The Influence of a Single Person

Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” – 1 Samuel 14:6.

But the men said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death. – 1 Samuel 14:45.

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. – Hebrews 9:15.

In January 1941, Viorel Trifa, leader of a Nazi-sponsored student movement in Romania, participated in the slaughter of one thousand Jews in Bucharest. American Jewish dentist Charles Kremer heard the name and vowed to remember it. Trifa disappeared after the war, then materialized as a Romanian Orthodox churchman in America, becoming a bishop in 1952. He later became a citizen and an archbishop. Charles Kremer sent letters to congressmen and columnists seeking justice for Trifa’s crimes, with no results. He sent photocopies of anti-Semitic documents signed by Trifa, the 1941 Romanian trial proceedings in which Trifa was condemned to life imprisonment at hard labor, and the names of eye witnesses who had seen Trifa take part in the slaughter—but nothing came from it.

Kremer poured out his story to U. S. Attorney Robert Morse in 1972. Again, promised action failed to come. More years passed, with no success. In 1979 Kremer and others went to Washington, walked the streets with placards, and chained themselves to the White House gate. Arrested, they were put on television and told their story. Suddenly, the story was news all over the country, and action quickly came: Trifa was stripped of his citizenship as a prelude to deportation proceedings.

One man relentlessly pursued a criminal and brought him to justice. And we feel we can accomplish nothing significant because we are only one person—unknown and unable? Ask Charles Kremer! The difference is dogged, unyielding commitment.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved.