Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

Luke 10:25-37 April 29, 2007

“The Power of One”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer

At the last Fifth Quarter event for youth, the story of the Red Bandanna was shared with the 50+ teens and adults gathered in our Assembly Room. This morning, I want to read the story for all of you:

“As stories began to emerge from the survivors of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, several mentioned a mysterious young man who stepped out of the smoke and horror to lead them to safety. They did not know who this man was who saved their lives, but this they did remember: Wrapped around his mouth and nose was a red bandanna.

For 76 minutes, the man in the red bandanna barked orders, and led people to safety down stairwells. He said, “I found the stairs, follow me and only help who you can.” He carried one woman down fifteen flights of stairs—on his back, while leading others to safety, urged them to keep going down, then headed back up never to be seen again.

Upstairs, a badly injured woman was sitting on a radiator waiting for help when the man with the red bandanna over his face came running across the room and said, “Follow me. I know the way out. I will lead you to safety.” Then he led several survivors to a stairwell that took them to safety.

Six months later, on March 19, 2002, the body of the man with the red bandanna was found intact alongside firefighters in a makeshift command center in the South Tower lobby buried under 110 stories of rubble.

Slowly the story began to come out. Welles Crowther graduated from Boston College where he played Lacrosse, always carrying his trademark red bandanna. In high school Welles was the kid who would feed the puck to the hockey team’s lowest-scoring player, hoping to give his teammate his first goal. At 16 he became a junior volunteer firefighter, following in his dad’s footsteps. After college he joined Sandler O’Neil and Partners and worked on the 104th floor of the South Tower. He always carried change to give to street people. His dream was to become a firefighter or public servant. On Sept. 11, at the age of 24, Welles Crowther became both, and also a hero -- the "man in the red bandanna." (Compiled from news reports and used with permission by Alison Crowther).
“Follow me. I know the way out. I will lead you to safety.”

Welles was both willing and able, and he did not miss his moment. He went up while everyone else was coming down.

We’re looking for people willing to go up while everyone else is coming down—to rescue people and lead them to the safety of the cross of Christ. The Fellowship of the Red Bandanna is offered to men and women who are willing to make a sacrifice to engage every person in America with a credible offer of Christ and the resources to grow.” (Taken from the website: www.redbandanna.org)

On Friday night, April 20th, every youth gathered at the Fifth Quarter event chose to be inducted into the Fellowship of the Red Bandanna. Every youth gathered there was compelled by the story of Welles Crowther to choose to make a difference in this world for someone else, instead of just living for themself. That’s the biblical principle of loving our friends, loving our family, loving our enemies, and loving complete strangers, not to get something for ourself, but to do it as an ambassador of Jesus Christ.

I talked briefly in my Sunday school class a few weeks ago about this thing happening in the world today called “identity theft.” If someone steals your personal identity by stealing your social security number, credit cards, bank accounts, etc., strangers to this person and to you have no idea that that person is not you. They can do great damage to your reputation in lots of ways, can’t they?

Well, here’s the thing: We are Jesus here on earth now. As believers in the resurrection of Christ, we carry his identity in us and on us. Often times we do great damage to his reputation. Often times, we do not go up when others are going down. All too often, we go right down with everyone else. Wouldn’t you agree? Isn’t that why so many people point at the people in the church and call us hypocrites? We don’t walk what we talk. Often we don’t talk it too well, either.

How can we live out the power of the One within us by helping the ones around us?

Let me read you some excerpts from an article in this week’s Sports Illustrated. This is Rick Reilly’s article entitled, “Coaching the Grief-stricken.”

“I have this friend, an Iowa truck driver named Mark Lemke. Last July he wrote to Sports Illustrated (SI), nominating his 19- year-old son, Cory, for FACES IN THE CROWD. Said the kid set all kinds of golf records and he’d been meaning to write for a long time. Said he was finally doing it now because Cory has just died in a motorcycle wreck.

Well, I wrote a column about how I got Mark on his cell phone as he was driving his tractor trailer on an Ohio highway and how he wept while talking about losing his best pal. And I don’t know if it was from thinking of my own 19-year-old son or what, but it’s the only time I ever cried while I wrote.
And then, we made up a FACES IN THE CROWD box for Cory and stuck it at the bottom of the column.

Anyway, a couple of months go by, and then Mark gets this call, “Mr. Lemke?” the voice says. “It’s Tony Dungy.” [For the reader, Tony Dungy is the coach of the Indianapolis Colts.]

Now, Lemke, 51 is just an ex-jock with a simple life that a motorcycle drove a hole through. The most he hopes for when he gets off the road is his wife Maud’s sloppy joes and his favorite couch and maybe a frosty root beer and a Vikings game to take his mind off Cory for a few hours. So, naturally, he figures the call is a joke.

