You Can Make a Difference!
Col 1:3-6
Intro.
Of the three network news cast, I prefer NBC because there is a segment at the end of the broadcast called “Making a Difference.” They report stories of individuals who have done just that—amazing stories of those who were not satisfied with the status quo, but worked for change that others might benefit.
Pastor John R Ramsey once wrote, “For some time I have had a person provide me with a rose boutonniere to pin on the lapel of my suit every Sunday. Because I always got a flower on Sunday morning, I really did not think much of it. It was a nice gesture that I appreciated, but it became routine. One Sunday morning as I was leaving the service, a small boy came up to me and said, “Pastor, what are you gong to do with that flower?” Before I could answer, he said, “I would like it if you are just going to throw it away.” At this point I smiled and told him he could have my flower. Then I asked him what he was going to do with it.
The little boy was probably less than 10 years old. H elooked up at me and said, “Sir, I’m going to give it to my granny. My mother and father got divorced last year. I was living with my mother, but when she married again, she wanted me to go to live with my father. I lived with him for a while, but he said I couldn’t stay, so he sent me to life with my grandmother. She is so good to me. She cooks for me and takes care of me. She ha been so good to me that I want to give that pretty flower to her for loving me.”
When the little boy finished, I could hardly speak, I was so moved. I reached up and unpinned my flower. I looked at the boy and said, “Son, that’s the nicest thing I have ever heard, but you can’t have this flower because it’s not enough. If you’ll look in front of the pulpit, you’ll see a big bouquet of flowers. I want you to take those to your granny because she deserves the very best.”
If Pastor Ramsey hadn’t been touched enough already, the boy made one last statement that he will always remember. He said, “What a wonderful day! I asked for one flower and got a whole bunch!”
How often do you brighten up the lives of others with special acts of kindness? How often do you look for opportunities to touch someone with God’s love?
Just like this pastor, you can make a difference in the lives of people.
Just like these Colossians that we read about, faith and love can spring from your hope to touch others.
You don’t have to be smart or rich or highly educated. Regardless of who you are, where you live, or how often you have failed, you can still make a difference. That’s the message of the Bible.
Are you anything like me? I mean, do you sometimes feel that the problems and cares of this world are so vast and I am so small, what can I do?
And yet I know that I am called to impact my world for Christ. Really, there are lots of reasons that we should try. Let me suggest three that are of utmost importance.
1. BECAUSE OUR WORLD DEPENDS ON OUR EFFORTS.
Our world would never survive if people did not help one another. We need each other to survive.
Where would this world be without Good Samaritans? What would have happened to the man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead if that Samaritan hadn’t stopped to help? That begs a question: Where would we be without compassionate people?
Illus.: Video Clip of Homeless Man on Park Bench
Homeless man is seated on a park bench during the noon hour. A business woman sits on the other end of the bench, begins to eat her sandwich, paying no attention to the man. Two children, boy and girl come along and sit down next to the man. They open their lunch bags and are about to eat when they decide to give their lunches to the homeless man. After doing so, they leave. A few seconds later, they come back and give the homeless man a hug. The contrast between the actions of the woman and the children is vivid in deed.
Another reason we should bother to make a difference is…
2. OUR FULFILLMENT IN LIFE DEPENDS ON IT
Jesus never told His audience how the Good Samaritan felt when he left the inn and continued on his journey. But I’m sure that he felt fulfilled because he had done something useful and good for his fellow man.
Can you imagine how the Colossians felt when Paul commended them for their caring attitudes and actions? I’m sure they were glowing inside. They were making a difference!
When we reach out to others, we help ourselves. A deep sense of satisfaction floods into our lives when we take the time and energy to do something worthwhile for others.
Illus.: “If Only I Could Sleep Again”
Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision had advanced leukemia, but he went to visit a colleague in Indonesia before he died. As they were walking through a small village, they came upon a young girl lying on a bamboo mat next to a river. She was dying of cancer and had only a short time to live. When Bob was told of her circumstances, he was very upset. He demanded to know why she wasn’t in a clinic and was told she was from the jungle and wished to spend her last days next to the river where it was cool and familiar. As Bob gazed at her, he felt such compassion that he got down on his knees in the mud, took her hand, and began stroking it. Although she didn’t understand him, he prayed for her. Afterward she looked up and said something. “What did she say?” Bob asked his friend. His friend replied, “She said, ‘If only I could sleep again; if only I could sleep again.’” It seemed that her pain was too great to allow her the relief of rest.
