To God Be the Glory!

On February 21, Billy Graham died at the age of 99.  He commented in advance on his own passing:  “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead.  Don’t you believe a word of it.  I shall be more alive than I am now.  I will just have changed my address.  I will have gone into the presence of God.”

The secular take on Graham’s life goes like this:  “He filled stadiums and counseled presidents.  The man had charisma.”  The focus is on him.  The NY Times said, “Mr. Graham spread his influ­ence across the country and around the world through a com­bination of religious conviction, commanding stage presence and shrewd use of radio, television and advanced communication tech­nologies.”  He did it.  NPR highlighted outward measures:  “He preached to more than 200 million people in 185 countries, counseled presidents and led mass religious rallies that featured professional musicians and huge choirs, in venues ranging from a circus tent in Los Angeles to Yankee Stadium in New York.”  All about his impressive achievements.

But Billy himself saw things very differently.  In 1989 he was recog­nized with a sidewalk star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  In response, Graham stated:  “My primary desire today in having my name inscribed upon this Walk of Fame is that God would receive the glory…  I hope someday somebody will come and say, ‘Who is Billy Graham? What did he stand for?’ Perhaps a child will ask his parents or grandparents, and they will tell him that he was not a celebrity, not a star, but a simple preacher of the Gospel. And that they might explain the Gospel to him, and that many might find Christ in that.”

That was his impulse:  deflect attention away from himself and toward Jesus Christ.  What’s more, Graham frequently pointed out how he, too, was a sinner needing God’s pardon, and that he, too, was prone to wander and depended on the Lord’s daily mercies.  “I need Thee, oh, I need Thee.  Every hour I need Thee.”

Graham said in L.A.:  “Yes, this is a star.  But the Bible teaches there’s only one real star, and he’s the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace.”  Picture it:  standing beside Hollywood Boulevard, Billy used the red-carpet platform to call people to come to Jesus.