01/12/07

My 30 Year Journey With Stanley Jones

(From 'Show Me the Way to Go Home')

“Lord, now lettest now thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.”

            Luke 2:29-32

Readers have already been introduced to Stanley Jones through extensive quotations from his books. It is time to tell something of his life story.

He served as a missionary to India for over sixty years. During these years he also conducted evangelism missions across the United States, in Europe, South America, Africa, Japan (ten evangelistic tours there) and other places. He was indeed a world missionary and evangelist. And more. He was a pioneer in the struggles for racial justice and integration. Sixty years ago, his Christian Ashrams, south or north, were always inter-racial and inter-denominational. He worked tirelessly for peace and freedom in the world. For many years he worked with Mahatma Gandhi for the liberation of India. In the fall of 1941, he worked with President Franklin Roosevelt and his staff in a desperate effort to avert World War II. He wanted to get a message through to the Emperor of Japan who was worshipped as god. He believed that the emperor alone could control the powerful military force. He called it an adventure in failure. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

He founded the International Christian Ashram movement. From Gandhi and the Hindu Ashram, he saw the value of a “time exposure to God” through silence, meditation, reflection. The name “Ashram” comes from the Sanskrit. Its root word is “a,” from, and “shram,” hard work, meaning a retreat or time apart from the pressures and distractions of everyday life for physical and spiritual renewal. In the Hindu Ashrams, leaders like Gandhi and Tagore were the center around which all teaching revolved. In bringing the Ashram to the USA in 1940, Stanley Jones said, “No man is wise enough or good enough to be the center of a religious movement – only divine shoulders can bear that responsibility.” Jesus Christ is the center of the Christian Ashram. In the early morning quiet time, we sit in corporate silence in His presence. Then we share with the group what He has given us. In the Bible study sessions, we meet Jesus, our teacher. In the prayer and share groups, we do not spend time in dialogue or unfocused conversation. We are there for prayer and praise, together bringing our burdens, blessings, our deep needs and answered prayers to Him who is able to supply every need. In the 24 hour prayer vigil, each person is alone in the presence of the Lord of Glory. In the healing services, we meet the healer and are anointed, not into what we want, but into His perfect plan for body, mind and spirit. In the church-at-work hours, we tell of specific and practical ministries that our Lord has used in local parishes to fulfill our high calling there. The high point in the schedule of worship services is found in the Holy Communion service. There, we receive the visible word, His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins, for life and salvation.

Each Ashram begins with an orientation hour in which we are reminded that in Christ all barriers go down. They may be barriers of race, creed, class, color, tradition and above all, inner barriers of pride, prejudice, sin, guilt, low self-esteem, a critical spirit and the like. In the presence of an all-knowing God, we share personal needs as led by the Holy Spirit. We do not discuss these needs. No one says, “I know the answer to your need.” We simply surrender them to God, and to the “caring community.” At the closing session of the Ashram, in the time of the overflowing heart, we share the great things He has done. These “open heart” and “overflowing heart sessions are “divine therapy” times for many. I should add that we are admonished in our sharing to remember that God has a “private office” where needs are brought that should not be shared in public. For me, it has been a blessing beyond words to open my heart to my Lord, and to the “fellowship of those who care,” knowing that their prayers will be part of my healing and restoration.

Bishop James K. Mathews of Washington, D.C. serves as Chairman of the National and International Christian Ashram Boards. His wife, Eunice, is the daughter of E. Stanley Jones. Her mother and father met in India where they both played a major role in the Christian missionary movement there. They were pioneers in many ministries in India; Mrs. Jones inaugurated the novel practice of women as teachers for boys in primary schools, traditionally for men teachers only. E. Stanley Jones founded the first center for family psychiatry in India. Bishop Mathews has served the Methodist Church as bishop in Bombay, India, in Africa and in the American cities of Boston, Washington, D.C. and New York. His spirit-filled ministries have enriched and challenged thousands of parish pastors, missionaries and college and seminary students. His Christian influence has been felt among national political leaders. He and Eunice continue to travel across the world as our Lord’s ambassadors. They serve annually in the International Christian Ashram headquarters in Sat Tal, India. In this “Mother House,” Hindus and Christians come together to hear the greatest story ever told. In the forward to Stanley Jones’ autobiography, A Song of Ascents, Bishop Mathews writes:

