“One Person Can Make a Difference”

Joel 2:28-32

Acts 16:6-15

October 31, 2004

Throughout Jr. High school, studying was not something I did on a regular basis. I was a good student, but most of the time I was able to get by without having to crack open a book. However, that all changed when I got Mrs. Munson for 9^th grade history. Mrs. Munson was feared by the students. Everyone spoke about her in hushed tones. Rumors ran rampant about her life outside of the classroom. She was an older woman with long, scraggly, grayish, brown hair. She wore no make up, and her voice was deep and raspy.

Mrs. Munson had the reputation as the hard-nosed history teacher that had the ability to make the best and the brightest students wonder what curse had fallen on them, and average students bemoan the day they were born. You can imagine what must have been going through my head when I found out that I was going to have Mrs. Munson for history. But Mrs. Munson was one of the greatest teachers I ever had.

Mrs. Munson’s gift for teaching was her ability to squeeze out of you every last bit of brainpower. Like a wet washcloth, she could twist and turn you until you had nothing left to give. She made you think. She made you work and work until you got it right. That was what made Mrs. Munson so special. She refused to let you get by with the bare minimum. She said no to mediocrity and yes to her students. She pushed us to write better papers. She pushed us to consider new possibilities. She pushed us to learn. She made us better students. And in the end, she made me a better person. One person can make a difference.

Throughout our life, all of us have those special people that made a difference in our life, those special people that made an impact on us in a way that changed who we are and made us a better person. They helped shape who we are today. They helped shape our worldview about what is important and what is not important. But what really makes these people special is that they said yes to us. When it came time to commit themselves to us, they said yes. When it came time to nurture us, they said yes. When it came time to push us in a new direction, they said yes. At the time, I did not understand, but now I do. I now understand that these people were and are the behind the scenes working of God’s direct intervention in my life preparing me, moving me, pushing me, guiding me to do God’s work in the world.

History itself is full of those one or two people who came along at the right time and in the right place who made a difference in the lives of people. The faithful servant of the church who willingly sacrificed herself to care for the least in the world, and brought good news to the poor and downtrodden. The astronaut who willingly straps on a rocket and takes us to new heights of exploration. The philanthropist who willingly gives time and money to a cause to help others. The civil rights pioneers who willingly refused to go along with the status quo and broke down the barriers of injustice. The inventor who willingly dedicates his life to his work and changes the world with his breakthroughs. The national leader who willingly put his life and career and belief on the line and changed the course of history.

But there are others who you will never read about in history books. The parent who willingly gives up her own plans to spend time with her children. The social worker who willingly intervenes to save the lives of the abused and neglected. The Police officer who willingly spends her off hours helping disadvantaged youth. The teacher who willingly spends her free time tutoring students. The nurse who willingly works twelve hour shifts to provide care to a suffering patient. The bystander who willingly intervenes to save another at the risk of her own life. The friend who willingly listens to our problems. The spouse who willingly puts up with our shortcomings.

These are the people who said yes to others, when others said no. These are the people who answered God’s call and made it their own, who took their calling and made it their mission and purpose in life. Because of them, the world was made better. Because of them, we are made better. One person can make a difference.

The problem is that we can never know when and how we will make a difference. There is no way to see the results of our actions in the short term or even in the long term. Mrs. Munson has no idea what kind of impact she had on me, neither do the others who have come and gone in my life, who I no longer have contact with. But this is how it is with saying yes to God and yes to others.

What we do today has implications for the future, sometimes dramatic implications, even eternal implications. This is how it is with answering and responding to our divine call. Just as God has put others in our life at the right time and the right place to help us be better, so too are we put in the lives of others at the right time and in the right place to help them be better. But we may never know the positive effect we might have on that one person we encounter. We may never know the result of our actions. We may never know how saying yes to someone today could possibly make a difference in God’s ever-expanding work in the world tomorrow, but it does.

There was no way for Paul to know what would come as a result from his trip to Macedonia. At first he wanted to go to Asia with his companions and spread the gospel up there. Maybe he felt it was ripe for the hearing of the good news. But the Holy Spirit had other plans and kept them from speaking the word in Asia. All Paul knew was that he had seen a vision of a man pleading with him to come to Macedonia to help the people there, and he was convinced that God had called them to go there instead.

Eventually Paul and his companions settled in the city of Philippi, the great city of Philippi, the leading city of Macedonia, named after the father of Alexander the great, the haven for all that was culturally and economically and socially Greco-Roman. One has to wonder if Paul and his companions would be able to do any kind of evangelism in a city such as this. Surely, they were aware of the enormous challenges they faced, but when spirit of Christ leads great things happen.

During their stay, they walked outside the city gate to the river and found a group of women praying, so they sat down and began to speak to them. One of the women there was named Lydia. Lydia was a worshiper of God, so she was already a convert to Judaism, and she was probably from the upper class being a dealer in purple cloth. But something happened to Lydia that would change the course of history; the Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what Paul was saying. Eventually, she and her husband were baptized, and she urged Paul and his companions to come stay at their home. And they did. You see, one person can make a difference….Oh, but this one person was not Paul. It was Lydia.

Yes, it is true that Paul made a difference in the life of Lydia, but Paul had only continued the work that the Lord was already doing in her life. No, it was Lydia that would make the difference. It was Lydia who became the first convert to the Christian faith in all of Europe. It was Lydia who said yes to the gospel of Jesus Christ and opened her home to the teaching of the faith. It was Lydia, the resident of Philippi, who would make it possible for more and more people to come and hear the good news of the gospel, and it would be her house-church that Paul would later call his “joy and crown” in his letter to the Philippians.

We owe our debt to her for she said yes to the gospel when so many others said no, and through the work of the Lord, she made it possible for the gospel of Jesus Christ to move out into the world. We owe her our gratitude for she was the pioneer of the journey of faith in which we walk. One person can make a difference. One person does make a difference.

Lydia responded to God’s call and the world was made better for it. There was no way for Paul to know what kind of difference he could have made in her life or in the life of those in Philippi, but he was willing to go where the Lord had called him to go. There was no way for him to know that it would be Lydia whom God would us as in instrument of God’s ever-expanding work in the world, but Paul remained faithful to the new direction God gave him and never looked back. Paul said yes to God and found Lydia. Lydia said yes to the Spirit of the living Christ and the world was never the same again.

Tonight we begin our first week of our four week program called RECHARGE. This name was chosen because we believe that all of us need from time to time to be recharged both in spirit and in mission. Starting tonight, we will not only be recharged spiritually through breaking bread together and our fellowship and singing, but we will also be recharged in this church’s mission and ministry. For the next four weeks, you will hear from people of this congregation who will share with you their vision for this church. They will be giving you the ways in which they want to make a difference in the church and in this community and in this world.

My friends, I’m convinced more and more everyday that each one of us can make a difference in the life of another today that will lead to a better world tomorrow. Each one of us can make a difference in our home, school, work and church. We don’t need to wait for the need to come to us; we don’t need to wait to be asked to make a difference. When we respond to God’s call, God will move us to where the need already exists. I’m convinced that this church can make a difference that will make people better for it.

Let us say yes to God’s call and yes to God’s new direction and go and change the world. Do you think that is too great a vision? Do you think that is beyond the realm of possibility? Do you think that we can not possibly make a difference that will change the world as we know it? With the spirit of the living Christ preparing us, moving us, pushing us, and guiding us to do God’s work in the world nothing is beyond possibility. God’s word for us today is the reminder that just one person can make a difference. Just think what kind of difference we can make together when each one of us believes it begins with just one person - our self. Amen.