Leaving a Mark on the World?

Delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, Oct. 13, 2019

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Matthew 5:13-16

Text: Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go . . . (Jeremiah 29:7 GNT)

Perhaps you have visited the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse.  In case you have not been there or are not familiar with it, the Little Greenbrier School is a former schoolhouse and church in the now long-gone Little Greenbrier community in Sevier County in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The schoolhouse was built in 1882 and was used as a school and church almost continuously until 1936.  The trail that leads to the schoolhouse, as well as to the Walker Sisters’ house (the last permanent residents in the Smokies), begins in Metcalf Bottoms between the Wear’s Valley Road and the Little River Road that runs between Townsend and Sugarlands Visitor’s Center.

But here is the point I am getting at: Of the things you first notice when you approach the schoolhouse are the marks left by hundreds of visitors over the years.  Unscrupulous visitors have used pocketknives and other sharp objects to carve their names and other graffiti into the historic logs, windowsills, door frame, and so on.  Carvings such as “Johnny Walker was here,” “Billy Loves Matilda,” and other such etchings cover the structure.  Well, we are aware (are we not?) that leaving such marks on historic structures is illegal, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and six months in jail! 

But here is the next point that follows: We are born, it seems, with an innate urge or need to leave our mark upon the world.  The oldest-known sketches on the walls of caves by cave dwellers are thought to be about 40,000 years old.  As soon as children can hold onto a crayon or pencil or pen, they are eager to leave their mark upon the walls of the house.  Some graduate to become graffiti artists, spray painting their distinctive mark on brick buildings, highway overpasses, subways, and more.

Well, again, there seems to be innate within the human psyche, as well as in other animals of the world, the urge to leave our mark.  A few weeks ago, I left my vehicle outside just one night (we normally park in the garage) and the next morning I discovered that a skunk had sprayed it overnight.  I mentioned this to someone who told me that male skunks do that to mark their territory.  There are many ways to leave one’s mark upon the world, many of them quite negative in nature. 

The prophet Jeremiah, who ministered in the 6^th century B.C.E. to Jewish exiles who had been carried off from Jerusalem to Babylonia, spoke of leaving a mark upon the world; indirectly at least.  The heart of Jeremiah’s message in today’s reading was that the exiles just needed to accept their fate.  The Jewish people were in exile, in servitude in a strange land, and they were going to be there for some time—about 70 years in fact.  So they might as well make up their minds to make the best of it.  Don’t fight it, Jeremiah said.  Come to terms with your situation.  Carry on with your lives.  And Jeremiah said,

“Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. ⁶ Marry and have children. Then let your children get married, so that they also may have children. . . . ⁷ Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go as prisoners. . . if they are prosperous, you will be prosperous too.”

The exiles are encouraged to seek life abundant in this strange and difficult place.  But while they were making a good life for themselves, even while in exile in a foreign land, they were to exert a positive influence and leave a positive mark on the land.

Such are pretty good guidelines for anyone of any time and any place.  All of us are concerned with living in a comfortable house, enjoying good food and other comforts of life, having a happy family life, and so on.  And most of us work hard – or have worked hard – to ensure such.  But after we have achieved and assured the basic necessities and comforts of life, the next step is to do what we can to bless and make better the community and nation in which we live.  In other words, to leave a positive – as opposed to a negative – mark upon the world.

But permit me to go a step further and consider this idea collectively: As the United Church, are we not encouraged – after we take care of one another through the programs and ministries that benefit ourselves – to also bless the community in which we live and leave our positive mark around us?  Now, as a congregation, we certainly are not in exile.  And we wouldn’t say that we’re somewhere we don’t want to be.  Nevertheless, our current situation does pose some challenges for us as we look to the future.  We are sort of off the beaten path, unlike the churches on the Oak Ridge Turnpike that are very visible to hundreds of passersby every day.  That poses a little bit of a challenge, since one of the maxims of church growth says the three most important considerations in planting a new church are location, location, location. 

And we certainly are not of the largest churches in town, which means we aren’t able to offer many of the programs that larger churches can offer.  Now, I am not trying to be a prophet of gloom and doom.  But these factors make growth a little bit of a challenge for us.  Nevertheless, we are called to leave our positive mark upon the community around us the best that we can and in whatever ways we can. 

Well, shifting gears, today we honor several United Church individuals who, for 90+ years, have left their marks upon the world.  This year our United Church has about a dozen members who have celebrated 90+ birthdays.  If you multiply 90 times 12, that is a total of 1080+ years of collective living, service, and contributing to the betterment of our world!  In areas such as education and teaching, research, family counseling, Girl Scout leadership, healthcare and medicine, volunteerism, and more, these 90+ members have made a very positive difference in the Oak Ridge Community!  They have left numerous positive marks upon other places in our country and across the world!  And so today, we celebrate their (your) presence with us and the good you have done in the course of your lives.

Drawing from that well-known quotation of Frederick Buechner, “As we move around this world and as we act with kindness, perhaps, or with indifference, or with hostility, toward the people we meet, we too are setting the great spider web a-tremble. The life that I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place and time my touch will be felt.”¹  Indeed, as Buechner notes, the marks we leave upon the world may not be visible or tangible or readily evident.  But the marks we leave may be upon the hearts and lives of others, as we, through compassion and kindness and a positive example, may affect positive change in those around us.

Or to draw from the metaphors Jesus used, be salt to the world.  Be light to others.  Be about sharing joy and healing and guidance with others.  All of us likely could name at least one other person who left a positive mark upon us that changed our life for the better.

Returning to the words of Jeremiah the prophet, “work for the good” of the place where you find yourself.  Do what you can to make a difference.  Leave your mark – in a positive way – upon the world.  Thanks to those 90+ members who have done so.  And may each of us find a way to leave our positive mark upon others and our community as well.  Amen.

¹Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner.  New York: HarperOne, 1992.  Pp. 139-140.