My name is Davis Kleman. I am 14 years old an - First Presbyterian ...

First Presbyterian Church
Youth Sunday
January 27, 2013
Davis Kleman
Good morning! My name is Davis Kleman. I am 14 years old and I am a
ninth grader at Spartanburg day school, and I really appreciate the
opportunity to be your pastor this morning. I admit I was a little nervous
about coming up here to preach to you, but as the time came, I got excited.
I was born in Atlanta Georgia, and lived there for 5 years. Then I moved to
Spartanburg because of my dad’s job. I have a ten year old sister who is
currently in the fifth grade at pine street school. I have been blessed to be a
member of this church since I moved here. I have a question to ask you.
How many of you like football? *i raise my hand* I really love the sport. I
watch it with my dad as often as i can. Almost every Sunday, I watch it with
him. I will definitely be watching it with him during the Super Bowl. My
attraction to football all started at a Carolina panthers game. The panthers
were against the redskins that day. I was a little nervous entering the
stadium because I didn’t know if I would like the sport or not. When I
entered the stadium, it was packed. My dad and I had great seats. They
were right by the fifty yard line, so we could easily see both sides of the
field. Also, it was just me and him. It was perfect. Because, you know, no
girls. Once the game started my dad made me look at the field the entire
time that the panthers were playing so I wouldn't miss anything. Every time
I drifted off into space, my dad would shake me a little and say, “Davis! Pay
attention just in case something good happens!” When I looked, I always
saw the team throwing themselves at the other team just so one little
running back could get through. I saw the team hurling their bodies at the
defense so they could give the quarterback just a little more time. It was
great. The panthers ended up killing the redskins 42 to3. Thanks to that
game, the Panthers are one of my favorite teams.
From the moment I left the stadium, I was completely in love with the game.
All feelings of apathy for the game disappeared after I saw all that these
men had to sacrifice for their team. From then on I watched Sunday night
football with my dad almost every Sunday.
I just love that these men on the field are willing to lay their bodies on the
line for the team with the risk of injury, or extreme pain looming over them. I
love that despite their differences, they unite as one to win. That reminds

me, isn’t that what we do at church? People from different backgrounds,
different lifestyles come together at one place, church to worship. Which
makes me realize that regardless of how much I love football and the men
that play the game, there is one man who put even more on the line.
*pause and look at the congregation* This man is Jesus Christ. In the verse
I just read, Jesus predicts that the son of man, him, will die for the rest of
man. He also tells his disciples that to be great, you need to be last, not
first, and be a servant to all. Now, it takes a whole lot to be a servant to
everybody. You'd have to be a servant to your friends, enemies, brothers,
sisters, and even that mother in law that you don't like very much. Now
that's taking one for the team.
You might not know it, but people are taking many things for America's
team in the Middle East right now. They are taking bullets and bombs to
protect you and your family. Without them, there is no telling where we
would be right now. We might be under a very different government, or who
knows! We might even be slaves if it weren’t for these people fighting for
our rights! Also, the people that you see every day, firemen, policemen,
they are taking one for the team. The firemen risk their bodies and their
sanity to save that one child in the burning house. Imaging how hard it
would be to find that kid in the rubble of the house and in the middle of the
blazing flames! Also the policemen go after all if the bad people to protect
you, and only you. They prevent the unthinkable so you don’t have to go
through it. Even normal people can take one for the team, like these
people. You can let the man behind you have the last donut hole, and you
can hold the door for all of the people behind you. Even these little things
make a difference.
How many of you played manhunt when you were kids? For those who
don't know, manhunt is basically hide and seek tag with teams. My friend
would always gather the kids that lived near him at his house so we could
play together. When I played when I was seven or eight, my team would
always nominate me to run out of my cover and scream like a lunatic so my
friends could run to the base while the other team was distracted. They
would say, "awwww Davis! Just take one for the team!" And I would say,
"fine. But only if you do it next time!" And even when I distracted all of the
other team, and all of my other teammates had made it to the base, they
never held their side of the bargain. I was always the one to distract all of
the other team. Taking one for the team was hard for me and my friends.
It's hard for everybody. But if an eight year old kid can take one for the
team, then you can too. Also, when Jesus died on the cross for your sins,

he didn't just take one for the team. He took everything for the team. He
died for each and every one of your and my sins. Jesus was the eight year
old that would always be the one to distract the other team so his
teammates could run to base. He was the offensive lineman who wouldn’t
let this other guy tackle his quarterback. He was the fireman who leapt into
the blazing building so he could save a child. He was also the hero in
Afghanistan that leapt in front of his friend to save him from being killed by
a flying bullet. Jesus was also the person to take one for me. Two years
ago, I was twelve years old. School was over, and it was already a few
weeks into the summer. My family and I had just finished interviewing a
potential babysitter for that summer. After she left, my dad said, “Davis,
have a seat.” Now, we all know that if we are told to have a seat, its bad
news. So I sat down. My dad told me there was bad news, just as I
suspected. My dad said, “Son, your mother has breast cancer.” I couldn’t
believe my ears. Breast cancer was one of those things that you think that
it won’t happen to you. Yet it happened to us. I was surprised, distraught,
and deeply saddened. I thought about the chance of not seeing my mother
looking like she normally does again. I thought about the chance of not
seeing her again. Even though she was still very young and the cancer was
in its early stages, it still had an effect on me. A family crisis like this can
deeply affect a pre-teen or a teenager. I can’t describe the thoughts and
feelings that were going through my head over the next few hours. From
that day on, meetings with dad were plentiful. We discussed how we were
coping with mom staying home and how tired she was. We were told to be
extremely gentle in our tone with her. It was an extremely tough thing to
cope with. Sometimes, in the middle of class, I would cry just a little, softly
enough so that no one would hear it, so I could get those feelings out. I
often cried at those meetings with dad to get the rest of those feelings out.
Jesus helped me through that hard time. Jesus visited me often and
comforted me from those thoughts. He kept me from thinking about the bad
things and helped me think about the good things. She would be home a lot
more often. She would have some time off from work, so she would be less
stressed. Jesus took one for me. He helped me get through this very tough
time. If there is one thing that I want you to remember of this sermon, it's
this: what are you doing to be more like Jesus? Are you taking things for
your team? Amen.