Kiwanis National Day of Prayer
2004
Nick…. “Thank you very much for coming today. Please drive safely. Have a nice day.”
Nice intro…but it reminds of me of when my Grandpa heard about my getting an honor in high school..He said, “Yea, but what good are?” He meant, quite simply…what are you going to do with it?
In theatre, the resume is a joke. The question is always, “Yea, but what have got for me today?”
My question to you this morning…we are all people who profess a faith of some degree or another…. What good are ya? What are you going to do with it? Or, as God would put it, “What have you got for me today?” Faith without works is worse than dead. It’s hypocrisy. It’s a black eye on your faith. And by the way, prayer is works.
Marie..salt and pepper shaker collection Popular Book: The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren says, “You have heard people say, ‘I can’t make it to the meeting but I’ll be with you in spirit. Do you know what that means? Nothing. It’s worthless. As long as you’re on earth, your spirit can only be where your body is. If your body isn’t there, neither are you.”
That’s like someone saying, “I’ll be thinking of you.” My dog thinks of me! (At least if I had a dog, he’d think of me.) Pray, man! Pray! I have enough trouble with people who say they’re going to pray for me and don’t. I can’t trust the person at all who can’t even get the word “pray” out of his mouth.
A good friend attended a Cursille weekend..a spiritual retreat. I loved this guy. He’d given his life to Christ, was madly in love with his new passion, but hadn’t been a Christian long enough to become pious. Emergency surgery on his gall bladder… as they took him off his mother said, “You’ll be on my mind, Rich.” Rich, deep within the bowels of the ambulance shouted back, “Hell, do more than that, Mom! Pray!”
Dad told me about a man from Griggsville…had quite a bit of money. A mean man. Was dead several days before anyone knew because he simply had no friends who ever called or checked on him. The road commissioner smelled his body while going by grading the road. Had to hire six men to carry the casket. He didn’t have six friends. What good was he?
Matt.. baritone. Sometimes What you’re good for is simply teaching people a valuable lesson.
A few years ago… (If Larry’s there, change) Emergency conference. Supt., principal another teacher and myself. A very good boy was frying his brains on meth amphetamine. He was in shock, his parents were in denial, and we were at a loss. Senior boy named Dylan came bursting through the supt’s door. “Hey you guys, I’m sorry to interrupt, but Troy is in real trouble and I think you oughta pray for him.” Dylan didn’t say he’d “be thinking of him.” He didn’t make a mental note to call a few close friends. He burst through the door and said, “Hey, I think you guys oughta pray for him.” Tears came to the Superintendent’s eyes. He said, “I think you’re right, Dylan.”
One week ago I spoke to a banquet for high school scholars… each gave a brief speech on their goals …. All centered around what we have taught them is the meaning of success. Security. Fame. “Success.” Not one mention of service. My message to them was the same as it is to you: What good are ya?
30,000 kids are dead tonight in Africa…kids who woke up alive this morning… 40 million people alive tonight will die of AIDS Our choices for political leaders are becoming pathetic. 1.3 million kids in the U.S. will experience homelessness this year What good are ya? Hundreds of EMI workers are feeling the door about to close. Our schools are in a crisis. What good are ya? Meth labs are popping up faster than convenience stores. I’ve worked in drug education for 25 years. The number one factor in a person developing a drug-free lifestyle is positive relationships with adults… How about you? What good are you?
Bill Gates: “I have enough employees who know technology. What we need in the 21st century are people who care about people…”
What’re you good for? What are you going to do with what you’ve got? And I don’t mean what’re you going to do with it after you get your family established, after you retire, or after you get all the obligations of your job taken care of….I mean what are you going to do with it by noon today?
Puppy story. We have been given the gift of freedom, of security, and in most cases, of faith. To which much has been given, much will be required. We live in a community where lending a helping hand is second nature…Even the Journal Courier, that bastion of optimism and hope.. is literally filled with reports of people who spend their waking hours in service. And yes, I know that many of you are in a service organization. I know that many of our community’s greatest movers and shakers and servants and pancake flippers are right here in this room… But unless you begin each day with the simple prayer, “Lord, I want to serve you today. Show me how,” then What good are you? I won lots of awards in high school and in college. _____ read a very flattering biography… but none of that counts if I don’t do something with it. A sort of sickness took over the self-help world ten years ago.. taking care of your inner child, withdrawing to see to your own needs…Poppycock. Your inner child is a whining brat. You want to get depressed, work on your own problems today…You want to get lifted and blessed, turn your concern toward others. “Hell, do more than that, Mom! Pray!” I’m not exaggerating when I say the whole world is depending on a relatively few people who know the power of prayer and action. What’re you good for?
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