Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY on February 27 2011
A printable PDF file can be found here
Listen to the news on any given day and you will know that all is not well with the world. Such is stating the obvious. Equally obvious is that as Christian people an essential part of our calling is to work to make the world a better place. But in the face of such a great challenge it is easy to become discouraged and feel our efforts are in vain. Can we do anything to make the world a better place? Can we heal the world?
In considering such a question I’d like to look at John 6:9, part of the story of the feeding of the 5000; "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?"
I want to suggest this morning that we can make the world a better place, as individuals and as a church community;
- Firstly: Because everybody influences somebody.
- Secondly; Because influence is an active thing. As the old campfire song declares ‘It only takes a spark to get a fire going.’
- Thirdly; Because influence, like the ripples formed by throwing a stone into a calm pond, spreads.
Let’s look at the first of these.
1. You can make the world a better place because everybody influences somebody.
Picture that little boy sitting amongst the crowd of 5000 as Jesus preached and taught. He was nobody special. In fact he may have been rather bored, tired and fed-up. He must have been near the front. He hears Jesus asking the disciples how they intend feeding all these people. He sees the incredulous look on their faces, “Feed all these people, Jesus, you must be joking!’
So he gets his little brown lunch bag and pushes through the crowd to Andrew. ‘Excuse me sir, I’ve got some food here!’ And Jesus takes that rather comical and insufficient offering, raises His eyes to heaven and blesses it, and a miracle takes place. 5000 hungry folk are fed and go home satisfied.
It’s a miracle story and we do the text a great disservice if we try to over analyze or explain it. It’s a story about how one little insignificant person placed the little he had into the hands of God and it became a source of great blessing.
Most of us are small, insignificant and un-influential. Most of us don’t have vast resources to call upon or draw from. But if we can take what we have and allow God to use it, we become an influential force in making the world a better place.
There’s a child’s verse that says;
“I have a little shadow
That goes in and out with me
And what can be the use of him
Is more than I can see’
We all have a shadow and the shadow of our life falls on others and influences them.
We may never even be aware of the influence we are having. It can take place quite unconsciously. More things are caught than are taught. Which brings us to the second thing I wanted to share.
2. You can make the world a better place because influence is an active thing.
‘It only takes a spark to get a fire going’. But please bear in mind that fires are not always positive things. We can actively be a bad influence as easily as we can be a positive one. Scripture teaches us that if we sow seeds of unrighteousness they produce a corresponding harvest. In the world of computing ‘Garbage In’ results in ‘Garbage Out’.
I remember as a young person growing up in a church with an active youth group that was always ready to welcome new faces into our midst how somebody bought a friend along who started to become involved in the life of the church.
Then one day this guy was out on his bicycle and a man walked out in front of him as he approached a crossway causing him to fall off his bike. Rather than apologizing for causing an accident, the man cussed the boy out and walked away muttering something about “Irresponsible youth”.
This particular man was one of the elders of the church. The lad, who was starting to become involved in the faith, knew who he was. We didn’t see much of the lad after that. All these years later, he doesn’t go near a church and if you ask him why, he’ll relate that incident to you.
Actions speak louder than words. Influence is an active thing. It can promote a negative reaction or our influence can be actively for the good. Thankfully we can all point to many people who have influenced us in positive ways. Parents, Friends, Neighbors, sometimes even complete strangers or people whose names we have forgotten, who, influenced us in a good way that has helped us be the person we are today.
Even though we may not always be aware of it, the way we live our lives, how we react to the little things and the big things has an influence on others whom we are probably not even aware are observing us. We can help make the world a better place because influence is always an active thing.
This brings us to our third observation.
3. Influence, like the ripples formed by throwing a stone into a calm pond, spreads.
A woman once told a former university science teacher how he had helped her retain her faith. The professor was rather surprised because he could not recall the girl ever having been one of his students, or even attending the university where he lectured.
“I’m sorry” he said, “I don’t recall you being in my classes.”
“No” she explained, “I attended a different college altogether, I don’t even live around here, but one day my friend who was in one of your classes bought me to church and we sat behind you. She told me that you were her science lecturer. At that time I was struggling with how to relate my faith to all the new ideas I was absorbing.”
“It came to prayer time and I saw you bow your head in prayer. At that moment I realized that if a person like your self, a lecturer in the sciences, could have a life of faith, then it shouldn’t be too hard for somebody like me either.”
By being in church, by worshipping God with true and genuine hearts, we never can tell what influence we may be having. Influence has a rippling effect, like a stone being thrown into a calm pool of water. We cannot say how or when or where our influence will touch another’s life. It’s not something we can arrange or dictate. It is up to us to live our faith with integrity and commitment and with the awareness that consistent walk of faith has a way of spreading Christ’s love to others.
There’s a story I about an imaginary conversation that Jesus is having with the Angel Gabriel, sometime after the Ascension, but before the day of Pentecost, the birth day of the Church.
Gabriel is saying, “Jesus, what’s the plan? You died for the whole world down there didn’t you?
“Yes, that’s right Gabriel’
“You must have suffered much”
“Yes”
“And do they all know about it?”
“No, only a few in Palestine know about it so far”
“So what’s the plan? If you died for the whole world, how on earth is the whole world going to find out? There has to be a plan?
“Well” Jesus says, “It’s like this. I asked Peter and James and John and Mary and a few others to make it the business of their lives to tell others, and the others, others… and the others yet others, until everybody knows about it”
“That’s a plan” exclaimed Gabriel, “Suppose Peter fails. Suppose John decides not to tell anybody? What if Mary or James gets sick? Suppose their successors in the twenty-first century become so obsessed with their comfortable lives that they don’t see the need for passing on the Good News?’
“Gabriel” says Jesus, “I don’t have another plan. – I’m counting on them.”
Mother Teresa, the great missionary to Calcutta whose work continues to do so much to relieve the suffering of the poor in communities around the world, was once asked “What can I do to make the world a better place?” She replied, “Go home and love your families.”
John 6:9, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" What they were was a source of sustenance to over 5000 hungry folk. The little boy had no idea what kind of influence sharing his lunch would have upon the events of that day. A miracle took place.
As we seek to minister to a hurting world we need to realize that God is counting on us. That’s God plan. That by allowing the Holy Spirit to influence our lives, our lives can be a positive influence for Jesus Christ upon others.
So don’t be discouraged. Be aware that your contribution to making this world a better place is making a huge difference. We may not always see the effects, or even receive any thanks for what we do… but no matter… we are servants of Christ… called not to seek accolades but simply to love as we have been loved.
Every act of service, large or small, in Christ’s name brings glory to God. The chief end of humankind, according to the Westminster Catechism, is “to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever”. So enjoy your service of God, because such brings glory to God. Never feel that what you have to offer is too small or that you are too insignificant. After all… remember what Jesus could do with a little boy, five barley loaves and two fish?
Truly we serve a God of miracles who calls us to heal the world.
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