{"id":1590,"date":"2022-04-25T07:43:04","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T11:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1590"},"modified":"2022-04-25T07:43:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T11:43:04","slug":"a-person-of-significance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/25\/a-person-of-significance\/","title":{"rendered":"A Person of Significance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On Easter Sunday 2001, I made a dramatic announcement to the congregation I was serving as pastor.
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Two years earlier we had joined with other churches in supporting the Billy Graham Crusade in Indianapolis.\u00a0 I announced that I had received a phone call the prior evening from a member of the Graham Association, asking if it would be all right if Dr. and Mrs. Graham worshiped with us on Easter.\u00a0
\u00a0
They and other members of their team were in central Indiana doing a follow-up study on their ministry.\u00a0 The invitation was timed in such a way that there would be no opportunity for overzealous church-wide publicity.\u00a0
\u00a0
My announcement sent a jolt through the congregation.\u00a0
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I continued, \u201cBeyond attending worship, what the Grahams would like to do this morning is to have an opportunity to be in dialogue with a number of us.\u00a0 Obviously it is Easter, and congestion is an issue.\u00a0 What we have chosen to do is to free up a few of our rooms, where we should be able to gather a significant number of adults.\u00a0 The Grahams will be available for at least 45 minutes after our final service.\u201d
\u00a0
I continued, \u201cNow, I know that a number of you already have made plans for the day, but clearly it would be enriching to spend even a moment with a man who\u2019s made such a remarkable impact on the world.\u00a0 If you are able to join us, we will do everything we can to open the doors to anyone who is interested in being part of this special opportunity.\u201d
\u00a0
The excitement in the sanctuary was palpable.\u00a0 We were going to meet someone of great significance<\/em>.\u00a0
\u00a0
I went on, \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve been thinking about what I would say if I have the chance to shake Billy Graham\u2019s hand this morning.\u00a0 I think I would say, \u2018I am so sorry that on Easter, of all days, I used your good name as the centerpiece of a story designed to fool my congregation.\u2019\u00a0
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\u201cThat\u2019s right \u2013 I haven\u2019t the faintest idea where Billy Graham is going to be today.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
Jaws dropped.\u00a0 I waited a few seconds.\u00a0
\u00a0
Then I said, \u201cBut just for a moment, weren\u2019t you incredibly excited?\u00a0 Weren\u2019t you sitting here imagining yourself in the presence of a noteworthy person who really wanted to hear from you, and who had actually asked to spend some time with you? \u00a0The good news is that there really is such a person.\u00a0 \u00a0Because of Easter, we know that he is always available.\u00a0 His name is Jesus.\u201d
\u00a0
There are downsides to such homiletical theatrics, of course.\u00a0 Several children said, \u201cMommy, why did Pastor McDonald tell a lie in church?\u201d\u00a0 One young dad had ducked out of the sanctuary with his cell phone before I reached my punch line.\u00a0 He had quickly phoned his parents to arrange for childcare and then altered the family\u2019s brunch reservations.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t hear the whole story until after the benediction.
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In a celebrity-driven culture, a visit from Billy Graham would indeed have been a big deal. \u00a0
\u00a0
What\u2019s amazing is that if the core message of the resurrection is actually true \u2013 if indeed Jesus is not dead, but alive \u2013 the most important figure in human history is always available to every one of us.
\u00a0
He invites us to open our eyes, alter our plans, and do whatever it takes to spend priceless moments with him any day we want.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
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Including this one.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Easter Sunday 2001, I made a dramatic announcement to the congregation I was serving as pastor.\u00a0Two years earlier we had joined with other churches in supporting the Billy Graham Crusade in Indianapolis.\u00a0 I announced that I had received a phone call the prior evening from a member of the Graham Association, asking if it would be all right if… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[427,428],"class_list":["post-1590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-billy-graham","tag-significance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1592,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1590\/revisions\/1592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}