The Intersection of One Person to Another -- FPC sermon excerpt
It’s football season, and a good number of us enjoy watching college games — especially contests between teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia Tech, Carolina, UVA, Boston College, Wake Forest, Maryland, NC State — they all have so many fans. Yes, I know that my team, Duke, is usually in last place — but wait till basketball season!
A generation ago, there was a struggle in the ACC that was being played out on the football field, but it had nothing to do with touchdowns. The struggle was all about race relations.
In the early 1960s, a man named Darryl Hill joined the team at the University of Maryland. He was the first African-American to play football for Maryland. As he and his team traveled through the South, he received a great deal of abuse from the fans at the schools they played. Darryl Hill was especially shocked by the shouts and the taunts of the crowd at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
As you may know, Wake Forest has deep Baptist ties, and its team is the “Deacons.” What a disgraceful way for Christians to behave.
As the pre-game warm-up ended, Darryl Hill noticed the captain of the Wake Forest football team approaching him. He had no idea what that opposing player, a white man, was going to say to him.
“I want to apologize for the behavior of my fans,” the Wake Forest captain said to Darryl Hill. Then, draping his arm over Hill’s shoulder, he began to walk him toward the Wake Forest side of the field, where the jeering was at its worst. By the time the two of them reached the middle of the field, the rude screaming had dropped to near silence.
Who was this courageous captain of the Wake Forest Deacons? According to The Washington Post Magazine (February 1, 2004), the player’s name was Brian Piccolo. Piccolo went on to play professional football, and developed a close relationship with an African-American player named Gale Sayers. Their story later inspired the TV movie Brian’s Song, a movie that can still make grown men cry.
The intersection of one person to another — that’s the focus of today’s message. In my last sermon, we heard about what happened when Jesus appeared as the intersection of God and humanity. Now we take a look at what happens when people intersect, one on one, and then with the world around them. The story of Darryl Hill and Brian Piccolo gives us a hint of the amazing things that can happen when two people come together, and take a stand for God.
A generation ago, there was a struggle in the ACC that was being played out on the football field, but it had nothing to do with touchdowns. The struggle was all about race relations.
In the early 1960s, a man named Darryl Hill joined the team at the University of Maryland. He was the first African-American to play football for Maryland. As he and his team traveled through the South, he received a great deal of abuse from the fans at the schools they played. Darryl Hill was especially shocked by the shouts and the taunts of the crowd at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
As you may know, Wake Forest has deep Baptist ties, and its team is the “Deacons.” What a disgraceful way for Christians to behave.
As the pre-game warm-up ended, Darryl Hill noticed the captain of the Wake Forest football team approaching him. He had no idea what that opposing player, a white man, was going to say to him.
“I want to apologize for the behavior of my fans,” the Wake Forest captain said to Darryl Hill. Then, draping his arm over Hill’s shoulder, he began to walk him toward the Wake Forest side of the field, where the jeering was at its worst. By the time the two of them reached the middle of the field, the rude screaming had dropped to near silence.
Who was this courageous captain of the Wake Forest Deacons? According to The Washington Post Magazine (February 1, 2004), the player’s name was Brian Piccolo. Piccolo went on to play professional football, and developed a close relationship with an African-American player named Gale Sayers. Their story later inspired the TV movie Brian’s Song, a movie that can still make grown men cry.
The intersection of one person to another — that’s the focus of today’s message. In my last sermon, we heard about what happened when Jesus appeared as the intersection of God and humanity. Now we take a look at what happens when people intersect, one on one, and then with the world around them. The story of Darryl Hill and Brian Piccolo gives us a hint of the amazing things that can happen when two people come together, and take a stand for God.
posted by Henry Brinton | 12:38 PM
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