hadn’t noticed it before. A little thing actually, yet big enough to completely change his life forever. Looking down at it, he smiled. At that very moment, he realized that while he could not change his job, his job did not determine who he was as a person. He had no control over the job the master gave him, only how he would perform it. There it was at his feet—a delicate, beautiful example of how any job given by the master, if he was obedient, could bring about something wonderful.

From that day on, his job did not change, but he certainly did. He could now see that the job the master gave him had the importance he gave it. His job was no longer just a carrier of water, but one that brought beauty and joy into the lives