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The Sermon
by sissy karen
Mother rearranged my Sunday schedule so I could fit in my extra Scripture tuition with Miss Claire. I now had to be up at 5:00AM to give me any chance of completing my chores. The new rule was I had to be in my sissy maids dress at all times when in the house unless Mother decided otherwise. I was very clumsy with the clips on my stockings, the clips on the bra and I only got worse as I started to worry about the impact on the time I had There was a large basket of ironing which took me an hour. Tying the bow behind my apron took me a god 5 minutes as I tried to look in the mirror and make it perfect. I wasn’t completely happy but left it and hoped I would have a chance to redo it before Mother’s inspection. I then had to complete a “Deep clean” of the bathroom. This meant every surface had to be scrubbed and the grout between the tiles scraped clean with a special grout tool. The inside of the cupboards had to be emptied and cleaned and the window cleaned too. “Deep Clean” meant absolutely everything! It was painstaking work. Even the light fitting had to be removed and cleaned. It was 7:30AM by the time I finished. Mother’s cooked breakfast of poached eggs on toast with grilled tomato and mushrooms, plus her freshly cut fruit salad and yoghurt served with pot of tea had to be prepared next. It had to be ready to be served precisely at 8:00 AM. I loaded it all up on the tray and took it to her room and knocked on the door.
“Enter.”
I opened the door and carried the tray in. Mother was sitting up in bed in her silk nightdress. She must not have been wearing her bra as the shape of her nipples could be seen through the material. I was a little shocked at my reaction and my penis became hard in my cage. I had never been aroused by Mother before and felt quite ashamed. Mother was a good 30 years my senior and I think I may have started to blush. I had been locked up for too long! As I placed the tray on her lap and the pot of tea on her bedside table Mother said.
“Look at the clock Georgie, what time does it say?”
“8:03 Mother.”
“Your 3 minutes late, you will have to be punished for that.”
“Yes Mother, Sorry Mother.” I meekly replied. I had learned that making excuses only made things worse and it was better to just accept it and agree graciously.
“Stand up over there and turn around, I want a good look at your uniform.”
I stood at the side of her bed near the window and turned around.
“The bow is untidy and the seams of your stockings aren’t straight Georgie. Not good enough!”
“Sorry Mother.” My heart sank as I awaited the consequences.
“I have decided to put you on a demerits system Georgie.”
Mother handed me a small notebook and pencil.
“You will keep this on you at all times. Whenever I award you a demerit you will write the reason and the amount of demerit points awarded. I will be informing Pastor Vorster, the church ladies and Miss Claire of this system and they can award Demerits too if they are not happy with your behaviour. Every 10 points will result in a ‘consequence’. You must keep tally of your demerit points and if a consequence is due you will inform at dinner. Then at 9pm you will be waiting outside my study, nose to the wall and hands on head. Understand?”
“Yes Mother.”
“Now you can record 5 demerits for being late and 5 demerits for an untidy uniform. So you will have a consequence to deal with already! Write them in your book immediately.”
“Yes Mother.”
As I wrote the demerits in the book I quickly got the feeling that I would soon learn to loathe this little book. Within minutes of receiving the demerit book I was not only recording the first demerits but had earned enough to warrant a consequence. What would Miss Claire make of it?
Mother dismissed me and after washing up I changed into my ‘Sunday Bests’ had my piece of dry toast and grapefruit and waited in the hallway, with my nose to the wall and hands on head as I had been instructed to drive Mother to church. I was filled with apprehension at having to face not only Pastor Vorster and the church ladies but Miss Claire as well. Wouldn’t you know it, just as I was opening the door for Mother, Miss Claire and her Mother parked right behind our car? Mother greeted them first.
“Hello Mabel, Hello Claire.”
“Hello Heather, Hello Georgie.” They said in unison.
“Good Morning Mrs Von Donnersmack. Good Morning Miss Claire.”
My voice was humble and tentative. Claire then said,
“Now that I am your tutor Georgie, I think a more formal greeting is necessary, you will address me as Miss von Donnersmack at all times now.”
Mother and Mrs Von Donnersmack agreed and of course I said,
“Yes Miss Von Donnersmack.”
Miss Claire continued.
“I hope you pay attention to todays reading and sermon Georgie, there might be a little quiz at your tutorial this afternoon.”
“Yes Miss Von Donnersmack.”
Mother then said,
“Tell Claire and Mable about your new book Georgie.”
I blushed red with embarrassment; it was bad enough having the demerit book, let alone explaining to Mrs and Miss Von Donnersmack.
“Mother has given me a ‘demerits’ book. If any of my behaviour is not up to scratch whoever is in charge of me can award me demerit points. If I receive 10 demerits I will suffer a consequence as determined by Mother.”
