This past week Reverend Nebbish Peacock and Elder Milton Matthews attended the Fifth-Sunday Meeting together at Possum Creek. Since preaching appointments were always scheduled for the first through fourth Sundays, fifth Sundays were freed up for preaching meetings and singing conventions. A Fifth-Sunday Meeting encompassed the weekend that fell on a fifth-Sunday of the month, so the meeting actually started on Saturday. As they were wont to do, a minister was chosen at the previous Fifth-Sunday to preach at 11 a.m. Sunday morning. Reverend Peacock had been chosen to preach the sermon on this fifth Sunday morning. As they rode together to their destination, Nebbish proudly lined out to Elder Matthews the masterful sermon he had prepared to charm the congregants as the Sunday morning highlight. And it was quite masterful.
As is bound to happen sometimes at Fifth-Sunday Meeting, the debate portion of the program concluded with time to spare. Elder Rube Askew moved that a sermon be had. Deacon Drew Drewery seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Nominations were presented and Elder Milton Matthews was selected to preach.
Unprepared and yet prepared, Elder Matthews always spoke extemporaneously. He was a good friend of Nebbish Peacock, but was dubious of the prepared sermons of the younger generation. His dubiosity and jocularity – and perhaps unconsciously still peeved with the Sandy Valley body of Christ for putting him out to pasture – all combined in the form of a devious plan. He preached Nebbish Peacock’s Sunday sermon for him, right there on Saturday night!
Suffice it to say that Nebbish kept his prepared sermons close to heart from thence forward.
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