MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Sermon Summary, “Life of Meaning: Making a Difference” July 3, 2016

A man tells his Rabbi “I haven’t been able to sleep for three weeks.  A colleague passed away, my age, my neighborhood, our children played together, he sat just a few desks from me.  Last week a new man was hired to sit at desk, his wife decided to move the kids back home.  She’s gone already.  The house is for sale.  It’s as if he never existed.  Rabbi, that will happen to me too.  It will happen to me and a few days later it will be as if I never lived.  Shouldn’t a person’s life be worth more than that?”

We’ve been searching for a life that matters.  Life is the little things, the truly human things we do each and every day: Belong to people; accept pain as a part of life or we’d never dare to hope or love; today, make a difference, make a difference in the life of another and be remembered.

I’ve thought about the people here that make a difference: Ronnie and Sue with Spirit Riders.  I met a girl last Sunday that has been coming to CrossWind ranch for eight years.  A lot can rub off in eight years.   I think of Scout Masters in Columbia who are also great dads.  Of the stories my aunt told about my Mom, teacher her so many things, of a farmer who gathered the young farmers each and every week to talk about farming, of the farm wives who nurtured an Italian war bride who knew nothing about living in America., of a friend of mine in Jeff City, 79 years old, who meets every week with a teenager without an influential adult in his life.

Colin Powell tells us that mentoring in about passing on a 100 generations of knowledge to the next generation.  A 100 generations.  Elisha asked his mentor Elijah for a double portion of his spirit.  Who do you want to inherit a double portion of your spirit?

It could be close to home.  Susanna Wesley spent one hour every week, one-on-one with each of her 10 children to nurture their spiritual life.  It could be in the schools.  Every teacher has someone in her class that needs the presence of a loving adult.  It could be nurturing a child at a swimming hole teaching them knots and talking about life experiences that they will recall years from now.  Who do you intentionally want to inherit a double portion of your spirit?  The difference you make will give your life meaning.  Amen.