This past summer I did a series of sermons based on Romans, chapter 12, and Paul’s admonition that we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God. I built the sermons around various parts of the body, and suggested how we might present our eyes, our ears, our hands, our mouths, and our arms to God for His use. I scheduled the message on presenting our arms to God for the Sunday of the Independence Day weekend, so that it felt quite natural to include a little dramatic feature in the way the message began. In what was probably his last public act in this church, Carroll Reed, Major, United States Army, Retired, strode partway down this aisle, and, on cue, shouted the command, “Present …. [H] Arms”.
There was really no other choice for that role. With no disrespect for those who may outrank Major Reed, his was a true command voice. When he called for us to “Present Arms”, I saw backs straighten in the pews and eyes look forward to the pulpit. He got your attention. Major Reed knew what it is to command.
And yet the beauty of his life is that he also knew what it is to follow. For, you see, there are no leaders without followers; and there are no followers without leaders. If you try to lead, but you have not earned the respect of those who follow you, they will lag behind or even sabotage what you are trying to do. Conversely, if you try to follow, but your leader does not care about you, you will lose your motivation and you will do your job grudgingly, but without any sense of fulfillment. There are no leaders without followers, and there are no followers without leaders.
But if you are a leader who cares about those who are to follow you; if you are a follower who can feel the care of those above you; then your work will be fulfilling. There are no leaders without followers, and there are no followers without leaders.
Carroll Reed was in command. He was a leader. I remember the first time I saw that. I had not been at this church very long, and knew only that he was a retired army officer. I did not know that he had a post-retirement job selling cars. But one day I was out looking for a used car. I went to various dealerships and poked around their lots, hoping to avoid salesmen. Nobody really loves used car salesmen. But of course, they are always alert, and normally within thirty seconds after you set foot on the lot, someone is at your elbow asking, “What can I do to get you in this car today?” You know the routine.
I stopped by Dick Stevens Chevrolet, and that very thing happened. Some young man glued himself to me and began to pitch his wares. But this time there was a difference. This time, running at us from the flanks, was Carroll Reed, shouting at the young man, “Opp, opp, opp … I’ll take care of this one. This is my pastor. I’ll take care of him. Go on about your business.” One young salesman melted away into the night; Major Reed was in command. That was clear from the beginning.
So now you know why I thought of this Scripture for today, about the Roman centurion who said to Jesus,
“For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ’Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ’Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ’Do this,’ and the slave does it."
Carroll Reed knew how to command and get us to do what he expected us to do. When I would visit him in the hospital, after a few minutes, Carroll would have had enough, and he would put out his hand and say, “I know you’re going to give me a little prayer before you leave.” That’s so much nicer than “Dismissed”! But it meant the same thing. Major Reed was in command.
But remember, there are no leaders without followers; and there are no followers without leaders. But if you are a leader who cares about those who are to follow you; if you are a follower who can feel the care of those above you; then your work will be fulfilling.
I
The Roman officer who came to Jesus to ask for healing for his servant came as one who cared, as one who cared for God’s people and for God’s church. The people encouraged Jesus to help the centurion because, they said,
"He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us."
A leader must care about the organization he serves. He must care about its people. And Carroll Reed cared about God’s people and God’s church. A family member said to me the other day that Takoma Park Baptist Church was his very life. He truly cared about us. If there was a funeral, he was here to serve as an usher; gentlemen, do a good job back there, because Major Reed is watching you! On Sunday mornings, he not only served as an usher, but he coordinated one of the ushers’ tasks – to count the number of people attending. We would joke about that, and I would tell him that in seminary pastors were taught to count everything that walked by the church during worship – people out for a Sunday stroll, dogs and squirrels – count them. He would laugh, but would labor to get the count in this room and get it exactly right, calling to comment if we had a larger than usual crowd. He cared about this place and everything involved in it.
If there was someone in the hospital, he was on the phone asking me how that person was doing. If the Galilean Bible Class was meeting, he brought in coffee for everybody; 7-11 has lost its best Sunday morning customer! Daily – not occasionally, but daily – Carroll Reed was in touch with somebody from this church, encouraging, keeping in touch. He particularly loved to stay in touch with those who had been his neighbors in North Portal Estates, like the Laytons, or those with military connections, like Betty Parker. I mean no disrespect at all to his blood family when I tell you that for Carroll Reed, this church was his family. The oldest of a large group of brothers and sisters, yes; but elder brother to scores of us who worship in this place.
