I awoke this morning o the news that Dr. Billy Graham had died. It did not surprise me, after all he was 99 years of age. My first thought was a giant of the faith has fallen and then I said to myself, “No, a giant has risen!.” The last of the most effective evangelistic team has now been reunited in the presence of the Lord that they proclaimed.
No doubt people who knew him better will eulogize him from a variety of platforms and venues. Dr. William “Billy” Graham was counselor to Presidents beginning with Harry Truman through Barak Obama. Not only to President and Prime Ministers but also to kings and paupers.
He was quietly working in the civil rights music here in America and around the world. He insisted that his meeting be open to people of all races. He and Dr. Martin Luther King quietly formed and alliance in which Dr. Graham would use his crusades to help bring black and white America together around the cross and Dr. King would lead the movement in the streets. His first integrated crusade was in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1953. After the ropes cordoning off the black section of the auditorium were removed, Graham told the ushers who threatened to put them back up, "Either these ropes stay down or you can go on and have the revival without me." He did the same in South Africa.
But God called Dr. Graham to be a “Preacher of the Gospel” and he single-mindedness followed that calling. I hear people talking about him preaching with authority but he would say I have no authority other than the authority of God’s word. I doubt you can number the times he would say, “The Bible says.” That phrase was his equivalent to the Old Testament prophet’s “Thus saith the Lord.” Today, no one has preached face-to-face with more people. It numbers in the hundreds of millions all around the globe.
I remember on of my Christian Ethics professor, Dr. Milton Ferguson, and later President of Midwestern Seminary speak of his experience in Germany about riding with some other theological graduate student s to attend a crusade Dr. Graham was holding in Germany. They were skeptical of the longevity of the decisions made at the crusades. One of the men stated he had never known on that ever lasted, Dr. Melton, sitting in the back seat piped in with, Well, “I am one of those converts.” Millions of others could say the same thing.
"I tell that story because Dr. Graham never wavered from his message that “God loves you” and thatHe sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die for you.” There is a lesson in that for those of us who God has “called to preach.” If God has called you to preach then the most important thing you can do is preach. You may do many things effectively but if you have been called by God to preach the unsearchable riches in Christ Jesus then it is that preaching that God will anoint you to do. By all means be consistent, clear, and unwavering in that message.
All of this you can read in an of the many biographies that have been written but I want to tell you about my experience with Billy Graham. I heard Dr. Graham for the first time as a child at a crusade in Houston, Texas in the 1950's but I met him for the first time in 1963 as an 17 year old "preacher boy" looking for a College to attend. It was on the campus of what was then called Houston Baptist College (follow this link to here that message). It was a brief encounter as he was leaving the campus after have brought an inspiring and encouraging message to the fledgling school.
As his entourage passed myself and a friend wished only to get an up close look at him. To our delight he stopped and spoke to both of us one at a time. I don’t know what prompted him to stop but I am grateful that he did. Perhaps he sensed we were both also, like he, “called to preach.” What I do recall is in those few moments I felt as though I was the center of his world as no doubt did my friend. He spoke to us individually and look straight down into our eyes as we looked up to his height. He asked about my plans and I told him God had called me to preach. He replied, "God bless you and remember . . . always preach the Bible."
I came away from that encounter with the feeling that is what being a preacher involved at its best. You always give your undivided attention to the person to whom you were speaking and you need to look directly at the people to whom you preach. They need to feel that you are speaking directly to them because God may very well be doing so. That’s what he did in his preaching and that was my experience that day.
The second time I met him was a couple of years later when he made an unofficial visit to the campus. This time I was a second year student and on campus. It was not a big public affair but like Bobby Jones, the great golfer, returning to the Old Course at St. Andrews the word quickly spread that he was on campus. I don’t know what the reason was for his being there but again as he walked from Sharp’s gym to the quadrangle where the stairs on the south side are located we came face to face.
As we met he paused for a moment as though he was searching his memory for something. I think because of time and place he had what I often refer to as a Deja vu all over again experiences. It's that feeling of, "I've lived this moment before." That's the only reason I can find that he then he looked right a me and said, “I believe we have met somewhere before.” You could have knocked me over with a feather. I said, “Yes sir, briefly when you were here before you stopped and spoke with me and my friend.” He said, “I thought so. . . , how are your studies going?” “Fine,” I replied. He then said a few encouraging words and went on his way. Again as before I was impressed that he once again give me his undivided attention and how focused he was on me as he spoke.
The last time our paths crossed were at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary were he had been invited to speak. It was standing room only and I was standing along the “western” wall of Truitt Auditorium as the assembly began. I remember I was second in the line and when Dr, Graham got up to speak the guy ahead of me in the line just walked upon the stage and sat in Dr. Graham’s now empty chair. When Graham finished the guy got up and resumed his place next to me.
When the meeting ended naturally they asked that we all stay in place until the platform dignitaries left. That brought them right past where this guy and myself was standing. Dr. Graham stopped had a few words with the guy who shared his chair and said something to Dr. Robert Naylor about not saying anything more about it. He then reached our shook my hand and simple said as he left the building, “It is good to see you again.” The key word here is "again." Again, the personal trait that I found most impressive in Dr. Graham was the way he looked you in the eye and made you feel comfortable and this day he made me feel remembered.
As life went on I was privileged to attend a couple of his Schools of Evangelism (Lake Louis and Denver) and work in a couple of his crusades (Houston and Denver) where I met leaders of his team who demonstrated that Billy Graham was the real deal. As I worked with them and others I came away know that Billy Graham was the real deal.
The world has lost a giant with the loss of Dr. Graham. His example is a message to those of us who are called of God to preach the gospel. We are not called to create a message but to deliver an ancient truth. If when we finished people do not see Jesus then we have failed. Or niche in the kingdom is to declare to people that God loves them, Jesus died for them, and Jesus is coming again to receive his own.
Friends we do not need to spend too much time explaining the gospel but we are to clearly proclaim the Gospel. His reputation was untouched by sex or financial scandals. He never built a mega church, launched a political lobby or ran for office. Instead, he consistently preached Christianity's core message — Christ died for your sins — downplaying denominational details and proclaiming the joys found in faith.
However, Billy Graham had a natural charisma the seemed to draw people to him. He once said, "I despise all this attention on me . . . I'm not trying to bring people to myself, but I know that God has sent me out as a warrior." Is that not the desire of every preacher. There was a time in my own ministry when I had a sign on the pulpit that stated simply, "Sir, We would see Jesus." It was there to remind me and everyone else who spoke from that pulpit that our job was to call attention to Jesus not ourselves. I got it from Spurgeon who had it carved into the wood just above the edge of his Bible.
So this week we bid farewell to the world’s greatest evangelist. He has entered into his reward and has no doubt heard the words he longed to hear . . . "Well done thou good and faithful servant." Those are the exact same words this preacher of the Gospel wants to hear. Indeed, it is not the amount of work but the faithfulness to the calling that God rewards his children. With that truth in mind I encourage you to be faithful unto death.
I have an absolutely unshakable confidence that Billy Graham and I will cross paths one more time . . . .when I get there myself . . . . . as I meet the Lord I like to imagine catching a glimpse of Brother Billy off to the side and maybe just maybe hear him whisper, "Look Cliff, there is that guy again. He seems to be standing around everywhere I go.”
Lord I mourn the loss but I thank you that Billy Graham lived in my generation and I pray he sends us more men like Billy Graham. I look forward to a longer conversation . . . . . and with his passing I say, “Even so come Lord Jesus.”
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