TEDDY, (one of the least of these)
Text: Matthew 25:31-46
There is a wonderful quotation was given to one Christian lay person from a pastor. It goes like this: “Don’t put a period where God put a comma”. The lay person wanted to know the source of such a profound statement. The pastor’s response was something like “Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by way of the radio”. (Nell W. Mohney. Don’t Put A Period Where God Put A Comma. Nashville: Dimensions For Living, 1993, p. 35). That is what our sermon text is about this morning---putting a period where God has put a comma.
How many times in our lives have we placed a period where God has placed a comma? I can think of several instances from my own life. You can too. Years ago, when I was on the kitchen staff at Camp Thunderbird, (a YMCA summer camp near River Hills) I worked with a twelve year old boy for just five minutes. The kitchen staff counselors were in charge of KP. While doing my duty at managing KP a sizable twelve-year-old boy began to wrestle with me. I thought to myself, “what is this boy trying to prove?” I broke out of his head lock and told him that we were not going to wrestle. But, this boy felt like he had something to prove. I did not know what it was and was not sure that I wanted to take the time. I remember seeing that this young man had been trying to prove this same thing whatever it was to the boys in his cabin also. I had placed a period where God had placed a comma. But, I did not feel right inside. So following the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I began talking to the boy along with another kitchen staff counselor. It turns out that he wanted to be liked and accepted. After finding out where he was, we helped him to understand that in order to have a friend, one must first be a friend to others. For the remainder of his time at summer camp, he had learned how to befriend the boys in his cabin.
Jesus is our friend. And He came to help us with those things that follow the commas. On Friday, I read a poem that talked about someone who once looked at a tomb stone and saw the dates of birth and death that were separated by a dash between them. That poem seemed to point out that there are lots of commas between those dashes. To illustrate that point, there is a story about a young man named Teddy. As you will see, the story speaks for itself. As you hear the story think about where Miss Thompson (his teacher) had placed a period where God had placed a comma.
Teddy Stallard certainly qualified as one of the least. Disinterested in school, musty, wrinkled clothes, hair never combed. A glassy, unfocused stare. When Miss Thompson spoke to Teddy he always answered in monosyllables. Unattractive, unmotivated, and distant, he was just plain hard to like. Even though his teacher said she loved all In her class the same,, down inside she wasn’t being completely truthful.
Whenever she marked Teddy’s papers, she got a certain perverse pleasure out of putting X’s next to the wrong answers and when she put the F’s at the top of the papers, she always did it with a flair. She should have known better, she had Teddy’s records and she knew more about him than she wanted to admit. The records read:
1st Grade: Teddy shows promise with his work and attitude, but poor home situation.
2nd Grade: Teddy could do better. Mother is seriously ill. He receives little help at home.
3rd Grade: Teddy is a good boy but too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.
4th Grade: Teddy is very slow. but well-behaved. His father shows no interest.
Christmas came and the boys and girls in Miss Thompson’s class brought her Christmas presents. They piled their presents on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them. Among the presents there was one from Teddy Stallard. She was surprised that he had brought her a gift. But he had. Teddy’s gift was wrapped In brown paper and was held together with scotch tape. On the paper were written the simple words, “For Miss Thompson From Teddy.” When she opened Teddy’s present, out fell a gaudy rhinestone bracelet, with half the stones missing, and a bottle of used cheap perfume. The other boys and girls began to giggle and smirk over Teddy’s gifts, but MissThompson at least had enough sense to silence them by immediately putting on the bracelet and putting some of the perfume on her wrist Holding her wrist up for the other children to smell, she said. "Doesn’t it smell lovely?" And the children. taking their cue from the teacher, readily agreed wlt.1-- "oo’s" and "ah’s."
At the end of the day when school was over and the other children had left. Teddy lingered behind. He slowly came over to her desk and said softly, "Miss Thompson...Miss Thompson, you smell just like my Mother...her bracelet looks real pretty on you. too. I’m glad you liked my presents." When Teddy left. Miss. Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her.
The next day when the children came to school, they were welcomed by a new teacher. Miss Thompson had become a different person. She was no longer just a teacher, she had become a agent of God. She was now a person committed to loving her children and doing things for them that would live on after her. She helped all the children, but especially the slow ones, and especially Teddy Stallard. By the end of that school year. Teddy showed dramatic improvement, he had caught up with most of the students and was even ahead of some.
She didn’t hear from Teddy for a long time (seven years). Then one day. she received a note that read:
Dear Miss Thompson,
I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my class.
Love,
Teddy Stallard
Four years later, another note came:
Dear Miss Thompson,
They just told me I will be graduating first In my class. I wanted you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy. but I liked it.
Love,
Teddy Stallard
And four years later:
Dear Miss Thompson,
As of today. I am Theodore Stallard. M.D. How about, that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now. Dad died last year.
Love,
Teddy Stallard
Miss Thompson went to that wedding and sat where Teddy’s mother would have sat. She deserved to sit there: she had done something for Teddy he could never forget. Miss Thompson replied in her letter back to Teddy: ...
“Dear Ted,
Congratulations! You made it and you did it yourself! In spite of those like me and not because of us, this day has come for you. God bless you. I’ll be at that wedding with bells on.” (Mohney, p.38).
The Apostle Paul did all he did in trying to reach others for Christ because he felt compelled by God to do so. Paul strove to be all things to all people that he might meet them where they were. At one time, Paul had placed a period in the progress of the growth of Christianity. Christ opened his eyes and showed him the commas. Jesus also helped him to understand what he was supposed to do about those commas, just as Christ had showed Miss Thompson the commas, where she had been placing periods.
Christ calls us to go beyond the boundaries that we set in wanting to relate to those just like us. “We sometimes tend to classify people by the families they come from, the clothes they wear, where they went to school, where they live, an d how much money they have. …There are no barriers or distinctions as far as Christ is concerned” (a quote from David Inman’s sermon). I am reminded of a story about Michael Angelo. One day, he was chiseling away at a piece of marble. Michael responded, “I see an angel and I am trying to set him free”.
“Take a look at your own life. Are you putting a period where God has placed a comma? Are you limiting your potential by living in prisons of your own making? Look at the significant others in your life---members of your family, associates at work, friends. Are you limiting their achievements by low expectations? Don’t put a period where God has placed a comma! (Mohney, p. 38). One cannot help but to wonder what might have happened to Teddy Stallard, if Miss Thompson had not seen the comma where she had placed a period. There are people that God has called us, in fact, sent us to help concerning the gifts and talents that He has given us. The one gift that all have been given is the ability to love and be loving as God has loved and loves us. This story about Teddy Stallard is but one example of how the love of God can change people. The way that we she godly love to others can and will make a difference in the lives of the Teddy Stallards that are in our midst. God wants us to love those that we might otherwise overlook. Christ called them “the least of these”. Everyone is valuable to God. Yes, it is true that every tomb stone will show both the birth and death dates. But, there are thousands upon thousands of commas that God wills for us to work with in our own lives as well as in their lives of those around us. Amen!
