STRANGER ON THE PHONE

 "And in nothing terrified by your adversaries:  which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.  (Philippians 1:28)

"...fearlessly, no matter what your enemies may do.  They will see this as a sign of their downfall, but for you it will be a clear sign from God that he is with you, and that he has given you eternal life with him."  (Philippians 1:28 The Living Bible)

A well known Alfred Hitchcock movie is the 1951 release Strangers on a Train.  That film ironically plays an important role in the 1987 comedy film Throw Momma from the Train.  The title Strangers on a Train inspired me to call this essay Stranger on the Phone.  The incident I'm writing about took place during the 1980s.  I suspect it happened in either 1983 or 1984.  It happened while I was an Assistant Pastor at Christian Life Center.  At the time, Christian Life Center was a church of several hundred in Walpole, Massachusetts.

I have never told this story to anyone - until now.  Yesterday, my pastor's Sunday morning sermon was about forgiveness.  His material was taken from Matthew chapter 18.  I've found myself thinking about this story from my past since yesterday morning's sermon.  The fact that I've been ill with respiratory issues over the past five weeks or so, and I'm still somewhat ill, may also have played a role in why I've been obsessed with this story from my past today; and why I feel compelled to tell you about it.

I was maybe 29 or 30 years old at the time.  You may recall that the New Testament character Timothy is believed to have been a young man (not much older than 30) who was like a son to the Apostle Paul.  Apparently, some Believers disrespected Timothy because he was young and perhaps also because he was fearful (see I Timothy 4:12 and 2 Timothy 1:7).  Yet, Paul saw a lot of promise and potential in Timothy, and did all he could to endorse his ministry and encourage him.  I was a lot like Timothy!  My father was very confident, extroverted, and had an authoritative personality.  He had a distinguished career in law enforcement.  My "boss" at Christian Life Center, David C. Milley, was very much like my father.  He was extroverted, confident, and very much a "take charge" guy.  I was not very much like either my father or my "boss".  I know there were those in authority at the Walpole church who questioned my fitness for leadership.  David Milley (like Paul with Timothy) viewed me as a young man with promise and potential.  The job at that church was a huge opportunity for me.  I didn't want to disappoint David Milley or anyone else.  I didn't want to disappoint the Lord Jesus Christ.  I didn't want to fail!

One weekday morning, the church secretary patched a phone call through to my office.  There was a stranger on the phone.  It was a young man whom I'd guess wasn't much older than I was.  He was calling from out-of-state.  I don't remember exactly where he was calling from.  He was concerned about a relative that was seriously ill and had been hospitalized.  I think the hospitalized person may have been his grandfather; I honestly can't remember.  The stranger on the phone provided me with the patient's name and told me the name of the hospital at which he was being treated.  I don't remember which hospital it was; I believe it was about forty-five minutes away from Walpole.  The stranger on the phone stressed that the patient was not in right standing with God.  The stranger on the phone stressed that it was imperative the patient be presented with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as his Personal Lord and Savior.  (If you're not an evangelical Christian this may not make sense to you.  If you are an evangelical Christian, you know there's nothing more important than that a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  It makes the difference between eternity in hell or eternity in heaven.)  I assured the stranger on the phone that I understood why this was important and that I would definitely be visiting the hospital patient very soon.  I remember writing down the name of the hospital patient along with the hospital information on a three by five index card and laying it on my desktop.  I don't remember if I also wrote down the name of the stranger on the phone or if the stranger on the phone gave me his telephone number.

"Tomorrow I'm definitely going to visit that guy in the hospital" was my immediate thought upon hanging up the phone.

The next morning I was sick.  I awoke with very bad cold symptoms:  congestion, runny nose, cough, slight sore throat, and slight headache.  My voice sounded very nasal.  I immediately remembered Instructor Terry Lewis' class at Central Bible College where he admonished us, "Never go on a hospital call if you're sick.  Your germs could cause a patient's death!"  Going to see the stranger on the phone's relative was out.  It would have to wait for another day.

Several days went by before my health was truly back to normal.  Shortly after arriving at my office, I dialed the hospital where the stranger on the phone's relative had been reported to be a patient.  These days because of health/privacy laws it can frankly be difficult to call a hospital and receive patient information if you're not a close relative of that patient.  In the 1980s, obtaining such information was not difficult at all.  The hospital informed me the patient had died a couple of days earlier.  Yes - died!  When I received that news, I wanted to die!  What was I going to tell the stranger on the phone if he ever called back to see how my visit with his relative went?  This probably would've been a good time to read 2 Timothy 1:7!  I didn't even think of doing that!

I don't know how many days went by - maybe it was ten days.  The stranger on the phone called back.  The church secretary put the call through to my office.  This has to have been the worst phone call I ever received in my life.  I sadly told him point blank what I've just told you in this composition.  Remember; I was a Timothy.  I didn't have a lot of confidence.  I didn't want to disappoint or fail anyone.  I've been stopped a few times while driving by police officers who lectured me about the speed limit, or failure to make a complete stop; things like that.  A couple times I received hefty traffic tickets.  Those experiences were a joke compared to this phone call!  

"If you were sick, why didn't you call someone to go in your place?!  You couldn't do that?!"

I had no answer.  He didn't utter a single obscene or profane word.  Somehow, I think obscene or profane words would have been easier to hear than what the stranger on the phone said to me.  You may also wonder why I didn't seek out someone to go in my place.  At the time, that thought had never occurred to me.  Remember:  I'd have been asking someone to go to the hospital to minister to a man I didn't know and had never met; and that the request had come from a man over the phone from out-of-state whom I did not know and had not met.  It might not have been easy to have found a minister (even from the staff at Christian Life Center - Walpole) to go in my place.  But; we'll never know, will we?

At that point I promised myself I'd never let something like that happen again.  Believe it or not, after another twenty-five years of full-time ministry, and then fifteen years beyond full-time ministry something like that never did happen again!

Yes, this is the first time I've ever shared the story with anyone.  What do you think?  Is that a horrible story?  Do you supposed that old man in the hospital died and went to hell?  If so, was that my fault?  Did the stranger on the phone have the right to condemn me?  Was it all just some terrible accident that couldn't be helped?

Readers, this is what "real life" ministry is like.  It's possible that had that incident happened twenty years later I would have handled it differently.  In fact, I probably would have handled that differently at 50 than at 30.  I know someone will post a comment saying "You've got to forgive yourself!"  I think I have.  If I hadn't forgiven myself, I don't think I could have done another twenty-five years of full-time ministry.  And from those years of ministry did come many wonderful victories and success stories.  This one's been in the closet for over forty years.