“It’s been a long time,” the caller on the other end of the line said. “But when I was a kid, my grandmother took me to Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at Martintown Community Church. I heard all the stories, from the creation of the world, to Noah and the Ark, to Daniel in the Lion’s Den, to the baby Jesus, to the crucified Jesus, to the risen Jesus. But I don’t know what happened, because somewhere between the ages of 15 and 48, whiskey became my god. I don’t like it, but I can’t help it. I want to come back… (long pause) can I?”
That call came out of nowhere. The man never gave me his name. He hung up before I could get it out of him. I told him he was always welcome to come back. The next Sunday a weather-worn looking gentleman came in a few minutes after the service began and sat down in the back row. He listened intently while I spoke of God’s judgment, His grace and forgiveness. He left during the closing prayer without signing the guest registry. He repeated this routine for several Sundays in a row. Then he missed a Sunday, and then another. A short time later while reading the paper, I read the obituary of a man whose name I did not recognize, but whose life was eerily familiar. He was 48 years old. They buried him without a service.
Several things have stayed with me since that encounter. The first is that he learned early in his childhood the way to abundant life (and never forgot it). The second, was that sadly, instead of following that path, he chose one that led him down the road of a lifetime of regret, frustration and eventually destruction.
When the going became unbearable and he stared death in the face, he looked for answers from where he had first heard the truth. I hope that is what carried him through to the end. And third, if you are a VBS volunteer, or a Sunday School teacher, take heart, God’s Word never fails. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever,” (Isaiah 40:8).
Recently, I talked to another person who was on a lifetime quest to find God in his own way. The Bible was not sufficient in his opinion because the God of the Bible is just too offensive and too exclusive for him. In other words, the God of the Bible is inadequate for what he needs and what he is looking for. He called it a spiritual quest that began 50 years ago. He finally settled on a mystic religion of sorts that defines itself in a way where everyone determines their own path to God. “Everybody finds God in their own way,” he told me. “No religion and no faith is better than another.” The “only” problem with that is, that while God uses many different circumstances in our lives to bring us to a place where we realize we need Him, the only way to God is through Jesus Christ.
“I am the way, the truth and life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” Jesus clearly explained in John chapter 14.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Kevin Cernek is senior pastor of Martintown Community Church.
