I was listening to a short podcast recently - okay, make it a 5 minute video - from our pastor.
The video focused on one of the turning points of Billy Graham's life - during his college days, he followed an outing with his professor to the home of John Wesley, one of the great instruments of the Christian faith in the 19th century. The professor showed young Billy and the class the kitchen where Wesley dined, the study where he studied and the bedroom where he slept. Now Billy noticed two well-worn markings on the carpet, and asked his professor how did those markings came to be.
The professor replied, "Those marks are the very place where Wesley knelt in prayer for hours every day, praying for revival in the nation."
After a few minutes (since there were no selfies in those days), the students were ready to go. However, on headcounting the students Professor Orr realized that one student was missing. He would go up into the house, to find Billy Graham kneeling at the same spot Wesley did with this prayer "O God, would you do it again - and would you do it again with me!"
Today, the term "revival" is a "hip" word of the church - every church wants it, every believer wants to have it, but how many know what it truly means?
Some will say "Oh, it means increase in number of believers," others will mention "We will see miracles and healing occur en masse," and yet others "we will see the Lord in the Spirit."
Revival may include the above signs and symptoms, but just like an underlying disease, these things constitute the superficial indications of a deeper undercurrent of a plan by some-One greater. Let's take a look at the Lord Jesus' ministry while he was on earth - he fed the poor, he healed the sick, he raised the dead, but above all, his mission was to be the sacrifice satisfying God's eternal justice and wrath and as a symbol of the Father's unchanging love for His creation.
Revival goes deeper than signs and wonders and converts.
Revival is the turning of human hearts from self to God, from earth to heaven, from satisfaction to sacrifice, from self-glory to servanthood. Revival is the recognition of human souls of their great need for salvation from their wretched, imperfect, corrupt selves - and the embracing and reckless abandon to the Great Savior God that we have.
However, before we jump into the usual "Yes! Amen! Wonderful!", a disclaimer is needed here. In the book of Acts, when we see the disciples asking Jesus when he will restore the kingdom of Israel - their version of revival, Jesus replies that it is not for them to know the times and dates set by the Father. Instead, he only promises them power through the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:6-8).
In the same fashion, it is not for us to know when God will bring about a revival of hearts to return to Him. However, what we do know is that He empowers us through the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. This power is not might to rule, but the power to stand courageously proclaiming the "goodness of Him who has called us out of darkness into His wonderful light."
Revival is not all roses.
It is also wise to note that we often view revival as the hallmark of Christian history, but that is painting stained-glass windows over the true nature of Christianity: suffering. Every member of the early church who was a part of that revival suffered persecution, imprisonment, exile, torture and death at either the hands of the Jew or the hands of the Romans. Similarly, the early Fathers, Reformers, and missionaries faced similar fates: Jim Elliot, missionary to the Waodani, was killed by the very tribe his work would save; Eric Liddell of the Chariots of Fire would spend his last days in a concentration camp before dying of a brain tumor. Dietrich Bonhoeffer summed it up well when he said, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."
If a grain of wheat falls to the ground but does not die, it remains just as one wheat. But if it dies, it provides yield thirty, sixty, up to a hundredfold.
When will revival come? Maybe tomorrow, maybe 10 years from now, maybe after we are long and gone. But until then, let us be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
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