A sermon walking

Have you ever seen a sermon walking? Listen to this story.

Reporters and city officials gathered at a Chicago railroad station one afternoon in 1953. The person they were meeting was the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner. A few minutes after the train came to a stop, a giant of a man - six feet, four inches - with bushy hair and a large mustache, stepped out of the train. Cameras flashed. City officials approached him with hands outstretched. Various people began telling him how honored they were to meet him.

The man politely thanked them and then, looking over their heads, asked if he could be excused for a moment. He quickly walked through the crowd until he reached the side of an elderly black woman who was struggling with two large suitcases. He picked up the bags and, with a smile, escorted the woman to a bus. After helping her aboard, he wished her a safe journey. As he walked back to the greeting party, he apologized, “Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary doctor who had spent his life helping the poor in Africa. In response to Schweitzer’s action, one member of the reception committee said with great admiration to the reporter standing next to him, “That’s the first time I ever saw a sermon walking.”

Now, have you ever seen a servant leader? Listen to this story.

During the American Revolution, a group of exhausted soldiers were struggling to repair a wall of stone and dirt to protect them from enemy bullets.

One soldier was shouting instructions, but made no move to help the others. An officer in plain clothing happened to ride by. He asked the man why he wasn’t helping.

“Sir,” he retorted, “I am a corporal!”

The officer apologized, got down from his horse, and helped the soldiers himself. When the work was done, he turned to the corporal. “Mr. Corporal,” he said, “next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander in chief, and I will come and help you again.”

The corporal hadn’t recognized General George Washington. Now that is a servant leader.

And now we go to a more sensitive question.

Have you ever seen a public servant?

I have. These are public officials who fall in line behind airport ticket counters, those who would not take advantage of their public positions to gain special favors or be treated differently. They are those who know that what they do speak resoundingly louder than what they say.

These are the people who inspire us.

Underneath the greatness of a Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the service of a General George Washington and the meekness of certain public servants is the presence of humility, a rare quality we may also find in a number of our leaders these days.

Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” reminds us that the key people who brought success to their business organizations showed a consistent pattern of humility. Though these people shy away from the public view, they are always noticed because of the great things they do and the greatness they have.

Michel de Montaigne said, “Few men have been admired by their servants.”

Maybe because most ignore Jesus’ admonition that, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.”

F. B. Meyer said, “I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above the other; and that the taller we grew in Christian character, the easier we could reach them. I now find that God’s gifts are on shelves one beneath the other. It is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower; that we have to go down, always down, to get His best gifts.” And isn’t Meyer so right?

(Attend Francis Kong’s one-day life changing seminar “SUCCESS THROUGH EXCELLENCE” on August 13, 2010, at the SMX Convention Center. For registration and tickets, call Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)