Someone heard a sermon on September 20, 1989. The place was in the city of Pretoria, in the country of South Africa. On that September day, F. W. de Klerk was inaugurated as President of South Africa. Unlike leaders of many other nations at that time, de Klerk regularly went to church. No one in South Africa was surprised that, on the day of his inauguration, he invited his favorite pastor, a white man named Pieter Bingle, to lead a worship service in Pretoria.

Everybody gathered. The people sang some familiar hymns. They prayed well-polished prayers. Then Pastor Bingle stood up in the pulpit to speak. He based his sermon that day on the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah. As Bingle spoke, he said, "Mr. de Klerk, as our new President, you are standing in the council chamber of God. God is calling you to do his will. Today God calls you to serve as the President of South Africa. His commission is not to serve as the President of some of the people, but as the President of all the people of South Africa."

By the benediction, de Klerk was weeping. He called his family and friends together and said, "Pray for me. God has told me what I must do. And if I do it, I will be rejected by my own people. Pray for me, that I might do the will of God." Soon thereafter, de Klerk took steps to release Nelson Mandela. Then he began to negotiate with the African National Congress. Then he worked to dismantle the system of apartheid. The rest, as they say, is history.

It happened because somebody listened to a sermon. Anybody listening?

Adapted from Allister Sparks, "The Secret Revolution," The New Yorker 11 April 1994, pp. 56-78.