On Tuesday, I served at the funeral of The Honorable Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr., who passed away this month at the age of 88.

Judge Johnson lived a storied life of courage and compassion, serving in the Marine Corps in the Korean War, and the NYPD as a patrolman, detective, and eventually sergeant.

While working full time, he graduated from Brooklyn College in 1963, and Brooklyn Law School in 1966.

He became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Executive Director for the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and the Executive Liaison Officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C.

President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York in 1991, where he served for 31 years.

Those are just a few of his achievements. His full resume would make a much longer post, but he advocated for the poor, the hungry, the stranger, the sick, and the prisoner, or in Jesus's words, "the least of these brothers and sisters of mine (Matthew 25:40 NIV)."

Judge Johnson overcame adversity and discrimination to accomplish amazing things and help many people.

And when asked in an interview about perseverance, he said this:

“If I had to say one person who kept me going, it would be my mother. I was born and raised prior to Brown v. Board of Education. As I mentioned earlier, in high school, a counselor told me not to become a lawyer, but a carpenter, because they make good money. So, I went home and I told my mother that story and she said, ‘If God gave you the talent to drive a cab, drive a cab. If God gave you the talent to wash windows, wash windows. But if God gave you the talent to be a lawyer, be a lawyer. All I ask of you is that whatever you do, be the best there is.’”

Whatever you do, be the best there is.

The question for today: what is your gift? And who are you serving?

There is sacredness in public service. The private sector pays more and puts a smaller target on your back. It’s easier to serve a company, your family, or yourself.

There is sacredness in sacrificing to pursue a goal. It’s easier to quit.

There is sacredness in developing your gifts, and then looking for the place where they meet a need. It’s easier to do work that doesn’t stretch you in arenas that don’t test you for people that don’t push you.

There is sacredness in being the voice of encouragement. Critics and skeptics will always abound. People who don’t even know you will volunteer to trash you. People who don’t see your purpose will discourage you from chasing it.

I am grateful today, for the voice of purpose, for the person who will call you to keep going, no matter how hard the road.

And I am grateful for our opportunities to find our calling.

In his sermon “The Drum Major Instinct,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. points to our innate desire to be out front, to be first, to be a star.

And he notes that Jesus, when faced with two ambitious disciples vying for premium positions, didn’t condemn their desire to shine. He just told them their approach was wrong. If they wanted to be the greatest, they must become the greatest servants.

The irony is that Jesus called his disciples to the humility to serve.

We will find critics who question our ability to serve.

The high school counselor who encouraged a young Sterling Johnson to pursue carpentry over the law perhaps didn’t see his gifts. Perhaps he didn’t see the prospects of a black man becoming a great lawyer, whether he was looking at the man, or the systems he would have to fight.

Whatever the reason, the counselor didn’t see the future. He couldn’t see the big picture.

We need to be careful about accepting limitations in our capacity from people limited in their vision.

Otherwise, we may decide what we can’t do based on people who can’t see.

This week I celebrated the life of a man who saw enough of the road to keep going.

And the world is better because he did.

May we all do likewise.

And may our gifts find their place in the world.

(Photo Credit: Sora Shimazaki)