Bob began to weep. Then he reached into his pocket and took out his own sleeping pills, the ones his doctor had given him because the pain from his leukemia didn’t allow him much sleep apart from them. He handed the bottle to his friend. “Make sure this young lady gets a good night’s sleep---as long as these pills last.”
Bob was 10 days away from where he could get his prescription refilled. That meant 10 painful and restless nights. Even in the midst of his suffering, Bob Pierce had been infused with God’s supernatural sense of satisfaction that he had done the right thing. (Lee Strobel, God’s Outrageous Claims, p. 95).
There is no better exercise for strengthening the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.
Still another reason we should bother to make a difference is…
3. BECAUSE GOD EXPECTS IT
In Matt.28:18-20, we have the Great Commission. These words were spoken just before Jesus ascended into heaven. They were His “last words.” He told His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples.
I believe He is commissioning all of us to go out into our homes, our neighborhoods, our schools, and our workplaces and make a difference in the lives of others.
WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DOES GOD USE TO BE DIFFERENCE-MAKERS?
Most of the people who made a difference in the Bible were not well-known—not celebrities. In fact, they were not all that talented or educated.
Some of them even resisted at first. Moses, the man many people consider to be Israel’s greatest leader tried to get out of being a difference-maker.
Some of them were unqualified (at least that’s how they felt about it). The Apostle Paul certainly felt that way and yet he probably brought more people to Christ than any other person on earth. He was not an eloquent speaker. In I Cor.2:2-4, he wrote, “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power…”
God doesn’t always use people who have it all together---who are wise, influential, or famous. In fact, He “chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (I Cor.1:27,28).
Some of the difference-makers in the Bible got off to a bad start.
- Jonah
- David
- Peter
Now, I’m not saying that God doesn’t work through folks who are highly educated, well prepared, and in important positions. But more often, He uses ordinary folks to be His difference-makers. In short, God uses people just like us! But, it’s up to us to act!
Illus.: “Larry’s Balloon Ride”
Larry Walters was a truck driver, but his lifelong dream was to fly. When he graduated from high school, he joined the air force in hopes of becoming a pilot, but his eyesight was too poor and so he was disqualified. When he finally left the service, he had to satisfy himself with watching others fly the fighter jets that crisscrossed the skies over his backyard. As he sat there in his lawn chair, he dreamed about the magic of flying. Then one day he got an idea. He went down to the local Arm-Navy surplus store and bought a tank of helium and 45 large weather balloons.
Back in his yard, Larry used straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair. He anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep and inflated the balloons with helium. Then he packed some sandwiches and drinks and loaded a BB gun, figuring he could pop a few of those balloons when it was time to return to earth. His preparations complete, Larry Walters sat in his chair and cut the anchoring cord. His plan was that after he enjoyed some flying time to lazily float back down to earth. But things didn’t quite work out that way.
When Larry cut the cord, he didn’t float lazily up; he shot up as if fired out of a cannon! Nor did he go up a couple hundred feet! At that height, he could hardly risk deflating any of the balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really experience flying! So he stayed up there, sailing around for 14 hours, totally at a loss as to how to get down. Eventually, Larry drifted into the approach corridor for Los Angles International Airport. A Pan Am pilot radioed the tower and told the air traffic controller that he had just passed a guy in a lawn chair at 11,000 feet who had a gun in his lap.
Eventually, a Navy helicopter dropped a rescue line over Larry, and gradually hauled him back to earth. As soon as he hit the ground, he was arrested. But as he was being hauled away in handcuff, a TV reported called out, “Mr. Walters, why’d you do it?” Larry stopped, eyed the man, then replied nonchalantly, “A man can’t just sit around!”
Larry’s statement has a message for us. We can not just sit around. We need to go out and seek to make a difference—offer our hands to those in need.
I want you to think of someone who has made a difference in your life---someone who led you to faith in Christ, someone who helped shape your character in profound ways: parent, grandparent, pastor, teacher, friend.
They want you to pass the torch on. You can make a difference today!
