Preaching Like Billy Graham

My mother made sure the television was tuned, one evening in the mid-60’s, to Rev. Graham’s crusade sermon. His crusades were ‘must see tv’.

I recall hearing the usual invitation Rev. Graham issued to those there and at home to ‘come forward’ in faith.  That night, for reasons I do not know, I quietly left the living room and climbed the stairs where I knelt at my bedside and prayed. I recall that it was that night, in that room, on my knees, that I understood that God forgave me for my sins because of the work of Jesus Christ, and I offered my life to God, having no idea what that would mean.

There is nothing unique in my story. It is a story repeated millions of time around the world, only the names and places being different.  That the Holy Spirit used the preaching of Billy Graham to change the life of millions of ‘Billy T’s’ is unique, and yet, if you ask Rev. Graham, he was not to be praised. He was simply the instrument which the Spirit used.  ‘Don’t make a big fuss about it’, Rev. Graham would be sure to say.

The morning the news of Rev. Graham’s death broke a friend of mine in California was golfing with someone who remarked that she wished she was in heaven that day. My friend asked her why, and she responded, “I imagine it’s quite the reception they are giving Billy Graham in heaven!”

More likely, Rev. Graham simply joined the crowd of saints marching in that day as they gathered to cheer the news that some little girl heard mother or grandmother read to her about God’s love, or that father or grandfather, while out fishing, told some little boy about Jesus’ fishing, and that little child understood for the first time,  ‘Jesus loves me’.

The ‘audience’ we each are given is different, one friend, one spouse, one child. To a few the audience is millions.  All God asks is that we each ‘preach’ to the audience God gives us. Then, when we march in, we too will hear the words Rev. Graham longed to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And to that may I add, “Thank you, Billy Graham.”

A Sermon For the President and Congress

You have heard the families of the victims of yet another mass murder committed under your watch tell you that they have heard enough of your ‘thoughts and prayers.’

You should heed their request. When your lips move though your heart has not you profane the very act of prayer.

When you pray to God about yet another act of terror committed with a weapon designed to destroy life before any authority could possibly respond, who exactly do you think God would use to fix the problem if not you?  If you are unwilling to remove assault weapons from circulation, please do not dishonor God by praying afterwards that you are sorry it happened.  You knew it was going to happen.

So, if you are unwilling to act, then please do not pray. Just be honest. Tell God and tell the people what you mean: we are willing to let the innocents be slaughtered in the name of ‘rights.’  Tell the truth.

For if you do not tell the truth, then do you know what you are, when you pray hollow prayers which betray unmoved hearts?

Listen to Jesus:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead…” (Matthew 23:27)

Those who have ears, listen.

Olympic-Sized Hope

Going to the Olympics? In South Korea? Which is right next to North Korea? “No way. That is a fool’s folly.”  That is what I thought.  Now I wish I was there.  While I am hardly anything close to an adventurous traveler (what will I eat?; where are the bathrooms?), I wish I would have been there to see the moment. I was afraid of being close to a nation led by an unpredictable, egotistical politician.  Now I wish I had the foresight to recognize that even the neighbors of North Korea might find a way to display Olympic-sized hope in the midst of personal fears.

The moment when an athlete from South Korea and North Korea entered their Olympic stadium is one which must have made the angels smile. The moment when the two political ‘enemies’ ran up steps in tandem, with the Olympic Torch held in their hands, was one which must have made the angels stand and cheer.  Maybe they, and we, were seeing two enemy-nations grasp the hem of God’s garment.  Joshua Cooper Ramo turned to a quote from Otto von Bismarck to capture the hope this picture of unity offered:

A statesman... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment. (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/otto_von_bismarck_134221)

I don’t know if the current crop of international political leaders have the ability to wait, to listen, to grasp God’s will for the world.  But, I do know that it is good to stop and think about the fact that the world is much bigger than my neighborhood, my state, my country. It is good to remember and pray for those around the world who need to be listening.  Maybe what we witnessed at the Olympics Opening Ceremony is all a cynical charade.  But perhaps God’s garment of peace was swaying in ways we cannot imagine.

As people of faith, as a church, our prayers must be fed by a vision that is fueled by Olympic-sized hope.  We are called to pray for a United Korea and the United States. For the God of History is stepping toward that day when the thrilled hearts of people from every nation, tongue and tribe will together watch the lighting of the truly Eternal Flame.

That Man in the Mirror

I was seated in a restaurant booth facing a couple as we discussed their father, my friend.  At one point I looked up, past their faces, and saw the reflection of a face in this mirror which covered the pillar on the far wall.  I tried to stay focused on the conversation, but I was distracted by the sight of a man’s image in the mirror.  His face looked old and tired.  He certainly appeared to be older than me.

Except that he was me. I was looking at my face and I wondered to myself, ‘who is that man?’

I am guessing that you, like me, have a self-image in your head. The image I have of myself is, in my mind, the way I looked 10 or 15 years ago; late-40’s to early 50’s. In my mind I haven’t changed. I guess that when I look at myself while shaving my brain just puts an old picture of myself in that mirror. Which is why that man in the mirror surprised me so.

I have had different Bible ‘life verses’ as I have aged.  The one I hold onto now is Psalm 71:18: “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who come.”  The Psalm was written by a younger person anticipating aging. The Psalmist didn’t want his or her ability to declare God’s love to change, even though the image of the person in the mirror changed.

