Delivered by James Perkins
 At the end of the movie Saving Private Ryan, Thomas Ryan, having survived combat in WWII, and now retired decades later, with tears in his eyes, asks his wife whether he has led a worthy life - whether the life he had lived was worth the dozen or so soldiers who sacrificed themselves so that he could survive and return to civilian life. I had a recent conversation with my sister, who, at 44, is now in late stages of cancer, in which she wondered whether her life has had worth. How do we know? How do we gauge the worth of life? How do we make our lives worthwhile?
As Christians, by Grace, we are given an answer. Our lives are shown to have worth when we live the teaching of Christ - to love one another, as he loved us. That love, according to His example, is best expressed by service to others, and through sacrifice, to lift others up, as Isaiah puts it, to make the pathways straight. I reminded my sister that, as a school teacher, she had committed herself to a service that would have a profound impact on humanity long after she is gone.
For almost 20 year now, I have been blessed to serve as a member of the board of the United Methodist City Society, blessed because the Society is, broken down to its barest element, a labor of Christian love in action. Its goals are noble - to help lift up those who have been held down, to help create opportunities for those who have not been handed them, and to give hope to those who have none, and with no avenue to find it.
It is through the execution of this mission that the City Society, and those who are involved in it, such as all of us here tonight, shows its worth. Let me show you a few examples. Henry Lopez, the head of Anchor House, the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Brooklyn, let me ask you a question… is there worth in bringing men and women back from sin and death, to make them hopeful productive citizens by lifting them up with the new opportunities that are presented by faith? Yes there is.
Aisha Campbell is there worth in helping to create and provide after school programs for children and youth, that give opportunities for arts, education and recreation to build foundations for hope instead of the hopelessness that is found at the end of dead end streets? Yes there is.
April Calendar and Carla Maisonet, is there worth in providing a summer camping experience at Camp Olmstead for thousands of children, whose only view of the great outdoors has, up to that point, been of the neon signs casting light into hot apartments on a summer night?Yes there is.
Don Kirby is there worth in struggling to build low income housing at Salem House for families who want to work and live in New York City, but who cannot afford the ever increasing housing costs in this City? Yes there is.
Trudy Grove, is there worth in spending untold hours pouring over the books and records of the City Society to figure out where the next dollar is coming from in order to sustain the many programs in which the Society is engaged? Yes there is.
Clyde Anderson, is there worth in struggling daily, to find ways that our City churches can strengthen themselves, and strengthen their ties with each other, and with their communities, by offering programs and a message that have meaning to New Yorkers in 2007? Yes there is.
Members of the Board of Directors, is there worth in taking time away from work and family to help make the decisions that are necessary to ensure the Society’s programs have the greatest impact on the greatest number of those who are truly in need? Yes there is.
The great preachers remind us that the New Jerusalem described in the Bible is not in heaven, it is right outside the building. Right here in our City. And the prescription of how we are to attain the New Jerusalem is clear: we are to prepare the way of the Lord, make pathways straight, lift every valley, smooth down every mountain, level the uneven ground, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. That goal can be attained only by serving others.
Sisters and brothers please ask yourselves constantly, is there worth in putting yourselves in the service of the City Society to help deliver the message of Christian love and hope to those who are disadvantaged, destitute and addicted? Your presence here tonight tells me your answer is yes there is. The Society is grateful for everything you do to help it in its part of the mission to prepare the way of the Lord. Amen.
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