I am reminded of a prank someone I knew played on a rather
vulnerable and naïve young friend of theirs; a young man with a strong
spiritual persuasion.
It seems Jack and Joe, both Bible College students, arrived at
their church a bit early one evening. Jack knew that the pastor unlocked the
door a half hour before services, and he then generally walked next door to the
parsonage for a while, before the beginning of the service.
In the meantime, another friend, Jim, had climbed into the
open rafters above the altar area, after the pastor had walked out, and just
before Jack and Joe arrived. As you may guess, Joe had made a habit of kneeling
at the altar prior to services. The church was rather dark, since Pastor John
had turned on a minimum of ceiling lights, and that suited Joe, since he found
this atmosphere more conducive for prayer. As our hapless hero knelt, Jack
stepped into the lobby, but kept the sanctuary door cracked so he could hear.
Suddenly, as Joe supplicated at the altar, a deep baritone
voice seemed to originate in the heavens.
“Joe!”
Until that one word exclamation, Joe had been drifting. He
often fell asleep on his knees, and always felt guilty later. But as the voice echoed throughout the
sanctuary, Joe awoke suddenly, and involuntarily threw both arms behind him to
keep from falling over.
The voice came again.
“Joe!”
Joseph was familiar with the story of Samuel, and how, as a
child, God had spoken audibly with him.
Our little prayer warrior assumed it was none other than The
Almighty, and responded in a trembling, falsetto voice.
“Uh,
Yes God.” (And he almost said, “What can I do for you?”)
“I
want you to go to Ethiopia. I will use you there. You will be great and
thousands
will come to know Me, as the result of your willingness to do as I command.”
Well, up until this
point Joe had been a 3rd year student, majoring in Elementary
Education. I can imagine he was a bit disillusioned, as he contemplated losing
some of the credits he had painstakingly earned, and doing something he had
never planned to do.
Jim hid himself as
best he could in the rafters, above, and continued speaking,
“I
have spoken. Do not fail to do as I have commanded.”
Joe could hardly speak, and then he felt something wet run down
his leg, and into his right shoe.
Jim could see everything, and it was all he could do to
contain himself. Laughter rose up from his diaphragm, and into his throat, but
he gritted his teeth, and Joe was never the wiser.
Joe looked down at his shoe, which by this time was full of
yellow liquid. And even though he found himself alone in the sanctuary, he was
embarrassed. He had to get back to his car. He couldn’t possibly stay for the
service now. He was an absolute wet mess. As Joe almost ran towards the door
leading to the lobby, Jack quickly hid in the nursery.
It took a minute for Jim to climb down from the rafters, and
as he maneuvered to get down, he was laughing so hard, he came close to falling
to the floor, below. Jim and Jack decided not to stay for the service, since
every time they thought about what had just transpired, they broke into fits of
laughter.
Of course, the two “practical jokers” waited for Joe to tell
them about his “supernatural” experience. The amazing tale wasn’t long in coming.
God had spoken to him in an audible voice, and commanded him to go to Ethiopia.
And He would go.
Jim and Jack almost, (but not quite) revealed their little
joke. They just couldn’t bring themselves to share their little trick with him.
And so, Joe continued to believe that he’d had a supernatural visitation, and
changed his major to Missions. Of course, his advisor was skeptical about the
entire affair, but what could he say? God certainly had the ability to talk
audibly, if He chose to. (But on second thought, “Nah, the boy was almost
certainly a ‘nut case.’”)
And true to “God’s
command,” Joe stepped down from the lofty heights of the second semester of his
Junior year to the first semester of his Sophomore year. Since he was pursuing
a new major, he had a lot of credits to make up. Meantime, Jim and Jack
regretted their little “spiritual scam,” but it had gone too far. It couldn’t
be helped, stopped, or addressed now.
And true to his word,
when Joe finally graduated, he applied to his national denomination for
appointment to the missions field; specifically to Ethiopia. And in due time,
his appointment was confirmed, and he took up his post in Africa.
And true to “what had
been revealed” to him as he knelt in prayer, as time progressed, Joe’s influenced
increased, and he was directly responsible for planting dozens of churches in
that ancient land, from whence the Queen of Sheba originated, and the Ethiopian
eunuch proceeded. Ultimately, Joe held thousands spell-bound in stadiums
throughout Africa and Europe, and vast numbers of native peoples “walked that
old sawdust trail” that led to salvation.
Jim and Jack never did
reveal the truth to Joe. They didn’t have the heart. And after all, considering
the amazing results of that “heavenly calling,” might it not be possible that
God had somehow inspired their little scam? When it was “all said and done,”
their little joke had long since ceased to be hilarious, and the two young men
found themselves thanking God for somehow inspiring them to play that little
joke which had enormous results.
By William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending
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