“He found the Christian movement largely among the outcasts and left it at the

center of India’s life, a challenge and an issue to the intellectuals and leaders. He found the Christian movement scattering its energies about marginal issues of doctrine and denominations and left it centered on Jesus Christ as the one and central issue. He found the Christian movement largely alien and Western and left it more naturalized through the Ashram movement. He found the Ashram movement Indian and localized and left it internationalized and universalized. He found evangelism in America on the edges of the life of the churches, largely in marginal groups, and not too respectable and in good order; and he left it a central issue in the life of all the churches and made it respectable and necessary. He found evangelism largely emotional and left it appealing to the total person – mind, spirit, and body. He found evangelism largely personal and left it personal and social – a total way of life. He found Christianity presented as alien to human nature and left it as supernaturally natural and sin as unnatural and alien. He found the Kingdom of God largely inward and mystical, or futuristic in heaven, and put it into life as the one issue now, supplanting all the alternatives of communism, fascism, and whatnot. The Kingdom of God on earth and on earth now is the issue. He found the nonviolent cooperation movement Indian and Gandhian and left it as the method of finding freedom for the Negroes of America. He found church union altering between church councils and merger and put in between them federal union as a practical plan for union now.”

In November of 1971, E. Stanley Jones suffered a very sever paralytic stroke. At that time I was serving as Chairman of the First International Christian Ashram scheduled to be held in Jerusalem in June of 1972. Being the founder of the movement, he was scheduled to be the keynote speaker. I recall visiting him at the Boston Rehabilitation Hospital. I said, “Brother Stanley, for some eighteen months we have been working on this international conference. Persons from many countries are planning to come, not least because of your presence. Shall we go ahead?” He could not speak clearly. Instead he held up three fingers of his good right hand (the Christian Ashram “Jesus is Lord” sign around the world), and we were able to catch the words “It’s on.” Then I said, “Brother Stanley, do you recall your seven-day evangelistic series in my congregation in Minneapolis? You were 83 years old at the time. You were in demand day and night, speaking to minister’s groups, seminary students, service clubs, on radio and television and in public mass meetings. Perhaps you will recall Bill Thorkelson, at that time Religion Editor of the “Minneapolis Star” newspaper. In his interview with you he asked, “Dr. Jones, you are 83 years old. You speak from three to five times each day across the world. You never take a vacation. You are always writing another book. How long do you think you can carry on at this pace?” I recall so vividly your memorable answer, “I’m going to keep going until the boiler bursts, and I hope that my dying gasp will be, ‘I commend my Saviour to you.’”

I continued, “I know that the doctors have said that you will never walk again or travel again or speak publicly again. However, I would like to make a prediction. I believe that six months from now you will be on the platform in the YMCA Auditorium in East Jerusalem. You will be there giving the keynote address. Delegates from across the world will be there. I predict that the old boiler will be burning brightly. I predict that the fire of the Holy Spirit win you will ignite His fire in our hearts. With burning hearts, we will share the flame across the world. All this, not by our human power or resources, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. What a place from which to LET FIRE FALL! From an upper room in Jerusalem!”

 

On the opening night of that International Christian Ashram, from his wheelchair, he spoke for an hour. His face was severely disfigured. He speech was slurred. I held the microphone very close to his lips that night. He was not a witness impaired but a witness empowered. The message, “The Divine Yes Has Sounded,” came into our hearts with transforming power.

In introducing him that night, I said, “Brother Stanley, I remember your story of a little boy who came up to you following an evening message. He said, ‘Dr. Jones, may I please shake hands with you?’ You held out your hand. The little boy shook your hand solemnly. Then he said, ‘Dr. Jones, shaking hands with you is the second greatest honor of my life.’ You replied, ‘That is interesting. Can you tell me about your greatest honor?’ The boy replied, ‘Shaking hands with Joe Louis.’”

