"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (James 1:22).
In 1953, reporters gathered at a Chicago railway station waiting to meet the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner. He was a big man, well over six feet tall, with bushy hair and a large mustache.
Reporters were excited to see him and expressed what an honor it was to meet him. Cameras were flashing, compliments were being expressed when, looking beyond the adulation, the visitor saw an elderly black woman struggling to carry her two large suitcases.
"Excuse me," he said as he went to the aid of this woman. Picking up her cases, he escorted her to a bus and then apologized to the reporters for keeping them waiting.
The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary-doctor who had invested his life helping poor and sick people in Africa.
A member of the reception committee remarked to one of the reporters, "That's the first time I ever saw a sermon walking."
The measure of any man or woman is not their name, nor their fame, nor what they say, but what they do. "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!" (James 1:22)
"I'd Rather See A Sermon"
By Edgar Guest
I'd rather see a sermon
Than
hear one any day;
I'd rather one should walk with me
Than merely tell the way.
The eye's a better pupil
And more willing than the ear,
Fine counsel is confusing,
But example's always clear;
And the best of all the preachers
Are the men who live their creeds,
For to see good put in action
Is what everybody needs.
I soon can learn to do it
If you'll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action,
But your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver
May be very wise and true,
But I'd rather get my lessons
By observing what you do;
For I might misunderstand you
and the high advice you give,
But there's no misunderstanding
how you act and how you live.
And all travelers can witness
That the best of guides today
Is not the one who tells them,
But the one who shows the way.
Though an able speaker charms me
with his eloquence, I say,
I'd rather see a sermon
than to hear one, any day.
I'd rather one should walk with me
Than merely tell the way.
The eye's a better pupil
And more willing than the ear,
Fine counsel is confusing,
But example's always clear;
And the best of all the preachers
Are the men who live their creeds,
For to see good put in action
Is what everybody needs.
I soon can learn to do it
If you'll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action,
But your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver
May be very wise and true,
But I'd rather get my lessons
By observing what you do;
For I might misunderstand you
and the high advice you give,
But there's no misunderstanding
how you act and how you live.
And all travelers can witness
That the best of guides today
Is not the one who tells them,
But the one who shows the way.
Though an able speaker charms me
with his eloquence, I say,
I'd rather see a sermon
than to hear one, any day.
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