Pastor’s Heart OP-ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
When I was a boy, my greatest delight was to listen to Evangelist Billy Graham preaching on his live weekly radio broadcast program called the Hour of Decision. The first broadcast of the program took place in 1950, and it continued until 2014 when it was renamed Peace with God by Bill Miller, one of Billy’s assistants, but the latter only continued for two years into 2016 when the broadcast ended.
By referencing the Hour of Decision, in this reflection, I am intending to point to the urgency that Billy Graham was seeking to communicate to America and the world concerning the Second Coming of Christ. Graham was saying people needed to prepare for the imminent coming. Christ did not come in the time frame that Graham was likely contemplating.
Before the passion could be fulfilled, Graham went the way for all humanity; he grew old, became sick, and died in 2018, but as far as we understand he maintained the hope in the return of Jesus Christ. It is not far fetched to believe that as his days of labor were coming to a close, that he might have become frightened to see how those about him were losing the passion for speaking of the imminent the coming.
Whether the subject concerns the imminence of “the coming” or not, there are critical moments in human history when the proclamation needs to be made, that this is the hour of decision. Within the contemporary political frame, we hear that we face the most momentous decision ever in American political history. Such comments might have been made before, but as I think of my time on earth, I have never heard it spoken with such passion, from one side, as well as the other.
I do not know how you are reading the political conditions today, but the coronavirus and other socio-economic conditions cause people to think more critically that this is a serious time of decision. There is much anxiety in the air, and it is quite a reminder to me of times of crucial decisions recorded in Biblical history. I cannot name all the powerful stories, but I name three.
1. I think of the time when Moses was called by God to go visit with Pharaoh to tell him what God had said, “Let my people go.” It was a challenge to Moses. He went through moments of deep consideration, but as he struggled with his safety and the survival of his people oppressed in the Egyptian kilns, he accepted the commission and stood up to Pharaoh until he let the people go (cf. Exodus 3-15).
2. I also think of Queen Esther, who, when she was confronted with the genocide of her people in Persia, went into the king Ahasuerus to plead for the life of her people. At first, her comfort in the palace seemed to have shielded her from knowing or understanding what was happening to her people. But messages were sent to her from her cousin, Mordecai, which led her to understand the crisis better. She thought of the danger of breaking palace protocols to go into the king without an invitation. Mordecai impressed on her that there was more to think of than her on safety. It was a moment of decision. So Mordecai sent her the final message, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house, you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-16). On hearing this message, at the threat of her life, Esther went in to see King Ahasuerus and was able to save her life and that of her people. Today, when Jews celebrate Purim (Lots), they think of the critical decision that Esther made to give up her life if such were needed, for her people’s salvation.
3. I also think of the crucifixion of Jesus, not just the decision that Jesus made to go to the cross when he had other options out John 13:1-2), but I am thinking of the moment Jesus stood before Pilate in the Praetorium. Pilate offered the choice of Jesus Barabbas or Jesus, the Christ. Yes, Pilate had a deep heart struggle. Throughout the trial, he sensed that Jesus was an innocent man. After going to bed during the trial and after having a dream that Jesus was an innocent man, Pilate’s wife sent a message to Pilate, telling him not to have anything negative to do with Jesus (Cf. Matthew 27:19). Pilate was persuaded (for a moment), but he was a weakling; he considered his political appointment. The people knew how vacillating Pilate was, and they shouted at him to the point that he stifled his conscience. In a last-ditch effort to offer the people what he called a choice, he said to the people, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:17). The people responded, “Crucify him. Give us Jesus Christ.” Pilate relented and gave up Jesus. Pilate must have known before he went home that he had made the most destructive decisions of his life, but it was too late to change.
As I think of these critical moments of decisions, I have often asked, “what was it that made the difference between Moses, Esther, and that of Pilate?” And I have concluded that one critical decision demands at least nine things, namely:
1. A critical sense of judgment – Evaluating the facts
2. Courage to know the difference
3. Awareness of the temptation to stay in the valley of indecision
4. Understanding the anxiety to make the wrong decision
5. Losing the opportunity to make the right decision
6. Faith – the willingness to take the risk of decision
7. Prayer for the wisdom to choose aright
8. Responding to the pressure of the crowd
9. Understanding the consequences, not just for the immediate, but the long term
I will not deliberate on any of the nine things, but it is vital for you who read to ask yourself: How am I facing this moment of decision within the political sphere? How am I making my decision for how my children and I might live in the United States of America? How am I making my decision concerning the kingdom of God?
There are moments of decision between truth and falsehood in every life, right and wrong, and the question is: How do we make or decisions?
