Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
March 27, 2016
I can do it if you
hold my hand
I had no idea it was after midnight
until I glanced at my watch. For several hours I had been engaged in an intense
conversation with a friend who insisted he was “a Judas” because he did not
believe in God. He was an officer in our church, one of our trusted leaders.
At
his invitation I had stopped by earlier that evening for a chat. Almost
immediately he had said, “I feel like Judas because I don’t believe there is a
God.” His confession shocked me so I took on the challenge to persuade him he
was wrong.
Our
conversation was not heated. He said he wanted to believe and hoped I could help
him overcome his skepticism. But no matter what I said, he remained
unconvinced. Wearily, with a look of utter sadness, he said, “I think I am an
atheist, and worse than that because for years I have pretended to be a
Christian.”
Weary
myself, and feeling defeated, I could think of nothing more to say. Feebly I
expressed the hope that I had been of some help to him and asked if I might
offer a prayer before we parted.
His
response pierced my heart like an arrow. Calmly he said, “You can pray if you
want to but I don’t think there is anybody out there listening.” I prayed
anyway and left for home quite discouraged.
I
wish I could report that sometime later my friend chose to have faith in God.
But alas, I cannot. I do not know if he ever chose to believe in God. We never
discussed the matter again. I was shortly in another town and another man was
his pastor. Years have come and gone and I have often wondered if he ever got
to know the living God.
Many
people find it difficult to believe there is a God who cares about each of us. There
are seven billion people in the world. The idea of a loving God who cares about
each of is mind-boggling. And if you accept the idea that God loves us, you
must then explain why he allows bad things to happen to us.
Difficult
questions remind us that most religions, including Christianity, involve faith. And while there are many ways to define
faith, most would agree that faith is believing in something for which there is
no visible proof. So to believe God exists requires faith.
At
age four our youngest son Steve insisted that he did not need major surgery on
his chest. The doctor insisted that without the surgery Steve would soon be
dead. Finally, Steve surrendered to the inevitable and said, “Daddy, I can do
it if you hold my hand.” I held his hand tightly until the anesthesiologist had
put him to sleep. When he awakened hours later I was holding his hand.
Believing
in God is like trying to hold the hand of someone you cannot see. It is a biblical
figure of speech that is also imbedded in the songs of the church.
Just
before Jesus died, he said from the cross, “Father, into thy hands I commit my
spirit” (Luke 23:46). And I love what
God said to his servant Isaiah, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be
dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold
you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
Jesus
knew that God is a spirit and that spirits do not have hands. But still our
faith is buoyed by simple songs we learned as children, such as “He holds the
whole world in his hands; he holds me and you brother in his hands.” To speak
of the hands of God is to use a metaphor that expresses faith.
When
my sister Laurida was dying I held her hand as I
stood beside her hospital bed. At her funeral I choked up trying to sing the poignant
song, “Precious Lord, take my hand.” There is a phrase in that song that
expresses the cry of every heart, “When
my life is almost gone, hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand lest I fall;
take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”
I hope my friend who felt like Judas
finally decided to ask God to hold his hand. Perhaps, on a Sunday in some
spring, he realized that Easter is God’s gift of hope and took the hand of the
risen Christ. If so he is now enjoying that greater life that awaits believers
on the other side.
Until
then we who are still here can look death in the face and fearlessly proclaim
the best news the world has ever received: Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
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