This is My Friend Dan

 



James 2:14-26

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”      

1 Thessalonians 1:3

 

 

I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine. His name is Dan. Dan graduated from Ohio State in social work. His faith in Christ gave him a desire to help the poor and the disenfranchised.

 

On the near West side of Columbus, just across the Scioto River from downtown, is a neighborhood called Franklinton. However, for many reasons, it is also referred to as The Bottoms. Consider these statistics from Wikipedia:

• 56% of Franklinton residents do not have a high school diploma.
• Over 60% of the residents live below the poverty line.
• 93% of the students at the public elementary schools are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

 

Coming out of college, Dan took a job at Gladden Community House. Gladden is a settlement house located in the heart of Franklinton. It was founded by Reverend Washington Gladden and Mrs. Celia Jeffrey in 1905 as a neighborhood outreach mission of First Congregational Church. Although it has lost the purpose of a Christian mission, that is exactly why Dan has worked there for the past thirty years.

 

 In addition to serving full time at Gladden he has volunteered in numerous other ministry outreaches in Franklinton and beyond.

Dan on a Kentucky mission trip

1. For about 10 years he was one of the leaders of the Big Event Club that met before school at Starling Middle School.
2. For over 10 years he volunteered at Mt. Carmel Hospital, located in Franklinton, with the Chaplaincy Services.
3. He helped start the Franklinton Development Association, a non-profit that provides affordable housing.
4. For 20 years he has made an annual journey to DC to participate in the “March for Life” to keep the issue of abortion in the political conscience.
5. More could be written if there was space.

 

James wrote in today’s passage, “You see that his (Abraham’s) faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” In the same way, Dan’s faith has been made complete by his actions.  As believers, we are each called for our faith to lead to actions; for “faith without works is dead”.