╥This is the moment, the holy hush at Wembley. This is God╒s moment. I╒m going to ask you to come with bowed heads...╙ This was almost the end of Mr. Billy Graham╒s sermon at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night before a crowd of about sixty thousand people. He repeated several times, ╥I╒m going to ask you to come,╙ and then, ╥Come right now, quickly, from everywhere.╙
Some people came as though they had been released by a spring and walked firmly across the turf. In a few moments it seemed as though the whole stadium was on the move and the lights went on to show that most of the movement was of people standing up to let others pass. But the flow went on for ten minutes and when it ceased there were between three and four thousand people standing before the rostrum.
As they assembled an organ played a quiet, insistent tune. A man who has seen 25 Graham meetings said there had never been such a response. All signs of disappointment that the congregation had not been bigger faded away, and to those who had never seen as many as six thousand people listening to a sermon, ten times the number looked more like success than failure.
SHORTER ╥WARMING UP╙
The preliminaries had gone as usual though the whole meeting was cut a little short as a merciful recognition that English summer weather is not perfect for open-air evangelism. It was cold; it rained a little. The introductions were short and half an hour only of ╥warming up╙ was taken before Mr. Graham began his sermon. He began slowly, joked a little about the weather, about his ╥British╙ accent, about the Scots and their love of Englishmen.
Then he gradually changed the note and swung into a full-powered preaching mood as he pointed dramatically to his text, which was displayed in huge letters over the front of the totalisator. ╥I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.╙ He had the crowd repeating it twice in chorus before moving back to his text.
The sentences rolled on, the rhythm grew, the ╥British╙ accent receded ╤ ╥You╙ became ╥yew,╙ ╥Jesus╙ was ╥Jee-sus.╙ One was reminded of the fiery West Country preacher who proclaimed ╥Bretheren, I bring ╒ee the Word with a mighty thump.╙ The gestures grew in vigour at the same time and Graham looked like a man clawing doubt out of the air in front of him, with one hand, sin with the other and flinging them both over his shoulder. He held his bible high in the air and swayed from side to side as he intoned: ╥This book is the inspired word of God from cover to cover. I don╒t understand it all but I believe it by faith.╙
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
On a slightly more restrained Fundamentalist note he cried ╥Christ is not a way; he is the way!╙ Christ is not a truth; he is the truth.╙ The preacher asked many rhetorical questions but did not stay for an answer. These were the passages in which those open to persuasion had to be persuaded, sin and desperation and unhappiness and doubt were gathered into one mighty accusation and flung in the faces of all who might feel themselves sinful, desperate, unhappy, or in doubt. Peace, happiness, confidence, and grace were offered in their place as the reward for taking a decision.
And so, after forty minutes or so, the invitation began. ╥I╒m going to ask you to get out of your seat. I╒m going to ask you to do something that I did a few years ago, that fifty thousand did in Scotland: to surrender your will to Christ. You are going to come by faith and give you life to Him by faith. I╒m going to ask you╔ you╒re going to get up out of your chair...╙
And so some 5 per cent of the crowd did ╤ as they were told, in silence with heads bowed and not noticeably in any state of hysteria.