“What good ideas your Mother in law has Georgie, you are very lucky to have a Mother in law who cares so much about the salvation of your soul.”
“Yes Mrs Von Donnersmack.”
“Does that mean I can award demerits in scripture lessons Mrs Whitten.”
“Of course you can Claire, in fact anyone who has him in their charge will be able to. I must tell Pastor Vorster and the ladies from the Altar Society after this mornings service.”
Miss Von Donnersmack then gave me one of her victorious, uppity smiles as we walked into church.
The Gospel reading of the day was from the book of Mark. It included Chapter 5:28
“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
I felt as if Pastor Vorster was looking straight at me after she read that verse. Mother also turned to me and gave me one of her “that means you” looks. Inspired by the reading pastor Vorster went on to give one of her most intense sermons:
“Well todays Gospel Dear Brethren is one for all our menfolk to take heed of isn’t it?”
There were nods of approval from most of the ladies.
“Jesus spells out very clearly what he expects from our men in terms of sexual morality in today’s Gospel. The people of Jesus’s day certainly knew adultery was a mortal sin but Jesus takes it to another level and raises the expected standard by telling men that even the mere thought of committing adultery is equally as sinful as adultery itself! That means any sexual thought a man has other than towards his wife is a mortal sin. How contrary is this teaching to today’s culture? So to the men here today take heed. Some think chastity is just for the unmarried among us but this is what chastity means in a marriage. It means total fidelity, not just in action but also in thought as well to one’s wife. In order to save yourself from eternal damnation and eternal hellfire it is not enough to just be faithful to your wife, you must rid yourself of any lustful thoughts you have of another woman! You must root out those evil thoughts and bring them to naught! The salvation of your soul depends on it! Chastity in marriage is about saving yourself in thought and body only for your beloved wife and only in a situation that is open to new life. Any thought more that this is mortal sin and you are condemning your soul for eternity. Sure it is not easy, but the way of the cross is never easy! Grow a backbone and be a real man, that is what Jesus is calling you to. So how do you do this? First and most importantly is to seek the help of our Lord. Don’t think you can do this on your own Gentleman. You must develop a regular prayer and scripture reading habit. Ladies you can be of great assistance to your man in this area. A good place is to encourage him to do the Scripture course I run in the parish. On top of that another good idea is to get your man to learn selected scripture passages off by heart. This does two things, it distracts him from thinking impure thoughts and it fills his mind with godly thoughts! Give him a passage to learn and a time when he must memorise it by and then test him on it. I will leave it to you to think of any rewards or consequences if he gets it right or wrong. I have put a list of selected scripture readings in today’s bulleting that deal with the issue of purity. At the top of the list is one of my favourites from St Paul’s letter to the Galatians Chapter 5, verse 17: “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh: for these are opposed to each other to prevent us from doing what we want. That is an excellent place to start! Of course a man must be strong, determined a” Keep that top of mind men, so in moments of temptation you can call on the Holy Spirit to prevent you from doing the sinful things that you want! While you need the Spirit to be disciplined to overcome this vice it is also important to be humble and know that God understands that you are far from perfect and that fighting temptation is not always easy. So it is also important to take the prudent advice of St Paul in the 1st letter to the Corinthians who tells men to “Flee from sexual immorality.” Remember the soul is willing but the flesh is weak. Men I urge you most strongly to avoid all sources of temptation that you can. In this day and age there are many temptations for the Christian man that he cannot avoid. Everywhere you look there is temptation; lurid Billboards, women who dress provocatively, immoral TV shows, newspaper advertisements, and worst of all the Internet! Of course you cannot avoid all temptation but you can minimise it. Men think about the places where you are most tempted, what can you do about it? I am sure for many men it is the Internet. There are many wonderful things on the Internet but also some of the most terrible impure things too. I came across a system that I want to recommend to all men. It is called “Covenant Eyes” http://www.covenanteyes.com.
With this software a man makes a public pledge to never look at Internet pornography again and can nominate someone who he can be accountable to. It can be anyone but I think it is best if it your wife or Mother or even Mother in law. “
At that moment Pastor Vorster looked directly at Mother who nodded her agreement.
“The person who you nominate gets a report of all the impure or pornographic websites you visit. You are then accountable for your actions, just like any real man worth his salt should be. It is truly a wonderful program to fight the immorality of our times. So can I have a show of hands of the men who are going to sign up today?”
Mother gave me an elbow in the ribs and my hand went up immediately. While there were not that many men in the congregation, all of the other men’s hands went up too. This was a church were husbands were under the thumb all right! Pastor Vorster continued,
“ That is wonderful to see all the men’s hands go up. Well-done men! As Christians we are called to take up the cross and imitate our Saviour. One of the best ways we can do that is by making sacrifices. When it comes to fleeing temptation this can be an excellent opportunity to both make a sacrifice for our Saviour Jesus Christ and flee from the temptation of the mortal sin that is lusting after another woman, which as the Gospel told us today is equally as bad as actually committing adultery.”