“No, it is Tony Dungy,” the voice says. “I’m just calling to offer my condolences to you and see if there’s anything I can do to help you.”

Now, you’ve got to understand, this was in October. The Colts were into the teeth of their schedule, the most critical season in Dungy’s life, not to mention Peyton Manning’s, not to mention the millions of Colts fans’. They figure if their team doesn’t win it all this year, the genie goes back in the bottle.

But Dungy has his own sorrow to swallow. His 18-year-old son, James, hanged himself 3 days before Christmas in 2005. And Lemke knows this. So maybe Dungy, who’s the same age as Lemke, is a guy who can relate. So they talk, and the coach tells Lemke to keep in touch.

“The hardest thing for me is, I sit in that truck all day, and all I do is think about him,” Lemke tells him one day. “You’re lucky. You’ve got so many people around you to get you through the days.”
“Yea,” Dungy says, “but it doesn’t get you through the nights.”

And pretty soon they’ve got this bond going. Dungy has a wife, 5 kids, the monster job, numerous charities he works with and a thousand things to do, yet he takes the time to answer every Lemke email, gives him his cell number and returns every call. They go deep sometimes. Lemke gets hot at God for taking Cory. Dungy tells him that’s normal, but he adds that if they keep their faith, “we’ll see them again.”

Then it’s the playoffs, and Dungy is apologizing for not replying to Lemke right away. Sorry about not getting back to you, he emails Lemke one day. Sometimes I can go a few days without getting on my computer, especially if our defense is not playing well.

Next thing you know, the Colts are in the Super Bowl and Dungy is inviting a man he’s never met, a Vikings fan, no less, to be his guest there. So Lemke finds a load that needs hauling to Florida and a load that has to come back, and he drives his 18-wheel rig to Miami. The day before the game he meets Dungy in person at the team hotel. They hug. They visit. They pray. The next day Lemke takes his seat in Dolphin Stadium and watches his new buddy win it all.

And this is only one stranger whom Tony Dungy has befriended. There’s the former high school coach in Wisconsin whose son committed suicide. There’s the young kid in Indianapolis who lost his mother and brother in a car wreck. Heartbroken people all over are suddenly getting a hand up from a man who himself should be in a puddle but is instead a river of strength.

Yet Dungy refuses to talk to the media about these good deeds, which only make them better.
“I’m awfully grateful to him,” Lemke says. “He helped me keep my faith. He taught me that he and I – we’re not alone.”

After two weeks of hearing about how low humanity can sink, isn’t it nice to know how high we can rise?

Tony Dungy stands as a reminder to every parent who’s grieving right now that there is a way through the pain. And that way, is through each other.”

If Tony Dungy was here right now, he would do as he did on the victory platform after the Super Bowl this year. He would point to his Savior, Jesus Christ – and he would give God all the glory.

Think of all the people God has touched through this one person, Tony Dungy, because Coach Dungy is willing and able to go up when everyone else is going down. He’s willing to personally help to meet the needs of a stranger, when everyone else is only concerned about meeting their own needs.

The Samaritan in our Scripture for today was willing to help meet the needs of a stranger. He was willing to take the time, pay the money, and make the personal connection to help someone who needed help.

The candles lit today represent 16 children who live in far away places. We don’t know them, really. We know their names. We know where they live, but we don’t really understand the conditions in which they live. In preparation for this message today, I got on the Compassion International website and found out that our little guy’s father has died. Derrick is 7, and lives in an HIV/AIDS affected area of Kenya. Through Compassion International, Derrick is provided Bible teaching, medical exams, clothing, social events, recreational activities, tuition, formal and non-formal education and health and hygiene instruction. The Compassion project will also provide Bible teaching and opportunities for involvement for the parents or guardians of the children.

Derrick wrote us last in November. His last letter (usually written by one of the Compassion volunteers, or family member) began with the following greeting: Receive greetings from your son, Derrick, who says they are all fine at home and hopes that you are fine, too. The letter contains his coloring, writing in his own hand, and a request that we pray for his education. He thanks us for our support and wishes us a merry Christmas.

Jim & Dawn Smith’s little girl, Katerine also wrote last November. Dear sponsors James and Dawn Smith. Hi, I am very happy because I passed my 2nd grade and I go to 3rd grade and I can read and write thanks to God. She concludes the letter by saying, “I say bye with many kisses and hugs. I love you a lot and I wish you have a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.” Katerine is nearly 8. Obviously a bit more advanced than our little fellow. Prosperous is a big word!