So that is my prayer for you. If you are not yet ‘old and gray', that one day you will be. And that all of us ‘old and gray’ folks will be able to serve God with the same effectiveness as when we were young.  You know, maybe it is even the opposite of aging, serving God, that is.  Maybe as that man or woman in the mirror ages the declaring power of that person gets more powerful.  You know, how we say of an older person, “I hope I can have a faith that strong someday”?

“LORD, as the faces of the people in the mirror get older, may their voices which declare your love for all grow stronger.” 

"Time Longa Dan Twine"

As I was waiting in the TSA line at the airport in St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands, I was unsure what to make of the destruction I witnessed across the island.  The effects of the hurricane, now many months past, were obvious and long-lasting. I overheard an island resident explaining to his neighbor in line that the results of the hurricane are a part of the natural ‘balance’ of ocean winds and water, a balance which in fact the land and the sea need if they are to survive.

Balance.  Life demands that its parts be held in ‘balance.’ You cannot, you dare not, upset the delicate balance which life requires and imposes. The islanders of old explained the seasons of life thus: “Time Longa Dan Twine.” This saying was the title of a book I read while visiting St. Croix. The author, Arnold R. Highfield, explains that it is an expression “that reflects the wisdom of the people and culture of the Virgin Islands, meaning, in one sense, that the things of the world always dwarf the things of man.”

“From the islands emergence from the sea, from volcanoes and plate tectonics, millions of years ago, grew rock, broken into soil and lagoons. Then came sea and airborne flora, then animal life and reproduction began. The rhythms of its life forms in birth, struggle, death and regeneration. Natural destruction, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis-destroyed all things-but those that could survive grew stronger and more plentiful-balance; natural harmony.”

There is a balance, a natural harmony to all life.  We pray for the strength to survive and become more plentiful.  Sometimes that happens for us while we exist on this earth. Sometimes it happens when we arrive on the New Earth when death will be no more. What appears to us to be destruction is often life finding its balance, the notes of life finding their place in the harmonic chord.

When your life is out of balance, may your moment of imbalance be the moment you discover the strength to survive and grow, achieving a natural and spiritual harmony.

“Time longa dan twine”, for sure. Do what you can with the twine, but know that God has the time in his hands.  We worship the Creator of time, light and life. And you.

You Are The Champion!

Who gets to decide if you achieved your goals, if you won, if you are the champion?  Shouldn’t you be the judge of your success?

The University of Central Florida (UCF) football team finished their 2017 season undefeated. That comes after going without even one win just two years ago.  But, the guardians of championships for the highest level of college football didn’t think UCF played good enough opponents to qualify for a chance at the national championship.  So, when UCF won its last game of the year over a very tough opponent, the school’s athletic director declared of their success: “National champions. Undefeated.”

And then the celebration began. The team went to Disney World and marched with Mickey Mouse to cheering crowds.  And the coaches got their big bonuses which they were entitled to if the team won a national championship.  Championship rings were ordered for the players and plans were made to raise a banner honoring the champions.  The sports world, of course, could not let this display go without serious criticism.  And to that, one writer responds, “Whatever! This rocks. (UCF) decided not to be disappointed because this season was not a disappointment.”  Exactly, I say.

As you prepare your goals and plans for 2018 you get to decide what will be your measure for success.  So, when you reach your goals, and I know you can if you want to, then celebrate!  Don’t let the ‘world’ decide if you are a champion, a winner, a success. You decide.  That friend who manages to find the only cloud in a clear blue sky, ignore her. That boss who is never satisfied, what does he know about you?  That co-worker who insists he outperformed you, why should he judge your success?

So, set some goals, realistic, yet challenging.  Set up a party fund so that you can invite your family and friends to the championship celebration.  Mark your goals down and put them someplace you will see them often, and right next to that piece of paper, place this story as a reminder that you will decide that you are the champion!

(Source: Sports Illustrated, January 15, 2018; “The Case for Controlling Your Own Happiness”, by Stephanie Apstein)

"When All the Buffalo Went Away"

“When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened.”

Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow Nation (1932)

Sometimes the buffalo go away.  And then our hearts fall to the ground, and the weight of our fallen hearts is so heavy that we cannot lift them up. We cannot even try.

So nothing happens.  Despair leads to depression.  Nothing.  We feel nothing. 

It doesn’t matter “why” the buffalo went away-that is not the source of despair.  It is that they are gone, and now the lives of a whole nation are changed, forever. Their reason for being, their raison d'être, went away.  When that happens we ask questions like, ‘Why am I here?’; ‘Why do I exist?’  Nothing happens because we hear only a voice of despair.

And then a  Chief Plenty Coups comes along with a vision or three, speaking hope for his people. The voice of hope says, ‘My life will be given new meaning. The buffalo do not give me a reason to be. I have the ‘courage to be’ in some new way, planning my future around some new source of life.’

When all the buffalo go away there will be heavy hearts. For a time nothing will happen. But, if you will listen carefully you will hear the voice of a prophet saying, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19, NIV)

Something is happening, though all the buffalo went away.

(Credits: What Does it Mean to Hope?, by Charles Pinches, quoting from Jonathan Lear, author of Radical Hope, at www.christiancentury.org, July 10, 2017)