Online Archives

When a lion roars, it?s best to pay attention. When a lion roars for its last time, it?s best to put everything aside and listen.

On July 9, at Orioles Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore more than 35,000 gathered July 9 to hear evangelist Billy Graham preach for what he predicted may be the final time.

The 87-year-old Graham, who is suffering from Parkinson?s Disease, has preached for 60 years to more that 210 million people in 185 countries and territories. He has prayed with presidents in the Oval Office and with AIDS victims who live in poverty in Africa.

He is an icon of faith and even in his diminished health, his roar shattered the complacency of many of the 650 churches who organized the three-day Metro Maryland Festival. 'This state may never be the same,' said one of the event?s organizers.

Graham said he preaches the same sermon every time, just changing the topical news and geographic references to fit the time and place he?s speaking. The enduring word of God, he said, doesn?t need tweaking.

Following his message, 1,400 responded to the call to 'accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.' On the two days that preceded Graham?s call, his son Franklin Graham called more than 1,800 people into the outfield of Camden Yards and new lives centered on God.

As the newly converted streamed onto the field, people from area churches were on hand to pray with those who came forward as the choir sang 'Just as I Am, Without One Plea.'

Earlier in the revival, Billy Graham?s choir director and soloist, Cliff Barrows, 83, and George Beverly Shea, who were with the evangelist when he first spoke in Baltimore in 1941, performed. The press packet listed their appearance under the heading 'Nostalgia.'

It was. It was also soul-stirring and it made me think how many of our United Methodist congregations have become Monday morning churches. We are there to help people make sense of their faith in their daily lives. We give shape and order to the day-to-day and provide perspective on God.

Revivals call us to Sunday kind of dramas. It is the Lord?s day - and the Lord will not be tamed.

During his sermon, Graham used language many Methodists have abandoned. 'You are going to die,' Graham told the crowd. 'I?m going to die. And after that, there will be a judgment, ?Every idle word that man shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment.? the Scripture says. When you break a law, you pay the price. You?ve broken God?s law. We?ve broken the Ten Commandments. If you?ve broken one of the commandments, you?ve broken them all. And we?re all sinners. And we?re all under the threat of judgment.'

He encouraged those present to turn from their sin, to believe that there was absolutely nothing they could do that was outside the love of God, to recognize that Jesus Christ died on the cross for them, but that the cross was not the final word.

'Whoever you are, you come and say yes to Jesus. Let the prince bring his peace into your heart and give you a new start in your life. Invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit,' Graham said. 'I ask you to come. Your whole eternal life may depend on this moment.'

The language was rich, but it is not often heard in mainstream Methodist pulpits today. Words like repentance, and backsliding, eternity, sin and judgment have given way to grace, invitation, relationship and empowerment. These different words are just as holy, and pave a different kind of path to God.

But they also reminded me of some of our Methodist ancestors who brought the Great Awakening to the world with their camp meetings - outdoor gatherings of several days that drew people and preachers together in 'weeping and roaring.'

The first revival of 1800 broke out during General Conference in houses and churches in Baltimore where, according to the Rev. Jesse Lee, 'more than one hundred souls, at different times and places professed conversion during the sitting of the conference. ? The old Christians were wonderfully stirred up ? the preachers were on fire and the young people greatly alarmed.' That was in May. By December, 332 were converted in Frederick, 330 in Montgomery and 332 on the Harford Circuit.

Camp meetings began to be held and trumpets drew 2,000 and more to the tents where two preaching stations were set up to accommodate the weeping and wailing of the crowd. At a Reisterstown meeting, 5,000 were in attendance on the Sabbath, with 20 traveling preachers. Hundreds of souls experienced 'an extraordinary work of either conviction, conversion or sanctification.'

According to Samuel Coate, pastor of Baltimore and Fell?s Point in the early 1800s, 'No human language is sufficient to describe the joyful emotions ? and the glorious displays of the power of saving grace.'

It?s been a while since I?ve been to a United Methodist worship experience that transcended language.

I?m not even sure such an event unfolded at Camden Yards. But Dennis Agajanian, one of the singers at the revival, summed it up for me when he said, 'This is not a religion, it?s a relationship.'

I think that is what the Discipleship Adventure that the Baltimore-Washington Conference has embarked on to revive its members and churches is about. We may not yet be filling the outfields of baseball stadiums. But many people from our congregations were there to welcome those who did come to Christ.

Lives are being transformed and churches redefined as people in our pews and pulpits deepen their relationships with God. As Billy Graham says, 'Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion; it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ. ? No one will do it for you.'

It just may be time to roar.