That night in Jerusalem, I told of the greatest honor of my life. It was being touched by the nail-scarred hand of my Lord and Saviour. Then I added that the Christ-presence and touch of Stanley Jones in my life gave me a big lift on my journey of faith.

During the last 14 months of his life, he wrote his 29^th book, entitled, The Divine Yes. He died in January, 1972, at the age of 89 years. My journey with Stanley Jones began when I was a student in the seminary.

It Began in 1935

I read his book, The Christ of Every Road (1930). This book about Pentecost made an indelible impression upon my mind and heart. These words still ring, “Does it cost less to give gifts at Christmas than to give ourselves at Pentecost? Is it easier for us to celebrate Christ’s birth than to be born again? Pentecost is not a spiritual luxury; it is an utter necessity for human living. The human spirit fails unless the Holy Spirit fills.” What a challenge for a struggling seminary student!

(Postscript: Since 1935 our Lord has used the writings of Brother Stanley to help me in my spiritual journey more than words can express. One of the most fruitful Ashram ministries is to introduce persons to the inspired writings of this Spirit-filled servant of Christ.)

In 1943 – He Came to my City

That week I saw and heard a man drenched with Jesus Christ. He was a flaming evangelist as well as a polished speaker. He could present deep theological teachings such as “The Word Became Flesh” and “The Unshakable Kingdom” and make them come alive in Jesus Christ whom he knew firsthand. That week I heard the gospel applied to the issue of war and peace. Brother Stanley told of his peace-making efforts in 1941 when he spent two months with the Japanese enjoys and President Franklin D. Roosevelt seeking to avert war with Japan. For six days I listened and learned. I met the prophet of God who was to become my spiritual father and counselor for the next thirty years. After six years in the ordained ministry, I needed a turning point. It was a turning more completely to Jesus Christ and His Cross.

(Postscript: Every Christian needs special times of rededication, “conversion,” spiritual crises and quickenings in order to keep growing toward maturity.)

In 1944 – My First Ashram

It was in Green Lake, Wisconsin. Here I found a prophet of God far ahead of his time. In the midst of World War II, I marveled to see Japanese and Chinese, Germans, and Americans, white and black, rich and poor, Catholics and Protestants celebrating the Eucharist together. This was during the dark and tragic chapter of race prejudice and segregation in the Church. For me, a Lutheran, it was unheard of to commune with non-Lutherans. Can I ever forget those penetrating words of Brother Stanley, “If you belong to Christ, and I belong to Christ, then, unbreakably, we belong to each other.” I was struggling with some of the “hesitations” of Christianity, especially regarding peace and war, a divided Church and human rights. What a time for me to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit through His appointed messenger!

(Postscript: In the Christian Ashram, I met many brothers and sisters who became “ministers” to me.)

 

From 1959 to 1967 – Nine Eventful Ashram Summers

It was my high privilege to serve as director of the Midwest Ashram. At the beginning of this deeper and more official involvement, I experienced some struggles and doubts. Some friends shared the doubts. I was then serving as national director of evangelism in my Lutheran Church body. What was I doing in this strange, non-Lutheran movement? Sessions of the Open Heart, prayer vigils, healing services, altar calls – all these were foreign to my background.

A Lutheran friend said, “You are really being taken in by the Ashram.” One summer I brought with me a Lutheran pastor from the Church of Sweden. He was startled to find any Lutheran at this “free church conference.” He stayed away from the Communion Service. He bypassed all sessions addressed by women. With vigor, he shared his disenchantment and his criticism.

The Lord brought me through this barrage of doubt and soul-searching. Brother Stanley helped me in my “ecumenical journey.” He helped me recognize what I call “increasing heritage returns.” I gave up nothing of my rich and highly cherished Lutheran heritage in Jesus Christ. This heritage, I found, was greatly enriched by persons from many other denominations who shared their priceless spiritual possessions under God.