Here was an officer who cared; who, like the centurion of old, cared about God’s people and God’s church.
II
But again, remember, there are no leaders without followers; and there are no followers without leaders. But if you are a leader who cares about those who are to follow you; if you are a follower who can feel the care of those above you; then your work will be fulfilling.
The Roman officer who came to Jesus to ask for healing did so because he cared about somebody who was different from him, socially, racially, spiritually. It meant that this officer had to put himself in the awkward position of reaching across that racial and social barrier that seems so important sometimes. You caught it in the story, didn’t you? That the person the centurion was concerned about was his slave, his servant. Not his son, not his brother officer, not even one of his subordinates, but his servant. In an era when life was cheap, it would have been the normal thing for a high-ranking officer just to shrug his shoulders, send the servant off to die on his own, and go get yourself a new slave. Simple, cheap, and easy. But this officer cared. The servant was important to him, even though he was racially and culturally different.
And going to Jesus for help must have been a little awkward too. He was a Roman, not a Jew. He was a representative of a totalitarian regime, every one of whose members were hated by the Jews. He had every reason to expect disdain and disrespect from Rabbi Jesus. He said about himself,
"Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”
He cared, even though it meant crossing those difficult social barriers.
Major Reed was also Deacon Reed. In our church each of the fifteen active deacons is given a cluster of members to shepherd. We divide the congregation up largely by where they live, so that a deacon can visit and attend to their needs conveniently. It just so happened – or was it the wisdom of God? – that Deacon Reed’s cluster contained a very peculiar group of people. It contained a number of Caucasian families who had become distant from our church for a variety of reasons, not the least because over time we had become a largely African-American congregation. Carroll Reed understood instantly what was in store for him. He knew that these people, who no longer attended worship here but who were still members, were uncomfortable with that fact about our church. A lesser man would have refused to serve this cluster, or would have procrastinated forever about contacting any of them. But Major Reed, Deacon Reed, was an officer who cared, and cared even across the barrier of race and culture.
Oh, do not miss it. Jesus said that whoever would be great among you must be the servant of all. If I may paraphrase, I could suggest that whoever would be major among must be minor first. “Lord, I am not worthy”, said the centurion; but he reached down to the servant, he reached out to the Jew, he cared enough to cross the social boundary. And that’s where healing comes from. That’s why the servant was healed.
III
One more time, there are no leaders without followers; and there are no followers without leaders. But if you are a leader who cares about those who are to follow you; if you are a follower who can feel the care of those above you; then your life will be fulfilling.
Like the centurion, Carroll Reed, most of all, knew how to subordinate himself to the Lord Jesus, and trust Him. Like the Roman officer, Carroll Reed cared, and cared most of all to honor Jesus Christ as his captain, mighty to save. He received the grace of Christ and was saved.
Carroll knew that he had been involved in dangerous business. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be an infantryman in the closing days of World War II AND in Korea AND in Vietnam? Bad enough to have to fight in one war; but in three? Carroll knew that he had been involved in dangerous business, but that his life had been spared by the grace of God.
Carroll knew eight years ago that his health was precarious. He knew that the aneurysm should have taken his life then. But he waited for the Lord, trusted in God’s servants in the medical profession, and received God’s grace. Well did you sing, Solomon, “Amazing Grace”, for your grandfather knew what that is. It is a grace that is available to all of us. It is a glory that all of us can glimpse now and see to the full when the moment comes for us as it did for Carroll on Christmas Eve. It is what Jesus honored in the centurion,
“When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’"
For the saving grace of God comes to those who not only know how to lead, but also know how to follow. Who will follow Christ wherever He leads, and will trust Him. Who will serve wherever He calls to serve, and will obey Him. Who will be what He wants them to be and do what He wants them to do, knowing that He cares for them. Carroll Reed stands today as a marker of one great abiding truth, that there are no leaders without followers; and there are no followers without leaders. But if you are a leader who cares about those who are to follow you; if you are a follower who can trust the care of the Christ who is ready to save you; then your life will be fulfilling and more than that – it will be eternal.
