My Adventures with God Ch 13

Ch. 13   Bishop Delbridge's Parting Gift

Nearly two years after Bishop Delbridge had invited me to come to his diocese, we were holidaying blissfully in Sydney when we heard the devastating news: “Bishop Delbridge is dead”.

The Bishop had lost one eye to cancer and so always had someone drive him at night. This particular evening he was returning from visiting a parish and his 21 year old daughter was driving. She pulled out to overtake straight into the path of an oncoming car. They were both killed instantly.

We took the news hard. True we had only known him for two years, and his daughter hardly at all. But he was a truly outstanding man of God. I remember one time he rang me at home and started the conversation: “I was just walking to my study, half thinking, half praying – you know how that is – and your name came to mind ...”

At the funeral Archbishop Loane of Sydney diocese came up to me. In his trademark gravelly voice he said just: “You can come back now.” It was very kind – and very prescient. I think he foresaw that under succeeding bishops the little diocese of Gippsland would drift into liberalism and then social-progressivism. I was touched but replied that I thought I should stay with Gippsland Diocese.

In the following months two things happened: Mrs Delbridge offered the bishop's books to the clergy; and I was posted to my first 'solo' parish.

The parish was a little town with the double barrelled name of Lang Lang. Before taking up the post Sue and I and little David Jnr. borrowed a caravan from one of the parishioners at Morwell and had a travelling holiday.

Mrs. Delbridge's kind offer was readily taken up by the clergy as the bishop had an extensive library. Also laid out in the study for any who might want them were some tape recordings of sermons. The ones I picked were from a Charismatic conference Bishop Delbridge had attended in England while he was at Lambeth for the 10 yearly meeting of Anglican bishops from around the world.

So as we drove along on our holiday we listened to these tapes. They were all by David Watson an English Anglican priest. We had never heard of him, but he was a world renowned figure in the Charismatic revival movement. His most notable feat was to take on a city church with so few parishioners that it was slated for closure and transform it into a mega-church.

Some things he said struck a chord with us as being something we had never really done. One was to invite the Holy Spirit into every part and every moment of one's life.

As I recall one analogy was of a householder greeting someone at the door. A familiar Christian image in one sense – from the passage in Revelation where the exalted Christ says: “Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone opens the door I will come in and dine with them and they with me.”

David Watson took it further. Many people, he said, have indeed invited Jesus into their lives – but then led him into the special visitors room. There they have enjoyed his company on Sundays and special occasions. That is really, Watson said, not enough. Not nearly enough! Jesus wants to be invited not just into the guest room but everywhere. He has more in mind being invited in. Just as the new owner of a house does. So he wants access to all the rooms – yes even the junk room we would rather not have anyone see! He even wants to be invited to rearrange the furniture, and even knock out a wall here and put a new window in there ...

He went on with this image to say that Jesus would only knock – we had to invite him in. So in the lives of many Christians Jesus just stayed in the guest parlour.

Watson's call to action was: “Will you start inviting him – perhaps into the kitchen-family room where we spent most of our time and enjoy fellowship with him there. Then as the relationship grows invite him into every room, then to take over as the new owner of the house?”

His prediction to those who did was that they would find like many others over the millennia, that they would still get to live in the 'house' – but in an ever so much better house with Jesus as owner-in-residence!

Watson's other call to action was the “every moment of our lives”. Not just on Sunday. Not even just the 10 or 15 minute daily prayer ans Bible study time. Every part every moment of our lives!

After Sue and I listened to this driving along, we talked it over and then prayed (eyes open – I was driving!): “Yes”.

A third strand was his recipe for revival in a church. Speaking to clergy who wanted to see revival he said this: “Draw a circle on the ground. Stand inside the circle. Now pray: 'Lord send revival in this circle'!”

Sue and I decided we would do this too. We would ask the Holy Spirit to come into every 'room' of our lives. We would try to live every moment of every day with Jesus as our companion and lord. Starting ministry in our first parish we asked God to revive his life in us and then use us to revive the parish.

We did not anticipate just how dramatically God would answer those prayers.