In the Ashrams I learned that self-expression is fine if it follows self-surrender. I learned that it is good for us Lutherans, and for everyone, to publicly join the “fellowship of sinners in need” by sharing our needs, sometimes even in public under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Why should we limit our public sharing and our praise to the liturgical rubrics (for which I thank God), to the corporate doxology and to the vicarious participation in Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus?” In my spiritual journey, Brother Stanley helped bring me to the place where I glance at people to note their reactions, but gaze at Jesus Christ with a sense of awe and wonder.

(Postscript: In 1962, during a three-month study tour in Europe, I met the Church of Sweden pastor who had been so critical of the Ashram. We knelt together at the altar of his church. It was a joy for me to sense how we two pastors, so divided and in tension one year before, could now pray together informally. Then my friend shared something that moved me deeply. He said, “My week at the Ashram was the best week of my extended visit in the USA!”)

In 1969 – Brother Stanley Came to my Parish

He spent seven days in our downtown church in Minneapolis. He spoke 17 times. Total attendance was 5,000. He received standing ovations at sessions with 300 pastors, 200 seminarians and 500 college students. Three hundred fifty persons made commitments to Christ and His Church.

One young woman, a high school teacher, that week was struggling with many doubts about God and His Church. Very reluctantly she came to an evening service. That night the Holy Spirit, through Brother Stanley’s lifting up of Jesus, moved her to affirm Jesus as Lord of her life. It proved to be a turning-point in her spiritual search.

(Postscript: This young woman was Pastor Kay Jurgenson who became senior pastor in the church where God spoke to her on the night of her “Jesus is Lord Encounter.” There she led a staff of ten full-time workers, with many part-time members and volunteers in extensive Christ-centered ministries in the inner-city.)

In January of 1972 – In a Boston Hospital

Let me refer again to my visit with him in the Boston Rehabilitation Hospital. There I saw a man stricken in body, greatly impaired in sight, hearing and speech, and without mobility. But I saw much more. My letter to him following this visit tells about the “more” I saw. Here are some paragraphs:

You have often moved me closer to God and to His task for me. But the greatest moment and the most moving message came this afternoon in your hospital room. I can almost imagine the angels leaning over the parapet of heaven to catch your words. Perhaps the angels were thinking, ‘For sixty-five years he’s been sharing the Good News. But what will he have to say now?’

Then came your greatest hour of witness, your most ringing testimony for Christ. Never was the message more clear: ‘Nothing has changed. I’m the same person. I belong to the unshakable Kingdom and to the unchanging Person … He may heal; He may not but I believe in the divine YES … I see an open door. Perhaps it’s to write a book from here … This is not the end, but the beginning … Jesus is Lord.’

(Postscript: In the hospital Brother Stanley dedicated his 29^th and last book, The Divine Yes, to a secretary. Thus, I learned a very crucial lesson which I am passing on, especially to persons who fear the future and the risk of the accumulating years. God’s children and Jesus’ followers never stop serving. Whatever happens to the body, however adverse the circumstances, we continue to witness for His glory. I praise God for the exciting adventure of growing older, richer in continued service, and nearer to the Promised Land and the great new beginning in Paradise Regained.)

In June of 1972 – He Came to Jerusalem

He did what he couldn’t. He did what his doctors and specialists said was impossible. From his wheelchair he gave a soul-stirring keynote address to 325 delegates attending the First International Ashram Congress. Speech was impaired, but his heart was burning as he spoke to his world family on the theme, “Jesus is Lord.”

 I shall never forget the closing service of the International Ashram in Jerusalem. He gave a memorable valedictory message as he turned the Ashram over to the people. Then I saw him do the impossible. He stood up from his wheelchair, held up his good arm with the three-finger sign and sang with us, “For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory.” It was a high moment as Heaven touched earth. Amidst tears, many were healed that night in spirit and prepared for greater service back home.

(Postscript: Brother Stanley’s next six months, before his death in January of 1973, unfold an amazing drama of fruitful service, even of learning to walk again. I believe in miracles!)

