Years ago I had a friend, a Methodist minister, who had been badly burned in a terrible accident years before we met.  The scars on his face and hands were the most apparent things about him.  When we got to be good enough friends he told me the story behind the scars.  The very first Sunday at his very first church, he and his little boy had gone to the church early in the morning to light the gas heaters.  He smelled a faint odor but had no way of knowing that the gas had been leaking for several hours.  When he struck a match there was no explosion, only a sort of flash flame that left a blue haze of fire dangling at ceiling level where the gas had gathered.  Before he could pull himself and his little boy out of the building they had both suffered terrible burns that left them scarred for life. 

By the time I met him he had actually been able to gain some sense of humor about it all.  He said he was always able to tell everyone that, in his first pastorate, he had really set the church on fire.  What he was never able to forget, however, was the awesome power of one little spark.  It’s amazing how little some people appreciate the power of just one little spark.  Once, when I was stopped at a traffic light, across the intersection about fifty yards away, I saw a lady measuring the gasoline on the underground tank at a convenience store.  She had the lid off of the tank and was bent over it – with a cigarette dangling from her mouth.  All I remember thinking was that I felt about two-hundred yards too close to someone who didn’t appreciate what one little spark can do under the right, or wrong, circumstances.

The scripture we have read from Mark’s gospel this morning is nothing less than a reminder of the awesome power of one.  Twice Jesus remarks, in a promise and a warning, about the power we have to affect change when we are aware, or fail to be aware, of the awesome power of one.

First, the promise.  Jesus’ disciples were bothered by the fact that some copycat was using Jesus’ name to cast out demons even though he was not a follower of Jesus.  How he was doing what he was doing we don’t know.  What was of greater concern to the disciples than the fact that people were being freed from evil was that this exorcist, in their words, “was not following us.”

It’s impossible to pass by something here that is really an aside to the main subject for this morning but crucial to our situation today.  Do you see it?  What

bothered the disciples was that this guy was not following them!  Already, before the church of Jesus Christ is even born, some of his disciples were worried about enforcing orthodoxy on others.  It wasn’t good enough that good was being

done in the name of Jesus.  The only thing that mattered was that it wasn’t

being done the way they thought it should.  Many years later, the apostle Paul would encounter this same dilemma.  Even though others weren’t as orthodox in their methods or motives as he would prefer he asked, “What does it matter?  Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way . . ..”  (Philippians 1:15-18)

Even today, we are being told to get in line.  There are those among our fellow Southern Baptists who claim that if we don’t believe exactly as they do then we cannot be true followers of Jesus.  And, there are those kinds of people on both sides of the argument in this twenty-year-old controversy in our convention.  It goes further than that, too.  Some people raise their hands and clap in worship.  Some are afraid that if they do anything more with their hands than sit on them they’ll be struck by lightning.  Some people scream and shout in worship and even speak in tongues.  Some are afraid that if they ever so much as said “amen” in a deep holy grunt they’d be accused of being a holy roller. 

Should our response not be that of the apostle’s?  What does it matter if I don’t fall in line with you or you with me as long as we both fall in line with Jesus?  Whenever those who claim to follow Christ are more concerned with making others more like themselves than in leading others to be more like Jesus they are not serving the kingdom of God no matter how religious or holy their language.  What does it matter?  What matters more than orthodoxy by our definition?

Jesus brings us back to what does matter.  And, herein lies his promise about the power of one.  “Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”  Sure enough, throughout twenty centuries of Christian history, many heinous acts have been done in the name of Jesus that have nothing to do with Jesus.  Jesus is not saying that we can do anything we want and, as long as we put his name on it, that makes it holy.  So, let’s listen carefully to what he is saying. 

Jesus says that even one small act of kindness that honors or supports the Kingdom of God will never escape the attention of God.  Then, he gives a warning that stands juxtaposed to the promise.  “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”  Just as one act of kindness does not escape God’s attention, neither does even one act that does anything to hinder the work of God’s kingdom in even one person’s life.

Now, in the verses previous to this text, Jesus had been talking about children.  After pulling a little child close, he told the disciples, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”  (Mark 10:37)  Perhaps there is a connection between that thought and this one about the stumbling block.  But, the word Jesus used that is translated “little ones” is not the same one that is translated “child.”  “Little ones,” in the original language, is from the root, micron.  What he is saying is truly beautiful when you look close.  Spun positively, Jesus is saying that there is not one person in all of creation, no matter how insignificant they may be to us or to the social pecking order, who is of only microscopic concern to God.  Hurt one, just one, and you get the attention of the creator of the universe in a very negative way. 

Both in promise, and warning, Jesus’ words ought to fire our imaginations, like a simple spark starting a blazing flame.  How long has it been since we thought in terms measured by the simple factor of one?

