It came totally out of the blue.
The manager of our training department, Gerry, was on a visit to Nottingham
where I worked in the computer industry. He asked for a chat with me and so we
sidled off to a vacant office. ‘Would you consider coming to work in the
training department in Stevenage as a lecturer?’ he asked me. It was one of
those mind-racing moments where a thousand questions hit my brain cells all at
once.
Although I had attended programming
courses at the training centre and met some of the lecturers in the past, I had
no experience of lecturing and certainly had never seen myself in that role.
So, why Gerry had asked me was a
mystery. Anyway, to cut a long story short, after visiting Gerry and his wife
for a chat in Stevenage and talking it through, my wife of less than a year and
I decided to uproot and live in Biggleswade – a place we only knew through
comedian’s jokes and tales of people using it as a stop-off for London on the
A1.
It didn’t take me long to settle
into the new role. I can remember painstakingly preparing my notes for the
first week-long programming course I was scheduled to lead, single-handed. To
my surprise, five minutes into the course, my copious notes were laid on one side
and I was in free-flow, teaching from the heart. I was also amazed at the
course appraisals which the students filled in at the end of the course. I had
never seen myself as a lecturer and yet Gerry had clearly seen something in me
that was bursting to get out. We joined a Baptist church in Biggleswade and I
launched for the first time into a preaching career – mind you, most of this
was in the dozy village chapels on a sultry summer’s evening where the biggest
challenge was not preaching the gospel, but keeping them awake!
Now, as a Christian, I would like
to tell you that all this fell neatly into my simple perception of how God
works. I would like to tell you that Gerry was a Christian and was guided by
the Holy Spirit in inviting me to go to Stevenage. The first part is not true.
I can recall a conversation over lunch with Gerry where I tried to impress upon
him that the plight of those in the third world was our responsibility in that
the life-style we live can deprive them of a living wage. He wasn’t convinced.
It was over a decade later that a foul-mouthed Bob Geldof proclaimed the same
message and raised millions through Live Aid and all that followed.
But what I do believe is that
Gerry’s visit was the work of God. Completely unknown to us, God is at work in
and through our lives and can bring about life-changing moments at the drop of
a hat – and through some of the most unlikely sources.
Last night at Grannie’s Tea Room in
Cotgrave, Rev. Dr. Robert Foster led us in the first session of a course he has
co-authored entitled ‘I choose to follow you’. This is an introductory course
into discipleship and week 1 focusses on the account of the calling of Levi,
the tax collector, in Mark chapter 2. As always in the gospels, we have only
scant details but it would appear that as Jesus was passing Levi’s tax booth,
Levi dropped everything and experienced a life-changing moment as he followed
Jesus.
Just like me, as a recently married
young man with all my family and friends in Nottingham, the thought of dropping
everything for a new home in Biggleswade and a career which I had no previous
experience of, Levi had no idea of what he was letting himself in for.
But that leads me to yet another
aspect of the Christian life – prayer. I know that many people around me both
in my family and among my friends, were praying for me. I had only been a
Christian for about a year and had no church upbringing to rely on. It was all
new to me. But I’m sure that life changing moments like this don’t happen by
chance. Being a Christian is not about following a set of rules and attending a
church. It’s about being open to the Holy Spirit who is constantly seeking to
work in the lives of responsive people. I believe prayer is like the oil in my
car. Without it the engine seizes up. With it the car functions smoothly and
reaches its full potential. You may be praying today for someone, not knowing
what the consequence may be. Take heart – because your prayer may be the
catalyst which brings about a life-changing experience for the person you are
praying for.
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