February, 1973 – In a Baltimore Cemetery

In a processional from Brother Stanley’s home church, we walked to the cemetery, carrying part of the ashes of his earthly body (some were taken to Sat Tal in India). We sang his favorite hymns as we marched. We shared great passages of life and hope from the Scriptures. I thought, as I was taking my turn in carrying the precious urn, “Brother Stanley, you helped carry me so many times in my pilgrimage. Our Lord used you to lift and carry countless multitudes closer to Him. Rest in peace until the Resurrection morning and the beginning of your new career of service in the Father’s House.”

(Postscript: Brother Stanley said, “We do not defy the reality of death. But, forever in Jesus Christ, we deny the finality of death.”)

Let me close the story of my spiritual journey with an event related to Brother Stanley’s healing in India:

 

It was during a 35-day round-the-world tour in 1974. I had attended a memorable weekend Ashram in Sat Tal. But after about 600 miles of bus and jeep rides through oppressive heat and through the trauma of viewing human need and grinding poverty all the way, I found myself exhausted. I came to Central Methodist Church in Lucknow, dehydrated, with sagging spirit and a sense of desperate need for renewal.

There in Central Church I read the plaque telling of Brother Stanley’s miraculous healing at that very spot in the church. Here is the story of his healing. He had arrived in India in 1907. He states in his autobiography that as he looked back on that first year, he saw that the most valuable thing about him was his colossal ignorance. He writes, “I had no knowledge of what to do and not to do, for I had gone through no course in Indian orientation or briefing. So I had no inhibitions. All I knew was evangelism – people needed to be converted, to be changed. So I proceeded to act on that faith. My first sermon was on the text, ‘Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for He shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

At mass meetings there were many conversions. Soon he suffered a ruptured appendix and was bedridden with lockjaw and tetanus. After eight and one-half years on his first ten-year term, he suffered a nervous collapse and was ordered back to America on furlough. Again he writes, “I took what the doctors prescribe when they do not know what to do for a patient – a furlough, a change of climate.” At the end of his furlough year, he returned to India. Again he writes, “The year of furlough in America had done nothing for me. The ‘change’ had not changed me. Almost on arrival in India I had to go to the mountains to recuperate. Back from furlough of a year, the first thing I had to think about was my own health. I cam e down from the mountains and had to go back again. When I came down the second time, I knew the game was up – I would have to leave the mission field and my work and try to regain my shattered health. It was gone. In that dark hour I was in Central Methodist Church in Lucknow. I was at the back of the church kneeling in prayer, not for myself but for others, when God said to me, “Are you yourself ready for the work to which I have called you?” My reply, “No, Lord, I’m done for. I’ve reached the end of my resources and I can’t go on.” “If you turn that problem over to me and not worry about it, I’ll take care of it.” My eager reply, “Lord, I close the bargain right here.” I arose from my knees knowing that I was a well man. I walked home with a group of missionaries … I scarcely touched the earth as I walked along. I was possessed with life and health and peace …

Years later a marvelous tablet was put up on the wall of this church with this inscription: “Near this spot Stanley Jones knelt, a physically broken man, and arose a physically well man” … I was made well and whole – body, mind and spirit.

That night in my great physical need, I knelt at the same altar. Then I went to the high altar of the church and cried to God for healing. I confessed my sins and failures which seemed to overwhelm me. God heard my cry. He lifted me from the pit as He promised in Psalm 401-3. He game me new life, new hope and a new song. I received a new sense of chosenness in the word from John 15:16. I was ready to mount up with wings like the eagle as the words from Isaiah 40:28-31 came to me. It was a glorious encounter with my Lord. Then and there I rededicated my life for His plan and commission for me. And free to all, God’s healing streams continue to flow.

(Postscript: Brother Stanley, it was a great journey with Him and with you. Thanks for giving me a big lift on the Way to the Promised Land. We shall carry on until He comes. To God be the glory. JESUS IS LORD!)