John: You are listening to a program from BBC Radio 4. Angela Tilby who is Canon Emeritust of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford. Good morning, Angela
Angela: Good morning, John. I was seventeen when Billy Graham came to Earl's court. The church I went to was hugely supportive of his mission and I'd invited a skeptical school friend to come and hear him. It was the most extraordinary event. Brilliantly staged with the slow build up led by Cliff Barrows and a choir of thousands. Then, Billy Graham himself appeared in an electric blue suit, handsome, strong, fluent, convinced and convincing. And at the end when he asked people to get up out of their seats and come to the front and make a confession of faith. They came, tens perhaps hundreds, my friend among them.
I felt a deep twinge of sadness in news of his death yesterday. I knew he had suffered poor health for many years. In his last mission in 2005, when he was 86, he reflected on his own mortality. "I looked forward to death," he said, "I'm looking forward to seeing God face-to-face and that could happen any day."
In many ways, Billy Graham was not really my kind of Christian. I'm far too English and low-key and C of E. But I admired him because he had the most fundamental Christian virtue, humility. He avoided deception, financial temptations that some other Evangelist have fallen prey to. He never let fame corrupt him. Above all, he was willing to learn. He changed his views on many issues including human rights; becoming more liberal as he traveled the world.
His first visit to Britain in 1954 was highly controversial. It was even debated in parliament as a result in which the archbishop of Canterbury told him he wasn't welcomed.
He came anyway, but he made sure he mended fences. On later visits, he met the Queen. He had conversations with church leaders across the board and even discussed faith in an amicable spirit with some of the top liberal theologians of the day.
I was impressed when I went to hear him by how he insisted that convert should be put in touch with their own local churches; no matter what their theology. He never wanted to form a sect. Over time, he became less of a firebrand, but he never lost his passion. He could see the big picture and was not out for himself. He became a trusted council to the great and the good because he always spoke to the individual, one-to-one, face-to-face, whether to a president or to a crowd of thousands.
I think he saw in the gospels a constant concern for particular people and he grasps the significance of the Christian proclamation of God incarnate, in a person, as a person. Jesus.
The choir used to sing the hymn, "Just as I am" as people went forward to give their lives to Christ. One by one, each one precious. The heart of his gospel was of human dignity and it changed many, many lives.
John: And that was "Thought for the Day" with Angela Tilby.
Thank you so much!