Witnessing in the Cemetery

Witnessing in the Cemetery

Welcome to Christianity Oasis. This is Witnessing in the Cemetery from our Sojourn With Luz Leigh Collection. We hope you enjoy this enlightening reading and it helps you on your own be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.

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Sojourn With Luz Leigh

Witnessing in the Cemetery

Written by Luz Leigh - 26 October 2007

Hey, Mom, what you doing? The voice on the phone was not that of one of my biological sons, but rather that of a young man who many years ago asked if he could call me Mom like my sons did. You see, Dick is from a dysfunctional family and because our family was one of love and acceptance, he wanted somehow to be a part of that. Through my paternal ancestors, Dick is a very distant cousin.

About two years after I agreed to his calling me Mom, Dick got in trouble with the law. I will not stand up and say that he was innocent, but he was one of those unfortunate people who sometimes get the short end of the stick. Because his trouble with the law involved a "narc," the police were not exactly unbiased in their investigation and assessment of the case. To make a long story short, Dick was convicted, sent to prison where he spent two years of his young life and came out, not rehabilitated completely, but very bitter. At least once each week while he was incarcerated I wrote to him. Some weeks I felt led to write more often.

When he came home he told me that somehow it seemed on a day when he really needed encouragement or the words of love that were in my letters, a letter from me would arrive. I fully believe the Lord saw to it that Dick received those letters when they were needed. He had brought shame and embarrassment to his biological family, or so they thought, so not much support came from them. They seldom wrote and never visited. Before he was moved to a prison farm many miles (several hours drive) from my home, I visited him.

Dick returned to college following his release from prison, completing both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the local university. Along the way he began searching for meaning to his life; someone to answer the many questions he has. Although my family tried to show him the way to Christ, he chose "professional" help; psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, therapists; you name it, Dick tried it. To no avail.

So when the call came yesterday, I felt Dick was finally reaching out to the One who could help him. Not me, oh no, but my Lord and Savior. I would only be the physical spokesman. As I backed the car out the driveway, I claimed the promise in Luke 12:12 that says the Holy Spirit will give us the words to speak.

Dick was sitting in the cemetery next to his brother's grave, crying, when I arrived there. It was the tenth anniversary of the date his brother had taken his life. Dick still feels guilty that he was not able to prevent that from happening. We talked about his brother for a long time.

The Lord opened up a spot in the conversation where I could speak openly and frankly to Dick about his salvation. But the devil has a claim on Dick's mind that will not let him become as a little child and learn what the Lord has in store for him. His highly educated mind cannot accept the simplicity of the plan of salvation. He thinks the Bible is just a bunch of fables written years and years ago by mortal men, having no relevancy to our lives today.

He claims to believe maybe there is a God, but that Jesus was not the Son of God; maybe a good prophet, nothing more. Oh, how my heart broke to hear him say those words.

I would love to be able to say a bolt of lightning came down from heaven, or a dove or butterfly lit on his shoulder, and convinced Dick of the folly of his beliefs. But that didn't happen. What did happen was Dick promising to study two books in the New Testament as diligently as he studied for his college degrees. I asked him to begin his study with the Gospel of John and Paul's Epistle to the Romans, using both the King James Version and a modern translation.

With our arms around each other, there in the midst of the graves of our long dead ancestors, I prayed as earnestly as I could that the Lord would convict Dick of his sins and bring peace to his life. He hugged me, thanked me for my prayer and told me he knows I love him. Yes, I told him, I do love you, but not nearly as much as Jesus does.

For two years my older son has been witnessing to Dick and many people are praying for him. It is not for me to say what will happen in Dick's life; I only know that one more seed was planted yesterday. Now we wait for the Lord to water and bring the increase.

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