This past week I was invited to lunch by the administrator of Grace Presbyterian Village where some sixteen of our members are residents.  As I walked in the door, I was introduced to a man and his wife who were once members here.  When he looked at me he asked if I was the second pastor to come to Cliff Temple since Dean Dickens.  I said, “No, I’m the first.”  He looked at me curiously and then said, “Well, I get your church paper and you sure don’t look as skinny as the guy in that picture.”  Surely he meant no offense though it still amazes me how some people can be so unaware of how little others care to be reminded of how good they don’t look.  Nevertheless, I was amazed at how that one little word, skinny, used in that way, exponentially multiplied in negative ways as it bounced around my brain.  If we only stopped to think of the exponential power of one!  Jesus is trying to get us to think in those terms.  Not in terms of hundreds, thousands or millions, just one.

Do you remember his words from the Sermon on the Mount?  “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second.”  (Matthew 5:39-42)  One cheek, turned the right way, one cloak, turned over, one extra mile taken.  The way Jesus measures the progress of the Kingdom is in increments of one.  The sixties band, Three Dog Night, said that one is the loneliest number.  Jesus said that within its small measurement lies the vastness of all of his Kingdom. 

Think about his name, for example, the power of that one word, Jesus.  Peter later preached, “‘There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’”  (Acts 4:12)  And, about Jesus’ name, the apostle Paul chipped in, “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”  (Philippians 4:10-11)  In that one name lies the power to save the world.  To that one name, every person will ultimately pay homage as the Lord of all creation.  It’s amazing, the power of one!

There is a great story in Cliff Temple’s history about a prayer meeting that Dr. Bassett was leading one night.  As it’s told, there was a widow in the church who lived on Tenth Street and who was in desperate need of food.  During that meeting, Dr. Bassett called on Dr. George Mason to pray for this widow.  As Dr. Mason began to pray he asked God to take care of this woman but then, in mid-prayer, stopped and said, “Oh, that’s O.K., Lord, you don’t have to worry about her, I’ll take care of that myself.”  Just one man caring about one woman.  And, trust me, better yet, trust Jesus, God took note.  And, he will take note of you and me and what we do with the power of one.

Which is what I want each and every one of us to think about.  Is there one thing, just one thing, we could do for this church and for the Kingdom of God we are not doing?  Just one.  For example, what if some of us who don’t give anything to our church financially decided that, this week, we’d give one dollar?  What if some of us who give but don’t tithe decided to tithe, just once?  What if some who tithe decided to give above and beyond the tithe, just one time?  Beyond the money, which is never the issue, I’m simply asking what would happen if some who never have simply trusted God’s promises about his money in their hands, did so just once.  There is no way of knowing what would happen if that many ones happened at once. 

And, what would happen if we applied the same principle to praying, to sharing our faith or serving in any capacity?  Some can give, some can pray, some can witness, some can teach, some can . . . well, you fill in the blank.  All of us can do one thing.  Some of us carry around enormous guilt about not sharing our faith more with others.  What if, this week or before this year is out, we committed ourselves to introducing that one name, Jesus, in just one conversation with one person?  What if each and every one of us decided upon one thing, just one, and said to ourselves, “This one thing I will do”? 

The hope of this church’s future does not lie in the creative genius of any one person.  It lies in the gift of God that stirs in the heart of each and every one of us passionately urging us to committed action together.  Rebirth is not a program – it’s a passion.  Twenty-five years ago, one person in our church decided that one cold sandwich was not good enough to give to even one person on her Meals-On-Wheels route.  So, that one person went home and started cooking.  Now, people in unnumbered thousands have had hot meals, a personal contact and a loving smile through our Christmas Day dinners they would have otherwise done without.  Just because one person did one thing once.  And, that one exponentially multiplied.  Those kinds of passion, like the ones in you and me, are the gifts of God’s spirit at work stirring us to action. 

This past week, Brian Burton sent something to me that he wrote after last Sunday’s worship service.  Listen to the power of one in it.  It’s entitled, Crazy Questions.  “How can a 101-year old church become reborn?  As I sit alone in the vast expanse of this sanctuary filled with Cliff Temple people, I wonder, ‘Am I the only Nicodemus struggling with this question?’  How does a church re-enter God’s womb and become born again?  I am in this body of believers, and yet I am only one body, only one believer.  I am an adult in the spiritual cradle roll of this church, with little power or influence.  I am a new member and most people do not know or remember my name.  So, how do I participate in the miracle of rebirth?  I wait for the answer as I breathe in the smells of the church.  Memories of a childhood ditty come out of nowhere, ‘Here is the church and here is the steeple, open the doors and here are the people.’  I release a shy smile.  I look up as though my upward gaze might coax a divine response.  I see the chandeliers, dangling like the fingers of God, pointing back at me.  I resist the answer initially, but slowly, graciously, the words form in my ears.  The rebirthing of the church we love will not happen by staring at the worship leaders each Sunday.  To paraphrase Frederick Buechner, rebirthing will happen ‘when the world’s deep hunger and our deep gladness meet.’  When that intersection happens in our daily, personal lives, it cannot be contained.  Like Peter and John who healed the crippled man at the gate of the temple, there will be wonder and amazement when we gather to share what God is doing.  How does Cliff Temple re-enter the womb of God and become reborn?  The chandeliers are pointing at you and me.”