Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Waiting to strike a match, the light goes out, for keeps

By TOM WHITE
Special to The Citizen

I lead a men’s Bible study group on Tuesday mornings and this day started like all the other days. The group met at 6 a.m. to study the Word and encourage each other in our walk with the Lord.

One of the challenges of the lesson was to strike a match and have one of the men express how to lead someone to the Lord. After some good-natured ribbing we stumbled over our reasons why we were more comfortable leading someone to the Lord that we had a relationship with, rather than a complete stranger. The meeting ended and we all went on to our respective days.

The day began bright, warm and cloudless, typical for early autumn in California. I had an opportunity to play golf for the first time in about six months and eagerly joined a group of men on the first tee. We started off with a bang and headed down the links, a perfect day. In fact, I shot a 39 on the front nine holes.

One of the men in my group was in a related business and we talked about his services and how it might help me sell homes. The man in the other cart was a friend and neighbor to my cart partner. Gary’s partner left at the turn, golf talk for the ninth hole. We completed the rest of the course in a threesome.

The day took a decided turn at the 18th hole. My cart partner and I walked back to our cart, and we were saying our goodbyes, looking forward to a future work relationship. We looked for Gary and found him lying face down on the grass near his cart. He was lying near a yellow roped-off area, common on golf courses, to block areas of newly seeded ground.

My first thought was that Gary had tripped over the ropes and fallen. As we got to him, he was just coming to. I did not hear it, but a match had just been struck.

We assisted him back to his cart and asked him what had happened. He did not know, just that he had passed out and fallen. I asked if his wife was home, thinking to call her and have her come and take him home.

Gary began to total the scores as if nothing had happened, and then he had a seizure and died.

The match had gone out, and I had nothing to say. I had called 911, but by the time they arrived, he could not be revived. The doors on the ambulance slammed shut and off it went in a whirl of dust and flashing lights.

I stood there in shock and some fear. All that was left was a clutter of trash left by the paramedics in an attempt to save Gary’s life. The day was still bright and clear. No cast of “Touched by An Angel” appeared to say that Gary was in Jesus’ arms now and not to worry.

I do not know if Gary was a Christian. I was shamed by the fact that I could not stand in the gap for him and ask if he knew the Lord. I had clearly failed to be ready in season and out of season to give account for the hope that lies within.

There is an urgency that I feel of late. The world is becoming something that I can’t recognize, and the Word says that this will be a sign of the end. We, you and I, have to get the passion, vision and urgency of being ready to lead perfect strangers to the Lord on that perfect or maybe not so perfect day.

2 Timothy 4:1-2: “Then I solemnly witness before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, He being about to judge the living and dead at His appearance and His kingdom: preach the Word, be urgent in season, out of season, convict, warn, encourage with all long-suffering and teaching.”

[Tom White, formerly of Peachtree City, resides, golfs, sells real estate and worships in the San Francisco Bay Area. His daughter-in-law is Ellie White-Stevens, account executive for The Citizen Newspapers.]