Pastor Vorster was certainly drumming that message in.
“So for example, many men may find going to the beach or the swimming pool a place where they may be tempted to look at the scantily clad women. The solution: Give it up! Maybe it’s the Movies where you get tempted? The solution? Give it up! Or is the Television where you are tempted. Again the solution- Give it up!”
Every time she said, “Give it up” she thumped the lectern with her fist emphasising the point.
“Instead of plonking yourself in front of the TV maybe you could be helping more around the house for example? All these little sacrifices not only help you avoid the mortal sin of adultery but if offered up for our Saviour will bring you many graces. Remember the saying “the devil makes work for idle hands” Ladies you must make sure your man has a busy chores schedule. Not only will it make for a better household but it will prevent him from idle time where he may be tempted by impure thoughts.”
Once more Pastor Vorster was getting nods of approval from the women folk.
“But of course you cannot completely avoid temptation. There will be attractive women in the street, in your workplace, at your sport and leisure activities and even at Church.”
There were some giggles from the congregation.
“The first thing that must be at the heart of all your interactions men is respect for women. You must think of every woman you meet as being someone’s daughter, sister, Mother or Grandmother. Think how you expect them to be treated! If you genuinely respect all women you will not be tempted to have lustful thoughts about them and thus avoid the mortal sin of adultery. Develop the habit of looking away when you see a woman that you need not talk to. If you do need to talk to a woman look only at their eyes and nothing else. Women you can help here. Do not be afraid to call out your husbands and make them accountable. If you see an attractive woman, in person or in the media just say “Away” and train your man to know that he must look away and avert his gaze. Do not be afraid to interrogate your husband about the other women in his life, his work colleagues etc. Does he have any lustful thoughts towards any of them? This is a mortal sin remember! Ask the hard questions and get him to confess and make reparation if he has failed. Your role as guardians of morality is so important. It is the standard you expect from your men that will shape their moral fibre and ultimately save them from the burning hellfire. In a marriage privacy and secrets must be a definite no-no. Make sure you have the passcode to his phone and check his text messages and call history. He should have no secrets from you; there is no need for a man to have any private affairs before his wife. When a man and a woman are joined in matrimony before God they become one, so secrets are abhorrent to God’s plan. Do not accept it ladies! It is so important that he is accountable to you. If you notice a tell tale bulge in his pants call him out on it. Keep guard and do not let him get away with anything. Monitor all his reading material. Take the time to go through his book collection and get rid of any books or magazines with any trace of immorality. You may be surprised ladies but even seemingly harmless magazines on Sports or Cars can have pictures of attractive women in them. It is your duty to make sure he gets rid of them. For many men the only book they will need is the bible or other religious books. Anything else he should need your permission. If there is no children in the house consider revoking privacy privileges in the bathroom, make him keep the door open. Do whatever it takes, I urge you! Know if you do this you could be saving your husband from eternal damnation.
Before I conclude there is one more thing I urge all of the men here today to do. I urge you all to take the pledge of Temperance before God and the congregation. Alcohol makes a man weak and vulnerable to temptation. It is truly one of the agent’s a devil uses to corrupt a man’s soul. The only men I have ever met who have successfully been able to control the temptation of lust and adultery is the man who has sworn off alcohol. Alcohol makes a man weak and vulnerable to temptation. It not only rots his liver and destroys his health but destroys his soul as well! The cost is enormous! It is not just the financial cost but to his family as well from not being around and present to the needs of his family. All pubs and hotels are dens of iniquity, leading our menfolk astray. So I now ask all the men who are willing to take the Pledge of Temperance to never touch another drop of alcohol for the rest of their lives to stand up.”
Mother had already told me I was to consider myself teetotal since her arrival but I didn’t think that would necessarily mean for the rest of my life. Mother once again gave me a nudge in the ribs and I felt compelled to stand up. I could see the urging of the other wives to get their men to stand up too. IT started with just a few of us standing but after some further urging from pastor Vorster,
“This is for the salvation of your souls men, this if for your family men, show your wife you really mean that you love her by making this sacrifice for your Saviour!”
Her voice was raised in fervour and more and more of the men stood up. Finally it seemed every man was on their feet, agreeing to take the pledge.
“So your names then repeat after me,
I ________ before Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Congregation here present, do solemnly swear, that for the rest of my life I will not consume, buy or sell intoxicating liquor except for the purposes of medication, so help me God Amen.”
We all repeated the pledge much to the approval of all the ladies present.
