A DYING WISH

Barb and I were leading a small but growing church here in Berea in the late 1980’s.  We were especially happy when Kevin started to attend.  He was creative, musically gifted, and a magnet for teens and young adults.  At six feet, seven inches tall Kevin was also our gentle giant.

Kevin invited me out for coffee a few months after he joined us.  He told me that before coming to our church he had left a long term relationship with an older man.  He told me that he knew that this was not pleasing to God, that he had repented, and that he was leading a celibate life.  I never saw myself as being judgemental towards homosexuals, but Kevin was the first gay person that I had come to know personally.  I was out of my comfort zone.  So I prayed, “God, how do I relate to him?”  The answer was clear, simply love and accept Kevin as I would anyone else that walked into our church.  God loved and accepted Kevin as much as any other sinner (me included) who looked to Him for forgiveness and life in Christ.  But Kevin was a special member of our church, he was a gift to me.  God had used him to set me free from a hidden fear and judgemental attitude towards people who have lived, or are living a gay lifestyle.  I’ll always be grateful for our friendship.

Kevin and I went out for coffee again about a year later.  He had visited a gay bar in a moment of weakness, and he had contracted AIDS.  This was early in the AIDS epidemic.  No medications to fight the disease were yet available, and life expectancy was frighteningly short.  Within a few months he was in the AIDS ward of St. Augustine hospital, and he was rapidly losing ground.  One day while I was visiting him Kevin pleaded with me, “Gary, there are so many in this AIDS ward who need to hear about Jesus’ love.  Promise me you will come back after I am gone and start a ministry here.”  Kevin died within a few weeks.

I struggled with the idea of regularly visiting the AIDS ward.  Little was known about the disease, and how it was contracted.  What if I got AIDS?  I had a wife and four young children to think about.  But I felt that this was an invitation from God.  Was I going to cower in fear, or take action and simply trust Him?  I went.  I befriended many patients.  I laid hands on them and prayed with them.  I fully expect to see some of them in heaven.  It became a very rewarding ministry, possibly the most important that I have ever served in.

Jesus was speaking to me through Kevin.  He was inviting me to do what He would do if He was here on earth – to do what Jesus did while He was here on earth – reach out to the hurting and lonely with God’s love.  Is God inviting you to reach out to someone?  Is He nudging you to move outside of your comfort zone?  Will you go?  Will you cower in fear, or be obedient and trust God?