Jesus tells us that we are to take care of people’s basic needs. We are to clothe people, feed them, and give them water to drink. In Jesus’ name, we are to make sure the sick have medicine and medical care. We are to make sure people everywhere know that they are not forgotten by God. When we reach out with our money, our letters, stickers, little gifts (whatever we are allowed to send) to these children, we are doing these things to and for Jesus.

Millions of people watched American Idol Gives Back this past week. It was absolutely wonderful to see awareness raised about poverty for such a huge television audience. Over 60 million dollars were raised to make a difference in the lives of children in Africa and in America.

So what’s the main difference between calling in to American Idol or Bono’s organization, One, to make a pledge, and picking up the sponsorship of a child through Compassion International? We could say the main difference is that you can give your $10, $20 or whatever amount pledge, put it on your charge card, and you’re all done vs. having to come up with $32 every single month. We could say that this is the main difference if the money factor is the most important factor to consider.
I think the main difference is the opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship with a particular child – a relationship grounded in the ministry of Jesus who knows all of us by name.

Some people in the congregation who started a sponsorship in the last year or two found themselves frustrated when they didn’t get any information from their sponsored child. (It can and does happen when these children live in the most remote villages of the world.) But my question is - why were they frustrated? I believe they were disappointed because the Christ within us wants to have relationships with people – we don’t want to just write a check. We want a relationship – whether that is an intimate relationship with family and friends, or whether that is a long-distance relationship of sponsor and compassion child. It’s why Jesus came to earth – so that we would know without a doubt that God desires to have a relationship, a personal relationship, with each of us. It is the relationships we have developed that truly unleash and reflect the power and love of the One who died to save us.

To conclude I want to share something with you that started out as merely personal to me, but has changed significantly in the last several days. This is so fresh in my life and in my heart right now, I have to share it with you on this day when we consider the power of one:

Over the last 6 months, as many of you are aware, I was called to very active duty with an old friend, Pat Gross, who was dying of cancer. She called in November of last year and wanted to know if I would come alongside her in her last months of life to help her get her “life in order,” and to help her come to a place of peace with the Lord.

She died April 7th – the day before Easter. She died with the peace of Christ deeply imbedded in her heart.

Two days ago, on Friday morning, I was approached by a person who watched my ministry with Pat over the last months. This person is grateful to the leadership of this congregation, to all of you, for allowing me to be “on loan” to Pat, though Pat had no affiliation with this congregation, was not a contributing member, and probably didn’t know one person who worships here. On Friday morning, this person asked me what projects we were working on that could use a financial boost. This person was hoping for something visible that would benefit the congregation for years to come. I shared two opportunities before us. The first was a new set of white paraments. These are getting pretty saggy – and we use them at the most important times in the life of the church. They are very expensive. To get a beautiful set, we’re talking nearly $2,000.00. The second opportunity I shared is something I brought to the trustee and session boards about 3 months ago. I think it’s important we have something visible on this building that clearly defines us a Christian congregation. In this world of religious pluralism, we want to make a statement that we belong to, and worship Jesus Christ. So I suggested we begin to pursue some research into what it would take structurally, and what it would cost to take down the weather vane on our copula and put up sturdy, simple but beautiful, shining cross. People don’t need to know which way the wind is blowing as much as they need to know which way their life is going.

This is the project Pat’s friend wants to fund for this congregation, to the glory of God, with a thankful heart. This person doesn’t care how much it costs. It will be worth every penny.

Pat Gross made an impact on my life when I was 10 years old in fifth grade. I didn’t see her but off and on over the course of my life, but the short times we shared together were important times when Pat helped to bring forth the creative gifts God has given to me. I am blessed to know in these last months, that God turned that around, allowing me to help bring forth Pat’s very best during the most challenging time of her life.

One woman who never, ever set her eyes on this church building, who hadn’t been to any church for many, many years because of the harmful, unethical behavior of an Episcopal priest, will make a difference for this church, and for people who live in and drive through this community. Why? Because of a personal relationship that God forged between one adult and one child at just the right time.

The power of one.

When is the last time you allowed yourself the time, the energy, the generosity, to reach out and make a difference in someone else’s life?

Jesus calls us to this. Jesus calls you to this. I challenge every single person here to find a way to personally invest in the life of another person to meet basic physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Sponsoring a child through Compassion International is one way to do this. It is a reputable organization that can be trusted to do its very best on behalf of the most vulnerable children of the world. Ask the Lord what you can do and what you should do. And together as the body of Christ, let’s make a commitment to do our very best to bring honor to the only One whose power makes a difference for eternity – Jesus Christ our Risen Lord!

Amen.

Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

04-29-2007