When I was in seminary, one of the great influences on my life was Leslie Weatherhead. He was an English theologian in the great liberal Protestant tradition and served as the longtime pastor of City Temple in London. His thoughtful and compelling writings touched me deeply and inspired me to seek an abiding personal faith.
In one of his books, he told about a Sunday School teacher in his church in London. She was having a very difficult time. She said to herself, “I’m really not cut out for this sort of thing; I cannot make the children behave, and I really don’t believe that I was meant to be a Sunday School teacher.”
During World War II, she received a letter which read, “My dear friend, tomorrow, for the first time, I am going into combat, and I’m not afraid. Because years ago as a small chap in your Sunday School class, you spoke of Jesus being a child’s hero, and you may never have known this, but quietly, and unobtrusively, that morning as you spoke about Christ being a child’s hero, I surrendered my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
She looked at that letter while unashamed tears rolled down her face; she went back and got her diary she had kept for years, and she found this entry for that Sunday: “Oh, I must say to my pastor that I resign. I’m really not cut out to be a Sunday School teacher. This morning I tried so hard to speak to the children about Christ being a child’s hero. But none of them listened; they all cut up and misbehaved; oh, all except one little boy on the end named Murray. But I guess he was just tired out.” The letter she held in her hand was signed, “Murray Davis.”
That day as she taught, a little boy’s heart was awakened to the love of his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. You see, you never really know when you are making a difference in someone’s life for God. Dr. Weatherhead ended his story by saying, “Sometimes it’s the informal times, the moments when you’re not even aware, when we don’t even know that people are looking at us, that we are really doing ‘high business’ for Jesus Christ.”
My Bible teacher back in the ninth grade used to remind us, “You are the best Christian somebody knows.” I’ve come to believe she was right. With whom are you doing high business for Jesus Christ?
In the name of the One who can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
Bruce Jones, Pastor and Co-Creator,
Imagine Church of the Carolinas