“I am so proud of you men, you have shown a living witness to our Saviour today. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
I could sense the approval of all the women present at this sermon. Pastor Vorster was at her fire and brimstone best this morning. The men on the other hand were dumbstruck as they could see many of the few privileges they had left were soon to be stripped from them. We had all been compelled to become chaste and teetotal. It wasn’t just the beach but any leisure activity where women could be would soon be banned for most of the men here. Every man here was going to be more accountable to their wives and if pastor Vorster had her way be doing more bible study and chores as well. I could see why Mother liked this church so much. While most of those rules were already in place for me I wondered if this sermon was going to make things even harder for me. I sensed Mother was filled with a new enthusiasm, the way she nodded and exclaimed ‘Amen’ after nearly every sentence in the sermon. I also wondered what Miss Von Donnersmack would make of Pastor Vorster’s sermon when it came time for my scripture tutorial this afternoon.
After the service, outside the church I stood next to Mother as she chatted to some of the other ladies. Mrs Grossman, Mrs Von Donnersmack, Miss Von Donnersmack, Mrs White, Mother and I were all in a group with Pastor Vorster. I stood there quietly, not speaking unless spoken to. There was a lot of praise for Pastor Vorster’s sermon from the ladies.
“Wonderful sermon today Pastor.” Said Mrs White
“It is so good to hear a Pastor took about morality, my friends who attend other churches complain they never hear their pastors or priests talk about morality.”
“In this day and age it is more important than ever.”
“It should be compulsory for all men to hear that sermon Pastor.”
“Accountability too, it is so important that our men are held to account, they get away with far too much all in the name of privacy! Accountability it really adds to their moral fibre.” Said Mrs Von Donnersmack. Mother than said,
“Speaking of accountability, tell the ladies about your little book Georgie.”
Why did she make me tell them? It was bad enough having this book without having to tell everyone why.
“This book is to record any failures or misbehaviour on my part. Any of the ladies who are in charge of me are able to award demerit points. If I earn 10 demerit points Mother will give me a consequence.”
“Wonderful idea Heather.” Said Pastor Vorster.
“Thank you Pastor, don’t hesitate to use it if you have to and that goes to you too ladies, at Church cleaning with you Mrs White or with your tuition Claire. Even if I am around and you notice something Georgie does wrong, don’t be afraid to award Georgie a demerit.”
“I think Georgie was daydreaming during the reading Mrs Whitten, I saw him looking around.”
“Give Claire your book Georgie”
Claire took no time in awarding me a demerit. I didn’t even dare try and defend myself.
“I think that deserves 5 demerits.” Said Miss Von Donnersmack in her strict teacher like voice.
Pastor Vorster then asked.
“What Book of the Bible was today’s reading from Georgie?”
I was dumbstruck. I had tried so hard to pay attention and that sermon was so powerful that I had forgotten what book of the bible the reading was from.
“I am sorry pastor Vorster, I have forgotten.”
“You are going to have to start paying more attention Georgie! Hand me that book Claire.”
Miss Von Donnersmack handed the book to Pastor Vorster.
“And 5 demerits from me for not paying attention!”
Did you know Claire has volunteered to give Georgie some extra tuition with his scripture course?”
“God Bless you Claire, you are an angel. I am so proud of you.” Said Pastor Vorster.
“Thank you Pastor Vorster.”
“May I suggest a little revision of today’s Gospel reading may be a good start?”
“Yes Pastor Vorster, I will make sure Georgie knows it inside out.”
Mother then said,
“Wipe that sulky look off your face Georgie and thank Pastor Vorster and Claire for your demerits.”
“Thank you Pastor Vorster for my demerits, it will help me learn to pay attention better. Thank you Miss von Donnermack for my demerits, it will help me focus better in church.”
The ladies chatted on for about 15 minutes before we headed home. Mother lectured me all the way home about how embarrassing I was to her and how the consequences for my failures were going to get worse and worse until my behaviour was up to standard.
“I cannot believe it Georgie! That was shameful to be picked up by both Claire and Pastor Vorster for not paying attention! You not only bring shame on yourself you bring shame on me! It is absolutely disgraceful! These fine women have volunteered, I repeat volunteered to teach you about your faith, which you have so sadly neglected and this is how you repay the favour? Disgraceful! To be awarded demerits by me is bad enough Georgie but to be awarded demerits by someone outside the family is doubly worse! I have decided that all demerits awarded by someone other than me are to be doubled and that is retrospective, so todays demerits will be doubled!”
“Yes Mother, sorry Mother.”
Was all I could muster in most meek and humble voice as I quickly worked out I had just earned 20 demerits and will now have to face 2 consequences just for what happened at church. On arrival home I made a note of the double demerits in my book and had just enough time to make Mother her lunch and wash up e I had to head over to Miss Von Donnersmack’s for my first scripture tutorial.
Part 6